Becoming as a Child

Yesterday morning I went visiting teaching with a dear friend of mine. We had a wonderful visit and as we left, my friend mentioned that she knew of a wonderful toy store nearby. I had homework that I didn't really want to do and she had a talk that she didn't really want to prepare for, so it seemed like the perfect method of procrastination. We parked and walked to the toy store. My friend was right, it was a wonderful store full of wonderful toys. It didn't just have the same toys you see in the isles of every Wal-Mart and Target. It was full of unique toys and real craftsmanship. We spent over an hour walking around looking at things, playing with things, talking to the store owner, remembering our own childhoods, and talking over life together. It was a perfect morning.

We are often told that we need to be more child-like, but not childish. At first I thought that spending a morning in a toy store was more childish, but as I thought about it I realized that there was more to it then that. Sometime we need to set aside the pressures and stress of life and focus on the things the matter most: our relationships with other people and with God. The time that I spent in that store was more about friendship than it was about toys. We made new friends as we talked with the store owner and the experience deepened the relationship I had with my friend because we both escaped our stressful lives for a simple, happy moment of sisterhood. My homework still got done, her talk still got written, we met all of our responsibilities, but we also helped each other take a step in our process of becoming.