A Childlike Attitude: Lessons I Am Learning from My 2-Year Old Grandson
Some things we can learn and adopt in our own life to gain a childlike attitude.
While taking my 2-year old grandson Zayn for a walk the other day, we walked by my oldest son’s car. He had stopped by to see his sister and her two boys. While walking by the car, Zayn said something unexpected. While holding up his little hands he said, “What a wonderful car.” My son’s car looks nice, but it is an older car and nothing that would cause me to say “What a wonderful car.” However, a 2-year old saw the beauty of his uncle’s car.
The next day Zayn was watching his mom pour out old, dirty rainwater from an outdoor fireplace. While he was watching her he said, “That is a beautiful waterfall.” His mother saw dirty water that she needed to pour out; he saw a beautiful waterfall.
While being a grandparent, and a proud one at that, this quote by David Suzki seems to fit: “One of the joys of being a grandparent is getting to see the world again through the eyes of a child.”
Being around my little 2-year-old grandson, I am learning so much about the simple things in life. I am amazed by his positive outlook toward life. The more I am around him the more I understand why God encourages us to become as a little child and to have a child-like attitude.
"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3, New International Version).
God wants us to have a childlike, grateful, submissive and faithful heart. As we grow older, we have a tendency to become angry, cynical and ungrateful. While a child has yet to be touched by the concerns of the world.
What are the attributes of a child that we can learn from and how?
A child is innocent.
A child is trusting.
A child believes without complication.
A child is humbled.
A child is content in the little things.
A child has enormous faith.
A child is awed by majestic splendor. Even with dirty rainwater.
A child takes to heart God’s Word in all its simplicity.
Here are some things we can learn and adopt in our own life to gain a childlike attitude.
1. Trust
Children trust their parents completely. God also wants us to trust and rely on Him in the same way. When Zayn’s mom is gone from the room even for a few minutes, he will stop and ask, “Where did mommy go?” He loves, needs, and trusts his mom so much that he wants her presence at all times. We should have that same attitude toward God. Our minds should always be on God, all day long because we trust and need Him that much.
2. Excitement
Kids can get excited about anything. Zayn was excited just watching his mom pour out that dirty old rainwater, because he saw it as a beautiful waterfall. Every activity with him is a new adventure, a new opportunity to explore, a new fun and interesting challenge. We to should approach things in life the same way. Meeting new challenges with excitement! Look at all the positives instead of seeing all the negatives.
3. Short memory
It is amazing how a child can go from tears to being happy. Kids do not analyze past experiences in detail like we do as adults. They can be angry with the parent one minute, the next minute kissing them with all the love they can give. They do not harbor anger or resentment as we do, because they have a short memory. We as adults need to develop a short memory of all the negatives wrongs that have happened to us. We should learn to “let it go” just live like our children do. Life is too short to let past pains, betrayals and disappointments linger and fester in our minds.
4. Appreciation
My little grandson has learned two very important words: “thank you.” He also has learned how to express love and appreciation to his mom. One day while his mom was putting makeup on, he looked at her and said, “You're beautiful mommy.” She was so touched that it brought her to tears. To think that her sweet little 2-year-old said such an awesome thing to her. We should all have a heart of appreciation. Express appreciation every day to your family, to others, and especially to God. It makes a huge difference in your mind. You cannot have hate and appreciation at the same time in your mind. They just cannot exist together!
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1, NIV).
Ask God to give you a childlike attitude.
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Janet Treadway
Janet Treadway was born in Washington, D.C., but was raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. She started attending the Church of God with her mother at the age of 14 along with her twin brother, Jim.
She was baptized at the age of 19 in 1974. She has been involved in various activities, such as serving as the managing editor of UCG’s first teen magazine UsTeens, which was distributed worldwide and published in English and Spanish.
Janet’s first love is writing. She has contributed many articles in various publications such as Vertical Thought, Virtual Christian Magazine, United News and others. Her article “Take Action, Your Life May Depend on It” is also featured in the reprint “The Cycle of Abuse.” Janet draws from her own life’s experiences and challenges when she writes and is motivated to give readers hope that God will see them through anything.
Janet has worked in the home office of the United Church of God since 1998. She is married to Charles Treadway and has four children, David, Michelle, Michael and Josh, as well as six grandchildren and two granddogs, Jo Jo and Vinny.
