Photographs and Memories

Every one. Every single one. Throughout twenty-three years of preaching I have kept all of the art work given to me by children where I have preached. I have pictures on attendance cards, the backs of bulletins, on sermon helper sheets, blank sheets of paper, note cards, gum wrappers, and just about anything else that a child can use to color or draw a picture during worship services. Some of these these children are now adults and have children of their own. My most prolific contributor is a (now) young lady named Adra. I met her when she was probably six years old and she was already a gifted artist, and nearly six years later her talent has grown immensely. Due to the fact that she drew me something virtually every Sunday for five years, I have to folders full of her creations. It was fascinating to watch her talent expand and her abilities increase over the course of the years, from the rudimentary to the very complex. I would joke with her each week, as we would go over the pieces she'd created for me, that when she was a famous artist I would be able to sell her childhood drawings to fund my retirement.

This week I got my first piece of artwork from a child here at Pleasant Valley. Because of the quarantine I haven’t been able to receive it physically, but Lindsey sent a photo of the picture Haylie drew for me. Since I can’t put it in my folder of art work yet, I decided to make it my profile picture on my Facebook page. I must admit it is a better rendition of me than the previous profile pic someone created of me (if you haven’t seen it yet, just picture this, Brandon Britton as Bob Ross).

Admittedly, we grown ups tend to overlook children, or maybe even avoid them, if they aren’t our own. The apostles did too. Actually they didn’t ignore them, they very much interacted with them. They told them to go play, Jesus has important work to do. They were right, Jesus had very important work to do, and He took that as an opportunity to do a little work on the hearts of His disciples, and anyone else in earshot. “The heart of the kingdom of God is like the heart of a child. You need to be like them, and you better be careful how you treat them” (Matthew 18:1-6; 19:14). The pure, innocent, curious, generous, forgiving, joyful heart that most often is seen in children is the clearest glimpse of heaven we can see on earth.

I tend to picture human hearts like cars. Have you ever owned a new car? I have owned precisely one new car in my life. In 2012 I purchased a Dodge Journey. At the time I was traveling around one thousand miles per week with Latin American Missions, and I was driving a 1998 Chrysler Town & Country minivan with around two hundred thousand miles. While standing in a puddle of radiator fluids on a Saturday afternoon at a service station in Elizabeth Town, Kentucky — two hundred miles from home and two hundred miles from where I was supposed to be the next morning — I decided it was time for a more reliable car, so at the age of thirty-six I bought my first new car.

If you’ve ever owned a new car you know exactly how I treated this car.....at first. Everything was perfect, and I had sixty payments of roughly four hundred dollars before it stopped being a rental car provide by First National Savings and Loans and became “mine.” I wanted to keep it perfect so every speck of dust, stray leaf, splash of mud or any other defiling factor was immediately dealt with. No one was allowed to eat in the car and you had to make sure you wiped your shoes off thoroughly before getting in. How long did that last? It may vary from person to person, but for the most part, once something does permanently mess up your perfection you start caring less and less. Before you know it the floorboards are muddy, the kids have written “Wash Me” on the back windows, and there are enough stray McDonald’s French fries under the seats to make a Happy Meal. Over time there will be dents and dings from shopping carts that were left to wander parking lots like Israel in the wilderness, not to mention the chips and cracks in the windshield from rocks flying off semis with the velocity and accuracy of David’s sling. Once the seat gets the first stain its all over but the crying….and the payments, you still have fifty-eight more of them to make. Once that happens we tend to stop caring as much about the condition of the car and slowly, over time, it gets run down and worn out. I remember a preacher telling me years ago, “Look at every rusted, busted, and broke down car in the junkyard, on blocks in the front yard, or covered in weeds behind the barn. Every one of them, every single one of them at one time was a brand new car that someone loved dearly and paid a great price for. They valued it and cared for it and look at what it is now.” I’ve never forgotten that.

Isn’t that how it is with our hearts and lives? When God forms us in the womb He knows us and He fills us with His love. Our brand new hearts are precious and perfect and pure. Some of the most Christ like acts and words I have ever witnessed have come from the mouths of babes, but it doesn’t take long before those hearts get dinged and dented and defiled. Once that starts happening we tend to care less and less about its condition.

How many of our hearts are dented up and rusting right now? We haven’t collied with shopping carts and rocks, but we have been struck by cruel actions and hit by hurtful words hurled in our direction. As much as we’d like to blame others for the condition of our hearts, the truth is we’ve done our share of eating forbidden fruit and had it stain our pure hearts the way certain food and drinks stick to our teeth. What’s your heart looking like these days?

I keep those works of art for several reasons. One of those reasons is that I am truly grateful that this child cared enough about me to give me a gift that they created. Anytime someone gives us a gift that they create themselves it should be received with gladness. “Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above….” (James 1). Another of those reasons is because I always want to be reminded that I need to try and see the world through the eyes of a child. They have a perspective and a view that I have lost over the years. They see things I cannot see anymore and they care enough to show them to me. I was reminded of that this week when Chris called to share with me something Emma had said to him, “Not being able to go to church on Sunday really messes up my week.” Amen. It sure can, which is why we have to be extra committed to connecting with God and God’s people right now.

I want to close this devotional thought a little differently by including the lyrics to one of my favorite songs. It is near the top of the list of “songs I cannot sing” (songs that squeeze my heart so strongly they push all the air from my lungs and tears from my eyes, leaving me literally unable to sing them). The song is called “Forever Young” and it was written by Bob Dylan. It has been my prayer for my own children for many years now, and it is my prayer for your children, and for those of us who are only young at heart.

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

And may you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous

May you grow up to be true

And may you always know the truth

And see the lights surrounding you

May you always be courageous

Stand upright and be strong

And may you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy

May your feet always be swift

May you have a strong foundation

When the winds of changes shift

May your heart always be joyful

May your song always be sung

And may you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young

May you stay forever young