My kids were five and eight years old, with few volunteer opportunities. What? My kids needed to get out there and give back to the community! When a mom at our church offered a chance to work hard for God’s Kingdom (well, hard for single digit aged children), I jumped.
The hard work place was Union Gospel Mission in Ft. Worth, TX. On a side note, one of the volunteers wrote a book called “Some Kind of Different As Me”, which somersaulted to a movie starring Greg Kinnear and Renee Zellweger. It’s a great book and movie, very wholesome and faith based.
I arrived at Union Gospel Mission for our orientation, kids in tow. Our tour guide was fantastic! She gave us a quick yet fascinating history of origin and mentioned the book (the movie was not even a twinkle in anyone’s eye). Our group would be responsible for a birthday party once a quarter for the children at the shelter whose birthdays fell into the month we were hosting. There were other organizations carrying the other months, so we were told just once a quarter was a bountiful blessing.
Our mission was to provide a cake, a gift card for each birthday child (Walmart cards were suggested but they appreciated all gift cards), games, and a craft. All kids staying at the shelter were invited, so we wanted to provide party favors for everyone. Truly, how can you go to a birthday party in this century and not come home with a party favor bag? It’s just not acceptable!
My five-year-old and eight-year-old enjoyed playing with the kids and eating cake. They watched the birthday kids open their gift cards and saw all the moms and dads thank us. And of course, because that’s just how we moms roll, I spent the twenty-minute drive to the shelter and back talking about what a wonderful outreach we were providing. Wasn’t it so important to give back to our communities, to help our fellow man, like Jesus?
The third time we loaded up, I pulled out my well-rehearsed mom speech--what a wonderful outreach program, it’s so important to give back, look at us living out the Gospel, blah blah blah blah.
Nathan spoke up. “But Mom--why are we doing this? Why would these kids want this dumb party with people they don’t even know? One birthday gift, and it’s a stupid gift card? That doesn’t even make sense--who gets one gift at a birthday party?” He continued his rant and sunk my enthusiasm. “This all so lame. I bet the parties their parents put on are tons better—why don’t we get invited to those?”
Oh my stars……. I was so far from that super mom I thought I was, and so far from where I should be leading my children. Then God, in His incredible wisdom, directed my heart.
I parked the car in our driveway and took a breath. “This is the absolute only birthday party these kids are getting. We’re giving Walmart gift cards because, even though those sweet children want a Play Station or a Wii, they probably need new shoes and a jacket more.”
I peeked at my kids through the rearview mirror and saw blank faces. “Guys, those precious kids live at the homeless shelterwhile their parents try to find a forever home. These kids might have friends at school, but they won’t invite them to their birthday party. Because this is all they’re getting until their situation changes.”
#mommess I’d explained homelessness in a way only an adult could understand. My boys couldn’t comprehend living in a home they hadn’t chosen. How could there be no choices? They never knew a person who had a birthday party without one present and a tiny bit of decorations. Who did that?
It was my job as a parent to help them realize how blessed they are. We work so hard to protect our children that sometimes we protect them from understanding their blessing. We protect them from understanding how they can serve our Mighty God. I felt pretty useless in my mom journey. I’d failed as a mom.
Thank goodness we serve a Mighty God! He relishes taking our small things and building them up for our good and His Glory. My boys went to the mission that night with new hearts and new minds, only things their Father could have given them. He’d provided us all an opportunity to watch Him do great things in our lives.
He brought me down quite a peg or two, by gently reminding me that our quarterly trips to Ft. Worth weren’t about feeling good and checking off tasks on our list and congratulating ourselves for our good deeds.
It was about humility. It was about having a servant’s heart. How can that happen? By realizing that we need to go back to the Gospel. What did Jesus do? What should we do? God also provided me with an opportunity to look at the Scripture with fresh eyes , to search out how I should be living out the Gospel.
Jann Goar Franklin is a faith-based cozy mystery writer attracting readers who enjoy twisty Southern mysteries with a touch of romance and a dose of humor.
Her books offer mysteries in Louisiana with curious clues and characters who exasperate as much as they endear.
You can reach her at jann@jannfranklin.com.
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