As every little kid who wants something that someone else has will be quick to remind you, "sharing is caring". 

My best friend likes to say that Year 3 is the "civilizing your kid" year. Helping them learn how to say please and thank you, manage interrupting others, learning patience, and the like. One big learning curve is you can't just take something from someone else because you want it for yourself. Learning to share, learning to ask, and being patient while we wait for our turn are all huge social-emotional developments that most of us learn early in life.

As we mature beyond that preschool age, we learn the nuances of sharing. How much joy there can be in sharing music, books, movies/TV, jokes, and activities that we love--and how wonderful it is when someone shares theirs with us in return. 

I wonder then, what does it look like for us as Christians to mature beyond a childish faith and grow into a more mature and active member of the church? And as we do, what are some of the lessons of our childhood that we may want to take with us?

I've especially been thinking about the ways in which "sharing is caring" impacts how we share our time, talents, and treasures with God.

Our January children's message song was, "This Little Light of Mine". In the second verse we sing, "hide it under a bushel? NO! I'm gonna let it shine!" Then, in last week's children's message (2/1), Mr. Bill showed us that even though God's love is so valuable and precious to us, God doesn't want us to lock it up and keep it for ourselves. Instead, God reminds us we always have more than enough to share with everyone.

These childhood lessons carry into God's invitation to share what God has given us so that we can be a part of God's caring work in the world.

When we share our time through prayer, worship, and in service, God strengthens the light within us so that it shines brightly for all to see.

When we share our talents, we strengthen our community through our ministries, we reach more people for us to invite to "come and see", and we spread the light of God's love out into the world.

When we share our treasures, we support the day to day work of the church, good caretaking of our church home so that we can continue to safely gather, and we in turn give to the larger church to support their mission and ministry!

I ask that you (continue to) prayerfully consider how God is inviting you and your family to share your time, talents, and treasures on February 15 for Commitment Sunday.

It takes all of sharing what we can to do this wonderful work God has invited us to be a part of. God has shared God's abundant grace, mercy, and love with us because God loves us so fully and so deeply that of course God shares with us. Sharing is caring, and God's caring is the greatest of all.  

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