on giving

when i was in college, i worked at a lifeway christian bookstore for about six months. one evening, a woman came in the store, distraught and asking for money to help bury her child she'd just lost. i told her i'd ask our manager if we could help, and i gave her what little cash i had in my wallet. moments later, i had to tell her our store could do nothing to help. it wasn't our "policy."

after she left, the guy who was working with me that night said something along the lines of, "you know you just got duped. what an irresponsible way to steward a few bucks." i wasn't naive. i knew there was a good chance the sad story about a dead child and funeral costs had been made up. but, in the back of my mind, i had to wonder: what if it was true? what if she really needed help?

the question of how christians should respond in these situations probably comes up more often around christmas than any other time of the year. i have seen more people on street corners in my city with signs reading "broke and hungry" this month. i was approached two days ago in the parking lot of a local shopping center by a woman who said she needed help feeding her two children. i know there is real need here (several months ago, we were named the #1 city for hungry children in america...not something you really want to be #1 for), but sometimes i still hear that voice in my head: "you know you just got duped."

i don't like that christians make other christians feel guilty about being generous. and i don't want my children believing that we put conditions on how we give and who we give to. i want them to know they should never feel guilty about helping someone who they think is in need.

i love these words from the sermon of a 19th century scottish minister (found in tim keller's excellent book generous justice: how God's grace makes us just):

"now, dear christians, some of you pray night and day to be branches of the true vine; you pray to be made all over in the image of christ. if so, you must be like him in giving...'though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor'...objection 1. 'my money is my own.' answer: christ might have said, 'my blood is my own, my life is my own'...then where should we have been? objection 2. 'the poor are undeserving.' answer: christ might have said, 'they are wicked rebels...shall i lay down my life for these? i will give to the good angels.' but no, he left the ninety-nine, and came after the lost. he gave his blood for the undeserving. objection 3. 'the poor may abuse it.' answer: christ might have said the same; yea, with far greater truth. christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet; that most would despise it; that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet he gave his own blood. oh, my dear christians! if you would be like christ, give much, give often, give freely, to the vile and poor, the thankless and undeserving."

 

a confession

let me confess: sometimes i torture myself by reading blogs of people whose parenting skills and children seem more advanced than mine. i'm pretty sure women, and mothers in particular, are really bad about comparing.

the most classic "lauren gets angsty every time she reads a blog like this" example is as follows.

the mom who does a billion crafts with her two-year-old and documents each craft with a picture post but never includes any pictures of the two-year-old ACTUALLY DOING THE CRAFT.



this is buma. he just turned two (and i never wrote a birthday post). this kid doesn't sit down for more than five seconds unless he's feeling particularly needy that day (and even then, he wants nothing to do with anything except being held).

the last time we did a craft (which was more than 2 months ago), i literally had to restrain him just so i could trace his hand. and then he had a major meltdown when i tried to put his finger in paint.

his favorite things to do with just about anything you give him are (a) put it in his mouth/eat it or (b) find a bigger container to put it in and then dump it out and then do that all over again or (c) throw it.

sure, he's maybe a tad behind developmentally (someone recently told us they thought he was 14 months old), but from what i know about most typical-didn't-spend-16-months-in-an-orphanage-two-year-olds, his behavior isn't too far off the curve.

so please, if you have a two-year-old that does crafts, at least post pictures that show your kid actually doing the craft so we know he did it and you're not just passing off the work you did as your kid's. or take and actually post some pictures of the mishaps that most certainly did occur when you let your two-year-old try to glue popsicle sticks together to make some holiday-themed bobble.

or you could do what i told my mom to do when she and my dad babysat recently and did a christmas craft with my kids: lie and say that your kid, like most of the rest of ours, can't do a craft yet.*+

*this post was written mostly in jest (i don't really condone lying). but in all seriousness, all the mom bloggers out there should make a pact that says everything you post about your parenting and your children can't be perfect. because perfect just ain't real life.
+buma laid down in the floor and tantrumed when my mom tried to get him to let her paint his hand for the christmas craft.