Giving, not getting

I'm pretty proud of my daughters. As I watch them grow I see myself in them, which terrifies me, and yet slowly but surely I am also beginning to see Jesus reflected in their lives. Tracy & I have committed ourselves to leading our girls to love Jesus, although we are pretty imperfect pictures of Him ourselves. In spite of that, every once in a while our girls surprise us in amazing ways as they walk more and more like Jesus. About a year ago Sarah Grace surprised us in one of those ways. Just after her 6th birthday, she came to her mom and told her that she (Sarah Grace) had too many toys. Not exactly the typical fare from a 6 year old. :-) Surprised, her mother asked her what she wanted to do about it. Grace proceeded to tell her about her new idea for a birthday party. Instead of a "normal" party, she decided she wanted to invite friends to come and bring gifts for others. Operation Christmas Child has been special to Grace for a while since her school has participated in it every year she's been a student there. So Grace decided to have an OCC party. She wanted to invite her friends, instruct them to bring items for the shoeboxes instead of gifts, and spend the party packing boxes.

Her mom and I agreed, thinking she would certainly forget, or change her mind, over the coming year. We should have known better. Grace doesn't forget anything.

So, next week we're going to be hosting a birthday party, but not like one I ever wanted to have as a child. Instead of getting, my little girl wants to give. As a daddy who loves Jesus, and wants his girls to love Jesus, I couldn't be prouder.

Happy (almost) Birthday Sarah Grace!