Zoo of Love

My family and I went to the Houston Zoo on Saturday for the first time. We had a great time. We saw sea lions splashing and barking. We saw all kinds of monkeys swinging from trees. We saw this little orangutan trying to pick a fight with the big one by sneaking behind him and pulling his fur (or is it hair?). We saw elephants getting their nails done (yes they have them) while being fed treats so they would keep their feet up. It’s pretty amazing really. My kid’s favorite animals at the zoo were the plastic ones with the poles going through them that moved up and down and around in a circle. Go figure! One of the coolest things at the zoo was the piranha tank. There is a clear tunnel that runs through the tank so as your kids crawl through it looks like they are in the tank with the fish.

Can you imagine having to take care of all these animals? What a tiring job it must be to be a zoo keeper. It must be hard keeping all the wild animals alive, happy, and under control. Do you ever feel like a zoo keeper? Do you ever feel like all you are trying to do is get through your day with your kids alive, happy, and under control? I was thinking about this the other day when I was washing the chalk out of my son’s mouth. My 2 year old has decided that one of his favorite foods, one of the few things he actually looks forward to eating, is sidewalk chalk. Do you ever get worn out by all the stunts of your little ones? They can be very challenging and test your patience. Sometimes in the midst of all their animal-like stunts I can forget that the goal is not just to keep them alive, happy, and under control, although very important. The goal is love.

We all love our kids and want them to feel loved. Donald Miller writes, “Give a kid the feeling of being loved early, and they will be better at negotiating that other stuff as they get older. They won’t fall for anything stupid, and they won’t feel a kind of desperation all the time in their souls.” The most important gift that we have to give our children is love. This is why Jesus and the writers of the New Testament spoke so much about love. It tells us that God is love. God’s love is foundational to making our children a success in this world. Even though we may sometimes feel like we are living in a zoo, make it one filled with God’s love.