A few days ago, Jake's Sunday school class was taught about casting off laziness and working hard. When he emerged from class, Jake thrust a thin packet of worksheets at me before running off to play with his friends. I flipped through the completed work and stopped when I came to a page titled "Things I Want to Work Hard at When I Grow Up." Below that are several pictures of various occupations. It looks like this:
The kids could circle the picture that best suited them. Like if they want to be a soldier, a baker, policeman or Abraham Lincoln, they would circle the matching image.
So, imagine my pride when I noticed that Jake had circled that he wanted to be a missionary when he grew up.
Who knew? I honestly got a little chill thinking that Jake, at the tender age of seven, already feels compelled to share his love for God. I thought about him living off in foreign lands, sharing the gospel and helping the needy. He will build schools and hospitals, cradle orphans and care for the elderly, all in the name of God. My boy. The missionary.I went to show one of my friends the paper. "Look at this," I said, chest puffy with pride. Suddenly I am Elizabeth, awaiting the delivery of John the Baptist. "Jake wants to be a missionary!" The look on her face told me she had doubts, but that's okay. Jake will probably be running the church upon his return from far off lands, and we'll see if he allows any of her old lady hymns to be played.
Minutes later, we packed the kids in the van, and I excitedly turned to Jake and said, "Jake! I did not know you were interested in serving on missions when you grow up? What made you decide that?"
Correct answer: "I felt led by the Holy Spirit."
Jake's answer: "Yeah (shrugging, and staring out the window) ... well, they didn't have video game maker on there, so I just thought that going on secret missions sounded good. I think being a spy would be kinda cool." At which point he formed his sweet orphan-cradling hands into a makeshift machine gun and started blasting his little sister.
Heaven help us.
7 comments:
Oh my gosh...I am laughing so hard I am crying right now. You have the greatest way of telling a story. Jake is really creative to find an exciting career out of all of the options they gave him.
Just be happy he didn't choose "room services". Kind of a random career to be listed on the page.
hey maybe jake is feeling led for secret missions for the Lord...you know like flying in and delivering the bible to countries where it is outlawed. top secret stuff like that :)
i agree with your friend...you have a great way of retelling the story. you crack me up!
when i looked at the 'missions' picture i immediately thought 'vacations' with the huts and palm tree...well that's what i'd like to do when i grow up.
haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Video game maker? Wait, that actually is a real profession and they make tons of money so don't discourage that.
Secret missions? I love it. If you ever answered your phone, you would've heard my initial reaction to this post. I was laughing hysterically.
Oh and what is the cop doing? He looks like he's hunched over ready to hit a dog with his baton. Nice representation of cops school district. Nice.
Glad to see all the work we put into those Sunday lessons is really paying off!! See you tomorrow.
HAAAHAHAH!
You can always count on Jake to set you straight.
I was thinking the same thing as Summir...professional vacationer sounds good to me... What? Oh okay, I'd spread the word at every 5 star resort I went into too.
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