'Jesus Loves Me . . . '

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV



Several years ago, OK it's been a bit more than 24 years ago, in the spring or early summer of 1989, when my oldest son was about 2 years old, we were sitting in Meeting for worship one Sunday morning . . .

At this time, 'Communion in the Mannor of Friends' (a period of 'un-programmed' or silent worship) was just before the Pastor got up to give the morning message. I remember being pregnant with my younger son at the time, and my older son standing up, holding on to the pew in front of us, rocking back and forth ever so slightly . . . and softly singing!

Yep, he was singing . . . but ever so softly . . .

'Jesus loves me this I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes Jesus loves me!

the Bible tells me so.'

Well, his singing was so sweet and soft and I honestly didn't think anyone else heard him. But I soon found out I was wrong! I soon heard an all too familiar voice behind me, his Great-Grandmother - my husbands Grandmother, telling me to quiet him down. Shhhhhh, shhhhhh, shhhhhh! I sorta chuckled at that . . . but not out loud!

Oh, come on I thought, he's singing ever so sweetly and softly . . . What harm is he doing? After all, the song he felt led by the Spirit to share that morning was quite appropriate for Meeting for worship and for this point in the worship service. And who was I to stop anyone, including my two year old son, from sharing what he was led my the Spirit to share? I thought to myself, it could have been worse, he could have been singing something else, like . . .

'I love you, you love me,

We're a happy family . . .'

You do recognize the 'Barney song,' don't you? OK, maybe this example wouldn't have been too bad, but it could have been worse!

After a while, our Pastor, Rick, got up and stood behind the pulpit, ready to close out our silent worship with a short prayer and begin his message. He stood there for a few minutes, just watching and listening to my son singing. Then Pastor Rick, ever so kindly, thanked Charles for sharing his song with us and told him it was now his turn to speak.

Charles quickly and quietly took his seat next to me and listened.

Doral, a member of our Meeting wrote about this in a devotional about eight years later. She titled her devotion 'Through the Words of Little Children.' I'm sure I saw it and read it back then, but I just ran across it a couple of days ago, while I was looking for something else in our Meetings' Library. I just love the words Doral used in her devotional, and I'd like to share some of that with you.

Doral wrote: "We sat in silence for a time - no one spoke - but we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. All at once a little voice began singing 'Jesus loves me, this I know . . . ' God spoke to us through this child with his message that God loves us all. The pastor closed by saying 'Charles has said it all." Her prayer: "Dear Lord, help us to listen and be open to your voice through the words of little children."

The scripture that she used was "And Jesus said, 'Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God."     Mark 10:14 KJV

I felt so blessed this week when I found this devotional. Blessed to have this reminder, from Doral, who is no longer here, and to be able to read and to share with you, share how my Friend recalled my son's first vocal ministry during worship and how she chose to share it. This short devotional, from over 16 years ago, serves as a special memory and a blessing from Doral to me.

Yes, 'though the words of little children' . . . we can learn a lot . . . if we just take the time to stop and listen.

I was surprised to read the scripture for this in our hymnal was: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Romans 8:35. I would have expected it to be Mark 10:14.