Upon hearing that it was stewardship month at the church, a daughter of one of our staff members asked her mother why Pastor Ben’s son, Stuart, got a whole month dedicated to him! Get it? S-t-e-w-a-r-d and S-t-u-a-r-t said aloud sound pretty much alike. You can understand her confusion.
One thing is for certain: I am not a child psychologist. I have never studied the developmental stages of children. But, boy, am I ever learning through the every day, hands-on experience of being a dad. All of that is to say, while I may not understand how it happens, I am simply fascinated to watch my children learn.
Up to this point, neither my wife nor I have formally attempted to teach my son, Stuart (2 yrs old), about the Bible. But on the day of his baptism, the church – St. Mark’s - gave him his first Bible. My wife and I just put it in his room among his other books and trusted that when the time was right, when he was ready or showed some interest, that we would sit down and “talk” about the Bible. Well, in the meantime, life happened. We got busy, moved to a new house, had a baby, did a small renovation, etc.
Yet, to my great surprise, Stuart has taken a total fascination to his Bible. With no prompting from his parents, he picks it up, carries it around, and shouts out, “Read my Bibbble, Daddy!” More often than not, he insists that we read from it before he goes to bed. Sometimes, “Where’s my Bibbble?” is the first expression out of his mouth in the morning. Mostly I’m left scratching my head wondering where he learned about it and how he came to fall in love with it.
Pondering these questions this week, during our stewardship focus, it finally hit me. Duh! He learned about the Bible at St. Mark’s. He learned about the Bible in the nursery and in his preschool class. He came to love the Bible because folks at St. Mark’s, by their faithful stewardship and generosity, created opportunities for him to learn about the Bible. They didn’t do it because Stuart is a PK (preacher’s kid). They didn’t do it because it is Stuart-ship month. They did it becuase they are faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to their care. Thanks be to God!
It is stewardship Month at St. Mark’s. For four weeks we are intentionally talking about how God takes our gifts and through them grows God’s joy in our community. As a father, I am simply grateful to be a part of a faith community that takes every child’s faith development seriously. I am thankful to be a part of a church that believes in joyful generosity and in reaching out, transforming lives, and empowerfing servants so the Kingdom of God might come on earth as it is in heaven.
It’s not Stuart-ship month, its stewardship month. May we continue to grow in our generosity in order that God’s work might continue to be done in such fine fashion all across our community.
“What’s that Stuart?”
“Read my Bibbble daddy, read my Bibble!”
“Okay…hold on I’m coming…”
