Kids at church

I was watching all the boys in primary yesterday while I sat with a terrified 4 year old, and I saw that every boy and girl who was over 5 years old--the ones who have been the school--didn't quite act like my kids. The girls were playing with toys and ribbons and not paying attention, and the boys were downright irreverent--mocking those who were singing the songs, refusing to participate in the prayers, talking and squirming and ignoring the teachers. And then there were my kids: so totally different from most of their peers (not all--there were other well-behaved kids scattered around the room, but they were mostly on the other side of the room from me, and heavily overshadowed by the kids surrounding me). My kids were sitting quietly, listening, singing when it was time to sing, praying.

And I sat and looked at them acting more like the 4 and 5 year olds (who were, on the whole, reverent) than the "big kids" and wondered if there was something wrong with my kids.

Then Primary ended and I dragged my exhausted family out into the hall and found all 4 little kids gathered around Caleb because he was holding a single chocolate chip cookie. He said he'd answered a question in class and earned one cookie, and then at the end, the teacher just gave him another. He asked me to break it into 4 pieces. So I did, and handed him the first one. "No," he said. "I only asked for 4 pieces. These are for the other kids. I already had some." He had saved the entire second cookie for his siblings--none for himself at all.

I came away with tears in my eyes.

My kids might be different, but I'd say that it isn't that there's something wrong. There is something very very right.