What Did You Leave Behind In Your Childhood?

This morning a friend of mine shared a Volkswagen commercial with me. Click here to view it. In the commercial a little boy dressed in a Darth Vader costume walks around the house trying to move things with his force power, to no avail.

His dad arrives home from somewhere driving his new VW and the little boy runs out to try and start the car using the force, and unbeknown to him his dad starts the car remotely, startling the little guy into thinking that he did it.

I have watched this video numerous times and the expression on the little Darth Vader's face (even though hidden by the mask) is amazing. You really feel his astonishment at what he's accomplished. I have laughed so hard that my family thinks I might be just a little bit crazy. (Truthfully I wonder that at times too!)

As I've thought about this today, it made me wonder what things in my childhood did I think I could do, that as I grew older I laid aside due in part to "maturity". In the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium I love the line in the opening of the story, let me share it with you. Eric is narrating at this point and here is what he says.

"Molly Mahoney was the manager of the Emporium, Mr. Magorium's apprentice, and my only friend. In the mornings, Mahoney would play her piano, attempting to finish her very first concerto, but she never could find the right notes. When she was younger, everyone thought she was a musical genius, a brilliant pianist, and she believed them. But now, as she became a grown-up, she wasn't so sure. I don't know why grown-ups don't believe what they did when they were kids. I mean, aren't they supposed to be smarter?"

So I'm thinking at this point this morning that there may be more to this little Darth Vader VW commercial. What things did I want to do or be as a child? And why did I lay them down? We all had hopes and dreams as children, some wanted to be a fireman, others wanted to be a ballerina and who didn't play pretend that they would end up famous one day?

I think if we'd all be honest with ourselves we'd have to say that at one point in time we wanted to be or do something other than what we are doing now. I mean how many of us when we were younger thought, I can't wait til I grow up and become an adult and start working in a job I hate, paying bills and just trying to get ahead in life? I know I sure didn't.

I think what happens a lot of the time is that we through peer pressure, challenges we faced as children and just plain fear as we grow into adulthood lay those things down because they seem childish and we don't want anyone to think of us as childish. But Jesus actually said that unless we become like a little child we could not enter the Kingdom of God. (Matthew 18:1 - 3)

How about you? Have you become like a little child? What is it that a little child is like? Full of wonder, adventure and excitement at the silliest of things. Are you like that, or are you too busy being the mature grown-up that doesn't have time for silly things? I don't know about you, but I want to change that in my life, and I think I did that this week when I dove into a snowdrift in nothing but my bathing suit and made a snow angel. Click here to see that, and here to see my friends doing it too!

Get 'em up friends, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom of God today!