A Heart of Hope

Joshua lay spread eagle in his dump truck pajamas and sprawled across the sidewalk this morning. “Draw me, Mommy!” he invited as he uncurled his fingers to reveal the chubby piece of blue chalk he’d been hiding in his palm. 

“Ta-da!” I sang as I pulled Josh up by the arms and we inspected the sidewalk masterpiece. 

“It’s me!” he said, and then ran for the bucket of chalk.  “I need to decorate myself,” Josh explained as he began to meticulously add details to the sidewalk silhouette: pink spiky hair sprouting from the top of the oval head, bright blue sweatbands on each wrist and knee; striped baseball pants extending to the toes, and a cheery yellow smile that stretched from ear to ear. The chalked boy on the sidewalk looked as if he were preparing for a show beneath the big top, but the real boy who had designed him saw a superhero of sorts in the dusty pastels.

When his artistic endeavor was done, Joshua stood back to admire his work. Suddenly, he ran back to the chalk bucket and grabbed the blue once more.  With a flourish, he drew a large blob beneath the chalk man’s chin.  Stretching from shoulder to shoulder, the blob made the yellow smile look small in comparison.
“There,” Josh declared with pride. “It’s finished!”

“What is that blue part?” I asked, curious about the final addition.

“That’s my heart,” Josh replied.

“Oh,” I said as I nodded. “Why is your heart so big?”

 

Josh looked at me as if I’d just asked why I needed to wear underwear to the grocery store. He rolled his eyes like he’s seen his big sisters do, and then he stated the obvious. “Mommy, my heart is HUGE, because it is SO FILLED UP with HOPE!”

I’m not terribly enamored with striped baseball pants, but I’d love to wear the kind of heart that Joshua’s chalk boy is modeling just outside of my front door today, the kind of hope-filled heart that is bigger than the smile on my face.
The Overflow: “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.'” Luke 10:22