...but Jesus said,

"Let the little children

           come to Me

and do not hinder them,

for to such

belongs the Kingdom of heaven.

               Matthew 19. 14

(For every child around us,

    whether ours or anothers',

let nothing stand in the way

of a child learning about Jesus.

Teaching them in the every days

   --and taking them to church.

Take up every opportunity

      to love them to Jesus,

including (and maybe especially)

           how we respond to them.

Kindness and attentiveness

     reverberate for a lifetime.

It is how they come to understand

    what it means Jesus loves me.

"Jesus loves the little children,

      all the children of the world."

God uses us to do exactly that.)

O LORD,

May we not just be

    aware of the children around us

        (even the grown ones)

but sensitive to their needs

     by seeing them,

          listening to them,

          and loving them.

Help us to shepherd

   the little lambs and the big ones

that they may know

                they are Yours.