Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
If you are any kind of a hockey fan in the DC area, you know the name Leni Oshie. Leni is the two-year-old daughter of Capitals 
winger T.J. Oshie, and she is A Thing. Check out this link to see Leni embracing pasta with gusto. If that’s not enough, visit mom Lauren Oshie’s Instagram feed to see Leni with ice cream, Leni with chocolate, Leni with pretty much everything. She’s always fully engaged, fully present. Older sister Lyla is lovely too, of course, but she’s on her way to becoming a young lady. Leni’s still a child, with all the intensity and joy that come with that stage of life.
If you are any kind of a parent or grandparent anywhere, you probably have some photos and videos like this of the little ones you love too. You keep them on your phone to show to people and maybe share them on your social media feeds, and you get a lot of likes and sweet comments, even if you and your family are not as well known as the Oshies.
Why is that? Maybe it’s because everything is new and exciting to them—pasta, pets, toes, noses, you name it. Even the shyest of children will give you that big smile when they love you, when they trust that new experience isn’t going to be anything bad.
As adults, our journey through this world includes a lot of bumps and not a few bruises. We learn to be cautious, to be risk averse. That’s all well and good, I suppose. But we shortchange ourselves when we take that guarded attitude into our relationship with the Lord. We still will get hurt from time to time. But when we come to Him like children, always confident in His love despite those bumps and bruises, we are fearless. We can do anything for Him and with Him.
