Cinnamon Rolls

I live in a world of excess.  My children don't believe me.  They think that they need more. Of everything.  Or anything.  It doesn't matter.  Just more.  "There's nothing for lunch." "I don't have a phone." Or a DS, or my own YouTube channel.  I need a new pair of jeans, tennis shoes, a flash drive, a belt, shoes. I need, I need, I need...  And I think, "Really?  You need all this?"  And some of it they do.  Maybe.  I get tired of all this excess, this unwillingness to make do.  Most of the things my kids want, I could get for them.  But I don't and here's why.  I want my children to grow up appreciating the things they have.  I want them to recognize the privilege which with they live.  A privilege that requires they give back.  I want them to develop gratitude.  I want them to work for some of the things that they need and feel a sense of responsibility for what they're given.  I want them to be generous people.

I try and model this kind of behavior.  It comes as a sad realization when I recognize that I am not doing as well as I should.  I was recently given an opportunity to help stock an apartment for some missionaries for my church.  A list was emailed out about all the things they needed.  I was at the store and saw that a few of the things they required were in the clearance section at the store.  Easy, I thought as I paid my $5 for a water pitcher and a few drinking glasses.   I was slow to respond to the email, and learned later that someone else had already picked those items up.  So on another trip to the store, I bought some fancy measuring cups.  And then I decided that I would keep those new shiny measuring cups for myself and give the missionaries my old ones.  I don't know when it dawned on me that I was not being generous.  I had congratulated myself for my service, but I wasn't willing to give up anything to serve. 

In the end, I gave them the pitcher, glasses and new measuring cups.  I figured a few extra glasses are always welcome.  And then I had my son, Ramen, make cinnamon rolls to take around to a few families at church who had just had babies and one who was ill.  At least it made me feel better and hopefully it taught him a lesson about service.  He said that he felt great.  And that it was fun.  And that he wants to be a secret service person (not the federal agent kind) who leaves things on doorsteps and rings the bell and runs away.  Which reminded me of when my family growing up "turkeyed" families at Thanksgiving.  My Dad would get frozen turkeys and we would deliver them to families that were in need, leave them on the doorstep, ring the bell and then run.  It is a great memory made by some pretty great parents, who have always been models of  Christlike service to me.  

And in the end all we really want is more love, more kindness, and more compassion.  And maybe a really great cinnamon roll.