Life Lessons from Nick Jr.

I, like any other mom, know all of the words to the catchy theme songs and repetitive jingles that they sing through out the vast array of Nick Jr. shows. One in particular caught me off guard today and got me thinking. Watching "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" I heard this song come on:
"In everything you do, think of what your friends need too!"

What a good lesson to teach children. Think of other people before you think of yourself. Hm mm, sounding familiar.
"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another." 1John 3:11
"My command is this: Love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12
"The second [greatest command] is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' "Mark 12:31a

Those are just a few examples of the Lord's command to "think of what our friends need too".

As a child, we can see a cartoon teaching about sharing and have a whole new attitude at our next play date. Instead of taking the doll or truck and refusing to let anyone else come near it, we offer it up to a friend freely. We hold out our bowl of animal crackers to another tot at the park to see if he would like some. Yet as an adult, we develop an enormous case of road rage when the car in front of us lets someone in front of them. We fight over jeans at the "One Day Only" sale to make sure we get those Levis at 50% off. We do the stupidest things, not thinking one ounce about someone else. We throw everything but our own motives and needs to the waste side. Why?

Has loving one another become passe? Are we all just so jaded by the ways of the world, that we have developed some sort of "survival of the fittest" mentality?

I often watch my daughter with amazement at the way that everything is new to her. All day she is learning and absorbing information. What she sees, she wants to touch and taste in order to decipher what the object is and what it's all about. I am a little jealous of her at times that she has such a fresh mind. She has yet to be jaded and diluted by the world. She has never felt heartbreak or betrayal. If only I could get back to that state of mind. If I could wipe away years of hurts and fears and become so open to knew information.

I am a very regimented person. I do the same things every day at the same time, in the same order. If something upsets that schedule, trust me, you do not want to be in my way. I tend to be the same way in my thinking. Many adults are. You know what you know, you think what you think, you're right and their wrong and that is that! It is time to let go of that thought process! It is time to open up and be conscious of others and their needs, before ours!

As Ashton watches everything that I do and repeats it as best as she can, I will do the same with Christ. I will watch Him through Scripture and do my best to repeat His life as closely as possible. My first mission will be to love! This will be a hard one for me. To take myself out of the equation and put others, even strangers before me. Strangers especially, "...for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it" Hebrews 13:2.

I encourage you to take on this challenge as well and really start thinking about how you are loving others and if you are loving the way that the Lord wants us to love. Please pray for me in my journey, I will pray for you in yours.