Within the past two weeks of living in the Philippines and doing ministry here, I realized something really quirky about myself. Little did I know that God would use that quirk to teach me something about Himself.
Imagine walking into a store and instead of seeing adults shopping or working you see little babies and toddlers in their place. You see a cute little 3 year-old with an over-sized purse pushing a tiny cart. Or maybe a child wearing an apron and working behind the cash register. There might also be a couple little boys stocking shelves. All around you there are children, and the world seems to be more precisous, cute, and even funny….welcome to my mind. Weird, huh? Sometimes when I am tired or overwhelmed, my mind does this "day-dreaming" thing and shrinks all the big people around me into little cute babies– my team, my leaders, and even myself.
Now, here is a reality with ministry in the Philippines during a feeding: You walk down the street in the slum community and there are always children running up to you asking for a high-five, for their picture to be taken, or to be picked up and held. They are usually ages 2-10 years old and always look younger than their actual age. They may be wearing old worn-out flip-flops (or no shoes at all), dirty clothes on top of their dirty little bodies (or no clothes at all), and carrying a little cup or bowl for their food. These kids are usually laughing and delighted in the meal we provide, but every once in a while there will be a small child that is crying. It is so so easy to swoop up a broken child and pour out compassion and love on them– despite how dirty they may be, despite the fact they are wearing so little clothes, and despite the fact they can't understand my English.
Sometimes I get so caught up in being an adult. I think I can handle everything and sometimes I believe that I know everything. A lot of times, this results in me forgetting that I am God's child and that God is bigger than me. He delights in me, even when I stumble, throw tantrums, and cry. He sees me in my brokenness and picks me up (mess and all) and carries me, comforts me, and showers grace and love all over me. A bigger reality is that God has done that for all of us through Jesus. Jesus came down to our dirty level and swooped us up with his death on the cross, fed us his redemption, and comforted us with his promises.
That quirk I have when my imagination transforms everyone into babies comes in handy when you interact with other messy people who get angry, stumble, and let's face it…have straight up tantrums. It's easy to extend God's grace to babies and children here in the Philippines; not so much my brothers and sisters in every day life. But remembering that we are all God's children, we are all messy and imperfect, and we all are still growing–allows a huge avenue of grace. Being a child of God makes me an ambassador of God's grace and His gospel. Being a child of God is, ironically, a huge step towards spiritual maturity. I want to encourage you to remember that you are a child of God, also, and to refuse to see people as anything less than children of God. Perhaps this silly quirk of mine is credited to the perfect character of my Creator.
