Till it Hurts

**Post was originally written in December 2010, but I never posted it. Here it is now.**

Today I went to a friend's house for lunch. She had invited me to share about missions with her children and had also invited another family to come. All the children are in Awana's and every year they learn about missionaries. I love having chances to share about missions with kids because it was while I was young that the "missions seed" was planted in my own heart through stories and interactions with missionaries.

On the way to their house, I prayed that the Lord would use me to impact the childrens' hearts for missions.

During lunch, the kids were all playing in another room and I was visiting with the moms at the dining room table. 10-year-old Adam* walked into the room with his Awana's book in one hand and laid some money down on the table next to my plate. I turned to him and said, "What is this for?" He pointed to his book and said, "It says 'Give money to a missionary' and so I am". I could've melted right there on the spot. It was so simple and sweet . . . and shocking! We had not talked about money at all. I told him thank you and explained how the money would be used to help me tell people about Jesus.

He left the dining room and the moms and I continued to talk. A few minutes later, he walked quickly and quietly into the room, laid a few more bills on the table, and walked out again.

Not more than five minutes later, he entered a third time and laid a couple more bills on the table. The pile of slightly crumpled bills was sitting on the table as an offering. His mom went out of the room to talk to him and when she returned she told us he had said to her, "Mom, I gave till it hurt".

Adam earns $15 a week helping his grandpa on the farm. He's been saving his money faithfully for the new Nintendo 3ds. He gave $50 of his hard-earned savings towards missions . . . towards helping others to know the message of salvation in Jesus Christ.

I cannot tell you how humbled I am. Although I do need finances in order to do what the Lord has called me to do, it would be much easier to accept money from a rich adult rather than from a child who is giving sacrificially. What a sweet work God was doing in the heart of that 10-year-old boy. And perhaps in my heart too. This afternoon, I have been asking myself: am I giving my all to the Lord? Am I surrendering the thing that is most valuable to me? Am I giving till it hurts?

It reminds me of the widow and her two mites.

"While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” Luke 21:1-4 (NLT)

May Jesus be able to say that about me and you:
"She, poor as she is, has given everything she has".