the lesson learned by sneaking the last of the oreos....

there are certain lessons that tend to be a bit more difficult to teach.  especially if you haven't necessarily mastered them yourself.

this evening, my girl was enjoying a pre-supper snack of cookie crunch cereal.  {ding ding ding:  mom of the year alert!}

lest you judge, please remember i am the one who must have something sweet before each meal.  i prefer the good portion first. 

i asked her to share.  she did not willingly oblige.

i don't hold this against her.  she gets it honest. 

but it left me pondering on the couch before supper was ready.  where did she really learn this?

could it have been when i sneak around the corner and shove the last cookie in my mouth?  or when i'm riding in the front seat and tell her i don't have anymore ice cream?  or how about the time i convinced her she really didn't like apples because i really wanted it for myself?

or could it perhaps be something innate?  something born in us from the moment we draw our first breath?  something down deep that lies to us and make us believe we have to guard our stuff, our hearts, our lives with all the strength we can muster?

jesus said otherwise.

give, and it will be given to you. a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.   luke 6:38

good measure.  pressed down.  shaken together and running over. 

imagine a blessing so abundant your cup can not contain.  all because you opened your hand and offered it to someone else.
i'm not certain i have ever experienced such.  i know i want to. 

and do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.          hebrews 13:16

for God is pleased with such sacrifices.   my heart aches to please my king.  to give all i have to help others see his glory. 

tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. if they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.      1 timothy 6:17-19

by society's measuring stick, i am not rich.  i'm middle class.  yet, compared to the majority of the world's population, i am abundantly wealthy. 

i prefer to consider myself abundantly blessed by a king who is extravagant in giving good gifts.  i choose not the easy way, not the worldly way, not the way of society, but the way that lays a good foundation for a life yet to come.  a life so abundant i can hardly imagine.  a life where i open my hand and heart and give what he has so richly given me.

i suppose that starts with sharing the last of the oreos.  or my ice cream.