It must have been something I ate… the last thing I wanted to do was “rock on the dock with the crock,” entertaining dozens of children at our VBS: “Crocodile Dock.” Instead, I wanted to insulate myself from the world and isolate myself from everyone, but duty called, so off I went. It turned out to be one of those “I’m glad I did it” moments in my life.
The 90+ children hanging around on the dock were so excited to sing songs of praise, share in the stories of our faith, and challenge one another to raise money for missionaries like Tom Heaton in Guatemala. The kids ended up collecting over $500.00 for Salud Y Paz from their own nickels, pennies, dimes and quarters—that’s a lot of change. But the real change was the one taking place in me, in the lives of those kids, and we hope—in the lives of those touched by the ministries of Salud Y Paz.
Dr. Phil Plunk, Director of Salud Y Paz once quoted a line from a song saying, “if we could only forget our problems as easily as we forget our blessings…” well, that day I forgot my problems because of the rich blessings of our children. I was filled with the joy of God’s salvation and the blessings of sacrificial fellowship because of our kids. I’m glad I choose to connect.
John Ortberg, in an astute observation about Jesus’ parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13), writes that the rich man was alone with his wealth. When the rich man had a bumper crop and needed to make a decision about what to do with it, he had a discussion with himself, asking, “What shall I do?” The rich man had no one to talk to: “He thought to himself…” Jesus pictured the man utterly alone: “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops… this is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself….” It was all about “me, myself, and I,” if you will.
It’s interesting. This parable is Jesus’ response to the request of “someone in the crowd” asking Him to settle a dispute between himself and his brother regarding an inheritance. I used to think this parable was about focusing on people as opposed to possessions; on God, not the world–you know,–store up your treasures in heaven… But now I think it’s more about sharing our possessions with people. Jesus asked, “Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (vs. 20) His question is about WHO will share in the blessings with the rich man. It’s not a question of WHERE his blessings come from.
The greatest blessing that came from the “Dock” was sharing in the blessings of our children sharing their blessings, unrestrained, for children they’ve never met. And to think, I nearly missed it because of some undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato… bah humbug.
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