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"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of the robbers?"
Luke 10:36 NIV
Stephen loves me. Especially when I sign us up for stuff.
This time I signed us up to teach Sunday School together. Last week was our first turn, and I’m glad he was there; we had a lot of boys in our class! (I tease that I don’t know what to do with boys… I have 4 girls, I am one of 3 girls and my mom is one of 2 girls, who between them have 6 girls!)
This week our lesson covered the good samaritan, and we talked about the 3 big choices the samaritan had to make:
The samaritan saw a man who was hurt and chose to stop.
The samaritan had to give his resources. We related it to bandaids and Neosporin.
The samaritan not only took the hurt man to receive care, but made a longer term plan to come back and check on him (including payment).
I would say it’s taken me well into adulthood to read Jesus’ parables and see beyond the literal meaning. I think I’ve always read this story, and only considered the physical beating.
This weekend, I found myself looking at it a little differently, thanks to today’s guest artist, Leni.
We came home from my parents’ after lunch on Sunday and Leni asked if she could paint. She drew and painted 2 bottles we have displayed in the kitchen. Then she said I could use one of them for my breakfast note.
Only after she got out of the car on Monday morning, with a hug and an “I love you mom,” did I consider that she might be my good samaritan this week.
There is a lot on my plate right now. We’re following 2 soccer teams, getting Sylvia to ballet, keeping track of middle school musical practices for the big girls, doing 2 sets of school readiness, 2 pick ups, helping monitor homework, feeding the family, illustrating for the first time, preparing to write a book, and now I’ve started back to being at school as an SLP for the first time in a long time!
Overwhelm is a pretty mean robber of peace, and he throws a pretty nasty punch!
And there was my Leni, ready and willing to step in with the artwork for the week! She chose to stop and recognize my overwhelm. She chose to use her artistic gifts to prepare part of my breakfast note for you. She followed up the next morning with some extra love on her way to the bus.
I imagine on Sunday, we'll still have a bunch of boys in class. I hope they'll all be having a good day. But if not, maybe Stephen or I will the chance to be their good samaritan.
What about you? Have you been a good samaritan this week, or the receiver of the kindness of a good samaritan?
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