text message that made me think

i just sent a text message in reply to a friend who asked:

how is your little one?

i just fired right back without thinking too much about it:

 Keira is amazing. Walking like crazy, trying to talk all the time, non stop laughing, smiling, dancing, hugging... It's as if the kingdom has come :)

now, i wasn't being literal... i was joking = implying that life is so good, it's like Jesus reigns on earth & the kingdom is here.

but, shortly after sending the text i had the thought that this may not be all that far from true. the joy, laughter, happiness, smiling, dancing, hugging, kindness...
all stuff that will be dominant in the kingdom.
all those types of things are signs that the kingdom is breaking into our world... bits and pieces at a time... 1 hug & smile at a time...

but my unwitting statement really made me thing - what is it about children that allows them to unashamedly and full on embrace life this way?

and what is it that happens to us that causes us to lose this pure, unbridled joy and abandonment?

what exactly was Jesus talking about when He said “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
what did He mean by that?
could it be that this thought has something to do with it?

that unassuming humility that allows them to forget themselves and simply experience life to the full.

what is it about adulthood that makes us LOSE these "kingdom" qualities that we have to work so hard to regain as we grow up?

they seem to be naturally born in us from the beginning.

well, at least in Keira they are :)