Long Tassels

What, you say? Another blog, and December is not even over? It must be all this blogging energy in my family, AND the fact that I have at least one faithful reader left out there.

The title above referes to something I read this week. The teachers of the law were being slammed big-time for their wrong motives. Mostly they were doing all their spiritual work for the praise of men, parading around in their robes with long tassels in the marketplace. It's in the 23rd chapter of the first gospel. You just can't read that without questioning your own motives for what you do in His name.

I had just such an incident on Monday. Now if you decided to participate in the toy drive of our town you will know that Monday was a little late for me to be getting around to fulfilling my part of this giving project. Had I been on top of it, which I'm usually not, I would have been down at the armory on the previous Friday picking up the free toys for delivery on Saturday. That was certainly my intent when the sign up sheet came around and I thought to myself what a good thing this was to do. AND that it should be supported by someone like me (can you see my long tassels?).

However, someone like me realized on Sunday that I had blown it. It was then I realized I still had one day to redeem by charitable plan but I would now have to purchase all the gifts myself. Shoot! That will be a little expensive. But since I was assigned to 2 families I couldn't very well get out of it. So off to Walmart I went.

Of course any visit to Walmart this week is not pleasant. And of course I only allowed myself the bare minimum of shopping time prior to the appointment I had set up with my 2 famlies. And of course they would all be teenagers, the most difficult to shop for. Time is running out and I'm scrambling for purchases that will light up someone's eyes. I pick up several things, then change my mind and put them back. Time's almost up, oh, why did I sign up for this anyway, next year I will be smart and just give cash or something. I really don't have time for this. The self checkout doesn't go well either, you know the stupid machine is asking for something and you can't quite figure out what. I get all the way out to my car and realize I'm missing one of the basketballs. And it's raining. Hard.

I retrieve my missing items and go speeding out of the parking lot. I'm supposed to pick up my daughter so as not to make the delivery alone. Oh, well, no time for that - just hope I don't get mugged by my first family. I wonder how really needy they are anyway? Ooh, that's a nasty thought, where did that come from?

I finally find my first family only 15 minutes later than planned. I'm really tense as I pull up to a single wide with lots of stuff piled around the buildings, barely room to park, right off the highway. I'm really tense now as I step out looking around. Maybe they're not home!

Suddenly a young woman meets me right at my door with a happy smile and scoops up the toys to quickly hide them in the garage so it won't ruin her children's surpise. I realize she's been waiting for me, probably since Friday. I am deeply humbled by her need and her gratefulness.

I nearly botched this whole giving effort. And I certainly did not have pure motives, not completely anyway. But there it was, all fresh and new: the joy of giving that overwhelmed me.

It IS good to examine our motives. It IS good to plan ahead. But even when you're tripping over your own long tassels, don't give up on doing the good thing. Even from someone like you.

Have a blessed Christmas!