Lessons from Little Children

My classroom assistant helps three young boys mop up a flood caused by a couple of spilled buckets of water. Two older boys argue about whose turn it is to use the United States map. Annie is crying because Jamie is sitting where she wanted to sit. Mary waits patiently for me to come back and finish showing her the presentation on the Pink Tower as I hear the crash as a drinking glass shatters on the floor and my assistant shifts to keep the children away from the broken glass.

"What else can happen in this single moment?" I think, as three-year-old David confidently walks out of the bathroom naked from the waist down except for his little black socks stepping right through the puddle, each step creating pee-soaked footprints along the classroom floor. Getting up, I usher him back into the bathroom to change, as I see Erin holding her stomach about to throw up for the third time this week, most likely in her favorite spot on the carpet.

"I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me," Moses cries out to God in the desert (Numbers 11:14).

And in my days guiding and journeying with young children as a Montessori teacher, sometimes the responsibility and overwhelm felt too great.

Yet Jesus invites us to bring to Him our "five loaves and two fish," (Matthew 14:16) even when the resources we have sometimes seem so little. He blesses our work and brings forth the abundance and peace and joy from it even when it all feels like chaos.

And at the end of each day, the children and I would gather around the prayer table, singing a song together and closing out our workday with gratitude to God. The children have taught me to surrender, to laugh at life, and how to "sing with joy to God our help" (Psalm 81:2).

Where are you feeling stressed and burdened by responsibility? How can you surrender to God and perhaps even laugh a bit at the chaos life can bring?

Heavenly Father, we surrender all our cares and burdens to You. Thank You for caring for us and protecting each of us as Your devoted children. Bring us rest, renewed energy and hearts open to joy that we may see opportunities to play and praise You in every moment. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Surrender to God. // Mary Catherine Craige Click to tweet

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