Kids are inquisitive.
Very inquisitive.
They want to know about everything. Nothing is off limits. No question is taboo. There isn’t a filter or guard on children when it comes to acquiring useful facts and information.
Lately, my daughter Andrea has been very interested in authority.
You know the who’s in charge of who kinda stuff?
“Is Pastor Brian (our lead pastor) your boss?” She asked, confident she already knows the answer.
“Yes ma’am.” I answer.
“Dad, are you the boss of the youth kids?” She asks, again demonstrating she’s been paying attention.
“Yep, you got it.” I reply.
Then I nearly drive off the road after her next doozy of a question.
“Dad, who’s the boss of our family, you or mom?”
Wow. I feel like how I answer this one is crucial… This is a worldview shaping type of question and response…
So I pause, take a deep breath and say, “Your mom is, I do whatever she says.”
Pheew. Crisis averted.
________
Every year our church hosted an annual Halloween Kid’s Carnival.
A free event that is for our community. Something we’ve done for 22+ years.
It’s a great event.
Annually thousands of people from our area come and are blessed with fun, games, and CANDY.
Over the years I’ve helped in lots of different areas:
Booth operator, greeter, shuttle driver, prize-giver-outer, and more.
This particular year I tried something new.
I helped out on our parking lot crew. A tricky job. Our lot is not big enough for the crowds and we often have to divert traffic to a nearby school.
As I was parking cars (and having a lot of fun) I noticed a familiar looking vehicle show up.
The driver was a striking blonde and I almost felt bad for staring… Then I realized, oh, that’s my car and my wife is driving it. And I went back to staring.
I led them to a spot and continued parking the vehicles that followed them in. All the while, keeping an eye towards my family’s car. I wanted to see what costumes the kids had chosen.
Andrea, a beautiful bumble bee, was the first one out of the car.
The first words out of her mouth when she saw me in my costume (a florescent construction vest and flashlight) will stick with me for sure.
She yelled across the parking lot, “DAD! Are you SERVING?!”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I answered her, “Yep, I am.”
She continued, “I knew it. You’re helping park cars aren’t you?”
“You got it.” I said with a smile.
She finished with, “Dad, I’m proud of you for serving.” Then she turned and went inside to enjoy the carnival.
I’m so glad my daughter saw me serving.
Please understand me.
I wasn’t doing it to get noticed by her or anything. I’m simply glad she saw me serving. She had been learning in her Sunday school class about serving and now she had a concrete example to remember.
Jesus probably said it best when He said:
“You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”
(Matthew 20.25-28, The Message)
I want my daughter, my kids, and anyone else I influence to know that to be a great boss you must be willing to serve.
Ask yourself:
What can I do to put others first today?
Who is someone (be specific) I can serve today?
In what areas of my life am I expecting service instead of looking for opportunities to serve?