Be like a child!

I really enjoyed the talks given in our sacrament meeting this past Sunday.  The bisopric had two young couples choose any topic to speak about.  I love listening to young couple's speak.... not saying that I don't like listening to the older people, but it's not too often we are given the opportunity to speak in church, and it's nice to hear the younger generation's perspective on things.  All four speakers gave really good talks, but one talk in particular stood out to me.  The talk was about children's innocence, their forgiving hearts, and their christ-like attributes.  She talked about how as we get older, we get jaded.... we tend to, without even realizing it, lose touch of some of our christ-like attributes that we were born with.  She gave several examples of how children love unconditionally, they don't judge others, they accept everyone.  Think about a little child going into a situation where there are several other children.  They might act shy at first, but it doesn't take them too long to start playing and soon enough, become best friends.  You see children fighting over toys and getting mad at each other, and two minutes later, they forgive each other and are best friends.  Why can't adults be the same way?  Why is it that when we offend someone, or are offended by someone it's so hard to sincerely forgive and forget?  Why can't we be more like children? 
Her talk made me think of a situation that I've been going through, something that has been going on for way too long.  I offended someone and they offended me, and instead of trying to work it out right away, we let it simmer, we held grudges, we ended up hating each other.  I ask myself, why??  Why wasn't I/we more like a little child?  Why wasn't I/we more like the example I see in my own children?  Why wasn't I/we more Christ-like?  What started out as something so small turned into a huge problem becasue I/we wasn't like a little child. 
Thankfully, we have been able to lay our differences aside and forgive each other for the things we'd done.  I pray that we both can be like a little child and forget and move on.
We can learn a lot from a little child.  It's sort of ironic because we are parents and we teach our children everything they need to know.  Everything from their ABC's to how they should act and behave.  But sometimes we need to stop teaching and learn from them.....
This made me think of my son Filimone.  He's a wild and rambunctious little guy that is always FULL of energy.... but he constantly is teaching us humility and how important it is to put other people before ourselves.  Every single time, without fail....he is always thinking of his older brother.  If we take Mone to the store and let him have a treat, he will ALWAYS bring two of whatever he chooses, one for him and one for Makai.  If we're cooking dinner, he ALWAYS passes his plate on to Makai before he eats.  Just last night we bought him a little golf set and right when he opened it, the first thing he said was "I'm going to share with Makai"  I'm so proud of my little boy and am so grateful for his innocent, Christ-like personality.  Children, although they get into trouble and get on our nerves, are such great examples of being Christ-like, and as adults we can learn a lot from them.