The Father's Day Gift

I know father's day is over, but I wanted to share how my son showed me the true meaning of love on father's day.

Yesterday (Monday) after spending money on a "Paris" coffee mug and a cool (and much needed) pair of shorts for my hubby, my 6 year old Levi walked in his dad's office Monday morning with a bag and handed it to him. Now let me preface this with what happened at church on Sunday. Ministry leaders at our church had handed out a few Starbucks cards to those who had helped in a number of different ways serving on Sunday. Because of this Ken joked around about wanting to help and ended up later on helping take down a tent. He didn't do it to get a card, but they gave him one anyways. Ken made a big deal about it in the car but didn't say anything else about it.

Earlier (before my son gave my husband this bag) all the kids were playing but Levi was nowhere to be found. I called up the stairs and he quietly came and stood at the top of the stairs looking like he was up to something. I asked him what he was doing, and he said, "just playing." Well, since he wasn't hurting or pestering anybody and nobody was crying or whining, I just left him alone to play quietly (a treasured phenomenon in our house)

So now to the bag my son gave to Daddy. He handed it to him and said, "Happy Father's Day." Ken opened the little cotten bag (not a gift bag) and there was a Starbucks card wrapped in tissue paper. Concerned that he might have taken it from the church, (well because kids do that sometimes... at least ours do), Ken asked him where he got it, and he said, "At Starbucks."

Ken & I both had a good laugh about it (not in front of him) because he often picks up the cool looking cards at Wal-mart or Starbucks that you have to put money on for it to be worth anything. I also cried because it was one of the most precious things I had ever witnessed, and I didn't know kids could be so creative and giving at such a young age. He gave one of his most precious possessions (this blank Starbucks card), because he thought it was worth something and kept it in a special place somewhere in his room.

He had to think through the process of wanting to give something to his Dad, go to this special"place", take it out, find tissue paper and a play bag, and without being prideful and showing off, he quietly took this to his dad by himself. I cry even now just thinking how precious that was... so why did I waste money on a coffee cup and jeans?