Photo Copyright: Lain Watson, “Dandelion” Flickr https://goo.gl/dnPTaq http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I work at an early childhood center just outside of Spokane, Washington. It’s a blessing to get to work with children and I’m amazed at all the things they teach me. One day last week we went out to play on the playground which is something we do everyday. Most days I’m patrolling the playground breaking up arguments about soccer teams and making sure the kids don’t go head first down the slide. But one day last week, something different happened.

As I’m standing watching the kids, A five year old little boy (we’ll call him Andrew) came running up to me holding a bright yellow flower.

He had found it on the playground. Andrew then said, “Mrs. Kimmie, can you keep this safe all day?” I responded with a “Well, why Andrew?” I noticed he was holding something in his hands.

And he said, “ I want you to keep it safe so that I can give it to my mom when she picks me up. She loves flowers and I know this flower will make her day. So can you Mrs. Kimmie? Can you keep it safe?”

I took that little yellow flower and I put it in a Dixie cup of water and I put it on the teachers counter.

What’s interesting though is to this little boy it was this beautiful flower but to the adult, to me, this yellow flower is a dandelion. It’s a weed.

What’s crazy is that Andrew picked this for his mom, because he knew she loved flowers and it would make her day. Yet, that very morning I was telling my husband that he needed to get rid of all the hideous weeds in our backyard.

As we age our vision changes but it’s more than just degeneration. We lose the ability to see beauty among the weeds. Our eyes focus on the bad, the ugly, and the downright scary.

See, Andrew had the ability to see more than I could that day. He saw a flower and saw an opportunity to brighten his Mommy’s day.

As I age, I’m saddened by the things I cannot see anymore. I wish I could see the world as Andrew see’s it but more importantly, I wish I could see what God see’s. Most days I feel like that dandelion and the world yells how ugly I am.  I am a sinner. I am a weed.

But God looks at me like Andrew looked at the flower when he handed to me. I am beautiful yellow flower and I’m hand picked sitting on the teachers counter- to brighten my Savior’s day.

______________________________

I am a Colorado Girl at heart. I grew up in Colorado Springs, CO and I am a daughter of Holy Cross Lutheran Church. I went to college at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. I earned my degree in Behavioral Science with a minor in youth and then I received my DCE certification. I served as a DCE intern in North Carolina and following that I was the Director of Children, Youth, Family and Worship Ministries at a congregation in IL. I l left that congregation and moved to Idaho where I then married the love of my life and I now am serving as a teacher at a Child Development Center in Liberty Lake,Washington.