Sep
14
2021
A Child’s Way Of Talking
Posted in Discipleship 4 Comments
When we watch family videos, I am always amazed.
I remember one video when I am standing in kitchen busy at a task.
I was getting snacks for my children who had just come home from school.
One of my older daughters was filming, taking on the role of family chronicler.
As I was going here and there in the kitchen, while my older son was talking.
I was keenly aware of the other children all around me, but this particular son had a lot to say.
He talked about the teacher changing their seats.
He talked about who he was sitting with and where his new seat was located in the classroom.
I was filling bowls with a snack for each of them.
I was acknowledging artwork that someone else wanted hung on the refrigerator.
I was pouring some juice to wash down the snack, in the cups I know they each enjoyed.
I was hugging the littlest one at my knee.
It is my son talking in the background that stands out.
He is unseen in the video, but he is heard.
He is heard above everyone else but not at the expense of everyone else.
I was exhausted just watching and listening, remembering that day as if it was yesterday.
My son is lovingly teased about that video.
No one could get a word in edgewise, they say.
He is a lawyer today, so that verbal skill has served him well.
It was very obvious that there was only one of me and five of them.
I was outnumbered.
With Facetime, I can talk to my granddaughters.
Asking the right questions, gets them talking about their favorite thing.
My two-year-old granddaughter will draw a picture for me as we’re on the phone.
She will tell me all about the picture she is drawing.
My three-year-old granddaughter will tell me about preschool.
Her new friend, who sits across from her, has the same first name as me.
She has my real name, not the shortened name my soon-to-be husband gave me years ago.
My granddaughter loves the fact that her friend and her Grandma has the same name.
My littlest granddaughter is 17 months old, so I hear words here and there.
I see books that she wants to show me.
I see her smile that beams widely across her face.
The wonders of technology.
Whether it was my children all those years ago or my granddaughters now, it is the same.
Children talk in an interesting way.
Polysyndeton is the use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause.
It is an energetic form of talking; a building up of ideas one on another.
Any parent knows this type of talk very well.
And, I went to school, and I had fun, and we had recess, and I played on the playground.
And, And, And.
The child is excited and he/she wants you to know it.
That’s what I heard in the video when my son was talking.
That’s what I hear when my granddaughters want to tell me something very important.
Their little minds are going so fast.
Lumping the details together is the only way to express them.
I know that there are days when that rapid fire talk can be a bit exasperating.
If you stop and think about what is going on in their little brains, you appreciate it more.
Little children have so much to say.
How wonderful to be the person to whom they want to say it.
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons…The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
(Mark 3:13-15 and 6:30,31)
Jesus taught His disciples about a cycle of discipleship.
There was a His call, their commission, and their coming home.
Jesus called the Twelve to Himself and commissioned them to preach and drive out demons.
Then He encouraged them to gather around and report to Him all they had done and taught.
Can you hear them?
Can you imagine what it must have been like?
And we preached in the town, and we taught the people about the Kingdom, and we…
And, And, And.
How are we doing?
Do we come back to Jesus at the end of our day and report to Him all we said and did?
Do we tell Him with excitement one thing, and then the next thing, and then the next?
Do we take the time to hear Jesus speak to our hearts?
Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.
Oh, may we talk to Jesus like a little child.
May we be so excited as we tell Him all the things we want to tell Him.
And, And, And
Music to His ears.
This is lovely. I love to hear my 3 y/o granddaughter’s unique way of saying things also. I am reading ” Gentle and Lowly” about the heart of Jesus toward His own. Highly recommend!
Child speak…I think we all need to do more of that when we talk to our Lord.
That book comes highly recommended, Paula.
Thanks for mentioning it here.
Blessings,
Gina
How well I remember those days too! It is wonderful to have you back on board!
Nancy
Nancy, it is good to be back and humbling to be missed.
Gina