Serving

                                                                                                                      March 30, 2013

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!