Rice Ball

Zizian Zhong

“ Rice Ball ” is her nickname, given by Sister Little Sheep in church. Her first name is not Rice, and none of her family is called Ball.--by author

 

A little white sheep

It was the beginning of this story. It was a Sunday morning. Pastor had already finished his ermon. Everybody got together for the weekly Chinese tea gathering. It was about lunch hour. Everybody got hungry. Among them, there was this little white starving sheep. She was getting hungrier and hungrier while the Pastor was talking. And then, Pastor started to thank God for the food on table.

Finally, the little white starving sheep was able to focus on what Pastor ’ s voice. This was true until she saw a sister she knew from youth group. The sister was sitting close to her. When everybody was heading to the food, the sister was not moving. Instead, she was looking for something in her bag. Finally, she took out a white rice ball. It looked so delicious. 

Our little white starving sheep went to talk to that sister. The little sheep was thinking that she may get to taste the rice ball. She failed. She was sad for about two minutes. 

A few weeks later, it was another Sunday morning. It was also after a sermon. That sister came to the little sheep. Out of sudden, she gave our little sheep a rice ball. The little sheep opened the cover of this rice ball, and it tasted as good as her had always expected. She was so happy.

Later, every time she saw that sister, she would ask her for a rice ball. In the end, the little sheep just skipped the real name and called her “ Sister Rice Ball. ” 

Sister Rice Ball

This was how our story started. It was a Sunday morning in church. After sermon, everybody was in the weekly Chinese tea gathering. It was about lunch hour. 

Everybody was hungry. This was also true in her case. She was waiting for Pastor and some other people finished their talk. And then, she heard Pastor to thank the Lord for giving people all these food. All the tea and desert were prepared by church, and the suggested donation was 50 cents. She did not have money, and she did not want to take them for free. Therefore, she searched her bag and took out a rice ball. The rice ball was made from her leftovers last night. 

At that moment, a little white starving sheep went to her. The little sheep tried to taste the rice ball, but she was too shy to share the rice ball. The little sheep was looking sad. 

A few weeks later, she finally got some extra money. She prepared another rice ball with better fillings. It was also on a Sunday morning. It was also after a sermon. She gave the sheep a rice ball. The little white starving sheep was very happy. However, her own feeling was a bit complicated at the time. On the one hand, she was happy to serve the sheep. On the other hand, she was kind of worrying about her next meal. 

Half a month later, she found a stable job. She no longer worried about her next meal. Meanwhile, whenever they met up, the little sheep was always asking for rice balls. In the end, the little sheep just skipped her real name and called her “ Sister Rice Ball ” instead. 

Nowadays, when she thinks about this story of rice ball, she always thanks God for making everything happen. In the Bible, it is written “ It is more blessed to give than to receive, ” and it is also written “ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. ” What she experienced has demonstrated these verses in her life. The teachings that Jesus gave us through Bible are for real. They are reliable.