A couple of months ago we learned of auditions for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and let her try out. She snagged a spot in the angel choir and a had a couple of lines. After five long weeks of practice it was performance time. I was able to go to all three productions and each time she delivered her lines, "Mrs. Bradley, you can have my baby brother for Jesus! .... He's not new. He's four years old. But he's double jointed and he could probably scrunch up." I cried happy, proud mama tears.
Her confidence on the stage was visible as you could clearly hear her singing (off key) but it was music to my ears. One of those mom moments when you thought for sure you heart would burst and overflow with love and joy.
She came home from her cast party on a high from performing, mixed with a bit of sugar. We had her settled in bed, reading and trying to unwind and find and sleep. I was clearly not thinking when I choose that moment to go in to her room to show her the fantastic present I had found for her gift exchange at school. A giant Little Mermaid coloring book, an amazing find for $3.
She started to sob. She agreed it was fantastic, so great that she wanted it for herself. I tried to turn it into a teaching moment but quickly grew frustrated by her tears and stubbornness and my husband took over trying to reason with her.
She had made a good argument that almost made me cave though. She was worried about what she would get. Surely, if she was to give away such a large and fantastic thing she should get something equally amazing in return. See last year in her class's gift exchange she got hand sanitizer. Even if it was Strawberry Shortcake and came with a cool little clip to hook it to your backpack, it was hand sanitizer. I felt bad that she had gotten such a bummer of a gift but I tried to explain how good it would feel to make someone happy with that gift and that in the end it wouldn't matter what she got. I thought for sure that all my words had fallen on deaf ears. It was one of those mom moments when I my heart felt heavy and like it might crack from the pressure.
We gave her three options and told her to think it over. 1. She could keep the giant coloring book, but she would have to miss out on her Christmas party at school. 2. We could return the coloring book and she could pick out something herself to put in the gift exchange. 3. She could make the choice to give it away and not worry about what she would in turn receive.
The next day I asked her if she had thought about what she would do. She replied "I decided to give it away. There was a little voice in my head or something that told me it is better to give than to receive. Or maybe I read it somewhere."
I wanted to shout "That was my voice in your head!" but I knew it had been the Holy Spirit talking to her, working on her thoughts. I told her that she had indeed read it somewhere, for "give more than you receive" is one of our "house rules". I told her that mommy and daddy had gotten that little tidbit right out of the Bible and that surprised her. So we grabbed her Bible and turned to Acts 20:35 and I had her read aloud "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Que bursting heart of love and joy.
How awesome to see the morals you've been teaching your children actually played out. What a great way to be encouraged and know you're on the right track! Thanks for sharing this story, Megan.
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