Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Trust and Obey (don't write about the song) (05/21/15)
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TITLE: The Mighty Mite | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Bonney
05/26/15 -
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Widow Snyder was the smilingest, kindest, oldest person I knew—even older that Great-grandma Emma. At her last birthday party, there were so many candles on her cake, the kitchen smoke alarm rang through the neighborhood for ten whole minutes! Her daughter, Charlotte, caught her walker on brother Stanley’s stepladder, threatening his precarious perch on the chair to reach the alarm; a comedy of errors that kept us giggling all day!
When I was a little older, I asked my mother why the woman was so happy and content when she had so little.
(I was beginning to make comparisons at the time and trying to make sense out of the discrepancies of life: rich kids getting all the privileges that money could by while our family scraped by with basic necessities; outward beauty getting more attention and being rewarded more than average looks or intellect; why some kids could get away with “murder” and didn’t seem to have any rules while the rest of us suffered under the chains of parental authority; that sort of thing.)
“Mrs. Snyder has learned how to obey God,” Mother responded thoughtfully, “she trusts Him to take care of all her needs. Do you remember last Sunday’s sermon about the widow who put two coins in an offering box?”
“Oh, yeah, and that rich dude clanked in so many coins, everyone heard how religious he was,” Mama’s lips and eyes curved up into the humorous smile she kept hidden until one of us kids said something that tickled her.
“Yes, but the lesson was that small amounts given by the poor mean more to God than extravagant donations from the rich. Obedience means more to God than sacrifice.”
I mulled that over in my mind, trying to compare the parable to our present day lives. Daddy lost his job once because he refused to work on Sundays. He believed it would be disobeying God’s command to keep the Sabbath day holy. He trusted that God would still supply our needs. I had wondered about our family still tithing what little we had at that time, tithing my allowance also a given. Every week, God would come through with what was needed, and sometimes more, one way or another. I saw, up close and personal, that God always had our backs if we followed His rules.
Mama passed by my bedroom doorway, a stack of folded laundry in her arms, so high that her head peeking over it looked like a turtle’s head coming out of a shell.
“You can trust someone who really loves you, right?” I blurted out as she put my clean clothes beside me on my Holly Hobby bedspread, “so, we can trust God because He loves us and the Bible says that ‘perfect love casts out fear’. So, we aren’t afraid to obey Him, right?”
Mama’s furrowed brow cleared as she understood what I was getting at.
“That’s right, honey,” sitting down next to me, “remember that time you were dangling in midair from that tree branch in the backyard and Daddy was ordering you to let go, his open arms ready to catch you? You were frightened at the prospect, but you obeyed him because you trusted in his love.”
My mind went back to that day not so long ago and I relived those scary moments again, like watching a preview to an upcoming movie.
Mama continued, “Now, what if it had been Johnny Avery under the tree instead of your father?”
I winced even at his name, the sixth grade class bully, shaking my head vehemently back and forth.
“Why?”
“Because I wouldn’t trust him,” I acknowledged.
“Bingo!”
I would remember that scene and that conversation many times over the years, reinforcing my convictions and faith in the unfailing love and care of my heavenly Father. My “two mites” were just that, at times, but never have I wanted for anything. So, I keep on trusting as I obey God’s words and He keeps blessing to keep His. I feel I have more and more in common with Widow Snyder in these days, my husband passing away a year ago, and living on Social Security.
Last week, a little girl shyly approached me at church, saying,
“You always make me smile, ma’am, you seem so happy all the time. . .”
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It seems you have a dangling participle towards the end in 'my husband passing away a year ago, and living on Social Security.' They seem to trap us all.