Birthday Lesson
Birthdays are supposed to be your own special day with people
pampering you, and showering you with greetings and well wishes. Leading up to
the big day, that’s what had been happening. Cards, phone messages, Facebook
posts, three birthday cakes and even a stand-up paddle boarding lesson followed
by lunch. Today was going to be an extraordinary day. Until…I arrived at
church.
I’m one of those people who likes to get there early in
order to greet people and make them feel welcome, so when a friend spotted a
guest with two children and tasked me with assisting them, I was on it. Upstairs
to the children’s wing we went and then got the teenage son situated when the
director of the children’s Sunday School program asked me if I would check in on the infant
room. She said I didn’t need to stay and that she would be down in a few
minutes.
I raced downstairs halfway thinking that someone would be awaiting;
after all it was my birthday. There was someone there, but not exactly what I
had hoped to find…a mother and her baby. I “graciously” took the child and sat
on the floor with her thinking all the while, “It’s my birthday, don’t they
know that I shouldn’t have to work in the nursery on my birthday? I was only
trying to help a newcomer to the church.”
It was at that moment that God spoke to me saying, “Yes, it
is your birthday. I gave you the gift of life, so do you mind serving Me where
I need you on this your special day?”
I had to laugh at myself. How can I be so caught up in
myself and what I think I deserve that I miss opportunities where God wants to
use me?
With my attitude adjusted, four additional babies arrived.
We only had one poopie diaper and about 10 minutes of crying babies during the
hour long service, but God blessed me with two young girls who wanted to help
instead of sitting in church and the director of our child development center (with
whom I rarely get a chance to visit).
If I had made it to hear the sermon, I’m sure it would have
been a good one, but God had His own message in mind for me and I hope I learned it
well—Be willing anywhere and anytime to serve Him without putting my conditions
on it.
Ephesians 6:7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if
you were serving the Lord, not men…
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