I had lunch with my 4th grader this week. Has anyone else experienced this privilege? It's pretty amazing to me that his lunchroom smells exactly like my 4th grade lunch room...a combination of pine-sol and tater tots...and I'm fairly certain it was the same lady spooning up the sweet corn niblets. Lots of noise as kids discuss the global ramifications of girls superiority over boys and vice versa. The conversation at our table centered around the question, "Who is the most annoying person in Mrs. S' class?" Somehow, I was in the running...I didn't win.
I glanced around...kids smiling...hanging out...being themselves...starting to express their fashion individuality...what they do and do not like to eat. One little girl told me she doesn't eat peaches because of her anger issues. I wasn't able to make the connection between the two. So many little personalities growing...forming... becoming. Who will be labled as "leader"..."wierd"... "geek"... "athlete"..."academic"? They'll start to find their groups...their cliques...their identities, and it will begin to shape who they become as adults.
I thought about my own children. What am I speaking into their lives that will remind them of their value to the Creator? Do they know that He loves them enough to die for them? I want them to be shaped by this in the myriad of choices they will face as they search for their identity in the midst of something that tells them they are not precious in His sight.
What about you? Have those choices brought you to a place that suggests your appraisal would reveal something inexpensive? Through Jesus Christ, you have been made priceless. I know because He said so.