Church baby

We go to a very small church near our house.  Ladybug is the only regular attendee under the age of 4.  Thus, she is the official church baby.  The outpouring of love for our little girl has blown us away. 

 

When we first began attending, she snuggled as far into our arms as she could and would not let anyone else hold her.  Then she discovered that if she laughed, people laughed back and she started to open up.  She loves sharing laughs. 

 

Before too long, people started giving her small toys, books and treats.  Just because they wanted to.  At Christmas, a bag of toys was placed anonymously on our porch.  Her newfound friends didn't desire credit.  They just wanted to bless her and us through her.  At Easter, they delighted in watching her hunt eggs and pointed out ones she missed so they could watch her put them in her basket.  

 

There is not a single person there who doesn't adore Ladybug.  At a recent fellowship time, I had her walk across the room to me to show how she's getting steadier on her feet.  I wasn't the only proud mama in the room.  It was as if everyone was watching their own daughter/granddaughter take her first steps.

 

Thanks to this deluge of love, Ladybug has come out of her shell.  As one woman says, always with a smile, "She's such a distraction, but in a good way."  She will walk to the ends of our pew during services to see who is around.  The woman who sits in front of us on Wednesday nights tries to coax Ladybug to come sit with her.  Sometimes she does.  Most Sundays, she plays peek-a-boo with the man who sits behind us.  She plays the piano after services with one of the elders.  The youngest daughter in a family of 4 kids has adopted Ladybug as her little sis and Ladybug is entranced by her.  They can spend ten minutes just touching each other softly to see how the other feels. 

 

Our daughter is thriving in this love.  We are so blessed to see such a beautiful example of God's love in the way our fellow churchgoers embrace "their" church baby.  If we would welcome each new person into our fold as Ladybug has been welcomed, how quickly would the world be transformed?

~MM