Be Still My Heart
I was given money for my little preschool friends at church with a catch! It has to be spent before the end of the year. Yeah, right before Christmas I was blessed. I was ALSO blessed with my parents visiting that week and NO desire to shop when the rest of the world had the same idea! I did know, however, that I had all the help I needed in making good choices-experts you might say!
I took those precious experts with me to 2 Wal-Marts, Good-Will, and to help them go to one more store, McDonald's. It was a long day of following directions but the sword fight with the toilet bowl brushes in the container aisle helped to pull them through. Miss Blake, got into the action as well with a musical presentation on the lids of "fancy" garbage cans.
The last stop was our local Wal-Mart. The kids unloaded and Lydia went out the opposite door. She did not walk around the van with Clay. I spotted her through the van window attempting to retrieve a cart. I went to her and explained she needed to be with us for safety reasons. She was concerned the cart would roll into the water filled ditch below. I pulled the cart up the hill and gave it to her to "drive." I then took Miss Blake from her patiently waiting brother. Clay then decided to retrieve a cart as well. So our train of 3 carts made its way into our little Wal-Mart. A employee just happened to be taking carts in and yelled to thank us but the kids could not hear him for all the noise 3 shopping carts made. We congested the entrance with our carts and confused drivers. The employee again thanked them while pulling his carts in. He then returned to slip 50 cents to each of the kids and thanked them again, telling them to buy themselves a "pop." I had just talked with Clay about the importance of saving his money and told him if he could save a certain amount, I would give him 2 more dollars so his head was calculating!
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red kettle that a week earlier those frozen children stood by and rang bells. I pointed it out to Lydia and mentioned that she could put her money in there. Without hesitation and armed with her big, beautiful smile, she moved the apron covering the slot for the coins and deposited her recently earned coins. I invited Clay to do the same, but knowing our conversation of saving was still in his little head, he was hesitant. I told him it was his decision but he needed to consider how he earned it and what was his motivation for bringing in the cart. He thought for awhile while I went through the process to make a return. As we went to walk away, our private little guy, made his way to deposit his coins as well. I whispered to him how proud I was of the decision he made. It so blessed me as God continues to teach me. You see, even as I type I am reminded of a conversation I had with Jesus this week about finances (and He took care of that concern too) but now reminds me of this:
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Luke 21:1-4
Oh, that I could have the heart of a child.
I took those precious experts with me to 2 Wal-Marts, Good-Will, and to help them go to one more store, McDonald's. It was a long day of following directions but the sword fight with the toilet bowl brushes in the container aisle helped to pull them through. Miss Blake, got into the action as well with a musical presentation on the lids of "fancy" garbage cans.
The last stop was our local Wal-Mart. The kids unloaded and Lydia went out the opposite door. She did not walk around the van with Clay. I spotted her through the van window attempting to retrieve a cart. I went to her and explained she needed to be with us for safety reasons. She was concerned the cart would roll into the water filled ditch below. I pulled the cart up the hill and gave it to her to "drive." I then took Miss Blake from her patiently waiting brother. Clay then decided to retrieve a cart as well. So our train of 3 carts made its way into our little Wal-Mart. A employee just happened to be taking carts in and yelled to thank us but the kids could not hear him for all the noise 3 shopping carts made. We congested the entrance with our carts and confused drivers. The employee again thanked them while pulling his carts in. He then returned to slip 50 cents to each of the kids and thanked them again, telling them to buy themselves a "pop." I had just talked with Clay about the importance of saving his money and told him if he could save a certain amount, I would give him 2 more dollars so his head was calculating!
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red kettle that a week earlier those frozen children stood by and rang bells. I pointed it out to Lydia and mentioned that she could put her money in there. Without hesitation and armed with her big, beautiful smile, she moved the apron covering the slot for the coins and deposited her recently earned coins. I invited Clay to do the same, but knowing our conversation of saving was still in his little head, he was hesitant. I told him it was his decision but he needed to consider how he earned it and what was his motivation for bringing in the cart. He thought for awhile while I went through the process to make a return. As we went to walk away, our private little guy, made his way to deposit his coins as well. I whispered to him how proud I was of the decision he made. It so blessed me as God continues to teach me. You see, even as I type I am reminded of a conversation I had with Jesus this week about finances (and He took care of that concern too) but now reminds me of this:
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Luke 21:1-4
Oh, that I could have the heart of a child.
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