Monday, October 24
I take great comfort in Jesus' call to let the little children draw near to Him (Matthew 10:13-16). On those days when I am disheartened and self-conscious about my lack of Scripture knowledge, I take heart in His pledge that we should all have faith like the children... simple and pure.There are so many days when I could learn so much more from my children than I do if I would just slow down a bit and give them my complete attention. For a couple of weeks now, I have been telling Griffin to make a Christmas wish list, as there would be people asking me for gift ideas.
Sure enough, I've had two people ask me in the last few days, and I told Griff again yesterday that he needed to get started with that, and he told me 'no.' It caught me off guard, and quite honestly, annoyed me some. That inkling of annoyance should always warn me that I'm about to be caught wanting... about to be shamed by my child.
I asked him why he wouldn't make a list, and he replied, "because I don't need anything, so I don't want any presents." I was humbled to say the least. Mike laughed when I said that social consciousness is a pain in the rear.
We've been trying so hard throughout Griff's young life - but especially this fall with the unimaginable devestation that has hit our state - to emphasize to him that we are blessed and that there are people who don't have as much of this or that as we do.
Little kids pick up on differences... we don't drive a big SUV, and we don't live in a big house (it's a tiny little old house in fact), and there are places we don't go or things we don't do sometimes because of financial issues. But we have everything we need. We have a roof and food and clothing and good doctors and one another. We've spent the fall giving away our things to those who lost everything in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita... we've given toys and clothes and food and time and money.
And somewhere along the way, the concepts we've been trying to instill in him took hold. And I want him to keep that generous spirit, and I want him to think of others. But I also don't want him disappointed on Christmas, so I'm trying to think of a way for us to make giving to others our primary focus while still assuring that he and his sister have a few trinkets to open on Christmas morning.
In the meantime, I am humbled by and proud of and inspired by this little man in our midst.
[ posted by Chel on Monday, October 24, 2005 ]
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