Clayton Phillips was independently wealthy. He had several beautiful houses and a fleet of supercars that he cherished deeply.
What he also cherished were his girls. He had been widowed, but he had three daughters. He had two older daughters but the youngest was Charlee. And she was the dearest to him of it all.
He thanked God for all his blessings, and especially her, every day. But he also asked God, why have you blessed me with so much?
---
"Can I go in the hot tub please, Dad?" Charlee, Age ten, asked sweetly.
"You bet, my dear. In fact, that sounds really nice in the snow. Can I go with you?"
Charlee smiled, nodded and rushed off to put on her swimsuit.
While both rested in the hot water and felt the cool sprinkles of snow on their smiling faces, Charlee asked, "How is the fundraiser for the homeless going, Daddy?"
Clayton smiled at his sweet daughter. "Thanks, Hunny. It's a lot of stress. Trying to get the city council involved."
"Well, I'm extra glad you joined me then, because this can help you relax."
As they closed up the hot tub, Charlee turned the jets off and the temperature down. She went around and locked the top down. Clayton smiled and whispered a prayer, "Why have you blessed me so much, Lord?"
Just as they looked up to go inside, the older girls scrambled out in flip flops, with bed head, and wrapped in towels. "We wanna go in! Leave it open for us!!"
It was noon when Clayton looked out and saw the hot tub empty, with the top still open and jets still fizzing the water. He shook his head as he got up from his work and headed down to close it up.
---
Clayton stood by the kitchen counter eating a piece of avocado toast Charlee, now age thirteen, had made. She tidied up the kitchen as he yelled towards the stairs, "Girls! We gotta go! Grab your bags and meet us in the car!"
On the way to school in Clayton's new 2025 decked out Land Cruiser the older sisters complained from the back, "Daddy why does Charlee always get to sit in the front?!" Clayton knew they wanted to be seen as they pulled up at school.
"She gets there first." He smiled. That answer was easy. He looked over and Charlee was looking at a dial on the dashboard. "What's that daddy?"
"That's the odometer," he said.
"What's it for?" she asked.
He replied, "It shows how hard the engine is working."
"So you want to try to make it work not very hard so the engine lasts a long time?"
"Exactly, Sweetie. I suppose it's best to save its power for the important stuff."
"Like your friend who needs transporting his mobile home today."
"Yes, my dear." He smiled as he watched the road. "That's why I brought it out today." He whispered the prayer again, "Why have you been so good to me, God?"
After Clayton parked in the garage at home he glanced in the back. The cup holders had Pop Tart wrappers crammed into them and there was an opened nail polish bottle sitting on the arm rest. His eyes got big as he scanned for the brush top. He searched and couldn't find it. He just shook his head as he gathered up all the trash.
--
On Charlee's 16th birthday, Clayton's older daughters were fighting over who got the last pancake. They were fighting when Clayton leaned back and said to Charlee, "Are you ready for your present?"
The other girls froze. Even though their dad loved cars, he had given an old Honda Civic to one, and an old RAV-4 to the other on their sixteenth birthdays. They had complained but he had said, "If you take good care of those, your next car will be better." Both their cars were still trashed and they had stayed indignant anyway. All that to say, they were very curious what their dad would give his youngest daughter.
"You don't need to get me anything, Dad." Charlee folded her hands in her lap, eyeing the dirty dishes.
He nodded, knowing she really would be content and do her best with whatever he gave her. "Alright, let's go."
The older daughters scrambled towards the garage, leaving their plates messy on the table.
"Wait, I need to clean up, real quick." Charlee picked up all their plates and quickly washed them in the sink. Clayton leaned against the counter just watching her with a big smile, his decision was just being confirmed.
They walked toward the garage together. The older girls burst through the door first and looked. Only their two old plain cars were there and their old golf cart in the third spot. The older girls chuckled as Clayton led them to get into the golf cart.
Clayton directed Charlee to back it out of the garage. Charlee glanced at the other girl's cars before looking behind her to reverse, as the other girls giggled in the back. He watched her. He could tell she was avoiding his eyes, now. But she very carefully backed it out, placing the break on like he had taught her before jumping out to close the garage door (which the others always forgot to do, even with their remotes). She snapped the windshield back on where it had come away, and she even noticed a straw wrapper on the floor and put it in her pocket. She got back in and he directed them to drive...
Until they got to his huge garage which held all of his supercars. They walked inside and Clayton leaned against the doorframe and waited. The older girls had become a lot more serious and scrambled around the garage looking to see if there was a new car they hadn't yet seen. Charlee stayed by her father.
"Don't we need to hurry so you can make it to your ribbon cutting?"
"Oh, you are so sweet, my Dear. Perhaps you could drive me there?"
About this time the older girls had come up empty handed and gathered to hear if he had given her a car at all.
"Sure. In which car would you like me to drive you, Daddy?"
"Any of your new cars, my dear."
The sisters screamed in outrage. "You gave her more than one?! Dad that's not fair!! Daddy!!!" And they continued in their protest.
Clayton leaned up from the door frame. And his older daughters demanded. "Now, tell us! Which ones are hers, Dad?"
He looked at her as she asked her question again, "Dad which would you like me to drive us there?"
"Whichever you would like, Charlee. All of them are yours."
"What?!!!" The other sisters practically pulled their hair out, screaming.
Clayton just kept his eyes on his Charlee who was gazing at him lovingly.
"Why, daddy?!!" The other daughters sobbed. "We only got stupid cars! Why does she get all of the good ones?!"
"She will take better care of them than even I would." His loving gaze didn't leave her. Now she was blushing. "Charlee, you have been so faithful with every little thing I've given you. So I know you will take care of anything I give you."
That day as she drove them, in an old Aston Martin to a community center he helped to fund, he snuck peaks at his daughter. She was looking at the odometer, making sure she was taking care of the engine. But he could see she she really enjoyed it. He whispered a prayer, "Why have you given me so much, Lord. Why so many beautiful gifts?"
And the answer he heard was, "Because you were faithful with every little thing I have given you."
--
My wife has taught me about the "freedom V." This a concept in leading people, whether they be children or employees. The freedom V is a psychology of trust verses responsibility. As a person proves they can be trustworthy to take care of the littlest things, they move up the V and are given more responsibility with bigger and bigger things. And if God operates like this, perhaps we should ask how are we using what little we have, even before we ask God why he hasn't yet given us much more.
For my wife and I, we have a dream of the type of house we would build, if we got the the money. It would have space to host people, facilitate retreats and lectures, maybe even have a coffee shop. Right now we only live in a tiny duplex, but it does have a tiny patio.
Knowing that we don't have enough room to realize our full dream, a couple years ago we started asking, are we being faithful with the little we do have. So we put a sign in our yard inviting anybody to free coffee and donuts every Saturday, 9-11am on our tiny porch. And since then every week we host our neighbors, regulars and newbies, from all walks of life. We've gotten into so many interesting conversations and many have shared their smiles, difficulties, and their stories.
When we think about it, we try to do this with our finances, talents and time as well. And perhaps some day God will honor us with something bigger we can try to steward well.
In what ways are you doing what you can with what little you have right now?
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