Baby ministry

Years ago, when Bear was in his smiley phase as a baby, I remember being pleasantly surprised at the reaction I would get when I took him public places. More often than not, if a stranger came up to him, he'd break out into a big, big smile, like he was absolutely thrilled to see them. Now Mudpuppy is doing the same thing -- I can't take him anywhere without attracting a crowd. (I often have three or four people interacting with him in checkout lanes. This can be problematic: a few weeks ago, I was in a hurry checking out at the grocery store, which was very busy, and the manager came over and started cooing at Mudpuppy and asking me all sorts of questions. Between carrying Mudpuppy, unloading the cart, answering her questions, and sorting coupons, I forgot to present a few coupons -- costing us several dollars. Oh well.) And forget church: judging by the comments we get, it seems like half the church is watching Mudpuppy!

I've started to think of this as Mudpuppy's special ministry: making people smile and laugh, and light up. Something about a baby does that to most people. And it's a "ministry" that is uniquely his: if any adult (certainly me) went around smiling at strangers that way, it would just creep them out. Down the road, as a single male, he'll be lucky to make eye contact with most cashiers. But for now, he has the magic touch.