The sound of wailing fills the air. Looking up toward the
road, I see several women, one of which has a baby tied to her back. But oh,
this is different! The child’s head is tightly covered. Suddenly I realize that
the mother has just lost her baby. She is carrying him as she always has,
except this time she is carrying him to his burial place. The voice of their
pain fades as they pass. I look down at my little beauty, her inquisitive brown
eyes searching my face. Gently I twirl one of her curls between my fingers. My
blonde boy is happily hoeing the dirt, beaming as he works hard. My precious
treasures, that I get to keep for a while longer. Life is so uncertain.
Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in the “stuff”. You
know, the “stuff” I tell my children, such as, “I can’t go on a walk with you
now. I don’t want to leave the house. What if they steal more of my stuff?” and
“I have to get this house cleaned. Go play.” And “Can’t you children play
nicely while I try to make you some supper?” and “No, I don’t want to sit down
in the dirt and play. There might be bugs and it’s dirty, besides, I have to go
do….” And “I just need a break from these children. They are wearing me out
today.”
Have I stopped to
really focus on them today? Have I openly listened to them today? Or have I
treated them as if they were nuisances getting in my way of … serving myself.
Woah. Where did that come from? But that’s what it is, isn’t
it? All the things I have to do are for me
if I’m trampling my innocents’ tender spirits while claiming that it’s for
them.
That reminds me of Jesus saying that whatever we have done
for the least of these brothers of His, we have done it for Him. He also said
that it’s better to have a millstone tied around my neck and to be thrown into
the depths of the sea than it would be for me to keep one of these little ones
from entering the kingdom of Heaven.
Am I so busy “taking care” of them that I don’t show care
for my children?
Am I so taken up with my “to do” list that I forget to be with the ones most worthy of my
effort?
Am I so intent on trying to make a home that I neglect to display
tender love—what really makes a home—to my lovely ones?
Am I so focused on my discouragements that I cannot bring
encouragement and simple joy to my little joys?
Am I so preoccupied with being a missionary that I overlook my closest mission field (my children)?
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto Me.”
Lord, please help me to lay up my treasures in Heaven, where
thieves do not break in and steal, and moths do not destroy. Let me remember
that my children are my first treasures, and they are worthy of my best
efforts. Let me remember that serving them is meeting their physical and
spiritual and emotional needs, and that I will be serving You. All the business
of the day can be accomplished in a way that encourages them to come near to You.
Please bring me closer to You, and give me Your wisdom while they are still
young. Oh how we need You, Jesus!
