A life lesson with grapes

Last week we had grapes with dinner.  Claire kept wanting more and more and more grapes.  After she had had what I deemed was plenty, I started giving her grapes two at a time.  She kept asking, "more grapes? I want two."  Josh wanted some grapes too and while I could have given them directly to him (the bowl was next to me), he decided to ask Claire to share some of her grapes. 

You could tell by her quiet reflection that it was a difficult decision for her to make.  After all, she only had two grapes, Daddy was asking for one, she saw a whole bowl next to Mommy but who knows if Mommy would give her more?

Once she made her decision, she joyfully gave one of her two grapes to Daddy.  She ate the other one and then asked me for "two more please, Mommy".  I gave her two more and again, Daddy asked her for one.  Geesh, not again, Dad! Again, she joyfully gave him half of her lot, and ate the remaining. 

The next time, she again shared with her Dad, but then when she asked me for more, I told her that was enough.  I hope she was still glad that she gave one of her last two grapes away.

Later, I thought about how it mirrored our relationship with God.  Claire had plenty of grapes before she was asked to share any.  When she did start sharing, she knew that there were plenty more.  She could never outgive me.  I could always give her more.  But did she trust that by giving, she would be blessed in return?  And if her blessing did not appear the way she had hoped, did she believe she would still be okay, and be all the richer for having shared her possessions?