I've been cleaning out the garage this week, getting ready for the proverbial "garage sale" and it's often been like a treasure hunt, finding things I had not thought about for years. While going through one box of "stuff" that contained a stack of clippings I had saved for future reference, I was repacking them in another box for no-telling how long before repeating the process. Been there, done that? So, I'm a "pack-rat"! I just can't seem to get it out of my head that somewhere, sometime, I will need that scrap of paper, etc.

Case in point. As I was saying, I was repacking the clippings. What I did not notice at the time was one small yellowed paper slipped to the floor. As I saw it later, I picked it up and gave it a quick glance and put it into my pocket, as the others were already "out of touch". Later, when I cleaned my pockets, I saw it, read it, and it gave me a good laugh. Well, here it is:

A SMALL BOY'S ESSAY ON ANATOMY

"Your head is kind of round and hard, and your brains are in it and your hair on it...your face is the front of your head where you eat and make faces...your neck is what keeps your head out of your collar...your stumick is something that if you do not eat often enough it hurts and spinage don't help it none...your shoulders are kind of shelfs...your spine is a long bone in your back that keeps you from folding up...your back is always behind you no matter how quick you turn around...your arms you got to have to pitch with, and so you can reach the butter...your fingers stick out of your hand so you can throw a curve, and add up rithmatick...your legs are what if you have not got two of you can't get to first base...your feet are what you run on...your toes are what always get stubbed...And that's all there is of you except what's inside and I never saw it...The end."

Ah, the simplicity of the child's mind (obviously a boy), one who has had no permanent head damage from falls, one who has an inquisitive sense that wants to determine the elasticity of facial skin or perhaps has a sister that sits across the table at dinnertime, when he has been instructed time and again that "greens" are good for you, and to sit up straight with your shoulders back so your head doesn't roll off into your plate. He has obviously encountered "spineless" playmates that "fold" under pressure, and has spent a lot of time "watching his back" for retaliation from others more aggresive. He lives for baseball and has spent time on the "mound" facing would-be sluggers. He is active and tries to keep himself "trim" but may tend toward a little pudgy from the well-buttered bisquits. He is a whiz at math, and without a calculator even, but spelling bees are not his forte, as is his grammer not also. What? Ah, yes, he has a look to the future, to at least get on base, and trust those behind him to get him home, though he will do the running, and at times it means some pain when his lower digits encounter harder objects, like the bases or bodies of the basemen. Finally, he might be a doctor someday, but perhaps not in internal medicine.

Have I captured a touch of your past? We've all been there, in a, frankly, simpler time. How did we get so complicated? How have we lost touch with who we were? Oh, we are still the same, perhaps just grown up and amplifying the particular characteristics that were are part of who we were then. We still fight the food and waistline battle, and now it is us who try to get our little ones not to squirm, nor make faces that might "stick that way", or eat that "spinage that don't help it none". We are still running, trying to get to that base before the ball drops and the game is over. We stub our toes, hit our heads, and frankly, all "fold up" before the sun sets!

You might ask at this point, "where are you going with this disected recall of a simpler day?" Well, I started out just sharing about a clipping I had found, and really have just let the words happen, but as it often does, a "germ" of truth begins to sift out of that which I read and attempt to understand in the "greater scheme" of things.

First, don't lose sight of the simple. Good or not so good, it had less stress than the complications that are attached to what is termed "grown-up" life. Secondly, be patient and more understanding with your own children, for they may have lessons to teach you. You have the opportunity to build into their future an ongoing appreciation of their past. Thirdly, and most importantly, don't lose the faith and trust of your childhood. For all of the "watching your back" you may have done, your ability to exercise faith and true humility was a strong suit in your life. Remember the words of Jesus, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3-4)

Be encouraged today to let the child in you live again! Enjoy Christ and the day He has given you.