Today’s post is a guest post by Angela. You can look forward to seeing a post from her once a month.
Sometimes the littlest people can teach us big lessons.
Anyone who has met my littles probably knows their obsession with vehicles runs deep. We sing the “wee-ooo wee-ooo” firetruck song about 50 times a day. So when I heard about the “Touch-A-Truck” event at our community center I knew they would love it. If you’ve never been to one it is exactly what I sounds like, a parking lot full of trucks and diggers for kids to climb on. It is essentially a toddler’s paradise. Sadly, Addie was sick today and couldn’t go. I decided to take Zeke anyways while she stayed home with Nick.
We had an absolute blast! I made the afternoon all about Zeke. We climbed on a fire truck, ate a snow cone, set off a police siren, pretended we were rocks being scooped up by a digger, and so much more.
In the midst of the excitement two pretty crazy things happened. I was taking a photo for a family when the dad said something about his foot being hurt. My quick response was something to the effect of “oh that stinks, hope it feels better”. And Zeke says “Mommy pray for it”. My mind immediately went to the land of “no he’s a stranger that’s a little crazy” but in church this morning we talked about not letting fear hold us back from what God wants us to do. So I went for it. He was a little surprised but let me pray for him.
On the way home Zeke said it was the “best day EVER!” and I agreed. Then he told me he missed Addie and thought she would have really liked the event. (Which is an understatement. She would have LOVED it). He wanted to show her pictures but was concerned she would be sad she missed out. Then he said something that took me by surprise- he asked if we could bring her something home to cheer her up. I asked him what he meant and he suggested we buy her a toy vehicle because “She didn’t get to touch a truck so we can bring her one like we saw today and she can touch it!” How can I say no to that? So we spent about 15 minutes debating the pros and cons of every vehicle in the toy department at Walmart. I fully expected Zeke to turn the situation around in an attempt to get himself a toy. He did ask once but didn’t argue at all when I said no and came home with a police car for Addie.
Both of these moments with Zeke were obviously adorable and gave me all the proud mama feels. But as I’ve had time to process I realized something. Today a 3-year-old boy taught his insecure mama a big lesson. He set the example of inconvenient love.
Even in the midst of a day that was literally all about him he thought of this stranger and of his sister. He recognized a need and met it without a second thought. And that my friends is love.
God calls us to love everybody always (shameless plug – if you haven’t read it yet, Bob Goff’s book Everybody Always will wreck your life in the best way possible). He doesn’t say love some people when it’s convenient. To love someone means to desire God’s best for someone and set yourself aside to make that happen. Love requires us to act upon the urging of the Holy Spirit even when it is uncomfortable or will not benefit us (which is often the case). Sometimes that looks like prayer for a stranger. Sometimes it’s a toy police car.