What's Missing?

When Kai came home after school, he sat down with a heavy sigh. "What's wrong, Kai?" asked Mom as she added ingredients to the almond bars she was making."I don't seem to be good at anything at school," Kai replied. "I'm not good in sports, so I can't be on the soccer or basketball team. I can't sing, so I can't join the choir. I'm not good at math or science either. Other kids have important things to do, but not me.""What about helping Mr. Brown in the library?" asked Mom. "He depends on you to return books to the shelves. That's important. And then there's after-school safety patrol--you help the smaller children get to the right buses."Kai looked doubtful. "Oh, Mom, almost all the kids take turns doing those little jobs. They don't count. Anybody can do them.""It takes responsible kids to do those things, Kai. I know you'd be greatly missed if you left them for somebody else to do."For dessert that evening, Mom set a plate of her almond bars on the table. When she picked one up and bit into it, she looked puzzled. "What's missing in these?" She took another bite. "Almond!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I forgot to put the almond flavoring in these bars!"Dad laughed. "So you made almond bars without almond," he teased.Mom smiled at Kai. "See what happens when just one little thing is missing? These bars don't need much flavoring, but if you leave it out, everyone will know! The tasks God gives us to do are like that. Even jobs that seem small are important."Dad nodded. "We don't always know why God asks us to do some things and not others, but we need to be faithful no matter what He has us do. God made each one of us and loves us so much He sent Jesus to die for us, and He promises to use the work we do for good. We can trust Him to use whatever tasks He gives us to plant seeds of His love in people's hearts and to prepare us to do bigger things later on." "Right," said Mom. "Now, Kai, I have an important job for you. Help me dish up some ice cream to go with these bars!" -Kathy J. Hoffner