"I'D BE GLAD TO"
The best thing you can give your mother on Mother's Day are four important words. Learn them. Memorize them. Let them flow easily from your lips. "I'd be glad to..."

That, in a nutshell, was the "kids' word" message that I had for the children yesterday. It's pretty much the same hokey but well-loved message that I've done several times over the years. (I learned it from Daisy Hepburn when I worked with her at Mission Springs one summer 25 years ago). And a few weeks ago a mother asked me when I was going to do it again.

"I'd be glad to take out the trash..." "I'd be glad to help you with dinner..." Magic words. Powerful words.

In Philippians 2 the apostle Paul tells us to that we're to learn to function as servants -- "...in humility value others above yourselves." (vs. 3)

If it becomes second nature for children to say "I'd be glad to..." when their parents ask for their help they will be "not far from the kingdom of God" (to borrow Jesus' words).

I wonder, though, how many adults are smart enough to connect the dots and to realize that the "I'd be glad to" kids' word is really an adult word? It's not just the children who need to make these words second nature. What would happen if we, the "grown-ups," learned the value of "I'd be glad to"? The world would be turned upside down.