I’m sorry. Should I not be talking of chocolate?
One last little pre-Lenten scene and it went something like this:
My boys and I were sitting on my bed. They were showing me their new Cub Scout memorabilia and talking excitedly about their future plans: a merit badge here, another medal there.
I looked at them with that mix of poignancy, pride and love so familiar to mothers.
And I felt a wave of gratitude wash over me. Such a gift, these children! I wanted to give something in return.
Then I thought of the box of chocolate truffles that I had hidden in my closet: a Valentine’s Day present from my husband, courtesy Godiva.
Ahem. I am not one to share my truffles. They are:
a. just too darned expensive to gulp, and
b. my treat and a well-earned one, for all the hard work that allegedly transpires throughout my day
So when I brought out the box and placed it in front of my sons, you could have heard a wolf badge drop. Neither boy said anything for perhaps an entire second, which in boy time translates to what? A quarter hour?
They looked at each other and they looked at me.
And I’m wondering, has it been that long since I’ve shared my chocolate?
Then they smiled as genuine and delighted a smile as ever I could hope for. My oldest son said “Thank you!” and my 7-year-old? Still nothing. He just quietly gazed at that box of options and considered.
They both made their choices and savored them.
At that point, I was thinking about the 40 days of Lent that stretched ahead of me. They didn’t seem so difficult at that point because I knew—I knew—that any sacrifice that I made in love would be every bit as well received as those truffles.
More so, even.
We can make God smile with our many little gifts this Lent!
Isn’t that better than chocolate?
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