Jars for China

It started with a question. It was a quiet afternoon and I was rubbing lotion on her scars that often still become irritated. She wanted to know where the scars came from. I tried to give my best answer in the kindest light. They were long ago, had to do with lack of resources.... It left her thoughtful and quiet. Then, she asked me if her sister who she has been long awaiting would have these. I didn't know. She wanted to know if she had all that she needed. She was pensive and fell quiet again. Then, she left the room and returned with her piggy bank, and a jar of change she had collected.

"I am going to collect money. I am going to save my money and send it to the children in orphanages in China...so that they will have what they need. So they will have diapers and medicine. No more scars, Mom." For a moment I didn't speak and when I began, she interrupted in her stubborn tone, sure I was about to talk her out of her plan.

"I am serious, Mom!" Then, she launched into her plan that was quickly developing in her head. If she raised enough money, she could go to the biggest store and buy all the diapers, all the medicine, and then she would take it in all the suitcases (apparently, she is aware of our over abundance of luggage) and she would fly to China and go to the orphanages and.... She kept talking and explaining her plan while she walked out of the room in the way that she walks when her mind is set and she has a mission. I was worried when it seemed so quiet and she had been gone for a time. Maybe she was thinking about those scars, maybe I hadn't answered her the way I should have.... I peeked in her room to find her drawing. The pictures depicted children, families, her sister, us, and orphanages with children getting everything they needed to feel happy and healthy. The story she drew covered several pages which she narrated to me.


She collected jars from the kitchen, from recycling, and they found their way to the spot beside her bed, neatly lined up.



I know. She is seven. One might be inclined to think this will all pass as so often our intentions for good sadly do, but this is one area I can say with certainty that my daughter doesn't waver. When a plan, a mission enters her, she does not steer from it. And if you steer from your announced mission, she lets you know.

But even more than that, Graceanna has a keen sense of justice. To her, the world, the people in it, and all God's creatures deserve the same love, comfort and safety. She believes with all her heart that she can do something about that. I love that about her.

She genuinely and completely cares for those around her and she empathizes rather than simply pitying.

It isn't about praising my daughter or placing her on a pedestal. She doesn't see how she acts in that light and I don't want her to. This is about what I learned and how I am growing or attempting to.... My daughter is like all of us. She is perfectly imperfect. She is stubborn and a little too bossy at times and on occasion a bit of sass comes out for a visit, but I am not too proud to admit that I learn from her sweet heart all the time. Her heart is one of compassion. The kind that isn't about look at what I've done. It is a natural response for her. She feels their hurt and takes action. I think that is true for many who have suffered in some way. They identify with the suffering and they are willing to act and enter it with someone else.


September, I had to speak for church. I struggled for some time on my topic choice. It wasn't until that rainy afternoon moment with my daughter and her jars that I realized what I wanted to talk about.

Compassion.

Compassion is so much more than simply feeling for someone else's situation. It is empathizing. It is walking in another's shoes and suffering alongside them, choosing to sacrifice something and act upon it, no matter the cost. The truest form of compassion calls us to costly love. The kind of love that doesn't ask for anything in return, but acts, gives generously and joyfully of time, money, heart and energy.

Compassion pours forth in loving kindness.

My daughter's jars line her room and since that day two months ago, she has raised money, asking those she encounters for change, dollars, (and she will take "big numbers" too). She has negotiated making beds (mine) and doing extra odd jobs to collect coins. With each full jar, she finds another empty jar to be filled. She has counted and recounted.

That day, her jars were only the start to her loving action. Her prayers that have always included a prayer for her little sister in China now included a prayer for all the children in orphanages everywhere.

Several full jars, multiple odd jobs and weeks later , I sat one morning reading my morning blog roll, which included a visit to one of her favorite blogs. Stephanie at NiHao Ya'll was calling for new sponsors for children at An Orphan's Wish. My little Graceanna asked me to read it to her. I did. She looked at me and then left and returned with her jars.

"Do you think I have enough for all the children?" I didn't. But, I knew she had a really good start. For $35 a month she could sponsor a little one from Orphan's Wish. She decided she wanted to sponsor a child.

We spent nearly an hour reading the stories of these children, each one with a special need, each one there because they needed special care. Gracie delighted in the stories of these little ones. Gracie laughed to hear that Ethan, too, is a bit bossy but looks out for the little ones. From Cassie's playful spirit and Olivia's sweet shy smile to Violet's giant happy grin, her response was one mixed with delight in their stories and sadness for their hurt. She asked lots of questions about each of their struggles. She wanted to sponsor them all. It isn't fair to choose one was her response to me.

But, then she thought it through for a while and looked again at each face and said with certainty, "Gabriella...Gabriella because she needs me the very most." I just didn't have words in that moment.

Gabriella is a part of the special care unit. She has cerebral palsy, is paralyzed and cannot speak. But there is more to Gabriella than what she suffers with. She has such an incredible sweet smile. She is more than a child with a special need, she is more than an orphan, she, like each child, is a part of God's heart.





Gracie, true to her word, paid me her first month's sponsorship, which emptied several jars. Those jars are already filling up again. And now, her prayers for the children everywhere include a name, Gabriella.

There is a song by Christy Nockels, By Our Love, that plays over and over in my head. It calls us to action. It calls us to love. And it calls us to act justly (not judgingly), showing kindness. It is basically God's call to us in Micah 6. Watching a child's loving kindness in action reminds me that we all can't afford NOT to give, NOT to care...


I wondered how many times I had stopped by to visit An Orphan's Wish and hadn't made the pledge, each time deciding I would join the 100 sponsors, but not hitting the button that moment, not making the commitment. If a little 7 year old whose income consists of tooth fairy quarters and $1 freelance bed making jobs can commit to $35 a month ... well, I don't need to finish that.


Today, I am starting my own jars.