Let the children come

I remember when I moved into my island home. It's in the middle of the town with houses almost touching each other, and one of my first thoughts was, "There are a lot of kids here." During the first few weeks I realized a little of what that meant:

They're noisy.

They're obnoxious.

They don't understand boundaries.

And within the first few weeks of moving in I was getting really annoyed with them. Every time I left home or returned home I would have a crowd of children following me, chanting my name.

Or worse, chanting, "White person! White person!" in the local language. Yes, I'm well aware of my white skin.

They even chanted my housemate's name. Seriously, she's brunette and I'm blonde... how can they not tell us apart?

But J'sus rebuked his disciples when they tried to push children away. And I want to share the love of J'sus with them. So what do I do? I prayed about it a lot, trying to think of how to love on the annoying children.

This little girl often grabs my hand and walks with me

Over time I've learned to tolerate the chanting. They just want attention, that's all. If they call me a white person, I call them a black person. Or, I walk up to them and tell them my name, then ask each of their names. I also stop and give high-fives to most of the kids near my house each time I pass.

And recently, a little boy who I'd been coaching on giving high-fives for a couple months, came RUNNING up to me babbling my name with a huge grin on his face. And I don't think he's even 2 years old yet. His mom watches as I pick him up and swing him around then bring him back to her.

This boy has a fondness for sticks. Fortunately he's stopped hitting me with them!

Another day recently a girl who looked to be ten years old came up to me and told me her younger sister was saying my name. That baby's barely learned to speak!

Then there's a woman who handed me her baby girl and started telling her that I was her mother. I smiled and said, "No but I'm her sister." The mother was pleased with that and visited with me while the baby squished my face for a couple minutes.

Of course there are also a lot of mothers who delight in giving me their screaming baby. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't comfort the baby to be held by a strange white person. Ha.

I'm loving the little children. And they're loving me. It's a wonderful thing and I hardly would have imagined it after the first couple weeks here. They even meet some of my relational needs, which is a huge thing in an entirely new culture.

Let the little children come.