Was Jesus a wild little boy?

This week I had the privilege of working with a volunteer who works with children who are primarily ADD and ADHD who is experienced in working with little kids who have lots of energy and a mind that is going in all different directions. It was fun seeing how well she was able to communicate with these kids. Instead of them being the one who was getting in trouble, they became a special child who was answering questions and showing unique creativity in their craft.

It is sad to see children like this being treated wrong simply because a leader does not understand how to work with them. I have seen so many volunteers over the years who have shared with me how frustrated they were with a child like this. However, everyone one of these volunteers loved the child they just didn't know what to do with them.

I remember a little boy who was well known in my previous church as one of the hardest kids to deal with in a class. When he was in second and third grade I was his teacher. He was definitely a challenge but I never saw a bad attitude, I only saw a little guy who had a mind running a million miles an hour and his body had trouble keeping up with it. One evening I explained the gospel and gave an invitation for kids to accept Christ. The poor little guy could not control himself and kept interrupting me. I asked him to step out with a leader (he had already accepted Christ and was a library knowing all about the Bible). After we finished, the kids were dismissed for dinner and we sat down together to talk about what I taught and what I was trying to accomplish. After I explained this to him he said "lets pray for them". I was so humbled and I was on the edge of tears as he prayed for those kids with a prayer that was deep down in the heart.

I wonder sometimes what Jesus was like as a little kid who had a mind that was running at the speed of light. Perhaps when He left his parents to talk to the priests in the temple, Mary and Joseph were not surprised He was gone because He was always running around everywhere. How could we not think that He was kind of loud without a shy bone in His body if He had the courage to talk to all those priests who others would have feared. Perhaps Mary and Joseph didn't check to see if He was with them because He knew everybody in the family and was always talking to somebody else. With a mind like His I doubt he was quiet and with the power of God himself in that body I doubt it was very easy for Him to sit still. I would expect that He had tons of energy and aggravated many adults who had to work with Him. It is very likely that if you want to see a child who was like Christ when he was a little, you would see more similarities in the wild ones than the quiet ones. Perhaps when Jesus sees some of these crazy kids who are frustrating volunteers he smiles because it reminds Him of himself when he was little.
The challenge this gives me is to understand more how they think so I may know Christ even better.