Childlike Excitement

Have you noticed with age comes a jaded attitude? I was on a plane today to Orlando. There was a British man with his daughter beside me, and his wife and other daughter across the aisle. Neither daughter could have been older than 5. While everyone was boarding the plane the daughter across the aisle from me said hey to every single person who passed by(which is quite entertaining with a kid with a British accent.)As we prepared for takeoff, she was so excited about flying, even though she had just gotten off a flight from England. She asked her mom a thousand question about the plane, flying, and the flight itself. Once we began moving down the runway, she looked out a window and saw a building, which she exclaimed, "A building!"Now, if I had to guess, it wasn't her first time seeing a building. It wasn't her first time on a plane. It wasn't even her first time on a plane that day. But to her, it was one of the most exciting things of her short life. Apparently no one had bothered to tell her that buildings are, in fact, quite uninteresting. Planes are nothing new. Neither are buildings. Yet, she was still genuinely excited about the simple things.Somewhere along the way our childike joy was squashed by someone who felt we needed a dose of "reality." This unfortunate medication of the real world squished the simple job that we exhibited as young children. Our desire to be "mature" and "adults" narrowed our focus from the fascination of the seemingly ordinary. In an attempt to be productive we get engulfed with tasks and to-do's that we forget to stop and find joy in the simple things. As followers of Christ, maybe it's time we slow down enough to be amazed by the simple, and maybe even cry out "A building!"