Just Children?

Late one evening, D.L. Moody, arrived home from speaking at a meeting. Emma, his wife, was already asleep. As her exhausted husband climbed into bed, she rolled over and murmured, “so how did it go tonight?”

“Pretty well,” he replied. “Two and a half (meet the father)”

His wife lay silently for a moment pondering this response, then finally smiled, “that’s sweet,” she replied. “How old was the child?”

“No, no, no,” Moody answered. “It was two children and one adult! The children have their whole lives in front of them. The adult’s life is already half-gone.”

I have heard that story a few times over the course of this school, so I thought I should share it. I copied it from the book “Too Small to Ignore” by Wess Stafford.

As part of school, we each get to teach each other about the Value of the Child. I pretended to be teaching in India, and my Indian "hippie shirt" goes nicely with dreads :)

One of the things we have been learning about is the “4-14 window.” 80% of people who meet the Father do so between the ages of 4 and 14. Yet most groups focus on reaching adults. That’s not very strategic. I am glad to have grown up in a church which values children, and put a lot into the “Kid’s Church” program.

Here in San Jose we work with “Metro M-work.” It’s much like my Kid’s Church experience – fun up-beat songs, games, prizes, and a lesson from the Word with lots of visuals. Only this service takes place on the street, with the parents chilling in front of their houses, watching. As they see us love their kids, and listen in on the stories, the Father works in their lives too. As kids meet the Father, the parents follow suit. Whole families are being reached, through the children…just children?