Believe

To accurately know someone look at what they are pursuing. If a career, then you know they are a hard worker, probably good at saving or spending money, a planner with big goals. If someone is pursuing a significant other then you know chances are they have gotten their heart broken once or twice before which makes their desire for 'true' love even stronger. We only pursue the things we believe we can achieve or become. So the pursuit greatly depends on our belief in what we are pursuing. Why is it the older that we get the more we tend to doubt ourselves, our purpose, and at times even God.
In the eyes of a child they can do anything. They tell me they can fly, that they are superheros, and that one day they will be a ballerina or a firefighter. They honestly and truly BELIEVE they can do these things. We smile and laugh thinking they are so naive yet why not? Why cant they become these things? Maybe it is because we too have lost what we once thought was possible. Somewhere along the 'anything's possible' speech we realized we are not as talented as we once thought. We didn't make the cut, pass the tryouts, or get the job. Our hearts have been shattered, betrayed by loved ones, and the people around us have affected our belief in ourselves. A little girl whose mother never took the time to tell her she's beautiful is a grown woman still trying to look in the mirror with a smile. A little boy whose father never told him that he was proud of him is a grown man still feeling not strong enough to accomplish even the battles inside of himself. The belief that we can accomplish our dreams, our purpose, offer true love or even be valuable to somebody...anybody all starts when we were children. When we were vulnerable, hopeful, full of dreams, and desires. Explore your heart...go back to the spot that you may have left forgotten...it is still alive in each of us waiting to be revived, waiting to be lived out again. To believe in yourself is to be an accomplished person...

Wonder

It's a funny thing you know, working with children...they way the take joy in the smallest of things. The innocent way they ask questions, the excitement they carry over into every area of their lives from new pull-ups to cheese with their crackers. The way that they cure a bad moment with a simple movement of inserting their thumb into their mouth or the natural way a baby girl twirls her hair. They see no reason why their best friend can not be of the opposite gender or of a different race. They are honest with their emotions, no walls are built around their heart. They simply cry when they are hurting and scream when excited. They are so trusting, so affectionate...so willing. Yet somewhere along the way, they will grow up...as we have. Every parent claims it is in the 'blink of an eye' but it is a slow process filled with trials and triumphs, hardships and holidays. They will get hurt and walls will be built, they will have heart breaks, some more then others, and they will not be nearly as trusting when they find out simple truths such as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. They will begin to question, dream, and wonder. Although they may not ask as many questions and their dreams of being a princess or a firefighter may change, they will still carry a sense of wonder throughout their adult years. This wonder causes some of them to travel to the ends of the world, to walk on moons, to discover hidden cities, and to invent things no one has ever heard of...yes they will always carry this wonder...from the eyes of a three-year old asking where babies come from to the eyes of a twenty-one- year old asking how God has know the desires of her heart.
Luke 18:6 says, "Let the children come to Me. Do not stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children."
As we grow up we learn more about relationships, paying the bills and the political policy's of our day, let us remember the wonder that God gave us. With the same eyes that  marveled over past joys let us marvel at our king who came to us in just that, the form of a child. This child did not only carry wonder with Him into His adult years, he was simply the greatest wonder of the world.