Bedtime is always a reminder to me of how undeserving I feel to have these two precious babies. I’ve got my spicy girl who is so funny that sometimes I just let her stay up late, so I can hear what crazy things she has to say. And then I have my sweet boy that will just press his head against me and let me hold him and snuggle him.
And every night as I put these two to bed, I feel so undeserving of these good, good gifts.
But then, my mind goes next to how undeserving they are as well. My babies didn’t get to choose what family and what circumstance they would be born into. These kids are going to grow up in a (somewhat) stable middle-class home. They constantly get spoiled by extended family. They get told I love you and hugged so often that Ellie literally told us tonight, “I don’t have time for this” when we asked for another hug. My babies did nothing to earn this life – it’s just the life they were born into. Because their mom and dad are able to work, they get to go to a great school with great teachers and learn so many things. They look at heaping plates of food and tell us that they don’t like it (even though they ate the exact same thing the night before). And they know, if they turn down this plate of food, they won’t starve. They don’t have to worry about being taken care of.
And then, there are other precious babies that are in circumstances they don’t deserve. But they were born into desperate and dark situations. Homes with parents that are fighting addictions. Homes with empty pantries. Born into poverty and would be so grateful for this heaping plate of food that my kids are rejecting. There are babies that are experiencing violence and oppression and abuse. Babies that have been separated from their families and people they know. Alone and afraid and confused. And I just can’t even imagine my babies being in those circumstances.
And I guess I say all that as a reminder. A reminder to not become so politically arrogant that you forget to care about the kids. A reminder to not emotionally disconnect from the real humans that are caught up in all kinds of different circumstances that we see everywhere we turn. A reminder to care for the least of these, and do something when you find opportunities to do something.
“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” – Matthew 25:40
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” – Mark 9:37
LAUREN ELLIOTT 