July 7 – “Grandpa Kangaroo”

We are in Austin. Last night I did a child dedication for some friends of ours who used to be Seasiders. I guess they still are, just in another place. The church they attend here is huge – massive even. We couldn't even find which building they were in until he came outside and flagged us down. The ceremony was in a room in their children's ministry building. That one room was bigger than Seaside's fellowship building. Their children's wing was amazing. It was decorated in a Noah's Ark theme. And right at the door was a bigger than life-sized cutout of a cartoon Noah greeting you. Then there was an ark in the foyer that reached to the ceiling. Inside the ark was an aquarium with many different kinds of fish. The checkin system was incredibly efficient and high-tech. They had an indoor playground with slides and climbing walls. But my favorite was the escalators. That's right. They had escalators to get to the second floor where the first through fifth grades met. And right in between the up and down escalators was a huge enclosed slide. On Sunday mornings the slide is opened and the kids can leave Sunday School and slide down to greet their parents. Now that is cool. The two little girls we dedicated were precious. I think they were around three and four years old. They wanted to know who we were when we got there and why they didn't know us. They also made sure that we knew the party was all about their getting a new name. Very impressive kids. They also played chase with me and a few other kids before we got started. At least they did until the parents realized what we were doing. Then they made the kids leave the old guy alone. But the little one somehow knew that I would rather be playing chase with them than sitting around being old and acting dignified. After the ceremony they were telling me about a book they read called Ellie the Elephant. The little one asked me again (about the fifth time) what my name was. I told her it was Kelley. She got a quizzical look on her face and asked, "Kelley the Elephant?" I answered "No, Kelley the Kangaroo. Can you hop like me?" Her big sister let out an exasperated sigh, put her hands on her hips, and said to her young charge, "He's Grandpa Kangaroo." And together we hopped over to the aquarium to check out Noah's fish. Proverbs 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." Father, anoint Kenny and Lauren with your grace and strength as they raise those two little girls. Amen.