Theology lessons from the kid who prefers to do puzzles naked....(see completely appropriate picture below)

Asa is what some might call a "character". More than once we have been told that he has a "mischievous grin" and that he's "charming but just plain naughty....". On his good days he's charismatic, gregarious, and an all around fun guy. But, remember the nursey rhyme about the "little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead"? She and Asa have a lot in common. When he is good he is very very good.....but when he's bad he is horrid. Anyway, I digress.

Two year olds have a special way of looking at the world. I think their little minds just take everything they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch, throw it all into the part of the toddler brain that's like a blender (a portion of the brain that scientists have yet to explore and have no hope of actually explaining), press the on button, take the top off, and say whatever mixture of their experiences splatters out.

Yesterday, during the portion of our morning walk where all the kids (5 in all ages 5, 4, 3, 2, 2, counting Elizabeth's and not counting Astrid) get out of the strollers to walk along a retaining wall in the neighborhood, I received my first mini-sermon from Brother Asa. He's a tiny kid. He's the youngest of the "big kids", and has the shortest legs. So, when Ethan, Nicole, Julia, and Dale take off down the sidewalk and scale the wall, Asa is sometimes left in the dust. Of course, it doesn't help that his ever-present cowboy boots are a size too big and on the wrong feet....that's gotta slow him down. As the more agile children ran ahead I was attempting to keep up with them while also making sure I didn't leave Asa behind.

Suddenly, I heard the click of angry cowboy boots on the sidewalk and a guttural, "Mommy!" I stopped and turned around to see Asa, hands on his hips and a scowl on his face, "Mommy! Don't run!"
"I'm not running, Ace, I'm trying to stay with you, hurry up," I answered, with the slightest bit of impatience in my voice.
I started walking again, slower this time, but the hill was steep and, I'll admit, when the stroller starts to get away from me I do tend to pick up the pace a little. My second reprimand came within seconds of the first.
"Mommy!" came the growling voice from behind me, "DON'T RUN!"
"Asa, I'm not running, I'm trying to-"
"Mommy. No running. Running is a sin."
"It's a what?" I asked him, trying not to giggle at the severe expression on his little leprechaun face.
"It's a sin," he stated.
I took a deep breath and decided to address this warped theology. "Asa, first of all, I'm not running. And second, running is not a sin. A sin is something that-"
But he didn't hear me. He just flashed me a silly grin as he shot past me at full speed, cowboy boots clicking like a racehorse on the sidewalk, one hand holding his pants up and the other swinging wildly, sinning, I mean running, with reckless abandon.

Hmmmmm.......either he hasn't quite grasped the concept of sin, or I've got one heck of an adolescence to look forward to.....

More spiritual lessons from the Allen kids coming soon!