ALONZO'S ASSIGNMENT

Reflections on the Advent season

As I helped my 2nd grader son Alonzo with his assignment in Religion, I was tempted to dictate the answers to him just to get it done & over with.  The assignment was to list down what you can do this Advent season.  For an 8 year old student, the answers could just be the basic love-one-another, go-to-church, etc etc.  But just to give the answers away to my son is not the kind of mother I want to be.  I want him to think for himself.


So I read the instruction out loud to him and asked him, "Alonzo, what are the things you can do this Advent season?"  Blank.  He gave me a blank stare.  So, I tried to go further, "What is Advent anyway?"  Blank again.  Then I started to scold him, "Don't you listen to your lessons in school?"  This time he was teary eyed.  Now, how could my heart not be softened by my teary eyed baby?  So,  I patiently explained to him what Advent is about - "Jesus is coming.  Now, how do you want Jesus to find you?  Good or bad?"  Of course, he answered, "Good".  "Ok", I went on, "What are the things you can do to be good?"  With that, he seemed to be a bit more confident and he looked at his paper and looked as if he was ready to do the list.  "Ok",  I said again, "I'm going to leave you alone now.  I will just take a shower and when I'm done I'm going to look at your list."

In the shower, with the water flowing through me, the assignment also hit me.  "What can you do to be good in order to face Jesus's coming?"  It got me thinking for myself too.  While Alonzo did his list, I had my own list that ran through my heart and mind to prepare for the coming of Jesus:

• Be more sensitive to what my husband wants to say and especially what he can't seem to say
• Be more thorough with the care I give my children
• Be more understanding of the life my helpers at home are going through
• Know my siblings better and let them know me more by expressing and showing them more love
• Pray harder for my ailing father and give him care while I can
• Not to be too perky at work
• To be more understanding and forgiving to those who have done me wrong
• To be more of a listener than a talker with friends
• To pay more attention to what God wants me to do at every moment of my life

There's a lot more to this list but this is what I will prioritize for now.

When I got back to Alonzo, I found him halfway through.  His list was as expected of the 8-year old boy that he is - respect one another, be sorry for my sins, pray, etc etc etc.  Well, for his young mind, I think he did get the point.

Did I get the point?  I think so.  Did you?