Is there anything too small?

Earlier today I was helping my son, age 4, to open a fruit roll up that his auntie bought him and I was having a difficult time doing it. The candy was so sticky that it wouldn't even roll off the cellophane wrapper and my son was desperate for the whole thing to be unrolled without a tear. I worked on it for a minute or so and then resigned, telling my son matter-of-factly that I wasn't going to be able to pull the candy off in one whole piece.

"You can do it, Mom!" His sure little voice replied. "Anything is possible with Jesus! Just ask him for help!"

Well. I didn't see that coming. I probably should have told him that he was right, and said a little prayer right then and there, not just for a safe delivery of the fruit roll up out of its wrapper, but also of thanks for my son's insight into the things that really matter.

I didn't though. I giggled a little and told my son that Jesus was probably helping others with bigger problems and maybe we shouldn't bother him with our small challenge. My son accepted this statement readily enough because by this time he had his candy in hand and was on to other tasks. I'm sure he's forgotten about the whole exchange by now. But I haven't.

I missed out on an opportunity here. In the classroom we called these opportunities "teachable moments," and they were the most powerful teaching tool we had. These were the moments when a child opened himself up and allowed you to see into this thoughts and his heart; when he asked you a genuine question simply out of interest or shared a personal insight, and allowed you to teach him something through his own experience. I realized- too late- that such an opportunity had passed me by today, although it wasn't what my professors in grad school might have intended when they taught me this concept.

Today it wasn't about what I should have been teaching my son; it was the reverse. My son taught me today. He reminded me that God knows all of our struggles- even our little ones. He reminded me that it's never a bad time to pray for grace, even if it is only to handle a difficult candy wrapper. We should, as believers, put our faith in Him and remember to ask for help when we need it because no man, woman, or child lives life alone. It is all to easy to fall into the trap of self-importance, but in reality it is through humility and prayer that we become great, because it is through these things that we realize our true purpose in life.

Sometimes it just takes a child- and his candy wrapper- to remind us of what is truly important, and that nothing is too small to ask God for help.