Months before the celebration of Mother and Daddy’s 40th wedding, my sister Pamela dreamed of a quilt to honor Daddy and Mother and to express thanks for the years God had given them together.

Pamela recruited squares from each of the sisters and sisters-in-law. . . . Then Pamela assembled, quilted, and stenciled the gift for Daddy and Mother.

As I look over the squares of this quilt, from oldest child to youngest of us 10 children of George and Pam Henry, I’m reminded of a few of the things I’ve learned by being my mother’s daughter. . . . (Read and/or listen to the rest of “What I Learned by Being My Mother’s Daughter”-and there are photos of all the family quilt blocks.)

Happy Mothers Day, dear Mother! I love you.

Recently, as we were flipping through radio stations in the car, my 6-year-old daughter heard the song “We Are the Champions” by Queen. She asked what a champion is, and we started talking about winning and losing. At one point in the conversation she said, “Winning isn’t fair because not everyone can do it.” Her response is, sadly, quite common. (Read the rest of what he has to say about the idea that “everyone is a winner.”)

In contrast, there are cultures where life’s primary impetus or “encouragement”  is shame. In such a culture, this would be true for children in school, for spouses toward each other, for employers toward employees. It would be true in every arena.

But let’s just stay in the child-rearing part of life’s arena, since that’s what Barnabas is focusing on. To give you an idea of what I mean when I name shame as prime motivator, here’s what one Chinese mother says:

The fact is that Chinese parents can do things that would seem unimaginable—even legally actionable—to Westerners. Chinese mothers can say to their daughters, “Hey fatty—lose some weight.” By contrast, Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue, talking in terms of “health” and never ever mentioning the f-word, and their kids still end up in therapy for eating disorders and negative self-image. . . .

Chinese parents can order their kids to get straight As. Western parents can only ask their kids to try their best. Chinese parents can say, “You’re lazy. All your classmates are getting ahead of you.” By contrast, Western parents have to struggle with their own conflicted feelings about achievement, and try to persuade themselves that they’re not disappointed about how their kids turned out.

So, there are the two precipices to avoid:

1. Everyone is a winner.

2. You are nothing, because someone else is performing better than you.

That mesa is not even the right place to be maneuvering, trying to stay somewhere between the two treacherous precipices.

What do I want to say instead to a child I love or on whose upbringing I have some influence? I think of many things, but here’s one way to say it.

“The LORD is  the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (Is. 40:28).

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together  for good,  for  those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

Your God, your Creator, your Father loves you and knows you better than anyone else can ever know you. He wants you to be blessed, happy. He also knows what he wants you to achieve, and he offers you magnificent, out-of-this-world rewards. His desires for you?

•  Blessed are  the poor in spirit, for  theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
•  Blessed are  those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
•  Blessed are the  meek, for they  shall inherit the earth.
•  Blessed are those who hunger and  thirst  for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
•  Blessed are  the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
•  Blessed are  the pure in heart, for  they shall see God.
•  Blessed are  the peacemakers, for  they shall be called  sons  of God.
•  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for  theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
•  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely  on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven . . . . (Matt. 5:3-12)

There are many reasons I thank God for our Talitha. The one I’m thinking about right now is this: I love to watch her tender heart in action. I see that compassion especially when she’s reaching out to young children. Whether it’s nieces and nephews or strangers, none views her as a stranger for long.

Last year, we visited Redeemer Bible Church one vacation Sunday. They had visitors representing Compassion International. At the end of the service, Talitha made a beeline to Compassion’s table at the back of the sanctuary. By the time I made my way there, she was clasping to her heart a photo of Juan. “Please, please, please. May I sponsor this sweet little boy in Guatemala?”

Now she writes to Juan, and he writes to her. A few months ago, a translator sent Talitha this message on Juan’s behalf:

When he saw you [a photo], his face lit up in smiles and tears of happiness. He asked God to meet you one day in person, to be able to speak to you.

So you can imagine the “Please, please, please” that followed when Talitha found out there’s a Compassion Sponsor’s trip to Guatemala in July, when she will indeed get to meet Juan, Lord willing.

And she invited me to come too. A mother doesn’t take it lightly when her teenager wants to be with her. So both of us are preparing for Guatemala.

Talitha’s excitement about Compassion’s ministry doesn’t stop with sponsoring and traveling. On her own, she’s taken the initiative to set up and man a Compassion information table at Bethlehem Downtown campus on Compassion Sunday weekend–before and after the service Saturday evening, April 21, and the Sunday morning services April 22.

Please stop by to pick up information about Compassion International. If God is leading you to sponsor a child, you’ll find packets there to choose from, so you can sign up on the spot. It would be hard to measure what a blessing that would be to Talitha, to see you blessing a child who lives in a difficult situation.

Request to you:

1. If you already are sponsoring a child through Compassion, please comment here to let us know.

2. If you’re familiar with Compassion, and can help Talitha at the Compassion table Saturday evening or Sunday morning, April 21 and 22, she’d love to hear from you.

Hear him in a World Magazine podcast, as he thinks out loud about March Madness, underdogs, & Easter.

__________

Subscribe to NoelPiper.com by using the one of the Subscribe links to the right or by clicking here.