The Wisdom in a Child’s Words

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'

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Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members. One of her students suggested that he was adopted.

A little girl said, 'I know all about adoption, I was adopted..'

'What does it mean to be adopted?', asked another child.

'It means', said the girl, 'that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!'

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On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a Little League base ball game that was being played in a park near my home. As I sat down behind the bench on the first-base line, I asked one of the boys what the score was.

'We're behind 14 to nothing,' he answered with a smile.

'Really,' I said. 'I have to say you don't look very discouraged.'

'Discouraged?', the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face...

'Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet.'

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Whenever I'm disappointed with my spot in life, I stop and think about little Jamie Scott.

Jamie was trying out for a part in the school play. His mother told me that he'd set his heart on being in it, though she feared he would not be chosen.

On the day the parts were awarded, I went with her to collect him after school. Jamie rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride and excitement. 'Guess what, Mom,' he shouted, and then said those words that will remain a lesson to me....'I've been chosen to clap and cheer.'

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An eye witness account from New York City, on a cold day in December, some years ago: A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.

A lady approached the young boy and said, 'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!'

'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,' was the boy's reply.

The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.

She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks.. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes..

She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.'

As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her.

'Are you God's wife?'

 

Thank you Donna for sending these sweet stories my way.  There is such honest beauty in the words of a child, isn’t there?

 

As a mother and grandmother I live for these very moments when one such 'pearl' may fall from a child's lips.  Years ago I shared all the stories my children had to offer.  Now I listen closely to my grandchildren for their wise and amusing accounts of what's going on in their world.  They teach me many things. Times may change, circumstances may alter...but I am always thankful for the beauty and simplicity of a child's story.   ~Joy

Comments

[Darlene]

My eyes are wet from reading these touching stories. Children often possess more wisdom than their elders. We become jaded, but in their innocence they see the important truth.

I especially love the story of the little boy who helped the man cry. What a sweet story.

Thank you, Joy, for a heart warming post.

[cassie-b]

What wonderful stories. Thank you so much for sharing.

[Betty]

Nice stories. I have always learned things from my children. Isn't it amazing?

[Tara R.]

These are all wonderful stories. Children really do have amazing insight and empathy. It's sad that we lose a lot of that was we get older.

[jen]

They are beautiful. I think kids say the most astounding things, sometimes astoundingly embarrassing, but sometimes not.

[Nancy]

Joy,

You have made my day with these wonderful and touching stories.

Thanks!

[Peter]

Great stories Joy, I'm just starting to hear them from my great grandchildren now... we all should live so long.

[Beverly]

I've read those before, but I loved reading them again. In first grade David had to write about something he liked to do with his grandpa. "We like to sit on the swing and talk because we love each other."...something like that. It really touched the teacher's heart and mine too.

[Junie Rose]

Dear Joy,

I loved every one of those stories!

Junie