I'm a toys-r-us kid...

Do you remember the commercial for Toys-R-Us with the kid (or kids) singing "I don't wanna grow up, I'm a toys-r-us kid"?  That jingle has stuck in head ever since I first heard it.  I can't quite picture the kid singing it, especially since several different kids did the commercial, and maybe some adults too.  I could probably search for it on YouTube.

Anyway, I consider myself a "toys-r-us kid".  Not in the sense that I play with lots of toys and hang out at playgrounds, though I still enjoy toys and playgrounds.  (In fact, while on the 5 day academy in October, I took a few moments to enjoy some of the really cool slides and swings they had there!)

When my daughter was several years younger, I would tease her anytime something came up for children to be involved.  I would tell her that I planned to participate as well.  She would tell me I couldn't.  Then, I would remind her that I am a child... and she would interrupt me, letting me know that a child of God didn't count for this particular situation. 

Yes, I admit it.  I am a child.  I am a child of God.

 

This isn't a new revelation to me or to anyone that knows me.  What is a new revelation to me this morning is something that really shouldn't be, but is.  You know how when you read something that you've known for a LONG time, and something NEW pops out?!?  Well, that is what happened to me this morning as I was reading my bible study lesson for this week (Matthew 6:1-18).  

So, what caught my attention fresh, anew?  That we are taught by Christ to pray as children to "Our Father".  Why did that catch my attention?  I don't really know.  I know of the Scriptures throughout that talk about us coming into the kingdom as a child.  [Matthew 18:3-4, Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14-15, Luke 18:16-17]

Yet, even though I've prayed it [Lord's Prayer/Jesus' Prayer] for YEARS, I don't think I've ever intentionally recognized that I'm praying as a child of God to Father.  What in the world have I been thinking then?!?  That I was just some person praying to God.  Just one more relationship connection for me in the puzzle.  And not just to God, but to the entire community of believers.  I think that slips by me sometimes as well, that this prayer unites all believers as we pray "Our...".  That's important to remember as well.  We come together as children of God.

Children of God.  Child-likeness, not child-ishness.  There is a difference.  And there are Scriptures that refer to believers that are still drinking spiritual milk instead of chewing on solid food.  We are to be intentional in our journey to grow and mature in our faith, yet not transfer our dependence from God to ourselves as we grow.  This isn't easy.  At least not until we face trials, hardships, struggles, etc.

When I think of myself as a child of God, I think of a song by Twila Paris: "The Warrior is a Child".  As we grow up, sometimes we forget that we are God's children.  No matter how much we grow in the faith, let's remember that we are always children of God. 

Being a child of God, what does it mean?  Beyond entering the kingdom as a child, beyond child-likeness vs. child-ishness behaviors, what does it mean?  Here are some words from Henri Nouwen that might explain it better than I ever could:

"Just for a moment, in your prayer and meditation, try to enter this enormous mystery: that you, like Christ, are God's beloved child.  In you, God is well pleased.  Your belovedness precedes your birth.  It will follow you all the days of your life and beyond death.  You are fully loved of God before your father and mother, brother, sister, family, or church loved you or didn't love you, hurt you or helped you.  You are fully loved because you belong to God for all eternity.  That's the truth of your identity.  That's who you are.  And you can reclaim it at any moment." (Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit, HarperOne, 2010, page 110.) 

Here's to living into kingdom life as a child of God!

~Debra