At the end of our Bible study Christmas brunch yesterday, the little ones came in with their jingle bells. They had darling costumes and had practiced their lines and songs. But the best part of the show was cute, little about-to-turn-three Makenna.

As the kids were shuffling onto the stage and getting settled, she pointed and exclaimed, “Oh! Theeeere’s my mama!” Then she gave a smile that showed all of her dimples as she waved to her mom, about four tables back. “Hi, Mama!” she said cheerfully. I couldn’t help but glance at her mom. She was sweetly trying to redirect Makenna’s attention to her teacher.

The others were beginning their first song, but Makenna had more to say to her mom. “Look! Mama, I got a jingle bell!” she said, leaning forward and jingling it for effect. “Mama, look!” And then her expression, still locked on her mom, fell. She frowned a bit, tapped her lips, and then tried to focus on her teacher, who was leading the Christmas carol.

After a few bars, her eyes wandered back to her mom and she tried again. “Mama, look! I
got a jingle bell!” Another frown, and this time there was a whimper. “But I just want to show you…” This went on throughout the entire performance, until Makenna, who now had tears running down her cheeks, was dismissed to run into the arms of her beloved mom.

Well, guess who I wanted to meet? I may have passed her in the hallway a dozen times before this, but because of Makenna, I was dying to meet her mom.

It made me wonder. What if we were each like Makenna–completely oblivious to the performance factor of life and locked in on our beloved Jesus, wanting to share everything with him? I’ll bet it would make others want to turn and take a closer look at Jesus, or maybe even meet him for the first time.