Sparkle Diamond (By Paul Emanuelson)

Sparkle Diamond, was her stated name, as a visitor arrived at the 5 yr. old classroom.

Are you sure that is your name, the teacher asked, noticing the glimmer in her eye. Without hesitation, she answered, yes, and my middle name is Elena.

As she played through her time here in class, she let everyone know & even insisted that her name was Sparkle Diamond Elena. She played well with the other children, and seemed to really enjoy it there.

When her mom came to pick her up, and heard the parting teacher’s comment “bye Sparkle Diamond”, she laughed. “Did Elena tell you her name was Sparkle Diamond ”, Sparkle’s mom asked with only a touch of wonderment? The teacher wasn’t surprised, but asked, “Why, isn’t that her name?”

Mom smiled and replied, “No, her name is Elena, but she continues to call herself Sparkle Diamond” nearly everywhere.

Can you imagine the Lord seeing her as a Sparkling Diamond, His handiwork, created to be in a relationship with Him, knowing the potential that resided in that little body & spirit. Can you imagine His delight as she recognized the marvelous accomplishment that God had developed in her. As a parent loves to see and hear the way their child responds to their nurture, and expresses with innocent glee, honest pleasure as they develop physically and emotionally, can’t you imagine how much more our Heavenly Father relishes the spiritual development in one of His children ?

Today, I would like to encourage each of us who encounter a ‘child of God’ especially those who get to teach Sunday School or help with Children’s Ministry to see the children as Sparkling Diamonds, as God does when our sins are forgiven. Here on earth, we might see a few of the rough edges from to time, and it is easy to focus on those rough edges from time to time. But the raw material is God’s special unique creation and has huge potential, so let’s try to maximize our time with these little diamonds.

Pastor Paul Emanuelson