I spent three months with my daughter’s family in the sprawling hills of Fort Gay, West Virginia, around the time she gave birth to her second child. Naturally, this also meant taking care of my charming (dare I say, impish?) two-year-old granddaughter.

She joyfully looked forward to our morning and nap routines, copying almost everything she saw me do. She couldn’t be fooled and had to be involved in everything we did together. This included warming up her breakfast roll from the freezer to the microwave; pouring a sachet of Stevia into my coffee cup; helping me prepare a bagel and cream cheese sandwich from the fridge to the toaster; putting dishes away from the dishwasher to the cupboards; emptying the trash and replacing the trash bags; and, of course, feeding the dog.

She would get into a fit if she was left out of any of these activities. I had to adjust my sense of time to her pace. For example, she would take and put away one spoon or fork at a time from the dishwasher, turning a task that would take me five minutes into a fifteen or twenty-minute chore, almost every single morning.

What I find absolutely adorable is how she mimics me! I hadn’t noticed that I often cross my arms while trying to be patient with her until she began leaning against the fridge or freezer, with her best imitation of grandma.

And then there’s the baby boy, the newborn. He has the sweetest, most trusting face. He doesn’t get upset much, except when he’s hungry, wet, or sleepy. Then he lets the whole world know how upset he is with cries that can be heard throughout the aisles of Wal*Mart.

Oh, the innocence and trust of little children! Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. What a responsibility we parents and grandparents have in protecting, nurturing, and guiding them during their developmental years. Most importantly, it is our responsibility to introduce them to Jesus.

Matthew 19:14 (NKJV): But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:6: “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”