Tiny Hand Print

As I look around my house I see tiny hand prints...everywhere. On the walls, on the floors, and I'm pretty sure every single window. Being a person who is slightly type A, this drives me nuts. As soon as I get one thing cleaned I turn around to find Lincoln dumping his apple juice onto the floor and then splashing in it. I have a slight internal freak out moment before remembering he's only 17 months old and he can't possibly be trying to purposefully sabotage me. Right?

It's so easy for me to go around and point out all these tiny hands and forget that those hands are attached to something amazing. Those hands can teach me so much if I just take the time to pay attention.

So far these hands have taught me that it's okay to get dirty. Sounds simple, except for me it isn't. I don't usually allow my boys to purposefully get dirty. When I see the joy on their faces it makes that extra bit of work I'll have to do all worth it.

So far these hands have taught me how to give more openly. Westyn is more generous than I have ever been. He will gladly share almost anything he has with anyone. This is in his nature. He isn't attached to all the material things that we as a culture place so much value in. He just simply wants to share.

So far these hands have taught me to be kind to everyone. These hands will wave, blow kisses, shake hands, and give high fives to anyone no matter their ethnicity or financial standing.  Their view of the world and the people it holds isn't tarnished yet.

The more I think about all the things these tiny hands could teach me, the more I understand what Jesus was saying when He was talking with His disciples in Matthew chapter 18.

If I can just take a step back and refocus, then everything begins to clear. I can clearly see what a blessing tiny hand prints are all over my house. I can let go of all the expectations I set for myself to clean constantly, and start enjoying the moment they place their hands on the door. Children don't get stopped by glass doors, they merely look through them to see the beauty more clearly! How much could we do for God's kingdom if we stopped getting distracted by smudges and started focusing on the beauty that children see?