I'll Be A Sunbeam For Him

All through the grocery store Matthew was singing. "Fight, fight, fight, for the Lord. Stand, stand, stand on word. Fight, fight, fight, for Lord. Armor. Shield. Sword." He leaves out a few key words here and there but he does okay. In the aisles, he sang. At the deli counter, he sang. In the checkout line, he sang.

"What's he singing?" The checker asked.

I paused a second before replying with, "A song from church." It isn't technically a song from church, although they do sing it at Kid's Club. Technically, it's really a song off of a children's CD that my friend, Jason, made. My parents bought the album for Matthew for his birthday and he is in love with it.

"Oh! Is he a sunbeam?" the checker asked with enthusiasm.

I was so puzzled.

The only thing I could think of was the children's song everyone knows and loves. "A sunbeam, a sunbeam, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam; A sunbeam, a sunbeam, I'll be a sunbeam for him." But I've never had someone ask me if either of my children are actually sunbeams. And how should I respond? Sometimes. When he's had a decent night's sleep and protein for breakfast. And sometimes he's got the personality of a hungry grizzly bear?

The pause was too long. Slightly awkward. I was about to ask, "Do you mean from the children's hymn?" When she cocked her head to the side.

"Uh," she stammered. "Are you LDS?"

"Oh. No. We're not."

"I'm so sorry. I just assumed..."

There was really no need to apologize. We live in Utah. It's a fairly safe assumption that if a kid is singing a song he learned in church, in Utah, he just might be LDS.

"It's okay," I said. "You don't need to apologize."

"You seemed so confused..." she continued. It's true. I had been. "I really am sorry." I'm still not sure exactly what she was sorry for.

"It's fine. His daddy is a pastor at a different church here," I said.

I learned something new today. I learned that LDS three-year-olds are called sunbeams. I also learned that this is based on the same song that ran through my head when she asked if my kid was a sunbeam.

My kids are rays of sunlight so, yeah, they're sunbeams. And I hope that, as they grow and learn and understand, they will reflect the light of the Father and be sunbeams for Jesus.