I love my church. It is multiracial, come-as-you-are, genuine church. For once I feel like I belong in a congregation; I might even apply for membership (but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves). My favorite aspect of my church is that there are no cliques, everyone is friendly and welcoming, and the kids are just amazing. Most of them come alone to the service--I'm not sure where their parents are, but the kids sure do love New Song.
A couple weeks ago, a little one (we'll call her Miss B) came to sit with me and she had brought her baby doll with her. The doll was snuggled up in a blanket and had its face covered, so I asked, "How is your baby? What's her name?"
"Her name is Mindy," she said. "Well, can I see little Mindy?" Miss B looked at me with a hint of trepidation, and quietly pulled back the blankie from her doll's face. The doll's gaze met mine, except it had white, scary eyeballs. No pupils, no irises. Just whites. Holy freak out!
"My brother did that," Miss B reported, "and I'm gonna crush him tonight." Oh dear. I can't wait to miss that. I wished for some type of irony, like the sermon being about not repaying evil with evil, but I'm sure it would have been lost on these siblings. They are just over a year apart and are hyper-dramatic. Very cute, though.
I tried to find a photo online that could depict the fright that I saw, but I wasn't so lucky. I did find this, however:
It looks nothing like what I saw, but it makes me laugh. It is freakish and I can't stop staring at it. I love it.