So, I will take this time to share a precious moment with Hannah a couple of weeks ago. Now don't get me wrong here, my children are NOT perfect. And like all children, they need constant training and discipline. Believe me I don't know how many times I've said, "Stop your fussin', fightin', and squabblin'!! Now go give your sister a hug, and apologize for arguing and not not showing each other love and kindness." Moms, can I get a witness? How many times do we do this over and over?
But when Philip and I see them do something that is good or uplifting or kind, we try to praise, encourage, and shed light that act because we do want to make a constant effort to positively reinforce that behavior.
So here's this short story... it made my heart swell. I hope you enjoy it too.
Back in July while we were at a family reunion in TN, Hannah was given a purple monkey (yes, I said purple monkey!) as a gift from my cousin. She loves this monkey dearly and has become quite attached to it, she calls it Blueberry. So for months now she has played, slept with, and thoroughly enjoyed this monkey.
A couple of weeks ago Philip took Hannah along with him to a clothing store to exchange something. While they were there Hannah saw a display of stuffed animals. Now instead of begging Philip to buy her something, what did she do?
Well, I will tell you.
To Philip's surprise, she was thrilled to see a pink monkey EXACTLY like her purple one. She immediately started exclaiming that this was just like her monkey and how she REALLY wanted to buy it for... KAYLA! "Daddy can I please buy this for Kayla, she will love it! PLEASE?!" How could he say no to her unselfish desire to give something to her sister for no reason except that she knew she would love it too. So he said yes and Hannah was thrilled.
When they got home and told me all about it, Kayla was still taking a nap. Hannah was so excited and she wanted to give it to her right then. We took that time to tell her how proud we were of her for thinking of someone else in that instance. We told her that she could have easily wanted something for herself, but we were so pleased with her unselfish giving attitude. We also suggested that she give it to Kayla as a present. Hannah immediately went to my closet and was happy to look through and choose gift wrapping material for Kayla.
When Kayla woke up, Hannah was beside herself excited to give her sister this present.
I could just feel her anticipation...
Her joy in seeing her sister's joy brought tears to my eyes
A pink monkey like Hannah's purple one!
Hannah wanted Kayla to have the same thing that she she loved, because she loved her! She wanted to share with her the thing that brought her such happiness.
Afterwards, I started to think about everything. And it struck me. Are we just as enthusiastic and jumping at opportunities to share what we love with others?
Do we love other people so much that we look past our own selfish desires to see the chances and opportunities to share the love of our Saviour? Are we so full of joy and happiness with how He has redeemed us, that we can't wait to share it with others? Do we truly want others to know the love of God and hear the Gospel? Yes, we do. But, oh Lord forgive us, how we often fail in this area.
Lord, help us to look past ourselves, our own selfish desires, and see people who are in need of you. We want to share with them the joy and love that comes from knowing you. We want our joy to be their joy, knowing Christ as their Redeemer, their Saviour!
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." - John 15:9,11
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