through a child's eyes

Meet my niece Zoe. She's cool. And by "cool" I mean she is one of the most delightful pieces to my life. This child causes my heart to overflow with joy, even if it's a fragmented voice message she leaves on my phone. This weekend she joined my mom and sister on a trip to Chicago. During an afternoon visit to the park, she reminded me how beautiful and sacred the perspective of a child is...

While Zoe was playing, another boy at the park fell off the jungle gym and began crying. He was probably nine or ten....and approximately 4 times larger than my niece. Zoe was so concerned about this boy that she stopped what she was doing altogether and began walking behind him as he circled the park. He finally settled on the steps of the jungle gym, with his head in his hands crying. I observed carefully as Zoe stood about two feet in front of him and waited quietly. After several minutes she climbed up on the stair behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. That's it. Just put her hand on his husky shoulder to let him know that she was there and that she cared. It was, in one word, precious.

Turns out that 48 hours with a 3-year-old got me thinking much harder about the way I see people and respond to them. Zoe's pure heart had me wondering how much of the time I say a lot of words instead of sitting in silence with others when they are hurting...or if I ever make myself available to a stranger altogether (particularly one that's much larger and tougher that I). And, if I did see someone in need, would I stop what I was doing to be available?

I think our afternoon in the park told me a lot about who my niece is becoming. And, if that's true, I can't wait to know and learn from her more with each passing year...