Involuntary Evangelism

You know your child is getting old when his Christmas list includes things you don’t understand. So it was with Michael’s list this Christmas: PlayStation games that I can’t start, much less play, games for a DS, some little gaming device that I can’t start, either, and an MP3 player.

Well, at least I understood the MP3 player. I wanted an MP3 player! But this was the year of the funnel for me (I got three); no electronic devices for me or Sean this year.

We did give Michael one, a mobiBlu, the smallest MP3 player out there. He was so excited! He absolutely loved it. He immediately took over my laptop, uploading his CDs and downloading a few new ones. Then he plugged all the plugs in the right places and downloaded everything to the one-inch cube with earphones. He wore it everywhere and listened to it all the time.

Until last Thursday.

Last Thursday he took it to youth group at church. He and his friends compared notes on music choices and the like. But when he went to play basketball he put the teeny-tiny cube in a coat pocket and left his coat on the gym floor. I’m sure I don’t even have to write the next sentence: when he finished playing ball he retrieved his coat only to find the MP3 player gone.

When Sean and the girls went to pick him up they found him searching frantically for the little cube. The youth director helped, his friends helped, his sisters helped. But no little blue cube was found.

He was afraid we were going to be angry at him but I reminded him I’d left my purse on the church pew the Sunday before when I ran out to grab Rebecca’s coat. It could have happened just as easily to me. Church just isn’t the place you think, “I better keep my personal belongings on me at all times!”

The good news is Michael had lots of great music on the player – Newsboys, Michael W. Smith, Switchfoot, 4Him, plus some really funny, clean comedy – so whoever is listening to it is getting the Good News pumped in his ears.

The night the mobiBlu went missing, Sean, Michael and I prayed the thief would figure out a bit about Jesus by listening to the music. Of course I also prayed he wouldn’t be able to sleep because his conscience was bothering him so much and that maybe he’d have horrible stomach problems and spend the entire night in the bathroom.

It’s been a week and it’s still missing.

The debate now is do we buy him another MP3 player? Do we split the cost? Do I buy the iPod I’ve been wanting and share it with him? :-)

I’ll keep you posted.