Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: BEGIN (01/06/22)
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TITLE: A New Beginning, A Life Lesson | Previous Challenge Entry
By Mariane Holbrook
01/13/22 -
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Moved by their plight, we offered our lawn, circular driveway, and carport for the yard sale.
Our church's fundraising goal for the windows was $2500 until my compassionate husband suggested we double it to $5,000. "There are other pressing needs at the orphanage besides the window," he explained.
The yard sale was well-advertised, with posters prominently displayed in store windows, announcements in the newspaper, and other venues. The sale was three weeks away but immediately church members began dropping off items at our home to be stored in the carport. One of the items was a jeep, the most valuable of the donations.
The day before the yard sale, volunteers arrived with folding tables and other surfaces. Everyone felt the items would be safe outside overnight since the neighborhood was stable and protected.
After the work was finished and everyone had left, I looked out the window and saw our nine-year-old neighbor, Jimmy, hiding some of the items inside his shirt. Seeing me, he looked both surprised and embarrassed.
"Hi, Jimmy!" I said, walking over to him. "Do you see something you want to buy at the yard sale tomorrow?"
"No," he stammered. "I was just looking. I have to go home now."
With that, he crossed the lawn with his shirt bulging with several items, and disappeared into his parents' house.
I stood there, unmoving, sure that my feet were encased in the carport's cement floor. I knew I had to do something but the questions were, "What?" and "When?"
The verse from James 1:5 came quickly to mind. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God." There in the semi-darkness, I prayed for wisdom. I couldn't let this slip by but neither did I want to be harsh in my judgment of Jimmy.
After talking with my husband, John, he suggested I phone Jimmy's mother to ask if she could bring Jimmy over to our house for a few minutes. Though surprised, she agreed and soon they both appeared at our kitchen door.
I explained what the yard sale was for and how the windows would protect the African orphans from the driving rain in their simple cinder block orphanage. Then I turned to Jimmy and asked if he had anything he needed to tell me.
When he shook his head indicating a "no" response, I told Jimmy and his mother what I had seen Jimmy do in the carport earlier in the evening.
Jimmy hung his head while his mother demanded that he go home and bring back the things he had taken. There was an uncomfortable silence between his mother and me until Jimmy returned with items.
I placed the items back on the tables and thanked Jimmy. When nothing more was said, his mother said goodbye and started back down the driveway. Jimmy did not move; he was unhappy.
"Mom," he said, "Before we came over here tonight, you said this lady would probably give me these things if I brought them back." His mother seemed to wilt before our eyes, embarrassed and unable to respond.
I quickly tried to dispel the unbearable tension. "Jimmy, I can't give them to you. They don't belong to me. They were donated by people to be sold so the orphans could have windows in their bedrooms to keep the heavy rains and mosquitoes out. Perhaps I could hire you to rake the leaves from my front lawn so you could earn enough money to pay for them. This could be a new beginning for you, to make you stronger and a better young man."
Jimmy's mother was outraged. "You expect my son to do a grown man's work for money to pay for some junk that nobody wants just so some kids won't get a few sprinkles of rain on them? Come on, son. We're going home.
I sat alone on the outside steps for about a half-hour, feeling I had handled it poorly and my testimony for Christ had been compromised. I was deeply concerned for Jimmy and the life lesson he could have learned.
Hearing footsteps, I looked up to see Jimmy walking toward me. He was smiling and in his arms was a leaf rake.
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