On Love

There was a little girl in my Sunday School class yesterday. She was inconsolable. She pushed away crayons, stickers. She declined the opportunity to paste brightly colored feathers onto a handprint turkey. She said "no" to a fuzzy bear that wanted a hug. She cried. She whined. She tantrumed. She pulled out and tried to knock down multi-colored wooden chairs. She wandered around the room instead of joining the group.

Even the most unhappy children perk up for snack time. But she pushed away even animal crackers and juice. I almost gave up. I didn't know what this child wanted. She wasn't even crying for Mommy like most of the criers do. I finally bent down and picked her up, fully expecting her to push me away. But instead of wriggling out of my grasp, she clung to me and buried her face in my neck. I rubbed her back and told her "it's okay" until she calmed down.

That's all she wanted. Someone to hold her and love her and give her positive attention.

I held her in my lap as I continued with the lesson. She slowly began to eat the animal crackers, drink the juice and eventually participate with the other children.

It was amazing to me. There are so many children whose parents, due to youth, poverty and ignorance, don't treat them like children. Maybe they treat them the way they were treated as children. It becomes a vicious cycle.

Maybe I'll have the chance to teach the little girl again.

The whole experience made me think about how I will treat my own children and how important it is, above anything else, to show them love.