Elisabeth Adams

Recently, I spent some time on an Israeli college campus with a very small friend while his mother was attending a few classes.

As I strolled the wee chap around the gorgeous, park-like grounds, I counted at least five other babies (one of whom appeared to be in the care of his grandpa). Despite that fact that he wasn’t the only baby on campus, his big brown eyes and enormous smile made quite an impression on the ladies. A middle-aged woman stopped to squeeze his cheeks. A girl on a nearby park bench waved and smiled and cooed, apologizing for her interest, but “He’s so cute, I just can’t help it.”

(And it wasn’t just the ladies: A soldier on the bus-ride home paused and produced a warm smile of his own, giving the wee chap a chance to grab the epaulet on his shoulder).

Babies are in around here.

This is a trait I noticed on the plane, before I even arrived in Israel the first time. I noticed several young Israeli couples traveling with their babies, and unlike some parents I’d observed in the US, they didn’t seem to feel the need to apologize for their children or make deprecating comments about how much work they were. Instead, they visibly enjoyed them. (Now, obviously small children are a lot of work. I’m just talking about the different cultural dynamics).

Big families are most in among the religious here in Israel, but openness to children and a focus on family closeness is part of the broader culture as well. For example, on Saturdays, you can see whole families out strolling or enjoying the park together. Extended families tend to get together more often than is typical in the US as well.

There also seems to be some sense of national family-ness. For instance, when school kids ride the public bus system, it’s assumed to that everyone will look out for them. Or when a young mom wrestles a stroller onto the bus, some stranger will probably lend a hand. Or if she needs to go up front to pay the bus driver, she might ask if you can hold her baby for a moment. (This has happened to me more than once).

Now, I love this about the Israeli culture.  And I’ve read some really eloquent appeals to Christians to form families and welcome babies into them. To these I say a hearty amen!

But before we can progress to discussing how to form a family, and how many babies to welcome, I think we have one foundational truth to ponder in our hearts – and it’s a simple one that any of us, regardless of parental status, can find fruitful in their lives.

It’s what Jesus said:

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.

It sounds like we start, not with children in the generic, or hypothetical children of our own, but with one child. A real one.

Welcome that one. Love that one.

And let me just say, as the older sister of seven siblings (half of whom I can remember from their babyhood), and the friend of some very precious small people, the investment is nothing compared to the returns: Unconditional, exuberant love. A lot of laughter. (And yes, some character-building moments, but perhaps not as many as you might think).

It’s humbling, what Jesus says: What you do to them, you do to Him, to our precious Redeemer. I know I have been humbled, as I’ve babysat, and as I’ve provided respite care for the handicapped and the elderly: the small in the world’s eyes; the great in His kingdom.

If you’re intimidated, you don’t need to be. They’re people. Extraordinarily small ones, yes, but not a separate species you must study in order to understand. They’re like you: they love and long for love; they like and dislike things unique to them.

Feel free to quote this back to me, as I simultaneously love my young students, and fear the chaos they could make of our classroom.

Once, I was that bored student, the stubborn one, and the one so shy it hurt. That I love adventure now, that I accept new experiences, and enjoy making new friends: this is sheer grace, the fruit of God’s love invested by others in me.

Someone (many someones!) welcomed me.

God can help me do the same.

PS Remember how I was praying for the impossible? Well, last week was a week of “impossible” answers for two of my friends! One a relationship that suddenly burst into bloom, and the other an adoption opportunity that appeared out of nowhere. There are no words for how BIG and how KIND our God is.