It was a bright Sabbath day as Lalita stepped out of her junior Sabbath School classroom. “Lalita, may I talk to you for a minute?” Mrs. Martin, the beginners Sabbath School leader, was waiting for her in the hallway.
“Sure!” Lalita replied.
“Your teacher said you are taking piano lessons. Do you think you could help me by playing the piano in our Sabbath School class?” Mrs. Martin asked. “Others will be sharing that responsibility, so it won’t be every week,” she added.
While Lalita didn’t like the idea of missing her own Sabbath School class, it was a compliment that Mrs. Martin had thought her capable. So Lalita agreed to try.
As soon as she reached home, she opened the songbook she had been given and tried to play a song. It was challenging. I will have to practice these songs if I want to be ready, she decided.
That evening Dad called her into the dining room. He was planning the budget for the next month. He showed Lalita how he planned for the family expenses and set aside money for those bills.
“Here is your allowance, Lalita,” he said, handing her an envelope.
“I’m still not sure how I earned this allowance, Dad,” she said, looking at the bills.
Dad paused in his figuring. “Lalita, you are a member of this family. I am entrusting this money to you each month. You can make great choices on how to spend it—”
“Or bad choices,” Lalita broke in, “like last month when I bought some cream that was supposed to take all my pimples away.” She rolled her eyes. “That sure didn’t work.”
When she reached her room, she separated out her tithe, God’s money, into an envelope. She also included an offering to help pay for her local church expenses. Since Dad had encouraged her to save some each month, she tucked that away in a special wallet. She finished by putting the leftover bills into her purse to spend.
What Would They Think?
At school the next day Mr. Wong introduced decimals and percentages in math class. Lalita groaned inwardly. She remembered the last time she had tackled this, and it hadn’t gone well. I need to give myself time to go over this at home, she decided.
After school Mom and Dad picked her up. Dad dropped Mom and Lalita off at the shopping mall. Lalita made a beeline to the teens’ clothes store while Mom went to look at kitchen supplies. When she was done, Mom found Lalita pushing hangers of shirts and tops.
Suddenly Lalita stopped and gushed, “Oh, I really like this top! What do you think?”
“Hmmm. Where would you wear it?” Mom asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Lalita said dreamily. “Maybe to a Saturday night program at the academy?”
Mom paused. Choosing her words carefully, she said, “Well, it’s rather . . . revealing. I don’t think it has enough material to reach your waist.” Lalita frowned. Mom lowered her voice. “Did you notice how large the armholes are?”
“Oh, Mother!” Lalita shoved the top aside impatiently.
Embarrassed by the outburst, Mother glanced around, then checked her watch.
“Dad has been waiting for 25 minutes. If you have something you want to buy, we should check out now.”
Lalita abruptly turned to leave. “I don’t want to buy anything.” Walking briskly, she felt like a volcano ready to erupt. Mother silently joined her.
Glancing at those meeting them along the sidewalk, Mother leaned close to whisper, “Lalita, people are staring at your angry face.”
She had always thought of the gifts God gave as talents, such as playing the piano.
Lalita tossed her head carelessly. “I don’t care!” Mother looked away.
As they neared the car, Mom said quietly, “Maybe you don’t care what they think of you, but what will people think . . . of your Savior?”
Those words struck Lalita’s heart like an arrow. Suddenly she felt ashamed. What if they knew I was a Christian? she thought regretfully.
At the car, she sank into the back seat, thinking hard. She had always thought of the gifts God gave as talents, like playing the piano. Time and money were important talents as well.
But she had never considered the gift of her influence or example. Mom had been trying to help her make a wise choice on how to spend her money and—for that matter—the example she would set for others on how to represent Christ in her choice of clothes. Right then she decided to apologize to Mom. She wanted to have a winning influence for Jesus!
The next day, when Lalita got home from school, she went right to the office and sat down at the computer. As she opened her email account, her eyes searched the mail. Oh! An email from Jennifer, she thought happily. Opening it eagerly, she found herself laughing at Jennifer’s account of her weekend trip. While she was typing, she heard Mom come in from work.
“Hi, Lalita,” Mom said. “Did you have a good day?”
“Oh, yes,” Lalita greeted, though she was focused on her email conversation with Jennifer. All too soon it was suppertime.
Remembering her difficult math assignment after supper, Lalita was heading for her room when Dad called after her.
Retracing her steps, she asked, “Yes?”
“The dishes?” Dad reminded her.
“Oh, yes,” Lalita interrupted with a groan. “The dishes—and I have math to do!”
“You have been home since 3:30. What were you doing?” Dad asked.
Lalita got the uncomfortable point. She hadn’t considered her responsibilities before spending time on the computer. It was already Wednesday, and she hadn’t practiced the songs for beginners Sabbath School either. She sighed as she began rinsing glasses to put in the dishwasher.
When Dad called her for family worship, she still had three math problems to finish. Maybe I can get them done in the morning if I get up early, she decided.
Dad opened the Bible to Matthew 25. She listened as he read the familiar parable about the master who had given each of his servants a bag of money. Lalita knew the parable, but had a question when Dad finished.
“Why did the master treat the one who buried his money so severely?” she asked. “I mean, the servant didn’t lose the money—it was all there when the master came back.”
Dad was thoughtful. “The master had left the money with his servants expecting them to improve what he had given them. He wasn’t pleased that the servant had neglected to put his money to use in a way that would earn more money.”
Things began coming together for Lalita. Time, musical talent, money, and her example were gifts God had given her. As a Christian she made choices every day about improving those gifts. It was really a rewarding partnership, she decided. God gave her these talents, and she cooperated with Him as she made good choices on improving them.
“Good night, Mom and Dad,” Lalita said, hugging each of them after prayer. “I need to get to bed if I’m going to get up early to finish my math and squeeze in some piano practice!”
