Seeing More than Stumbling Blocks

Friday, October 10, 2014

Therefore thus says the Lord: See, I am laying before this people stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble; parents and children together, neighbor and friend shall perish. Jeremiah 6:21 NRSV

There are days I struggle to get tasks completed because I don’t understand them. It’s a blessing when one of the church children come up and magically move things or hit a button and things just work. Children see more than stumbling blocks because they believe that they can do anything. 

Children have a unique way of seeing a different perspective. Jeremiah addressed God’s people, who often refused to change their hearts and see differently. 

Sometimes stumbling blocks help us to slow down and re-evaluate the situation. Children bless the church by letting us see things in new and exciting ways. The church must now protect children from things that limit who children are and will become. We must show children they are loved through all of their becoming who God has created them to be.

God, sometimes I get so caught up in the things that are not important that I forget to be who you created me to be. Help me to see beyond the stumbling blocks. Help me to see with the joy, excitement, and hope of a child. Amen.

Rev. Kate West

Pastor

First Congregational Church, UCC

Belle Plaine, Iowa