Sunday, October 21, 2012

He gave WHAAT?

My precious son just celebrated his 7th birthday. And whoa was he blessed with some birthday money! In total, he recieved (in gift cards and money) $160. So we took him yesterday to pick out his birthday present. Afterwards he had roughly $70 left. And this is the foundation of my story.

You see, our church has been fiercely raising money toward continuing mission work in Honduras. God has opened many doors and many hearts in the process of the mission work and it has been absolutely amazing! In the children's department, the boys and girls are having something of a penny war, but they can give dollars and any change too.

So this morning, my sweet son said "Hey Mom, I'm going to give the rest of my birthday money for the mission work in Honduras." I was hanging up laundry and I paused (because I knew he had a lot of money leftover and I didn't want him to give it all.... you're really seeing my true colors here.)
"How much are you going to give?" I asked hesitantly, biting my tongue so I wouldn't discourage him.
"Maybe 3 or 6 dollars" he said.
In my mind I was thinking 'phew', but I said with a relieved attitude, "Great!!"
Let me just say that I would have discouraged Andrew from giving his $70 dollars and I would have tried to talk him into a much lesser amount, all in the name of saving his money for a rainy day.

Fast forward to church.

So I hear our children's pastor begin to discuss the war between the boys and girls over the fundraising. After Mary announced that the boys were currently ahead, she made this announcement with the cash wad in her hand, held high:
This morning one of the boys in this group gave me a wad of cash to go toward the Honduras mission trip. I'm not going to say who it is, but I will say that it is a lot of money!
Everyone was cheering.
And I knew.
I knew my son had given ALL his birthday money.
I knew God had not allowed me to know the actual amount he was going to give because I WOULD have discouraged him.
I knew that God had just done something amazing in my son's heart.
I knew God had moved me out of the way.
And I was convicted and humbled.

If you know me, you know giving is a difficult thing for me. When I took a spiritual gift test one time, giving was at the bottom! And I would even say that money has been an idol many times in my life. Although God has grown me in this area, clearly my son has no problems letting it go into His Father's mighty hands. What's even more convicting is how God has given so much to me despite my stingy heart. My precious mentor always says to me "God's love isn't dependent on us" and I am so so thankful for the character of God!

 Oh the lesson I have learned!



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahh, What a blessing. He is learning to give extravagantly and God will bless him extravagantly. Sweet, sweet baby boy. I love you Andrew.

THE WHITE HOUSE said...

Wow! I am so proud of Andrew...what a precious, precious boy. He definitely has the gift of being a giver. This brought tears to my eyes and encouraged me greatly. Makes my heart smile! =)

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