Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls of All Ages...

You guessed it! Last week my family joined my husband's mom and dad and enjoyed the circus in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

This was a first time attending the circus for Anna Grace. She was excited to see the elephants and I was just as excited as she was! I know I went to the circus when I was a child but honestly I don't remember it.

It really doesn't take much to amuse my family...here we are all mesmerized!

The ringmaster was amazing with his booming voice and glittery top hat. One of the coolest acts were the girls who did acrobatics in hanging bubbles. I would have been claustrophobic!

When the elephants finally came out, I could hear Anna Grace scream with excitement. Not only were the elephants beautiful, but as a family strutted out holding tails with the baby at the end.

But the coolest thing I saw that day was...

My very own clown!

What family adventures have you taken lately?

That's How God Made Her

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

 

Have you seen the movie Dolphin Tales? It's a family movie about a dolphin that loses his tail and hope until a kind man fits him with a prosthetic tail. Anna Grace (who is almost 4) was fascinated with the dolphin and other sea life but was especially fascinated when a disabled girl visits the dolphin. Why...she has only one leg. Anna Grace asked question after question. Not wanting to make a big deal about it I told her God makes all kinds of people and that is just how God made her. She seemed satisfied with this answer until I told her I have a girl in my class who has one arm. 

Several weeks later, Anna Grace was playing with her Barbie dolls in the bathtub. Some of her Barbie's belonged to me as a child...so they are a little old! As I was closing the closet door, I heard, "Uh Oh!" Turning around, I saw Anna Grace holding a Barbie doll whose leg had fallen off. Immediately she said, "She has only one leg like in Dolphin Tales...that's just how God made her." Since then she has deliberately taken the leg off the Barbie and made her disabled. 

As I was helping her put her pajamas on tonight, I mentioned she would be coming to work with me in the morning. Her eyebrows shot up and she said, "Can I meet your student with one arm?" Honestly, I am a little worried. I'm a little scared with her being four, she might say something in front of my student...but I'm hoping she won't. We had a conversation about why that may make my student sad. Let's cross our fingers. 

She is so interested in the fact that God makes people with one leg, one arm, no legs, and in all different varieties. Her innocence blinds her to the nasty and mean comments that adults can sometimes make about people's disabilities. When my four year old looks at someone who is different than her...she doesn't think about what the person can or can't do...just that God made that person different and He makes us all different. 

I want to look at the world through my four year old's eyes. If we all did..this world would be a kinder place.