Jesus and the pirates

Today, while hustling through my errands and stops around our little community, I came across a person who was in need of help.

I will admit, I first passed by. I saw, I knew, and I passed. And the second I did, I felt terrible. So I turned around. My kids asked what we were doing, and I said, "There is a man who needs our help."

So we went back and helped him. Afterwards, Kaiti asked why. And I shared a passage that has been heavy on my mind lately.

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"

{Matthew 25:40}

We talked about what that meant and how Jesus calls us to be more like Him. We talked about the big and the little of that passage and how we are called to always reach out. The situation was not unique, and it's not like I gave the man my car and my debit card. But my kids saw, they watched, and they will remember. Just a little bit ago, Tyler came up to me and said "Mom, is it alright if I share that lesson from the bible with my friends at school?" All I could do was smile at him. 

I am not sharing this to toot my own horn or come off like a savior. I am not, at all. At all. I raise my voice, I snap, I get frustrated, I am impatient and I get annoyed, all in front of my kids. There have been times when I have not turned back. They see it, and I am sure (painfully so), they are making note of it. That is not how I want to teach them to be. And today reminded me, that in everything we do, they are watching, they are learning. 

*Yes, I forget this often. Actually, it's not as much that I forget- it's more that I just don't think. 

But today, I am thinking. I don't have to just hope that they are compassionate and kind- I can show them to be. And in our experiences, I can let them be. 

I don't just want them to HAVE God's love in their hearts. I want them to GROW it. I want them to help people on the first encounter. We read stories from their Children's Bibles all the time- but today they got to see and do what Jesus implores them to, instead of just reading about it.

And then Tyler asking me if he could share his experience with his friends? So content, I couldn't come up with a word. If you've met me, you know the impact of this.

As I was sitting there, in awe and amazed at my son, he turns as he is walking back to his room, and says "I'm also gonna tell my friends that pirates totally don't do this, so if you can't help people, you should probably just be a pirate."

And then there was that. Sigh.