Faith like a child and Smurf Hair

Today the kids and I were at the local TJ Maxx (my favorite haunt!). For those of you aren't in Virginia, it was cookin' out today! Like fry an egg and bake some cookies outside H-O-T! There was an older man outside playing a guitar. Now, I am not normally one for panhandling, I tend to be pretty jaded. Matt always tells me to look at the shoes to tell whether or not the panhandlers are in dire straits or not. Well these shoes were struggling.

 I was all set to go in and geek out over the newest baskets when I noticed Audrey. She was watching the man play intently. I asked her if she wanted to go over and give him a dollar, to which she said, "of course!" We rolled over and Audrey gave him the dollar and then said, "cool guitar!" The man then thanked her and opened his bag. I, of course, freak out (jaded...remember?). He pulls out a bag of dollar store toys and says to me, "most of the people who stop and give me money are children. I just wanted to have a way to thank them." Well, I then felt like a total heel. We thanked him for the lovely music and then went about our day.


This got me to thinking though. Why can't we all a little more like Audrey, taking time to stop and appreciate something beautiful...even if that beauty comes in the form of an older, down on his luck gentleman? The simplicity with which children see the world is amazing. The whole experience reminded me of Yeshua (Jesus for you non-Yid folk :)). He said in Matthew, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." After today, I can see why. I hope that I can start to see things like Audrey and Micah see them and less like a jaded grouch. 


And in other news! I Smurfed my hair! Parts of it are blue. Had a touch of a quarter life crisis and told my hairstylist (who is AMAZING! Olivia Johnson at Shane's Salon in Yorktown. Use her. Love her) to go for it. And she did!