Simply in God’s Word with Sara — A Jar of Green Beans

Our baby graduated from High School in May!

Avery is the youngest of four. She is following in her older siblings footsteps & headed off to K-State a few weeks ago! That’s right ALL FOUR of the Rice kids have been Wildcats!

So we are newly empty nesters — I have a lot of feelings about that, but that is a story for another time!

What I want to talk about today is one of her graduation gifts. She got some great gifts, school supplies, dishes, an emergency kit, money & gift cards out the wazoo. But one gift really stood out.

A jar of green beans! Yes, you read that right — a jar of green beans. It sounds like a weird graduation gift, doesn’t it?

This jar of green beans was part of a gift from a family that Avery has babysat for. One time when she was babysitting she got there right as they were about to have dinner. Part of the dinner was green beans. Avery loves green beans & she especially loved theirs which had been grown & canned by them. So she ate a lot of green beans that night! It became a joke with the twins & their parents that AVERY REALLY LIKES GREEN BEANS. Fast forward a few years to her graduation party & in they walk with a jar of green beans just for her.

I had been praying in my prayer journal leading up to her graduation party, that she would feel loved that day. There are so many emotions on graduation day & having went through it with three other children, I’ve learned a bit. I didn’t want the stress or sadness or any other feeling to stand out more than simply just feeling loved.

I know she felt loved by so many, but that jar of green beans just really stands out. It was thoughtful. It showed that she was remembered & cared about. Isn’t that what we all want most? To feel remembered & cared about? To feel loved?

Since then, my prayer in my prayer journal is that God would show me what “green beans” I can give to others. How can I, on a daily basis help people feel remembered. Cared about. Loved.