Some kids come to life as soon as you go outdoors. We took our eight-year-old and 10-year-old granddaughters to the beach recently. The first request to get to the beach came at 5am but we insisted they have breakfast and eventually at 8am we were on the sand. The kids ran almost involuntarily, leaving two old grandparents out of ear shot and doing their best to say, “slow down” and “be careful” and all manner of things that grandparents seem compelled to say. Finally all four of us stood between the flags in our bathers. Eye contact with the 8-year-old was impossible. She was in a state of awe as she looked to the vast ocean and the crashing waves. “Let’s do this!” she said as she pulled me into the water.

Being human is not a matter of capturing moments. Being human is nothing like taking a photo in order to capture and experience and file away a memory. Being human is an act. It’s an activity. Being human is about being captured by the awesome, grabbing a nearby hand and proclaiming, “Let’s do this!”

Being human is not a matter of outcomes. There is a place for goals to be set and outcomes to be measured but it rarely causes anyone to say, “wow”. Being human is not about knowing how much water is in the ocean or what the temperature it might be. We have so much to learn from children.

A kid not only sees the awesome but they know somehow the awesome is waiting to be done: It not about simply appreciating the mighty but rather knowing that the mighty is in need of us. Our puny strength is no barrier to the calling of life to be lived.

The mighty mission of The Wayside Chapel is creating community with no, ‘us and them’. It’s important that we see it, hear it, smell it and know that it needs to be done. It’s about love overcoming the forces of separation. “Let’s do this!”

This post originally featured in The Wayside Chapel's On the Verge newsletter, read more stories from On the Verge here.