A Generous Heart

Naomi is at an age now, 3, where she is learning and understanding more then she can relay back through words. Every now and then however her actions convey that she does understand complex ideas and will even execute these concepts. What am I talking about?

Having A Generous Heart.

I'm enrolled in just about every free rewards program known to shoppers. One of these is with the Build-A-Bear Workshop. I recently go an email containing a coupon for a free animal up to $12 good for last Fri-Sun only. I also had a $10 voucher from spending so much money there. I though to myself "hey, that would be a neat mother-daughter thing to do with Nini." Then I though "hey, the last thing this kid needs is MORE toys!!!" What to do, what to do...I hate to let good coupons go to waste. Then I remembered my pal in the American Samoas, Barb. They recently had a HUGE earthquake followed by an awful tsunami. She is collecting items for those in her community. "THIS" I though "is a perfect way to teach my daughter about giving."

On the way to the mall on Friday morning we talked about how sometimes it is fun to get new toys for ourselves, but other times it is good to have a generous heart and it makes God happy if we give toys away to kids that don't have any. She said she understood, but you never can tell. I just tried to reinforce that the toys we were about to make were NOT for her to keep.

We went. We informed the staff what we were doing so they wouldn't assume the toys were for her & make the separation harder. First she selected a bunny "for a girl" as she said. It was stuffed, she wished for happiness on it's little heart, gave it a kiss & hug then put it into the bunny. Next was a bear "for a boy" and the process was repeated. While we were making the birth certificated the employee, Bonnie I think, gathered up 4 boxes of Crayola crayons and 2 BABW bags to donate to the cause. This was going so well, I was so pleased I let her pick out a little toy that she will soon be sending in a shoebox to Operation Christmas Child.

When we got home she posed for a few pics, packed the box, took a nap then we mailed the boxes that afternoon. I'm so glad my little girl was able to grasp the concept of generosity so well. I don't expect it all the time, but this was truly a blessed experience for us both! We also included some flip flops, reusable totes, shirts and shorts. I tried to send hand sanitizer, but it seems it could blow up the plane so I had to take it out of the box :(





If you have an interest in helping too you can visit Barb's blog by clicking on her name and reading her postings for requests and directions. Thanks :)