When Help Helps
Lark loves the rocking horse that Brion Baker made a couple years ago . . . she loves it. Of course, she also loves "trick riding" which drives her parents crazy due to the higher likelihood of falling, but she's a daredevil at everything!
The coolest thing though was her willingness to allow Ez to participate. Now, his holding and swinging the horse's reigns did NOTHING concerning the actual riding of the horse, but he didn't realize it. He thought he was helping. He was super excited to be part of the fun. And she was excited he was there as well.
It was a beautiful reminder that even though we CAN do things by ourselves, there is great value to allowing others to have fun and participate as well . . . even when their participating doesn't actually "help," if that makes sense. We as believers need to be listening for God to direct and be willing to have others be part of things we might just have prepared deferred to do on our own - BECAUSE LOVING JESUS ISN'T ABOUT YOU. AND ISN'T ABOUT ME. It is about serving the Savior and working as a BODY of believers. And THAT usually means loving those God does.
In 1 Corinthians 12 it says, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
May we love others as Jesus does today . . . and include them in the fun as God inspires :)