Heart of Gold

The last few Sundays our preacher has been using material from the Advent Conspiracy. It is a fabulous program to get our mind and morals back to the true reason for the season. The first week we were asked to go without sodas and coffee for a week and instead use the money we would normally spend on those items to give people the gift of clean water.

This past week we were all given bags of rice and were asked to eat just rice for three meals and give the money we would have spent on those meals to give food to someone who was starving. We decided we would go ahead and try to include the girls in this.

Leah has gotten to the point of complaining ALL of the time. Her shirt itches. Her shoes hurt. She doesn't like this. She wants that. Several weeks ago, I had heard all that I could handle. I explained to her how fortunate and blessed we were. We talked about the numbers of people who did without. I put a new rule into effect immediately. If you argue or complain, it is gone. No if, ands or buts. Your shirt itches, it goes to a needy child who would be thrilled to own a single shirt. This isn't what you wanted for dinner, go to bed hungry. It may sound harsh, but it had gotten way out of control and I cannot handle the griping, knowing how blessed we are. If we complain, in my opinion, we don't deserve it.

The "rice challenge" fell right in line with this lesson we were teaching. I explained to Leah what we would be doing. I took her into the office and we looked at pictures of starving children, who spent their days in an endless line, hoping to get a small scoop of rice. We talked about the fact that many of them waited all day long only to be sent home empty handed because of shortage. We talked about how these kids had never tasted Mc Donalds, fruit, vegetables, meat, milk, chocolate or anything other than rice. We looked at pictures of houses in Honduras. We looked at pictures of the houses my dad has built at an orphanage there and how lucky those kids were to have a house and food now. I was a little afraid that I had gone to far for my fragile 5 year old. When you google "starvation" or "poverty" there are some pretty graphic images. Despite not clicking on the thumbnails, she noticed all of them.

We sat down to eat our rice. I watched my extremely picky, spoiled daughter take several bites of her very bland rice. As she ate, you could tell she was struggling to swallow, but didn't fuss about it at all. Several bites in she asked if she could have some soy sauce. I gave in, since she was really trying her hardest. Kate, on the other hand, was happy as could be. She loves rice.

We went to bed that night and I was a little worried she would be up during the night with bad dreams. I'd imagine that some of the images of reality she saw are etched in her brain. I hope that they are and that they stay there permanently. It is so difficult to teach compassion. Much to my surprise, I didn't get woken up until she came in around 7:30 the next morning. She had an envelope that had some money that her Pops had given her in her hand. She climbed up on my bed and said, "Mommy, I think I want to take part of my money and give it to a little girl in Honduras who doesn't have any rice, but I also want to keep some for my piggy bank. Is that okay?". I assured her that it would be okay.

I explained to her that the dollar bill in her hand wouldn't buy her more than a candy bar here in the US. "In Honduras, that will buy a little girl and maybe her whole family, food for a whole month", I explained. Her eyes lit up. She asked about the time she took all of her money from her piggy bank to buy a bike and wanted to know how much money that had been. When I informed her that it was $80.oo and that it would feed an entire town for a month, she was beside herself. When we picked up the neighbor for morning carpool, she couldn't wait to tell her all about it. I am not sure she breathed once in the 15 minute commute.

She told Ava all about kids that don't have food or homes, about how much rice a dollar can buy and about how she is going to Honduras to build houses with her G-Daddy when she turns 15. I informed her that a friend of ours from church is going to Honduras next week and she could send her money with him. She has carried that money around all week and is very excited to see who is blessed by it.

Dear God,

Please help me raise compassionate, giving children. In an ever growing selfish world, I know that this is no easy task. Please help me lead by example. Thank you for this opportunity to touch deep inside her heart. Help me take advantage of every situation I come across that will help instill this in them.

Amen

This experience was one of my favorite, most special memories with this sweet girl. I pray there are many more to come and that I can be there when she builds her first Honduran home.