Introduction

Three Pennies and a Rock story

Picking my kids up at the car line.
Could see Lillian, she was beaming.

“Dad, today I had the best day EVER!”

A new friend?
A good grade on a test?

“Today, on the playground, I found three pennies and a rock!”

Thrust her little hand forward in the car.
I almost cried

Happy to be a dad, sure
Long to be a child again.

Middle-Age has the tendency to leave us jaded

We see that some bad things seem to never go away

Like arguing, government incompetence, superhero movies, death and taxes.

We see that some good things never return

Like civility, bipartisanship, humor and love of God within American society.

Wonder is oftentimes the very last thing we feel.

Children experience wonder like nobody’s business

Ever seen a little child with a set of keys in their hands?

As they twirl them around unartfully in their hands, their entire world can be found in those keys.
As adults, we’ve seen keys a million times and we’ll see them thousands more chances are.

Scripture

Matthew 18:1-3 – “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of themand said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
John 1:9-13 – “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.  But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Apathy

Story – Kids are rarely indifferent

One of my favorite memories of Ben occurred when he was playing flag football around 6 years old.

Man, he was EX-CI-TED to be playing.
He got out on the field, and just started yelling, “ROCK & ROLL!”

He was so excited, soon, his entire team was yelling “Rock & Roll!”
To us parents, this was just another sports events in what appears to be a never-ending parade of them.

But to the kids, it was the SUPER BOWL!