Kids are like snowflakes.  Even though they might come from the same two parents, they all come out with different traits, which is a blessing but does make parenting all the more difficult.  Clearly God has a sense of humor and likes to keep us on our toes at all times.  :-)

My middle child, Sarah (10), definitely has a servant's heart, and is so different from my other girls.  For as long as I can remember, she's been doing nice things for people.  On the first day of first grade, her classroom had desks arranged in groups of 4, and she sat with some of her friends from kindergarten.  When everyone got settled, there was one child, new to the school, sitting by himself at a group of desks.  The teacher asked if anyone would move to go sit with the new boy.  Without hesitating, Sarah got up, gathered her books, and greeted the little boy.  Her teacher was so amazed that she told me about the incident at Back to School night.

My family used to attended small group meetings at our old church and at the end of the meetings, there would always be a snack.  The kids would be in the kitchen and the adults would be in the living room.  Sarah would always bring a plate of cookies from the kitchen to make sure that each adult had been served.  She was 7 or 8 years old at the time.

This Easter Sunday was no different.  Because I decided that we should be amongst what Pastor Mark refers to as the "morning people," we were running a little behind to try to make it to the 9 a.m. service.  I'd served breakfast, ate, and went upstairs to finish getting ready while the girls finished up the last of their breakfast.  When I came back downstairs, Sarah had single-handedly cleared all of the dishes from the table, put the leftover food in the fridge, and made sure everything was neat and tidy.  I was AMAZED!!  I hadn't asked her to do it.  I hadn't even hinted at it.  But what a blessing it was to come down and not have to worry about the mess.  (You have to understand that getting my kids to do chores has been very difficult because of the 2 very different households they live in.) 

I hugged her and thanked her for cleaning up.  She got a huge smile on her face.  It struck me that there are probably other things she's done for me in the past that I haven't really taken the time to appreciate.  And isn't that always the case?  There are so many people with the true heart to serve, who honestly don't expect any acolades for what they do...they do it because it's in their nature to serve.  I can only imagine what impact she'll be able to have in her circle of influence as she grows up.  It still amazes me that even with the adversity she's facing right now, she's still able to give of herself.  I continue to pray that she's able to hold on to her servant attitude for a long time to come.

^"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time."1 Peter 5:6