Kids make me scratch my head and wonder some days. Let me paint a picture for you with a true story.
Over the years, I had a family of kids that I picked up on my bus. The apron to their drive was large and had two substantial ditches on each side. Whenever it rains, the apron area fills with water, leaving a tiny path on each side between the enormous puddle and ditch. I would always stop the bus a few feet before or after the drive, making a clear, puddle-proof path to the bus. Inevitably, though, the kids would tromp right through the middle of their driveway pond.
Were they wearing boots? Of course not! Usually, it was canvas sneakers that soaked up the water like a hungry sponge. The puddles were deep enough that the cuffs of their jeans would take on about three inches of water. I could hear the squeaking of their water-logged shoes as they went back to their seats.
As they got off the bus, their saturated shoes left watery prints of the tread the entire way up the aisle. You know as well as I do, they spent the rest of the day in wet shoes and socks, sloshing up and down the hallways.
After watching this a couple of times, I told them that from now on, go AROUND the puddle. No lie – they looked at me like I had given them a mind-blowing concept that was not computing. You would have thought a two-headed alien was talking to them. What a concept! They had never thought of that! Here was a perfectly good puddle and it seemed disrespectful to walk around it. Was I sure this was an acceptable thing to do?!?
Well, for all of you puddle loving people, this is YOUR day. Today is National Step In A Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day. Some who are reading this are quick to notice that innocent bystanders are now involved. But let’s admit it, doesn’t this sound like fun?
Haven’t you ever been driving when you see a puddle near where someone is walking on the sidewalk? You’ve mentally calculated the wave you could create with just the right speed. You see the person stunned as this wave comes crashing over them. And you have to pull over a half mile down the road because you are laughing so hard. Just the thought of this is putting a mischievous smile on my face – though I can honestly say I’ve never done this to anyone.
Stomping a puddle on someone? Now, that’s a different story.
Children – and those with a childlike heart – have a whimsical, playful nature about them. It just the sheer, unadulterated joy of being a kid. Nothing is done with malicious intent. It’s just good clean fun – well, as clean as a puddle can be.
When did we outgrow this?!? When did we stop enjoying the simple joys of childhood?
We read a neat story about Jesus and the children in Matthew 18:1-6. “At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (2) And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, (3) And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (4) Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5) And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. (6) But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Jesus really does love the little children. You know that those children would have been acting like kids, right? They were running all over the place, maybe playing with toys of the time period, and filled with the innocence of childhood. Jesus used one of these children as an illustration of what it takes to enter the kingdom of Heaven. You must be like that child.
Now, that doesn’t mean we have to do childish shenanigans. We just have to have that spirit of trust, faith, inquisitiveness, and honesty. When I see a child stomp in a puddle, I’m exasperated, wondering what they were thinking. The child was just enjoying the beauty of the moment and the opportunity. They are captivated with the water, the sounds, and the spray going everywhere. They giggle and laugh with gleeful abandon.
Simple faith. Simple joy. It’s really that simple. Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Let the simple joy of childhood rejoice in the simple joy found in Jesus.
