I must say, we all know kids can be, well…kids. Cute. Funny. Annoying. Kids. I have a unique relationship in my life with a 56 year old adult, who has the mental capacity of about a 4-5 year old. My friend “Lilly”. Lilly comes to church with us every Sunday as long as the weather is ok, otherwise she’s on “vacation”.
Lilly has been “dropped in my lap”, by the Lord, and honestly I’ve struggled with that. Please don’t get me wrong, I love Lilly but I have my own kiddos to take care of and sometimes I struggle resenting the fact that I have another. Honestly (I’m ashamed to admit it) I’ve thought to myself, “what is the point of all this?”
Until on a Sunday a few months ago, I picked up Lilly for church and we were driving along talking about her week. She mentioned something she was “teaching” her little 2 yr old niece…something that was not appropriate at all. Lilly thought it was SO very funny and I gently mentioned that teaching her niece that particular song/action could really teach her something wrong. Not much was said but as you would correct a kindergartner…I corrected Lilly, end of story…so I thought.
We went to Sunday school and Church as usual and I “watched” Lilly…again, slightly annoyed at times. At the end of the service, Lilly broke down in tears, hung her head, and cried into her arms…it was really quite heart-breaking. I put my arm around her (lots of times she cries over things she wants, or people who might be sick in her family) and said…”Lilly, what’s wrong?” She looked up at me….”Mandi, I don’t want to teach *Carrie bad things. I want to teach her good things…things about Jesus. I want her to grow up and be a good girl.”
In a span of just a few hours I saw such genuine, beautiful, and authentic brokenness in this 56 yr old/ 5 yr old. She understood what she taught her niece mattered. So was torn up and broken before God that she might led her niece away from the things of the Lord. That hit me like a ton of bricks…Lilly led me. Simply, sweetly, not even being aware….she taught me about brokenness over sin and softness toward others. What we do, matters…what we teach with our lives, matters. I was in danger of teaching my children that all people, don't matter-as I can be impatient with Lilly. What we teach by our brokenness over our own sin or lack of it, matters. A little child, in a 56 yr old body can and….will lead them. That morning, Lilly led me to my own brokenness over how I treat her. It was quite beautiful!
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