OPINION —
I love the story of a father who became thirsty while mowing his lawn on a hot summer day. His little boy was playing nearby so he asked the boy to bring him a glass of cold water. Though his son was busy making mud pies in the yard, he eagerly obeyed his dad. He was so eager that he forgot the small matter of washing his hands.
The little fellow returns to his dad, lifting up a glass of water to him. Two dirty fingers are in the water, a little mud has settled to the bottom of the glass, and bits of trash are floating on the surface.
His father glances at the filthy water, and into the dancing eyes and smiling face of his son, so proud of having done what his dad had asked him to do. Then the father says, “Thank you son,” and turning up the glass, he drank it all — trash, mud and water.
That story invites the question: Can it be that when we offer our heavenly Father our muddy, imperfect service that he is willing to receive it in the same spirit as the father who drank that muddy glass of water? If the answer is yes, then there is hope for the least of us for our best service is always less than perfect.
A similar story is that of a little girl who surprised her sick mother by making her a cup of tea. Confined to bed with the flu, the mother is pleased that her sweet little daughter wants to be a good nurse. She fluffs the pillows, brings mom a magazine and soon shows up with a cup of hot tea.
“You are such a sweetheart,” mom says as she drinks the tea. “I didn’t know you knew how to make tea.”
“Oh yes,” her daughter replied. “I learned by watching you. I put the tea leaves in the pan and put in the water and xinto the cup. But I couldn’t find the strainer so I used the flyswatter instead.”
“You what!” her mother said, choking.
“Oh, don’t worry, mom, I didn’t use the new flyswatter; I used the old one.”
Such funny stories remind us that children make mistakes as they grow up. But they also remind us that, if we can be patient with our children, our heavenly Father is even more patient with us. What He wants from us is not perfect service, but our love, genuine love like the little boy had for his dad, and the little girl had for her mother. That our Father loves us even when there is a little mud in the glass and a strange taste in the tea is convincing evidence of the grace we all need.
