Childlike Wonder 

   Have you ever seen a small child chasing a butterfly?  Or perhaps they’ve noticed a line of ants carrying food back to their nest.  They will watch those ants and chase those butterflies for as long as they can.  They are fascinated with the wonders of the simplest of God’s creations.

   When my two girls were little they loved to go exploring around our house.  Once they came home all excited, with a toy bucket filled with water and dozens of tadpoles.  They had found a small pond and spent most of the morning gathering their treasure.

   My wife and I decided it would be good for them to watch the transition from tadpole to frog, so we let them keep the bucket on our screened in porch.  Later that day we took the girls to the movie.  When we returned there were tiny frogs hopping all over the porch.

   What we saw as a problem, the girls saw as wonderful.  They helped us gather up the frogs, laughing and having a great time.  Still in the bucket were several tadpoles so we covered it to avoid more escapes and let the girls watch them become frogs, which were then set free.

   As we age we grow numb to the joy and wonder of such things as tadpoles and butterflies.  We no longer have that innocence of wonder and joy in God’s creations and the miracles that abound.  Think for a moment of a caterpillar encompassing itself in a cocoon and emerging as a beautiful butterfly.  Or a tiny tadpole slowing losing its’ tail while growing legs to become a frog.  These are miracles of nature that we take for granted and pretty much ignore.

   Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18: 3).  He didn’t mean we were to become childish, but to have a child-like acceptance of God, taking great joy in Him and the many blessings He has given us.

We ignore Your gifts so often.

They become just a part of our life.

Renew in us a childlike wonder.

Let us turn to You in joy, marveling at all You do. 

Amen