On an early September Sunday, I attended a baby shower for my oldest daughter, Anna. Before she opened each gift, she silently read the card so that she could keep her composure at a time when every feeling was so close to the surface. As she peered into the colorful bag that contained her sister’s present, she saw the card, tore it open, and began to read. Her eyes filled with tears, and I wondered what Betsy had written that would bring such response.
Dear Anna,
I know that you’ll be a great mom because you’ve always taken such good care of me.Love,
Betsy
As I read the inscription, I was reminded of a time long ago when my girls were very young. It was another Sunday, twenty years before, and I was secretly watching as they played with other children in the primary Sunday school room.
Betsy’s premature birth three years earlier had caused a problem that necessitated the use of a leg brace attached to her shoe. The brace was cumbersome at best, but it never dimmed Betsy’s sweet smile.
The children had gathered in a circle to play Duck, Duck, Goose, a “chase” game. The child who was “it” would run to catch another child who would then be “it”.
Betsy was quickly caught, and it was her turn to do the chasing. I was apprehensive because I knew that she would not be able to catch the other children. As the children chanted “Duck, duck, goose,” Betsy chose five-year-old Anna to chase. It was then that I noticed that Anna had slowed to a trot so that Betsy could catch her. I smiled and went into church; I knew that Betsy would be fine in Anna’s care.
But Anna wasn’t always the one who did the protecting. As the girls neared adulthood, Don and I would occasionally leave them on their own. One October we attended my nephew’s wedding in Florida. I called home to check on things only to be told that everything was just great. It was years later that we were told the real story.
A friend of Anna’s had come to the house to watch TV, and the two had somehow ended up in an argument. Anna had asked him to leave, but he wasn’t moving fast enough for Betsy. Suddenly, like a mother hen protecting her chick, Betsy burst from her bedroom and pushed him out the door. He was so shocked and embarrassed that he never set foot in our house again.
Today’s scripture says, “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light. Take heed then how you hear; for to him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.”
Anna’s and Betsy’s lamp lights have shown for each other always. And even though, like most sisters, they have had some fights, most of them weren’t with each other but for each other. The more love they have shown, the more they have been given. That is what God promised; that is the lamp light He holds out to each of us every day. Bask in His light; bask in His love. Then let your little light shine! Amen
Becky Warren
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