Sharing our toys

Daily Reading: Colossians 3, 4; Proverbs 14

Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 4:2-6 (NIV)

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Good afternoon!

This morning was White Gift Sunday at Faith Church. Every year, on the first Sunday of Advent, we bring gifts to give to our brothers and sisters through the good work of Kingdom House in St. Louis. It is a privilege and a lot of fun to go shopping and buy presents for children that we may never meet face to face. Joshua and Emily helped me wrap the gifts before church. They really liked what Granny Deb had purchased. There was one gift in particular that Joshua wanted to keep for himself. He had a hard time understanding why I would want to give away such a fun toy, especially since he didn’t have it and wanted it for himself. I tried three times to explain to him why we were giving these gifts, but I wonder if he really understood why we need to share our toys.

After Joshua and Emily had been bathed, dressed and were waiting for slowpoke Granny Deb to finish getting baby Andrew ready, they began to play a not-so-friendly game of tug of war with a toy truck. Of course, they didn’t want to take turns sharing the toy. When our children were little and they couldn’t play nice together, we used to insist they sit down on the floor and hold hands until they could get along and play nice again. There was no worse punishment in the world than a Spaulding brother having to hold his older sister’s hand, even for a few seconds. I did not make my grandchildren sit down and hold hands, but I sure thought about it. How do we teach the children to willingly share what they have with each other when we have such a difficult time sharing our own resources with others? Some people share without hesitation, but I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t try to count the cost in advance. We try to pre-determine just how much time an outreach opportunity may take, how many dollars we will need to raise before we can do the work, and how many people we need to adequately staff the project. Many good and worthwhile outreach opportunities fall by the wayside simply because our congregations cannot come up with what they need in advance to effectively share resources with those whom we may never meet. So why is it so hard to share our toys with those in need? Do we need to sit down on the floor and hold hands for a little while?

I explained to Joshua that because Jesus gave us His gifts of love, mercy and grace, He would want us to share our gifts with other children, especially the ones who do not have toys to play with, food to eat, or clothes to wear. Joshua and Emily have two working parents, and they’ve never gone a day without adequate food, clothing or shelter. For those of us who have been so fortunate to be blessed with the necessities of life, it is hard to understand the importance of what it means to willingly open our hearts and hands to share with those in need. It is my prayer that you and I will embrace every opportunity to share our toys, our gifts, and unconditional love with the strangers in our midst. We must be wise, not allowing any opportunity to serve pass us by because we do not want to share. I believe it will help if we link our hands and hearts together, through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace,

Deb Spaulding

Faith UMC - St. Charles, MO

www.songofdeborah.com

Pray for: a holy and seasoned conversation, so that we may know how to answer the harder questions. How can we teach our children to share their toys when we are unwilling to share ourselves with others? In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray for a generous and giving heart. Give me a greater desire to give, share and love unconditionally, no matter what the need may be. Ignite a spark in me that will spread your love to a world that desperately needs to know the Lord. Amen.

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© Copyright 2007, Deb Spaulding

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