God's "blessings"

I went to a mountain to spend some time with my friends, but I did not even get to talk to them.

I went to the mountain to watch a sunset, but the clouds came and covered it up.

I went to the mountain to sit and reflect on how wonderful God is by looking at His amazing creation, but the creation He wanted me to reflect on surprised me.

You see, God did not want me to talk to my friends or look at nature, God had some very special little people who needed some love and attention so He brought them to the mountain… to me.

We arrived at Lancer’s Gap to watch a sunset and as we got there, about 20 children from the village walked over to us and sat on a rock near us. They wanted to play with my girls but my girls were a little shy. Elijah and the boys took rocks and used a plastic bottle for target practice and they had such a good time. I sat there in a quandary for a minute. I have friends from England visiting me and I haven’t had much time to spend with them, yet I see 20 beautiful faces looking at me and waiting for me to invite them into a conversation.

I asked them each their name, the grade in school and favorite class. I asked them all which ones were brother and sister and then told them about my kids’ names, grades and about their school. We sat there for a very long time and then it was getting dark. I asked each of them what they want to be when they grow up and got answers like a soldier, a nurse, a teacher, and a police officer. It was so delightful to spend time sitting on a rock circled by a bunch of kids and talking to them all. It also made me really reflect.

“Let the little children come to me,” the words of Jesus. Children are a blessing from the Lord. How sad is it that so many parents have forgotten that. They spend their days working long hours to buy things that their kids do not even need to be happy, their kids just want them to sit and listen to them, show that they care. Groups of mothers gather together to display a badge of honor about how “hard they have it” rather than enjoying this precious time with their children. I am not saying that I enjoy each and every minute with my kids like I should, but I do spend a lot of time with them trying to do the things they are interested in and just loving them. I encourage all of you with kids to enjoy your blessings, discipline them when they need it of course, but really enjoy who they are because you only have 18 years to really lay a foundation of love and caring in them so they can go into the world confidently knowing they are loved and encouraged by their parents. For those of you who are still waiting for your child, the adjustment can be hard but never forget that they are a blessing, a gift from God Himself.

The children of Lesotho are teaching me so much and one of those lessons is that a kid does not need stuff to make them happy; they need love and a listening ear. They need to know that someone thinks they are special and believes in them so they can go out and achieve their dreams. They need someone to choose them over the other adults around and sit with them and tell them that they have value in this world. I thank God for His many lessons that He is teaching me on my journey here in Lesotho.