“Mommy, I can do it, trust me.” She says to me, as she is wavering on an overturned laundry basket, reaching on her tip toes to reach her mermaid costume. “I am not worried about you, hunny, but…(the potential boo-boos that might exist in a few moments). She barely got ahold of the mermaid tail and tumbles down to the ground. Yes, crying begins. And yes, mommy is sorry. I suppose this will not be the last time that I “oversee” a bad choice, a potential pitfall that is going to hurt. It isn’t that we don’t trust our children; it is that they don’t always make the best decisions, right? If the issue isn’t about trust, but about what is the right choice or wrong choice, how come we don’t interrupt? How can we be bystanders to an epic fall that will come from an overturned laundry basket turned ladder?
It got me thinking about my relationship with God and the trust He places on me, despite any metaphorical laundry basket I might be standing on. Just as I have to have a trust in Him, He in turn trusts me. He trusts me to make the right choices, yes, but more importantly to interrupt the bad ones. To interrupt or to stop the bad choices can mean that you are consciously trying to make the good ones. Looking through the lens of stewardship, we see that the good choices are commonly those involving time, talent, and treasure. Simply put, can I make a choice to spend more time with God, to serve God’s people, and to share my wealth with those who need it more than I do week after week? If I live my life through the lens of stewardship, I see that I can keep making good choices a priority, so that I don’t entertain the bad choices that come to mind.
As Gracey got up and calmed down, I had to explain that a laundry basket is not a ladder. She thought she was being creative and that practically, “it worked, mommy.” While I appreciate her cleverness, she and I both realized that sometimes we need to pause, take a step back, and ask for help…oh, and keep the laundry basket right side up.
Katie Price is the Cathedral Stewardship and Discipleship Coordinator. She can be reached at [email protected].