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| (image from StAndrewsChurchSupply.com) |
Last Sunday, we were “just” on time. So, we sat in a rear pew in our church. No sooner did we sit down than did one of the
elder gentlemen who always does the basket walk over to my husband and
whisper in his ear a request to help with the offertory baskets. Of course, Mike accepted the offer.
While I was happy to
see Mike able to serve our parish even if in such a small, temporary way, I
wondered how things would go during the offertory without Mike in the pew to
help with our three children. Too
often, my oldest and at least one of his siblings bicker about who will get to
put the envelope for the first collection into the basket, or one of them gets
a coin because we have only two envelopes and they all cry “unfair” because
they have different items to put in the collection baskets. Now, I know this means we have a long way to
go in teaching about true fairness, charity, humility, etc. But, as I also know that teaching such things
is a long-term endeavor, I was thinking less about what I still had to teach
the children and more about how I would manage without Mike during the
offering. I wasn’t as worried about the
spiritual implications of the kids’ offering-time behavior as I was concerned
about their behavior from very present and practical point of view: the possible need for a second set of arms to
separate, hold or shush bickering babes during the offertory.
Silly me.
I should have trusted
our Lord and his wisdom more.
For the first time in weeks, the kids were wonderful during
the Offertory. When Mike went to get the
basket and then walked down the aisle to begin offering it to fellow
parishioners in the front pews, my three children all scrambled to the end of
our pew to watch him. Enormous, proud
and excited smiles beamed on each of their faces. They quietly, yet enthusiastically, asked why
and how Daddy got to do the collection. They
remained excitedly entranced as Daddy made his way up the aisle.
When Daddy got to our row, the children happily directed
each other to place the correct envelope for the first offering into the basket
that Daddy held out to them. Moreover,
they did so without one ounce of whining, fighting or complaining. The child
with the second collection envelope did not bully past the child holding the first
collection envelop in order to throw the second collection one into the wrong
basket. Nor did the child holding the
second collection envelope hang a head, crying and pouting about being “last”. Nor did coins get pried from one child’s
hands by another child with cries of “unfair” that one had a coin and another
an envelope. In fact, it was with
bursting anticipation, the children awaited Daddy to come up the aisle and with
smiles, pride and excitement that they made our family’s first offering of the
day.
Then, as Daddy went down the aisle for the second
collection, the children’s joy remained.
The second collection went as well as the first and ended with my oldest excitedly asking if
Daddy can do the collection every week.
Hmmm... There I was
worried that I would need a second set of arms to reign my kiddoes in as Daddy
served as basket-holder for the day.
Instead, I simply needed to trust and offer praise as my children
happily offered envelopes and coins.
As I reflect on last Sunday, I recognize an important truth
that our Lord reminded me of through this simple exchange last week: God
calls each of us to serve in ways, great and small, every day. When we say “yes” to His call, everyone
benefits. By seeking – or at the
very least accepting – as many offers as
possible to say “yes” to God, we exemplify for our young children the wisdom of
God and the beauty borne from obedience.
In
what small ways have you and the young children in your life said “yes” to God
lately?
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