Dear Eve,
You rolled your little 10-year-old body up to our meeting on Heelys, and instantly I liked you! Thanks for sitting with me this morning and telling me about what it was like to have Jessy in your home for two weeks during Premier Education’s Winter Camp. I learned a lot from you because you were honest with me. I respect that in a young girl like you.
When I asked you how you felt about having a girl from China (Jessy, age 10) in your home, you mentioned that you weren’t too excited. It made me curious about why.
When you told me why you weren’t excited, it made my heart connect with yours. You indicated that you were hesitant about someone else moving in and calling your dad, “dad.”
I remember a time when I was about your age. Someone living with my family asked to call my dad, “dad.” I was the only person in my family that had a problem with that. That was my instant connection, our love for our daddies and our difficulty with sharing them.
I get that!
You also mentioned that you had to make some sacrifices with Jessy in your home for two weeks. You were forced to sit in the dreaded back of the car at times to make room for your new member of the family. You also were pushed by your parents to reach out and be Jessy’s friend when you didn’t feel like it all the time, but you were obedient to your parents’ prodding.
I respect that!
Eve, can I share with you something? When I was your age, my parents invited people to live in our home that I didn’t particularly feel close to. They also made me sit four people in the back seat of our Pinto car with a boy who was always dirty and stinky so we can take him to church every Sunday. I dreaded that every Sunday. I also dreaded a lot of other ministry opportunities my parents pushed me into. Living with parents who loved others well and inviting them into our family activities was not my first choice either when I was your age.
I feel that!
When I asked you if you enjoyed doing ministry in your own home by hosting Jessy, you said you didn’t talk about God much with her. Eve, do you know that every day when you woke up and chose kindness toward Jessy, even when you didn’t feel like it, you were doing ministry in your own home? Did you know that when you decided to sit in the back seat so Jessy could have the more coveted seat, you were doing ministry in your minivan?
I believe that!
I asked you if you thought the two-week hosting opportunity was worth it and your response was, “I don’t know.”
Here’s what I know:
“For you, Eve, are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that you should walk (or, “wheely on your Heely”) in them.”
Warmly,
Mrs. Everswick