It
doesn't take much for our children to get us thinking, does it? My
oldest draws pictures all the time to express what's in her heart,
and although my boy doesn't care much for drawing, he loves to tell
us stories and make silly analogies that give us a little bit of
insight into the way his mind works. Children are often so much more
clever than we 'grown-ups' give them credit for, but what I treasure
the most is how they challenge me to get back to the basics, to a
simplicity that I lose when I have my head in 'the world' for too
long.
You
have so many things to love when you love everything.
Ever
since she drew this picture, I've had her words rolling about in my
head from time to time. There's so much to hate in this world.
There's so much to fear. There's so much to wonder and worry about
all over the place.
And
yet she wrote about love. That is what sticks with her, and
I'm so thankful. It's not what sticks with me anymore after innocence
lost and years of words that don't match the actions. That's the
reality of life as we get older and find that we have to return to
love...to recall its power...to fight to remember its truth and
beauty. It's far too easy to get caught up in everything else.
I
am wanting, simply, to love well. I could hate that I'm not always
good at it. I could be afraid that I might cause another to forget
its true meaning. I could worry that I'll never be able to do it well
enough. But those thoughts are NOT
the ones that should stick with me.
I
have so many things to love.
