The other day I was flipping through a World Vision catalog and it made me very sad. Just looking at the things that people need that they don't have and can't get on their own, can't get for their children. Not to save their lives. Literally.

i think that the ideaof gratitude and responsibility are two of the most neglected values around these days and I personally think that they are among the most important. I also believe in the adage "with great privilege comes great responsibility" and ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.) And the second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself."

Maybe this is just my inner liberal social worker coming to life, but I desperately want my boy to be grateful for what we have and to happily help those who have less than we do without expecting anything in return and without passing judgment becuase I also believe in the saying, "there but for the grace of God go I".

Because this is something that we believe in we sponser a little girl who lives in Tanzania, we do various projects around Christmas time like Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree, and things like that. We donate food to food kitchens around the holidays and I split our outgrown baby clothes between the pregnancy shelter and the consignment store. These are good things, but we wanted something more part of our lifestyle, something we could involve the boys in as they start to get older. So I've been on the lookout for a way that we can increase the involvement and awareness of our entire little family.

Meanwhile, back to the World Vision catalogue. After being sad it renewed in me my desire to do something. At first all the old defenses pop up, "We don't have enough money to do this". I shut that voice up pretty quickly because somehow there's (almost) always money for a trip to Target, extra snacks from the store, a movie rental here, a pizza order there. We're pretty thrifty people really, but even most of what we buy from the grocery store is more about taste and preference than what I need to survive. Yes, some of it is beyond our means since there are options like building wells, houses, buying livestock, etc. However there are plenty of options that are affordable as well, things that cost less than $50.00. Stop and think about it. Listerine is not a necessity. I'm not saying not to buy it (I have some upstairs), but we have more money than we think about.

So i'm sitting there thinking about this. And it just seems so patently unfair that I am worried about getting enough money into a college savings plan for my son and somewhere in Africa a mother is worried about finding a way to buy a net to cover her baby's bed with so that he doesn't get malaria.
Here people fight about whether they should get their child vaccinated or not elsewhere babies die because there are no vaccines to be had. We fight to get our children into the best preschools, but in parts of Asia girls can't walk to school because it's dangerous...they can be kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. We have baby registries, childcare education classes, and baby showers in Eastern Europe babies are born prematurely to mothers who don't know have baby supplies and don't know how to care for them anyway.

And then, music started softly playing, no children were crying, my house was clean, the meal cooked...okay, no, but it was almost as miraculous. I had my Great Idea. I ran it by Andrew and he confirmed that it was a Great Idea.

My Great Idea is thus: (Great Ideas deserve fancy language)

For special events, holidays, celebrations, milestones we're going to go ahead and do our normal thing whether it's a party, a nice meal, a sigh of relief, whatever..., but we're also going to give a corresponding present where it will really make a difference.

First will be Easter, April 12. To me, Easter is about new life and so I flipped through the catalog and picked out a few things that represent a form of new life: Seeds ($17)that are for fast-growing, drought resistent plants that will feed a family and provide extra income when they sell the surplus, two chickens for $25 that again is food for the familiy and income from the extra, five ducks for $30 with the money they earn helping to pay for medicine and school tuition, $35 supports women in Uganda who are raising children whose parents have died because of AIDS. What I'm going to do is cut out a little picture to represent each one of those things and then we're going to let Ben pick one out and we'll send the money.

Andrew's birthday will be next and he can pick out something that is of interest to him: two soccer balls for kids who have never had a real toy is $16, art and music instruction for kids in countries torn up by drugs is $20, a fishing kit (pole, hooks, lines, and a basket) is $40. When we finish Elijah's immunizations we can buy the immunization for another mom who loves her baby as much as I love mine for $41. When Ben learns his first Bible verse we can send $36 and give two Bibles and support children's Bible classes. When he starts school $50 will provide $700 worth of resources, $32 provides kids in Rwanda with school fees, uniforms, textbooks, and school supplies. When we have another baby $77 provides a bassinet, diapers, clean water, a baby bathtub, soap and education for a new mom. For Christmas we can do a bigger gift--$105 gives a sheep for wool, milk, and lambs that can be sold. Maybe someday if we're lucky enough to build our own house (or buy a house) than for less than $2,000 we can give a house in Mongolia that includes furniture. Next winter as I buy warm clothes for my boys I can buy blankets for someone else's. And then there's also shares of a bigger project if you can't afford to buy an entire cow you can give $50 and they combine those gifts until there's enough for a cow.

So that's my Great Idea and I'm excited to start. I think it will be a good way for us to teach our boys how to give and love and be grateful on a regular basis. I'll let you all know what Ben picks for Easter.

Tada!