“14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. (Matthew 19:14-15)

I am guilty of taking children a little less serious than I take adults. I believe it is a part of the way we look at children as a whole. After all, they are only children. They do not have the power or authority to make decisions or a difference in any way. Right?

Today at work a little boy came up to me and asked: “Mr. Mauricio, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?” I said; “Well buddie, I am pretty busy can I talk to you when I finish up here?” When he agreed I went about my business and forgot all about that little conversation. About three hours later I walk out by the pool where the camp kids were and there he was looking for me to have a conversation. When I asked him what it was about, he told me; “I think God is trying to tell me something!” With a chuckle I walked him into the loby and sat down to hear him out.

” I hear Him call my name at night” he said. I responded the only way I knew how: “What do you say?” His response was simple, “It freaks me out, but I say ‘ yes God, I am here’.” He went on to tell me that God tells him to do things. This is where it gets good!

“He tells me to do stuff like help people, you know? Like give some of my toys to kids who don’t have any, and like go around and tell people about His love for us and help them believe too. Does He do things like that?”

Does age matter? Is the Holy Spirit only able to work in the lives of “grown ups”? Is it possible that we discredit children because of their age?

When I left the conversation after a few minutes of encouraging the young boy to listen carefully, and explaining to him how he can know whether it is God or something else, I blessed the young boy and insured him that I would pray for him. His response was, “Thank you. Your going to be a pastor right? Well, I am going to pray for you, Mr. Mauricio, I am going to pray that God makes you a pastor because you need to be. Your gonna be a great pastor.”

With his blessing I walked away humbled and touched deeply by the openness to my Lord this young boy has. It reminded me that Everyone has a role in the Missio Dei, no matter how old – or how young.