"Tender Heart"

Elijah Brooks has a heart for people. He loves people, fully and deeply. He will be anyone's best friend if they will let him. He is concerned for others and hurts when they hurt. It is quite upsetting to him to see someone cry. He will get an unmistakeably concerned look on his face and furrow his little brow, and it is obvious that it bothers him. He is constantly reminding me to pray for someone - even when I have forgotten or am not thinking about it. Sometimes he is quite incessant that I pray for that person immediately. I pray daily that God will protect and enlarge his compassion for others, and that his tender heart will not become callous or blinded to the needs of others.

His friend Jackson (from church), has been sick this week. We have been praying for him for the last several nights. This morning when I dropped him off at Sunday School, Jackson was already there. Elijah Brooks immediately, without any prompting from me, walked over to Jackson and knelt down beside him. This was the conversation I witnessed between these 2 precious two year olds:

Elijah Brooks: "Hey Jack Jack! You feelin' better"?
Jackson: "Uh huh"

It took everything in me not to just melt into a puddle on the floor. It was just the sweetest and most genuine and sincere question. He knew we had been praying for his friend and was concerned about him this week. He was just so excited to see him at church and his first thought was to check on him - before playing with toys. We are certainly dealing with our share of "strong-willed" moments these days with him, but when he does something like this and thinks of someone else above himself, it just does my heart so much good.

Oh, and completely off the subject, but I need to post so I don't forget. We were driving home from church and I asked him what was his favorite part about Sunday School, to which he very honestly answered, "Fruit nacks, memonade, and coloring books".

He also told me in the car while driving home, "Mommy, both hands on wheel"!! Great, he totally called me out!

And last night while rocking/singing before bed, this was the conversation:

EB: "Mommy, sing those words to song"
Mommy: "Darling, mommy doesn't know the words to this song"
EB: "Mommy, just hum then"!!

Makes sense to me. Smart kiddo!