Ever noticed how children reveal the hearts of adults? I think of the time in Scripture when parents brought children to Jesus, so He could lay hands on them and pray—and the disciples rebuked the parents. I imagine those disciples thought Jesus was just for grownups. BUT, they were so wrong. Jesus didn’t think the parents were foolish to bring their little ones to Him, and He didn’t think children didn’t need Him. He said “Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19: 14)

I really like Jesus for this so much. What a beautiful glimpse into how our Lord feels about little ones!

JoJo Thomas was my pastor from elementary school till he married Dan and I. Like Jesus, he made it obvious that he highly valued children. One Sunday, when I was young, he wasn’t in the pulpit, though I saw him after church. My mom explained that once a year he served in the nursery. Why? Because when our church hit a famine of nursery workers and no amount of asking was moving the people, he prayed and asked the Lord to change hearts. And the first heart to change was his! He felt the Lord was calling him to lead by example. And so he did. Hearing this deeply planted this truth in my heart: No one is too important to serve, and children are very valuable to God.

Years later I had moved away, married Dan, and was living in Virginia. Jacob, our oldest, was just toddling, and I was pregnant with Abby. My grandfather died, and we traveled to South Carolina for the funeral. We shook hands, hugged strangers before the service, and kept Jacob quiet and obedient as best we could. I was sad, and I was weary. Unexpectedly, a few couples from our church in Georgia arrived. They drove three hours to attend the funeral of someone they didn’t know to support our family. I was so touched that they loved us that much. JoJo, our pastor, and his wife, Debbie, were among them. That’s six hours in a car round trip! For us! And then we all sat in the tiny funeral home chapel and waited and waited for the service to begin. Dan and I continued to keep Jacob quiet and obedient as best we could. Just before the service began, my pastor walked up to our pew and said, “Let me take him.”

And so, he held Jacob’s hand and slowly walked the parking lot where I could see them occasionally out the windows. They picked up rocks and looked at weeds. And so, I grieved and participated in my beloved grandfather’s funeral, and my pastor watched my kid. Six hours in a car, and he missed the service. But I realize now, he didn’t come for the service. He came to love us. He came to show us how Jesus loves us all. And my faith in my living Lord Jesus was strengthened, because I saw a man who acted like Jesus toward a little child.

To me, one of the roles of children in the church is to reveal our hearts. The disciples wanted the children to go away. Jesus invited them close. Jesus said, “whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42). Praying that God will make me, and all of us, at Christ Church, like JoJo. Which is to say, like Jesus.