One day last week I came home from a substitute teaching job and found Mia's little red piggy bank on the floor and empty. I panicked because there had been quite a bit of money in her little bank...our tooth fairy pays pretty well, plus she had lost a tooth on Christmas and at a Jonas Bros. concert and she made out like none other on those ones! Anyway, I instantly felt angry that it was all gone. Our rough estimate was thinking that our six year old had socked away the better part of $100 in that pig and I wanted answers!
When I called her into the room I asked where the money had gone and she answered sweetly that she wanted to send it in for sick kids with "that word that has my name in it". She has such a love of others already and I have prayed for my kids to have the hearts of servants and here I was being gently put in my place by our baby girl. I felt so proud of her and so ashamed at myself that I instantly went to irritation over $100. How sad.
Matthew West has a song out right now that include the lyrics "I throw a twenty in the plate but I never give 'til it hurts." How often do I give only what I can spare rather than all that I have with my time, money, encouragement, etc? I'm reevaluating for sure and grateful for yet another lesson given to me by one of my children.
