So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. – 1 Corinthians 3: 7-9

It was an Every Day kind of moment.  You know the kind. We were just trying to feed our family and do all the Saturday chores. The kids were slinking around like they do on weekends – trying to avoid catching our eye and being given something to do.

After lunch, Andrew went to grab the next round of food out of the pantry. True to the everydayness of it all: he found a pile of bread crumbs and a few pieces of stray bread, on the floor. Insert parental exasperation here.

The culprit admitted that while making his sandwich (which I’m glad he can do), he dropped half the loaf of bread in the pantry and just… didn’t even see it. Stepped over it, made his sandwich, left the room. A half hour later, those crumbs and that bread still sat on the floor where he’d left them. When confronted, he had the nerve to get a little indignant that we expected him to, quelle horreur, pick it up.

The usual admonitions, talking it out, and restoration of fellowship occurred. I stood at the sink with my hands in soapy water and fought the eye roll that wanted to take over my face. I muttered to myself, “Jesus, please let that boy get a kid who leaves bread crumbs in the pantry…”

Then here’s what my mama heart cried out. “Oh, I hope that’s the biggest struggle he faces as a parent.”

Listen, I don’t read much news, but The Skimm tells me that it’s a jungle out there. I lay awake at night, fretting about the world my grown-up children will inherit.

I’m a history major, people. I am well-versed in the end of great civilizations and world calamity. So I realize that the world probably won’t look exactly like it does now when my sweet babies grow babes of their own. And it’s entirely possible that their grown-up problems will far surpass the worries and struggles that their daddy and I have wrestled down.

It suddenly felt like a very gentle wish… to wish a child with crumbs in the pantry on my son. Oh, Jesus, may he have a pantry full of food, may have be free to raise his children in Your ways, may He teach them Gospel Truth, no matter the consequences…

That kind of thinking will A – depress you and B – flat out end a discussion about crumbs. So what’s a Mama to do? How do we combat the fears and the worries we have for our children and the future that lies ahead of them?

Prayer. You betcha.

You know what else? I beg God to help me stay faithful to keep doing what we’re doing. I keep the conversation going – about Jesus and this world they live in – how the world sees Jesus and what we know Jesus is. That’s how little ol’ me combats the Great Unknown ahead.

I can’t save up enough money, give them a five step program, or leave them all with 100 acres and a mule. But I can teach them about history, I can teach them the story God has written across civilization. I can teach them about discernment, how to seek Truth from lie. I can fight the good fight ahead of them by staying faithful in the Everyday Moments right here: in our schooling, in family worship, and by the love and grace and gospel we live out at home. And I can challenge them to be brave, be bold, and be men and women of character.

I can’t do any more.

I can’t do any less.

The rest is up to Jesus. I can’t control this culture we live in, I can’t control voters or candidates, and I can’t wring my hands to world peace. I can only do the job He’s given me, make a daily deposit of grace and wisdom into my kids, and pray that God blesses it a thousand fold, not because of what I did, but because He’s a loving Father.

And maybe I’ll still roll my eyes and make the kid clean up his crumbs. But I’m gonna thank Jesus for those crumbs and that kid and this beautiful moment of everydayness I get to share with him. May he have millions of Everyday Moments ahead of him…

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I didn’t know when I drafted this that it would be my last Vitafam post, but it seemed fitting once the decision was made. This Crumbs in the Pantry prayer feels like this will be my song for the decade ahead. If you ever wonder what the Vitafam is up to, it’s probably This Right Here.

Thank you for joining us in this delicious and wild ride. It has been an honor sharing our lives with you.