Leaves, Bread and Fish

The other day I was hanging out with my neighbor, Kim, and her daughter, Emma. Emma is about 19 months old and always ready to explore. We were outside enjoying the spring and Emma walked up to her mom and gave her a leaf. Kim was ecstatic. She oozed thanks and excitement at this little leaf. Our other neighbor and I chuckled and told her she was a great actress. She turned and said one of the most beautiful representations of Christ's love that I ever heard. She said, "Hey, my baby girl doesn't have much that she can give me, but what she has she gives to me. For that, I will always be excited and honored." Don't you just love those God moments that come in the middle of a simple spring day?
We resemble Emma so much. How little do we have to give to God? A lot of days, I feel so overwhelmed by all He is and how small I am. I often struggle thinking I don't have much to offer Him. Especially right now. I don't work and spend my days with only a few people. I volunteer here and there, but spend a lot of time in solitude and I feel pretty ineffective in the world. In this phase of life, sometimes I think I don't have much to offer, yet He asks me to bring what I have.  In John 6, the disciples wonder how they could possibly manage to feed five thousand hungry people. Suddenly, a little boy with a heart like Emma steps forward and offers five loaves of bread and two fish. Most would laugh. Few, if any, would be thankful. But Jesus responds like Kim did. He gives thanks. He takes the bread and fish and feeds the people.
Maybe you're like me. Stay-at-home moms often feel forgotten. So do some who work dead-end jobs. Maybe you have a great career with people around you to influence, but they don't seem to listen or care about what you have to say. Whatever the reason, you don't feel like you have much to offer the Creator of all things. Some days I don't even feel like I have five loaves and two fish. Some days it's more like a fish eye and a crusty slice of bread. But please know that it never matters. God knows what you have each day. He knows where your talents lie and how many you've been given. Don't look at others and be disheartened. Look to what you have and offer it to God. Take Paul's advice in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your true and proper worship."
All he wants is all you have. All he desires is your desire and action to do his will. And guess what? When he gets it, He makes a banquet from it to feed thousands. Don't think your talents and stinky fish eye could do much for him? I challenge you to offer it to him. Give Him all you have and look and see. See the banquet He will make from what you have given.