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This past week, I had the privilege of speaking at Karissa’s chapel. The best part of it was being introduced by my little girl. Not only did she do an excellent job, but I was so humbled by her joy and excitement when she saw me.
Before I went up to speak, Karissa and some of her classmates were leading the praise time. Well, let’s just say that they were playing a CD and leading the group with motions. I couldn’t help but to notice the purity of their worship to God. As I followed along, I was reminded of Jesus’ words, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mt 19:14).
There is something about having a child-like heart that brings delight to the Father’s heart. Here are some lessons that I was reminded of on that day:
2) Don’t be afraid or ashamed to express your love. For some reason, as we get older it is just harder to freely express what we feel. We are more guarded. We are more careful. But kids have a way of just “letting go” and freely showing their love. It is so refreshing and humbling on the receiving end.
3) Do everything with a pure heart. With time, it seems as if so much of what we do are laced with agendas. Why is it that we sometimes forget that we should do things, just because? Even though there are no direct benefits to us, are we humble enough to do things because it is just the right thing to do?
4) Don’t worry so much about what people think about you. We are always trying to preserve our reputation. It is interesting how our concern for our reputation is directly correlated with our age. The older we get, the more concerned we become and sometimes it blinds us from doing things that bring joy to the Father’s heart.
5) Allow the simple things to bring joy throughout your day. The day before Karissa’s chapel, she doubled checked in the afternoon to make sure I could make it. The night before, she worked on her introduction with Christina. In the morning, she came into the room and just smiled at me. When I dropped her off at school, she said, “I will see you very soon, daddy!” To know that my very presence at school would bring that much excitement to her heart, it filled my heart with joy.
6) Be proud of the things that matter to you. As we were about to start chapel, I could tell that her friends were pointing their fingers at me and whispering things to Karissa. With a huge smile on her face, Karissa waved at me and responded to her friends with some kind of “yeah, that’s my daddy.” There were several times throughout the chapel time when our eyes met. I just gave her a huge smile letting her know that I loved her and was so proud of her. You should have seen her response – she stood up tall and sang louder. It just made my day.