chasing mr. matt

For those of you who don’t know, I work at a daycare.  Which is pretty fitting, seeing as I hope to be an ESL teacher in Africa someday.  I love being around little ones, and enjoy watching them grow up year after year more than words can explain.

There’s eight of us staff members altogether, and out of the eight, Matt is the only guy.  I’m not sure how he withstands being with women all the time, I don’t think I could if I was him.  Anyway, among the kids he’s better known as “Mr. Matt,” because they’re inclined to treat us with utmost respect.  It was weird being called Miss Anna at first, but I got used to it.

So as you can imagine, Mr. Matt the lean, soccer-playing college student has the fourth and fifth grade girls swooning.  White-blonde hair, electrifying blue eyes, and a tall frame -- they had stars in their eyes from the moment he walked through the door.

When we were out on the playground today, Matt was playing soccer with a few of the boys.  And then in the middle of their not-so game, Kennadi runs up to him, taps him on the shoulder, and says the magic words -- “You’re it!”  Torn from his soccer team, Matt doesn’t hesitate to jog after Kennadi, and soon Danielle, Erin, and Olivia follow.  Smitten giggles float through the air, and a huddle of short, skinny figures surround Matt.  But he gladly obliges, tagging each and every one of them, each one of them beaming at his gentle touch.  According to Erin, Mr. Matt had started a game of tag earlier that day, and from the light in her eyes I could see she was enthralled with him.  “Now we gotta chase him!” she said.

And then I got to thinking -- what if we chased God that way?  What if we were so eager to be touched by Him that we ran after him full-fledge -- and so noticeably that others would follow our lead?  I think all too often we wait for God to make “the first move” when really, He already did.  Jesus came willingly to the cross, asking nothing of us.  Yes, Erin wanted Matt to chase after her, but she also knew it was her turn to tag him first.  Likewise, God already started a game of tag with us, and now He’s saying those two magic words -- you’re it!