Proud of My Boy, and What We All Can Learn From Him

I just wanted to share a quick story that truly touched Missy and I and made our hearts smile hugely...

One lesson (of many) we are humbly trying to teach and model to Jax is the concept of helping others by sacrificing what we have... Not to look good to others, or gain the positive acclaim of others (and I realize even telling this story risks you thinking that is a "secret motive" of this posting...prayerfully, it it not), but instead because God has blessed us beyond what we deserve or are entitled to. At his school, for example, they recently held a "Trike-A-Thon" benefiting St. Jude's Children's Centers, and he was asked to raise money "per lap". So, I explained to him that he was doing this not mainly to have fun riding his little trike around a parking lot, but so little boys and girls like him who are sick and in the hospital can be taken care of, made better, etc.

Well, last night as we were winding down from the day (and Jax had just gone to bed), Missy told me that earlier in the afternoon, Jax found a penny. Now, since he is only four and has no real concept of the differing value-assignments of money, it to him just counts as "money" (to Jax, it could be worth millions, who knows). Jax went to Missy and said, "Look Momma, I found a penny...can I give it to the sick kids?" Wow...I know he is but a little tyke and will certainly have changing attitudes at times as he grows, but wow.

I just know that Jesus calls us to approach him like kids, and due to "maturity", or the realities of life, etc., it is hard for so many of us to even ponder that concept anymore. We have so many, "That's just not reality"-attitudes toward simple faith, or giving all we have, etc. But Jax is right in that he found something of great worth to him...and he wanted to give it right back. All he knew is that what he just aquired could be used to help someone in need, and he wanted to give it away...

You see (and I've touched briefly on this before), I think many of us, myself included, today feel entitled to things. We've been working somewhere for a certain amount of time, so we are owed a raise. I often play this game by taking score of all the things I've done around the house lately (I did the dishes! I mowed the lawn! I took out the trash! I cleaned up the nasty-of-nasties that Jax did in his pants! Yay me! 100 points to me!) and secretly expecting perks as a result, like not having to do stuff the next time, or a free pass in getting Jax to clean up before bed, etc. And, if Missy is busy or tired or whatever, I can get bitter (often passive aggressively) and feel "entitled" to not having to do it. Of course, if I were to truly take score, it would be Missy 100, Ben 5 on most things...I just fail to see that. Other ways we struggle with entitlement may be holding too tightly to our "stuff" that we worked hard to get...sharing some, but making the acquiring of things a priority, or not being willing to let them go (or even be given away) to folks who may need it more. Or feeling that we deserve the best service, attention, and stuff in general, and thus being bitter/angry/rude/a jerk if we don't get it.

But God calls us to not hold on to that. God shows us that none of us are perfect and without fault. We are exposed as frauds. And if we realize that fact, and then realize that God has blessed each of us immeasurably (especially by letting us keep on living and by still loving us despite our messiness, through the perfect example of his son Jesus walking among us and ultimately being sacrificed for us despite our cruddy selves...I know not everyone reading that believes this...but I do and It's where I'm coming from...), then we must be compelled to a different focus. What we have is a gift, tangible or intangible. And we must not treat what we have as something we deserve...because what we deserve isn't all the good stuff... I know my own heart, and while I can be nice outwardly...I can be menacing on the inside. I write about "giving freely", and I know how selfish I truly am. I challenge others to give freely, to sacrifice, etc., and I confess to God and you that we as a family often rationalize not giving what we should to our church due to fear of "not being able to pay the bills", etc. I don't deserve God's favor...but He still gives it to me!

He offers it to you, too. I pray we all realize that better, simply, like a young kid, like Jackson, striving to give away (or at least be truly willing to give away) what has great worth to us. Maybe we can give more of "our time" to serving others through missions, especially the off-limits (like, college football Saturdays :-) ) times. Maybe we should all downsize a bit so we can give more to those in need, or to a church, etc., even if it is our "dream home/car/toy". Heck, maybe we just need to be nicer to the waitress who is slower than we'd like/too chatty/messed up our food ("I wanted 3 tablespoons of sauce, not 3 1/2!") and still tip even if we "didn't get the service we deserve/pay for." I know it is easy to rationalize us not doing this (I even am tempted to as I type), or start saying, "Hey, I'm an American! This sounds like Socialism! BOOO!" (I'm not a Socialist, either...I believe in free markets, etc., but I wish we would spread what we have a bit around more BY CHOICE, not by being forced to...). But, I pray that I at least will be more freely giving of what I have and who I am, just like Jackson seeks to. I am a child of God, that should be enough to compel me to do so!