Lilly and her mom were walking through the park collecting leaves for a school project. Lilly picked up leaf after leaf, looking for the perfect one for her project.
"Mom, I can't just pick any old leaf. It has to be special. I want my project to be the best." Lilly replied when her mom suggested this might be taking longer than it should. Her mom, Bridget, decided to sit down on one of the swings. This was probably going to take awhile. Bridget let herself get lost in her own thoughts as the swing slowly and rhythmically went back and forth.
"Oh, Mom, look at this one! It looks like a heart!" exclaimed Lilly. "I love it, but I don't love these marks over here."
"Well just look for another one without marks," suggested Bridget.
Lilly began to collect one yellow heart leaf after another. "Mom, I can't find any hearts that are perfect. I'm so disappointed."
"Hmmm....sounds like you and God have the same problem." Bridget said under her breath, not thinking her daughter would hear.
"What do you mean?" Lilly asked. "You mean people have marks on their hearts, too?"
Bridget thought for a minute before she answered. Exactly how was she supposed to explain this to a five year old. She wished she would have kept that thought to herself. "Well, unfortunately not very many people love God with a pure heart. We all make mistakes and we tend to put ourselves before others. We forget to love everyone the way God intended us to do."
"So if I'm not nice to people my heart is going to look ugly?" Lilly said with a disappointed look. "I don't want to be ugly on the inside. Won't people see that?"
"Umm...I don't think you have to worry about being ugly on the inside."
"Why not?" Lilly wondered.
"Because if you let Him, God knows how to fix that." Bridget declared.
"He does? How?"
"Well you know how it feels when Daddy gives you a great big bear hug before you go to bed?"
"Ya."
"Well when we make a mistake and tell God we are sorry, God wraps His merciful arms around us and pours His love into us and makes our hearts ready to be loving to others again," Bridget explained.
"He does? Did He ever give you a hug?" Lilly asked.
"Yep, lots of times. It's called Reconciliation. In a couple of years, you're going to get to go, too."
"I am? That sounds awesome!"
"You know what? It is really awesome!"
Lilly looked at the leaves in her hand. "Well maybe I will take this leaf with the mark on it. I know it's not perfect....but...if I pour enough love into it, I bet it will look beautiful." Lilly said thoughtfully.
"You know, honey, I think you're right. I bet that's what God thinks, too."
-Susan
