I am so often reminded of why we are told to "become as little children" as we prepare for the coming of our Savior. Children are so loving, forgiving, teachable, understanding and unprejudiced. Why do we have to "grow up" and lose so much of that?!
A few weeks ago, I was reminded yet again, of the purity and innocence of a child's heart. Seneca came home from school one day a few weeks ago and, as she threw a flyer in my lap, simply said, "I want to take Jeffrey!" I smiled and said, "OK. To what?" As I looked down at the flyer, I was surprised to see what was the announcement of an upcoming "Daddy/Daughter Date." I will admit, as much as I was so thrilled that she wanted Jeff to go with her, I was a little bit surprised, considering the nature of the evening (this is a new experience/situation for us). Making sure she understood that it was a "Daddy/Daughter Date" (even though the flyer specified that you could bring your Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Uncle or Friend), she smiled and said again, "I know! I want to take Fuh Chan!" (Every time she calls Jeff that, my heart smiles. In addition to still calling him "Jeffrey" every now and again she now lovingly refers to him as "Fuh Chan," which is the Chinese word for "Father.") She then proceeded to say, "We have a Daddy/Daughter Date coming up at Daddy's church, so I thought I could go to that one with him and have "Fuh Chan" come to this one."
Simple as that.
I must say...I was in awe for a moment (I still am actually). As adults, we make situations like this so personal and complicated, that it often creates confusion, contention and hard/hurt feelings. For this little 7 year old, it made absolute sense in her mind to split the time between the TWO men she loves. A simple and beautiful compromise....from a child. I stand amazed at the beauty of this little girl's soul. And so it was, Baby and "Fuh Chan" began preparing for a fabulous date night. The theme? "UNDER THE SEA."
On the flyer, all girls and their dates were asked to dress up either as sea princesses, mermaids or pirates. I canNOT TELL YOU how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE that my little PRINCESS wanted nothing other than to be a PIRATE!!!!! HIT IT!!! And so, Mama set out on a search for the PERFECT pirate costumes!! It didn't take long. Fortunately, my sister's cute brother and sister-in-law had JUST invested in the most AMAZING matching pirate costumes for this last Halloween. Would you believe that the sizes fit Baby and Jeff perfectly!?! Of course they did! ;-) So grateful for sweet Peggy and her willingness to share these fabulous costumes! I think it's safe to say, that they were probably one of the best-dressed couples there that evening! Can you stand it? How seriously CUTE are these costumes...these pictures and these priceless TREASURES of mine!?
Love the picture below of them driving away. All pirates drive away in Galants, don't they?! LOL! Awesome.
They had SUCH a fun and memorable night of activities, games, dancing, face-painting and more!!!
I am so grateful for this very special and memorable night for BOTH of these two crazy pirates! And even more so, I am filled with gratitude and humility for this precious little girl and her tender heart and constant example of Christlike love and understanding. My heart was (and still is) so touched by this "little" thing, that was anything BUT little to me.....or to Fuh Chan. :-)