Jacob is a typical four year old. He sees a commercial. He wants the toy featured. He goes in the toy aisle at the store. He wants this toy and that toy and oh, this one, too.
He started his Christmas list months ago and it includes more toys than he will ever get. And it keeps on growing and growing {which is partially our fault because they’ve been very spoiled on past holidays}.
My goal this year is to get him to think about how he can give to others and focus on what others might need instead of just what he wants. We started by looking at the World Vision Gift Catalog which is full of gifts we can give to others to truly change their lives. Gifts like cows to feed families, chickens to produce eggs they can eat and sell, and water, something we take for granted everyday. As we looked through the catalog I read him what each thing was and explained why someone would need the gift. For example, there were soccer balls in the gift catalog and I explained that some kids kick around a ball of trash and leaves because they don’t have any balls to kick when they play soccer.
After we looked through the whole thing I asked him what item he would like to buy for someone else.
He took the catalog from me, opened it to the first page and said “2 chicks”.
What happened next surprised me and brought me to tears.
“and a cow. and 3 pigs….” and on he went until I had to grab a paper to remember all he was saying he wanted to give.
And so his Christmas Giving List was created.
When I told him that all of this was a lot of money he suggested we sell his “baby” toys to get the money for all of the things he wanted to give. How sweet is that?
How do you help your children think of ways they can bless others?
My twins are 18 and in the order of the Rainbow Girls..their little 2yr old brother was diagnosed with Leukemia in Feb of this year just 3 weeks after our baby girl was born. It has been very hard on them to see him fighting this terrible cancer..and for that they are giving back to families with Leukemia through their presidential term in Rainbow Girls by volunteering for the Ronald McDonald house, giving gifts to Leukemia families that may not be able to afford a Christmas, and bringing awareness to all Childhood Cancer. I am so proud of them for rising up in the midst of this terrible time! They both want to go to college next year and become doctors so they can help save lives..what wonderful daughters I have!
Praying for your son’s healing and for your family. Those are beautiful things they are doing in honor of their brother. I am sure so many families will be blessed by them this Christmas season! You have good reason to be proud of them. If I can support your daughters in any way or if there is anything you’d like me to share here on MTFM about what they are trying to do or to help bring awareness to childhood cancer please let me know.
Alicia, I may take you up on that! We ourselves have been “adopted” by an organization for Christmas, the bills have been horrendous for his Leukemia, but we want to “pay it forward” and give gifts as well. What a wonderful (and adorable) little man you have..he’s just precious! I will speak with the girls tonight and ask them if they want you to share anything..their group is a non-profit so I can have them give you the link..they will be setting up a donation page for their local chapter and then all the girls in the Rainbow org will be going to DUKE (where my son is treated) and adopting families then shopping for gifts for them. We consider ourselves very blessed in the midst of all this, our son has the milder form of Leukemia, and has a 98% survival rate, however Childhood Cancer does not get as much funding as adult cancers, and this is where we see pain and suffering from other families who have precious children dying every day. Not something a lot of people want to talk about, children dying. I never thought I would be in this position, I was “blind” to what was happening too until we got Miguel’s diagnosis, now I just want to try and bring joy into the lives of those suffering along with us. We also at our church adopt families as your son is and our kids donate pennies to buy goats/chickens and rabbits and the little kids decide what to buy..it is precious! What a great org! Kudos to you,and I’ll get back to you if the girls think your blog can help them, thanks so much for the offer and God Bless!