These words came from a retirement-aged lady whose life has been traumatized by a childhood that was abducted by neglect and abuse.

The full quote is “I’m going to have a childhood in spite of my mother.” She said, in reflection, “I have put in my adult life. Now I am going to have the childhood I never had.”

As I listened to her plans I heard her excitedly describing the swings she had ordered to hang from her upper deck. Her pets are dressed in doll clothes. They have toys that maximize their development.

At this point in the transition she isn’t interested in a birthday party for herself but she loves to give them for her friends. Her gifts stretch our expected definition of extravagance. Her planning for a vacation was interrupted by the realization that she had integrated everything, defined as fun, into her own home.

Is it too late for anyone of us to have a childhood?

Can we release some of the weight of responsibility and take delight in the freedom of God’s creation.

When Jesus said, “Come to me as a child.” what did he mean?

A parented child can be a child. As a child in the family of God we have a parent that loves us. We have a parent that never sleeps. We have a parent that wants our life to be filled with surprises.

Does faith through aging eyes teach us that the last chapters of our lives are meant to be lived with the freedom and trust of a child?

Can you say, “I’m going to have a childhood!”?