Finding Joy in Helping Others
(taken from Beginning with God: My Very Own Devotional by Steve T. Barclift)
“Mommy, I’m bored,” said Elaina.
“It’s too cold and windy to go outside and play,” she answered.
“And I can’t think of anything else to do.”
Mother looked thoughtful for a minute.
“Here’s an idea, Elaina,” said Mother. “One of the best ways to keep from being bored is to do something special for someone else. Why don’t we bake cookies for someone today?”
Next, the girls sifted in flour and the remaining ingredients. Mother laughed as a cloud of flour dust rose around Elaina and Joy. Even their eyebrows turned white! After they finished
Ralph delighted the girls with stories about his and Virginia’s career as missionaries in Mexico.********
“That’s a good idea, Mommy!” answered Elaina. “When can we start?”
“You, Joy, and I have the whole afternoon to ourselves,” said Mother. “Let’s start right now!”
After they all put on aprons, Mother got together the cookie ingredients.
The girls stood on chairs at the counter and watched as Mother broke an egg into a big mixing bowl. She added sugar and other things, then the girls took turns stirring the mixture.
Next, the girls sifted in flour and the remaining ingredients. Mother laughed as a cloud of flour dust rose around Elaina and Joy. Even their eyebrows turned white! After they finished making the dough, Mother showed the girls how to roll it into little balls. They dipped the dough balls in sugar and put them in neat rows on a cookie sheet.
“They smell yummy,” said Joy as the cookies baked. Through the oven window, they watched the balls of dough flatten out on the cookie sheet.
Soon they had baked a big pile of warm cookies. Mother put some of them into a plastic container, then wrapped the container in kitchen towels and placed it into a basket. Wearing their heavy coats, hats, and mittens, Mother and the girls set off down the street.
“Welcome, friends!” said Ralph White as he answered the knock at his door. “Come in before you catch your death of cold!”
“What a wonderful surprise!” said Virginia White as she spread the cookies out on a plate.
“Don’t they look delicious!”
“They don’t just look good,” said Mr. White with a smile as he bit into a cookie.
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“We helped Mommy make them,” said Elaina proudly.
Before they knew it, they had visited with the Whites for more than an hour.
“It’s time to go now, girls,” said Mother as she got up and put on her coat.
“So soon?” asked Elaina.
“I’m afraid so, honey,” answered Mother. “It will be getting dark soon.”
“Thanks for the cookies. And God bless you all,” said Ralph White as Mother and the girls left.
“This has been a really fun day,” said Elaina as they carefully made their way along the icy street.
“We got to eat lots of cookies, too!” added Joy.
“When we do nice things for other people, it not only makes them happy, it makes Jesus happy,” said Mother.
“And that’s not all,” said Elaina. “It makes us happy too. Isn’t that right, Mommy?”
Mother smiled. “Yes, honey,” she said. “It makes us happy too.”
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Stay tuned later this week for some applicable Bible verses and activities to go along with this story!
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