Notice The Children

She walked down the long dock, all the way to the end. My sweet granddaughter looked tiny next to such a large body of water. She stood there for a minute, and then she knelt down and placed the beautiful flower petals on the sea of glass.


I watched that video of my granddaughter over and over again last summer. My daughter recorded her without her knowing. I don’t know if I’m writing this because I want to challenge others, or because someday I want her to read this. I don’t want her to forget.


Maybe a little of both...


Children have been on my mind a lot this week. Our little church just had Vacation Bible School. 70 different children got to hear about the love of Jesus. All their tiny faces are etched in my memory. Soon we will be starting our new after school program. The opportunity to minister to these little ones and give them the hope of Jesus makes my heart swell.


Because so many children don’t have hope.


Many are frightened over an unknown future. Many don’t truly understand what love is, and the comfort it brings. Many will grow up with the guilt that their parents mistakes are because of them. There are so many that just need to be loved, but instead will grow up with scars because they are over looked or dismissed.


All of our children need Jesus and all of that has weighed heavy on my heart this week.
And that’s what sparked this memory...


The death of my dad in 2020 hit my granddaughter Clara hard. She was 6 at the time. He had a special bond with her, the two of them. His death had an impact on her little soul, but so did another home going~ the death of a dear old saint who had ministered in our church for years. The funny thing is, at the time Dorothy wasn’t involved in any of our children’s ministries. Dear Dorothy played the organ. That was it. But she had an impact on my little Clara and that will encourage me all my days.


Clara can be a handful at times. I often call her my crazy Clara. She’s wild and beautiful and unique. Somehow she always manages to spill something on her clothes and her hair looks like it hasn’t been brushed in days, all within five minutes of her mother getting her ready for church. But her heart… if you knew her you would know. Her heart is so big and her love for others is even bigger.


And therein lies the problem.
Many don’t know her,
therefore she is easily overlooked and dismissed.


Just like so many of our children today.


Dorothy didn’t dismiss her. I don’t know what Dorothy did that made such a difference in my granddaughter’s life. Maybe it was a smile or a hug. Maybe she leaned down to listen or surprised her with a bit of candy on a bustling Sunday morning. Maybe she talked to her about her life. Maybe she talked to God about her life.


Maybe she noticed her.


That video I watched over and over? It was something Clara did all summer long, placing beautiful flower petals in water “to remember Pops and Dorothy”.
My crazy Clara and her sentimental heart.


The souls of children everywhere are like beautiful flower petals to Jesus. Tiny hearts that can either float away in a sea of harshness and cruelty, or love and comfort and hope. Children are not an annoyance. They are our future. You can give them Jesus through your actions. You can change a life for eternity. We might not ever know what goes on in their little hearts, but we can make a difference.


You can make a difference.


It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. It can be a smile or a hug or a little bit of candy on a Sunday morning. It can be a conversation with God about them.


It can be a spark of hope and a measure of love that will stay with them all week long, and maybe the rest of their life.


If we would just take the time to notice.