The Dad Aches for the Son to Have the Heart of the Father

My son Daniel has his trying moments, but I see examples of kindness and goodness in him that really warm my heart. By the grace of God, I think Daniel experiences and appreciates, at least to some degree, the joy and desire to love, care for and comfort others. When I see that, my heart is both thankful and yearns that the fruits of the spirit would be embedded deep within his heart. I so want him to have the heart of Jesus.

As we left church this past Sunday, I warmed up a muffin and prepared to give it to a homeless man who I had talked to on the way in. Seeing a good opportunity for a heart lesson for Daniel, I asked him if he wanted to give the man the muffin. I was pleased when Daniel enthusiastically accepted the task. Daniel took the muffin from my hand, and I watched him approach and give the muffin to the man and say, "Here you go" much to the delight of the homeless man, who returned a wonderful smile and thank you to Daniel.

My parents watch Daniel a couple of times a week, and when they go to a mall and Daniel expresses his desire to buy some toy, their usual response to him is "I'm sorry. Grandma (or Ah-gong, Taiwanese for Grandpa) has no money." I think they've inadvertently given Daniel the impression that they're destitute, despite the fact that they drive a nice car and live in a nice house (Daniel's deductive reasoning needs a little work). After we gave food to the homeless man, I told Daniel that Jesus wants us to love and care for the poor just the way Jesus loves and provides for us. Daniel's response was "I have money in my piggy bank that I can give to Grandma and Ah-gong. They have no money."

Daniel is extremely generous when it comes to his piggy bank, or at least he seems to have an innocent inflated value of how much he has in it. A few weeks ago as I was putting Daniel to bed, I told Daniel that I was going to be away for a few days for business, and he lamented that he didn't want me to go to work. When I told him that I needed to work to help provide for the family, Daniel said, "You don't need to work, Daddy. I have money in my piggy bank."

He's also pretty good at comforting people, and does this "it's okay, it's okay" thing while patting Sophia or a crying friend on the back. Oh, how I want my son to love the Lord and to have a heart of compassion for those around him.