A Sweet, Sweet Spirit

Our three-year-old grandson from Seattle, Cole, spent several days with us recently. The first night went well, and he enjoyed playing with his cousins Caitlyn and Charlie immensely. Unfortunately, the next morning he woke up with a stomach virus. Both his Mom and I hoped that it would pass quickly, but we planned a walk-in visit anyway to one of the local clinics here in Little Rock. We arrived just before lunch (his grandfather, Pop B, decided to wait in the car) and were told, of course, that the staff were all out to lunch for an hour. As we waited, Cole made a couple of trips to the bathroom to deal with his nausea. After we had been there for quite a while, Cole looked up at his Mom and said, "Pop B is out in the car, and he's so tired and hungry."

In years past, my husband and I were in churches that frequently featured a song about "a sweet sweet spirit [being] in this place." It seems that Cole in all his innocence has that instinctual spirit to think of others instead of himself. Psychologists tell us it should be otherwise at this age, that a child is usually quite self-centered until around the age of seven or so. Cole is bucking the trend. I saw his sweet spirit again as our visit neared an end, and I knew that the 2500 miles of distance between us would not be bridged again very soon in this economy. I felt a bit sorry for myself and wailed, "Cole, I am going to miss you so much when you leave." He didn't hesitate for a second before he looked at me with that earnest little face and replied, "I will call you every day."

I would like to hope that this sweet-spirited boy will continue to have a good heart for others as he grows older. Children do learn from example, and he is blessed to have two parents and two co-parents who love him very much.