A Lesson in Giving

This week is vacation bible school at our church. Pandamania!!!

The ministry focus is shoes for the children of Korah that go to the church we partner with.

We got some money out to give the boys to take in to help buy shoes. Then asked them to go to their piggy banks and get some of their own money. So they did. Got them out, dumped them and headed for the coins.

I sat down and explained the situation again. Telling them that each pair of shoes was 8.00. Daddy and I had given them each 10.00 so since they each had at least 6.00, together that would make 16.00 and therefore buy 2 pairs of shoes each!

N looked at me and the .60 in his hand and said “I don’t want to give 6.00, I want to give .60.”

Insert whooshing sound of wind blowing out of my sails.

I instantly felt like a failure. I tried the whole kids without shoes thing…trying not to make him feel badly about his country or take ownership for it…but to get him to see outside of himself. He didn’t want to budge.

E then poured his bank out and since his birthday was recently he had more money. N was over in a shot with his money and encouraging E to give ALL his money. Stinker…lol

I explained the whole extra 6.00 thing and asked him what he wanted to do. He handed it right to me.

So, the boys both gave 6.00 to the shoe fund to buy 4 pairs of shoes.

On the way to work I began to think of the morning and the total sermon demonstration that it was!

Geez how often are we the same way? How often do we do the exact same thing? I mean we were only giving 10.00 per kid today. Not even close to the sacrifice that it was for my boys to give up 6.00 of their own money.

Ouch!

I called D and told him about the morning… then said I think we need to work more on the giving aspect of life. I think we missed a step somewhere? Although my kids have come from a place of need, we so need to show them that there is always enough, and we must still share from that need. But man is it a lesson we have to learn ourselves!!!

So… N gave me a lesson in giving this morning. Thanks babe!