Anyway, shameless plug aside, at tonight's Lifetree Cafe I made a new friend. Her name is Emily and she is 6 years old. She came with her grandparents and when the hour was over, Emily asked Mikal to announce to everyone in the room that it was a sad week for her because her cat died.
I have two cats myself - Charlie and Midge. While I often threaten to kill Charlie and sometimes even do things like throw him outside in the freezing cold because he's being annoying and then forgetting he's out there, I think I would actually be sad if one of them died. Especially Midge because she is my rescue cat and "special", like my friend Dan. So I could feel Emily's pain and wanted to be a friend to her.
I asked her about her cat, what its name was, what it looked like, what she liked about it, etc. and pretty soon we were shooting rubber bands up onto the second floor ledge and borrowing Mikal's key card to race up the stairs to find them, leaving a trail of pictures of hearts and flowers on every white board and large drawing pad we found along the way. I can't think of a better way to have spent my Tuesday night.
After awhile, I had to be a grownup again and clean up. I told Emily it was going to be a lot of work and I probably couldn't do it all by myself. She assured me she could work hard, so I let her. She threw stuff away, dumped out containers of ice and water, and even vacuumed a little bit. Plus she laughed really hard at me when I kept spilling popcorn all over the floor. I was tempted to steal her back to my house and put her to work there too.
One of the last things we do as we close up for the night is to write cards to anyone who has come for the first time or for anyone who has given a prayer request. The lady I sat with had shared a prayer request with me and then wrote it out on a card as well, so I went into the back room to write a little note to her to mail tomorrow. Emily came trotting back there with me and when she saw me writing a card, she asked if she could write one too.
I said yes and she said, "Don't look because it's for you." Then she proceeded to ask me how to spell every word she wrote down. It was unbelievably precious.
Here is the card:
It says "Dear Robin, I am thankful for letting me help you. Emily. Robin is a pretty name. I love you."
No, Emily. After getting this card, I'm the one who loves you.
This is why Jesus told us to have faith like a child. It is so sweet, pure, and wonderfully humbling when a child's love is given to you unexpectedly. I've blown it a lot already this week. I've said things I regret, haven't said things I probably should have, I've been selfish and unkind, and a whole list of other things. But Emily didn't see the junk I see in myself during the time we spent together. She just saw someone who played with her, talked with her, and loved her. For one brief moment, through Emily's eyes, I could see myself as God sees me because of Jesus - pure, sweet, whole, not burdened with the junk I carry around with me all of the time.
I like seeing myself through Emily's eyes, but more importantly, through God's eyes. I want to have faith like Emily's and a pure heart that loves sweetly and innocently, and trusts God when He says that what Jesus did on the cross was enough to make me clean.
And I think I'm going to start sending cards to more people. Who wants one?
