42 cents

It's been so long I almost forgot what it was like... Today we took our kids to the local shopping center. We were buying new outfits for them. It is what every dad or mom longs to do for their children. But there was something very different about this shopping day.

These kids have never been shopping before, yes, I said NEVER! They had never pushed a shopping cart or squeezed their legs into the seat part of one. They have never walked down an aisle loaded with hot wheels and barbies. They have never dodged the gauntlet of temptation at the cash register of bubble gum, people magazine, and breath mints.

But the giggle in their voices did give it away. The sparkle in their eyes when they held a toy story shirt or a dress laced with whatever it is called was a dead give-away.

But the part that broke me was the 42 cent ice-cream cone dipped in chocolate. Oh my goodness all sixteen of them stood in line quietly waiting to receive their first cone. And right before it was handed to them they bowed their heads and cupped their hands in Thai fashion, to say thanks.

Oh please God help us to recall the wonder of first times again. And break our hearts for the 42 cent praises all around us. Oh YEAH, their yellow shirts had chocolate everywhere. But it just didn't seem to matter!