So as I mentioned earlier, I spent some time babysitting tonight. Actually, I only babysat for two hours, while the boys' parents attended the Prairie Grass Film Festival on campus. Surprisingly, though, these boys taught me an astonishing lesson in those short hours. They taught me a lesson that I already knew, but they made the truth of the lesson even more real and evident to me.
Lesson learned: For an English major, I suck at storytelling...
...the good thing is, kids don't care. Before tucking the boys in for bed, I decided to make up the story I had promised them earlier in the night. Knowing that their favorite animal was a dinosaur, I knew what my main character had to be. The story went a little like this...
Once upon a time, there were two dinosaurs. The T-Rex was stomping through the woods when a Pterodactyl came flying at him and wrapped his wings around him to give him a big hug. Thinking the Pterodactyl was attacking him, the T-Rex threw the other dinosaur on the ground. Realizing it was supposed to be a hug, the T-Rex quickly rushed over and saved the Pterodactyl's life. The dinosaurs became lifelong friends and lived happily ever after.
Okay, so the story was a little more detailed than that. I gave the dinosaurs the names of the two boys I was babysitting and made the story into a biblical lesson on how God calls us to love our neighbors, care for them, and not hurt them. But still, it was pathetic. The forgiving thing was, these boys absolutely loved it. I was lying on their bed, and they were sitting up intently watching my actions, listening to my legit dinosaur sound effects, and reacting at the perfect times! The kids were kind of an awesome analogy for God's relationship with us. God watches us mess up ALL the time... he listens to our lame excuses... hears our deepest, darkest, most sin-infested thoughts.. knows better than anyone else that we are terrible mess-ups.. and yet, He loves us. Now the boys may not have known how awful my story really was, but they did know I messed up the dinosaur names and listened to my awful story, and yet, they showed me love. They gave me a hug and politely thanked me for the "really cool dinosaur story!" Their love, like God's, was unconditional.
REAL lesson learned: God's love is unconditional. I learned this long ago, still read about it in the Bible, and know it's true. And yet, how can we find such a perfect example? Humans are sinful...SO sinful. Any love we get from humans is doomed to fail us. Friendships, relationships, all of it.. there are always slip-ups, mishaps, and failures. Love is so often conditional in human relations. However, in the eyes of these little boys, I was worth all of their love. I had played with them, fed them snacks, squirmed on the floor like a crocodile, and demonstrated the best lion roar they had ever heard. But yet, there's that word, "worth," again. In their eyes, I was "worth" all their love. Why do we have to always be WORTH love? Why? Why? WHY? Why can't we just freely give love to one another, regardless of if the other is worth that love. Again, I argue that, in part, the boys' love was unconditional. They loved me before I even walked in the door. They loved me, and yet, they didn't know me. God loves us...always...forever...because He simply does. How BEAUTIFUL is that?!
In addition, a smaller lesson I learned is that God's truth and beauty CAN be recognized on a daily basis.. in his creation (the boys). Yes, the creation will still be marred by sin until the day Jesus returns, but there's a glimpse of purity everywhere, if you will only slow down and notice it.
After reading this, please take something away from it. Seek to give unconditional love. In fact, seek to give love that wouldn't be given if conditional. Give love freely to your enemies. And finally, look for God's beauty; it's all around you.
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