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For The Least Of These
Matt Swigart, Cottage Grove, MN
From Dads Behaving DADLY 2: 72 More Truths, Tears, and Triumphs of Modern Fatherhood Copyright © 2015 Motivational Press. Reprinted with permission. By Hogan Hilling and Al Watts.
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In my twelve years as a youth pastor, one of the most useful tools in helping young people grow in maturity was the short-term mission trips to help others in need. While it was a highlight of my job, it was also a challenge for my family to have me away for up to three weeks a few times a year. I am blessed to have an extremely high capacity wife who has never complained and who sees the positive impact we were making through these trips.
I was excited when I was finally able to bring my family on my annual spring break trip to Houston, Texas. At that time we had just two kids: Caitlyn, age seven, and Caleb, age three. It was a blessing to have them and my wife, Christina, with me to see that aspect of my life. It was also a huge asset to me as a pastor to be able to model what a healthy family looks like for many kids who, unfortunately, did not come from healthy situations.
One moment on this trip, however, has become seared into my memory as one of the most special moments I have ever experienced, both in missions and as a daddy.
Caitlyn, like pretty much every other seven-year-old girl I have known, had two, among many, areas of needed growth. The first was that she was beginning to realize she was not the center of the universe, and the second was that there comes the point where you just have too many stuffed animals in your bedroom.
One night, a couple of months before the trip, her mom and I were in Caitlyn’s room enjoying our bedtime routine of Bible reading, prayer, hugs, and kisses. As I tried to find room on her bed, I could not help but notice there was hardly any room for her, much less both parents with all the stuffed animals! With the upcoming trip in mind, the wires of my brain made a fun connection.
I asked her to go through her room and put all of the stuffed animals she did not use anymore in a garbage bag. I told her we were going to do something special with them on the mission trip to Houston. I hoped my idea would be a memory-making experience that would become a key foundation in her life moving forward as well as help her with two of her needed areas of growth.
While in Houston we always partnered with an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM) that works primarily with the homeless and street kids in one of the most notorious neighborhoods in the country, Montrose/Westheimer. Every Wednesday night they set up a church service called Montrose Street Reach in a nearby parking lot. After the service, they serve a meal to those who attended. Unfortunately, anyone who has worked in settings like this knows many of these street kids are forced to sell their bodies in order to survive.
Sometimes it is for bad reasons, like drugs. For others, it is to buy food or rent a motel room for a night of shelter and safety. Small children accompany many of the young ladies who come to Street Reach. YWAM sets up a little area in the parking lot with mats on the ground and a little fence surrounding toys for the kids to play with as their moms participate in the church service.
My plan for that night, dreamed up months before in Caitlyn’s bed, was to have Caitlyn help the kids from my group who would be serving in the children’s area. This would allow me to focus on making sure my group was safe and to effectively serve with my friends from YWAM. Everything went off without a hitch, which was very exciting, but in the back of my mind, I could not wait for the evening to wrap up because that was the moment I had been waiting for.
We had brought the big bag of stuffed animals with us all the way from Minnesota for this purpose. I wondered if being on this trip, seeing the hurting people we had served and being a part of the discussions I was having had any effect on Caitlyn’s little mind and heart. Our plan was that when the moms came to pick up their child from the childcare area, Caitlyn would give each child a stuffed animal from her bag.
Finally, the time came and, as I stood in a spot where I was able to observe without her knowing, I could hardly contain the pride and love I felt for Caitlyn and the emotions that came with it. She did not just give each kid a random animal. No, she very meticulously filtered through her bag to pull out the perfect toy for that child, the one she had been planning to give him or her all evening.
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In the five years since then, Caitlyn has continued to grow and experience new things. She loves soccer, basketball, gymnastics, piano, saxophone, art and reading. I have had many moments where I have been proud of her. This story rates up there with all those others. The thing that sets this story apart is that this was not a situation where effort or talent helped her stand out. This was a moment more about her heart and character, which will last far beyond anything else and, without a doubt, is more important than any talent or skill.
One of the most important things I can do as a daddy is teaching my children about living for something more than themselves. We as dads (and moms) need to remember our job in raising children is not just about teaching right and wrong behavior. We are not raising children. We are raising future adults. Future adults who, we hope, will always think first of the least of God’s children.
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Matt Swigart is a former youth pastor of twelve years who currently leads the MN Region of LEAD222, an international youth pastor mentoring/coaching ministry. Matt’s primary ministry function, however, is with his wonderful family: wife Christina and three amazing children, Caitlyn, twelve, Caleb, eight, and Lucy, four. Along with ministry to his family and youth pastors, Matt is in his third season as the Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Pastor Matt and his family live near St. Paul, MN. One of his stories also appeared in Dads Behaving DADLY: 67 Truths, Tears, and Triumphs of Modern Fatherhood.
Hogan Hilling is a nationally recognized and OPRAH approved author of 12 published books. Hilling has appeared on Oprah. He is the creator of the DADLY book series and the “#WeLoveDads” and “#WeLoveMoms” Campaigns, which he will launch in early 2018. He is also the owner of Dad Marketing, a first of its kind consultation firm on how to market to dads. He is also the founder of United We Parent. Hilling is also the author of the DADLY book series and first of its kind books. The first book is about marketing to dads “DADLY Dollar$” and two coffee table books that feature dads and moms. “DADLY Dads: Parents of the 21st Century” and “Amazing Moms: Parents of the 21st Century.” Hilling is the father of three children and lives in southern California.
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Originally published in Dads Behaving DADLY 2: 72 More Truths, Tears, and Triumphs of Modern Fatherhood Copyright © 2015 Motivational Press. Reprinted with permission.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
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