Eyes of Jesus

So today was an eye opening experience.  Rob has befriended a sixteen year old boy that goes to Anderson High School.  His story will break your heart.  He has a cleft pallet, a pace maker, and a mother with severe diabetes.  His mother has already had a leg amputated and is on dialysis three times a week.  They are not sure how long she will make it in this condition.  All of this combined with a speech impediment has caused this teen to be extremely shy. This family is barely surviving on her disability check.  Rob just helped them to get running water in their trailer.
  Some people at church gathered clothes for this sweet young man.  Since the kids have heard their daddy talk about his new friend, they wanted to go with him to deliver the clothes. We thought this would be  a good opportunity for them to see how blessed we truly are and to see us in service to others.  On our way, I was praying about the kids reaction to this family's living conditions. They are the age that they say whatever comes to mind- good or bad. I struggled with the idea of telling them what to say (or what not to say) but decided to just go with it and hope for the best.  I have found the more I intervene the less I rely on the Spirit.
  As we got out of the car, we were greeted by 6 chihuahua dogs and we could see a pit bull tied to the trailer.  There were piles of trash everywhere, the trailer has boarded up windows, and the door was wide open.  Inside, the floors were rotting out and the house smelled horrible.  I noticed in one corner of the house the lady had a a few statues of birds and some stuffed animals. Other than that, the house was a complete disaster.
   We visited with the family for a bit.  The mother loved the kids immediately, and seemed to hit it off with Caden.  The kids were very sweet and seemed to enjoy talking with the family.  As we got in the car, Maddie was  thinking of ways to help this family.  She wanted to get them a new house.  You could tell that she was really concerned for their well being.
   Sweet Kinley's only comment.  "I really liked the pretty statues in their living room."
  Not one word about the piles of trash or the horrific smell.  If you know Kinley, you know that she has the nose of a hound dog and gags at the slightest stench. But it was as if she did not even see or smell any of that.  She was focused  on what seemed special to this family.  She only saw the good.  A child like faith.
Immediately I was reminded of this scripture:
  " I tell you the truth," Jesus said "unless you change and become like them little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
  Webster defines Humility or humbleness as the quality of being courteously respectful of others.  The absence of arrogance, boast fullness, and pride. 
  There it was in front of me.  Child like humility pure and simple.  And once again my children ministered to me in a way no one else could, loving people for who they are and seeing them through the eyes of Jesus.