Day 6: I’ll Take a Side of Crumbs
I watched in amazement as the Thanksgiving crowd devoured the spread on the dessert table. As they dispersed, I realized there was nothing left for me—just crumbs
My daughter walked up to me, a smudge of frosting betraying her part in the feeding frenzy. “Mom, I’m sorry. We didn’t think about you.”
I wiped the frosting away, and smiled. “That’s okay. I like the crumbs.” Then I reached for a spoon and began to scoop up the remnants of carrot cake and cream cheese frosting.
Later, while I was scraping the dishes, getting them ready to wash, I came on the cake plate—and I remembered the earlier conversation. How often do I settle for the crumbs? We usually think of that in a negative, limiting, settling way. But a woman came to Jesus one day and those around were disgusted with her presence. She was a foreigner…a Gentile.
She came right up for Jesus and begged for a healing for her daughter. Jesus picked up the disgust around them and played along. Why should he give her anything? The spiritual food he was sharing was meant for his people. But she reminded him even the dogs were entitled to crumbs.
Eating the crumbs had become my way of enjoying what was left and watching my family enjoy the rest. For the woman, anything she could get from Jesus would be enough.
This holy season, what is our “enough”? Can we appreciate the moments, the gifts, the time with family and friends? And most of all will we find enough in the manger?
TO PONDER: Have you ever settled for less than you wanted? Have you ever had to persist in your faith journey when others doubted or gave up?
TO DISCUSS: Psalm 23 paints a picture of God as our all-providing shepherd. One of the verses declares his provision is completely adequate: we have everything we need. Is there a difference between our wants and needs? Do we have everything we need?
PRAYER: God, you loved us enough to be born here on earth. Show us how much that is. Help us to persist in our love for you…and always find you to enough for our every need. Amen
Pot of Manna 