John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
Today in class, Anjali taught part of the lesson to the older kids at the preschool. She got up in front of them and led them through the lesson. It was wonderful to see her taking the lead in this project and enjoying herself. She even told us that she would like to come back to teach for a summer. To see her giving her time and enjoying it makes me so happy. I have prayed since we began this journey that they will find joy in serving and that it will somehow be instilled into our children and hopefully create a lifetime of serving others. This doesn’t mean that I only want them to volunteer, I just want them to understand the importance and the impact they make in this world when they are willing to give a bit of themselves to help others. We get so much more out of our life when we share and give to others. Winston Churchill nailed it when he said “we make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” I couldn’t agree more, and I have experienced this myself. My life becomes more full and joyous when I focus more on others and less on me.
Watching Anjali in this class leads me to think that we are doing the right thing for our children. This may difficult for all of us, but hopefully, we are showing our children, by example, how to give yourself in the service of others and they are feeling first hand what you get in return. I just pray this continues to make a permanent mark on their heart!
As parents, this is not an easy thing to teach our children and we need to be examples for them, just they way Jesus was for us. We don’t need to go on a year-long trip to do this, but rather every day and every person we come into contact we can give them some of the love in our hearts. This can mean a warm smile, patience to the barista at Starbucks, a conversation with the homeless person outside our office, serving dinner at the homeless shelter, restocking or donating to a local food pantry, the options are endless. It doesn’t take much, just a commitment to ourselves, to our children, and to our world. When we make this a priority, we change our focus from ourselves to our brothers and sisters. We will feel an immediate shift in our heart and see our world as a big family rather than us and them.
This is not a fail proof plan, but rather just another one of my random thoughts as I read this daily scripture my husband has created for me.
Sara's Daily Scripture and Journal 