Don't Judge and There is a Hope

You know that old saying "don't judge a book by its cover", well today was one of those days that I needed to be reminded of that. You see, most Sunday's I serve in LifeKIDS.tv with the toddlers {16 to 23 months}, on a GOOD day we will only have 5 crying at the same time. Today, for most of the 90 minutes that we were in there it was a good day. We only had to send one on the bye bye buggy, YAY!

There was a new couple that started serving today {Yes, fresh blood}, they were awesome! They were very sweet with the kids and it looked like they were having a good time playing with them too. I hope with us having 24 toddlers, it didn't scare them away. We had one sweet girl who was EXTRA snugly today and a question was asked about her. "Is she always like this?" I answered with a "YES". Then came the "I wonder if Mom just always holds her or if she doesn't get enough attention at home and craves it here". Well thankfully I know this child's parents and she does get enough attention...she just likes to be held, and those who don't know her are suckers for a cute little blue-eyed, blonde haired toddler raising her hands up to be held. The new ones fall for it every time :) There was nothing wrong with her question at all, she just didn't know.

It made me think though, why is this one needing to be held while this other one is playing independently? Why does this one brown-eyed boy {my child} hit others while his victims just take the beating? Why do some come in kicking and screaming while others just walk in like they own the world? I may never know. But what I do know is I have NO idea what goes on in their lives outside of our classroom.

The one who is kicking and screaming, may not get to see his parents very much and doesn't want to let go of them one more time. The one who out of nowhere will just start crying, may just need someone to play with him instead of being brushed off all the time. Life is not just hard as adults, for these kids the thought of their parents leaving them is pure TORTURE. I hurt for those kids who don't spend enough time with their parents, I hurt for their parents too. They may work 2 jobs just to pay the bills, they do it because they love their family so much, but I may never know. What I do know is that God is a God who saves, and he has put these kids in my life so I can LOVE them where they are right now. I don't know what that sweet little blue-eyed girl is going to be when she gets older, but I know God has a plan for her and right now on Sunday's his plan is for her to be in my care.

God has a plan for you too! In Jeremiah 29:11 it says, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." These kids are our future and God has equipped me to give them hope. We may look like we are just playing with them, wiping snot, changing yucky diapers, rocking them, but we are giving them loving arms and hands and there is hope in that.

Know this, you may get annoyed by a kid at Target throwing a fit, but you DON'T know what's going on...don't judge. There is a story behind every person out there...what's the story you need to tell?