In the past few days I've tasted more and more of my kid's sweetness and what makes them such a joy to be around. Here are a few examples:

A few nights ago, Christe explained to our 10 year old Abby that cicadas (gone soon... yea!) are so loud because the male ones are sounding out their mating calls to females. Abby simply replied, "Wow, there's a lot of love in the air!"

Yesterday, 3 year old JoJo kept telling us that he was ready to make our jello letters after church (a process we'd started the day before, of course)... And boy, was that a blast... proof that a lot of family fun can be had with a little extra effort and foresight for only $3.00!

I bring this up not only because I love our kids and I'm thankful for extra time with them in the summer months, but because in the gospels, Jesus pointed out that the "kingdom of heaven" belongs to people who are like children (Matt. 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16). Something more frightening is that He said, "You need to change and become like little children. If you don't, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). And here I was thinking my kids were just really cute!

The more I thought about it, I began to realize I could learn from their simplicity, their humility, their innocence, their directness, their neediness, their honesty... etc. So here's to being CHILDLIKE in my faith and life. Thanks kids.