another Maddie anecdote

On Sunday Maddie had a bit of a cold, so instead of putting her in nursery I took her to church with me. Ben was preaching and I didn't want to miss it. We stood in the back for the worship songs, Maddie swaying and singing along. When she started to get too noisy, we moved to the chapel where a live feed of the service plays. Because we were the only ones in the room, Maddie had the freedom to run about while I watched the service. 

She was very interested in the large stained glass image of Jesus at the front of the chapel. I explained to her that it was a picture of Jesus, and that He loves her very much. She smiled as I spoke and soon began to say, "Hi, Jesus!" over and over, waving and smiling and pointing at her friend. Next thing I knew, she was in the second row of chairs, squatting down, and then jumping up shouting, "Peekaboo, Jesus!" This continued for some time.

I offered her a snack. She hurriedly opened the package, withdrew a single snack and held it up to toward the front of the chapel. "Here you go, Jesus," she said, offering to share her food. Still later, she lifted her sippy cup, "Here you go! Jesus! Here you go!" 

It is so silly, but the whole spectacle brought tears to my eyes. Here was my tiny child, interacting with a stained glass image of Jesus, playing peekaboo and offering snacks. It warmed my heart to know just how pleased her Heavenly Father was with her in that moment, delighted in the simple way His creation, a toddler, showed love.