The Gift of a Child by Alan Wimbish
What kind of gift can a child give? They don’t work so they can’t buy a gift from the store. Unless the child is a master carpenter, they probably can’t make you a gift with their own two hands. I have four children, so the gifts that my child bring to me are usually scribbled on paper with a dozen colors of crayon and, if I’m lucky, dobs of not-yet-dried glue on it. To my children, their gift is a masterpiece; to me, it’s a hodgepodge of colors in various art mediums. So I proudly hang each “masterpiece” on the wall by the kitchen table.
On July 23, my wife and I welcomed our fourth child into our family. Of course, she is beautiful and always brings a smile to my face. As I was in the delivery room on the night of my daughters birth, I couldn’t help but think of the miracle of everything going on in that hospital room. My beautiful wife who was getting ready to bring another life into the world. The doctors and nurses whom God had given wisdom to to help bring this little life into the world. The way God has caused the female body to literally morph itself to allow a baby to be delivered. As my daughter was born, God reminded me of his grace and mercy to every person. It’s a miracle that any of us survive the birth process. How helpless we all are after we are born. Human children are proof that evolution is false. When a horse, a giraffe, or just about any animal for that matter is born, it is able to stand up, feed, and follow the herd. Human babies, on the other hand, are completely helpless. There’s no standing up on their own, or being able to feed themselves within minutes. We hope and pray that after eighteen years of that child living with us, they maybe able to survive on their own. For a “species” that is at the top of the food chain, we would not have survived as a “species” if we had our babies to rely on to further our “species”. Our children need us. We need God. Without Him in our lives, we are helpless and without hope. Paul says in Ephesians 2 that before the Gentiles knew Christ, they were “separated from Christ” (ESV), and “strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in this world.” These are some of the saddest words in the Bible. Unfortunately, we are not all children of God. We don’t become children of God until we are “born” into His family through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Then comes a daily trusting and dependence upon God for everything. My children are totally dependent upon me and their mother for everything. They trust us for daily food, shelter, and instruction and training in how to eventually be adults. My children are teaching me a lot. Really, they give me gifts everyday. I see myself reflected in them. Not just physically, but also spiritually. Sometimes they behave, sometimes they misbehave. Sometimes I have to discipline them because I love them. Sometimes, they obey completely (it does happen on occasion) and even finish it up with a “Yes sir.” They like to do a lot of different things, but their most favorite thing to do is to be with me, in my presence. Please let me explain what I mean by that. As I am writing this, my oldest son is sitting beside me just “hangin’ out”. He has video games he could be playing or a backyard with toys to go play with. Instead, he wants to sit next to me and just talk. Our Heavenly Father desires the same thing from us. And because Christ has made peace between the Father and us, we can come before the Father and just “hang out” with Him and be in His presence.
My kids give me gifts every day.
Alan Wimbish is the State Coordinator of Child Evangelism Fellowship of New Mexico
