The priorities of a 9 year old

My son loves baseball - his glove is permanently attached to his hand. He loves playing with his buddies in our front yard. We usually have at least 7 little boys running bases in our little grassy area, from afternoon to sunset. He loves his GameBoy, and Pokeman, both of which I would gladly throw into our local trash dump.

But when a letter from his new teacher told him to email her this summer and tell her about him, this is what he wrote:

Mrs. XXXX,

I love science, it is my favorite subject. I have a brother that is going to 1st
grade and a little sister going into 3k. My mom thinks I am an artist and my
dad thinks I am a good baseball player. I have 1 dog named Gracie and 1 turtle
named Turdy. My family and I are adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. My mom
and dad are helping start a church. My mom is a volunteer for Compassion, she
has gone to Africa. I love steak and I love to go fishing. I like to go to the
mountains and camp or stay in a cabin.

Seth W.

Once again I am in awe. Here we have a little boy who loves all things slimy, dirty, and smelly. And yet he didn't talk about his friends, or his toys, or his new baseball team with the cool uniforms. But he did feel like the fact that we are adopting, the fact that we are helping to plant a new church, the fact that I volunteer - he found those things important to tell her about. And I didn't even have to tell him those things were important. That putting God's work in a place of priority is important - he just figured it out on his own. And I think that's pretty amazing.

(However, I did have to correct 'my mommy is a missionary' with my 'mommy's a volunteer'. What a promotion!)