Paying It Forward

I was going to do a long post on all of our recent (FUN)draising ventures but we encountered something today that I felt was more important.

 This afternoon after attending a birthday party, the girls and I stopped by the grocery store on the way home to pick up stuff for dinner. We parked, got out of the car and immediately noticed a family of five sitting on the bench in front of us. The father was holding up a cardboard sign made from a diaper box that said something like, "Need help to pay rent, buy diapers, milk and food". He was sitting there on a Saturday afternoon with his wife, two sons and a young daughter. Aven, who is learning to read, immediately asked what the sign said and I told her. Without a pause she said, "well, then we need to buy them stuff!". This particular grocery store has small, kid-sized carts in addition to the regular sized shopping carts and each girl grabbed a small cart. They quickly began filling their cart with bananas, strawberries, tomatoes and anything else they saw that they thought this family could use. After some discussion, we put the fresh items back and decided instead to buy them a large box of diapers, milk and purchasing a gift card to the grocery store. We checked out and each girl took her items over to the family and told them that they had bought them to help. The father was very appreciative and told me thank you numerous times as we put our stuff in the car and again as I returned my cart.

We got home and, as we were unloading the car, I realized a number of important things:
1) I forgot to buy the stuff for our dinner. =) 

2) Aven, a five year old, did not once hesitate to help. Her world is still so black and white, problems so easy to solve. Someone needs help? Let's help them! She didn't stop to think, well, if he were working instead of sitting here on a Saturday maybe he'd be able to buy diapers and milk; or, but I was gonna use that money to get those new shoes; or I bet he just takes the money and buys beer. Her first and natural instinct was to believe the best of people and do something to make a difference.

3) It was this same kind of innocent faith and trust that the people who had been donating to our adoption fund placed in us. A lot of these people don't even know us, yet they have not hesitated to help. For all they know we are metaphorically buying beer with that money. But they choose to believe the best of us and do something to make a difference in the life of a child.

4) I thought this would be a good moment to teach my children a number of life lessons: giving unto others, helping those in need and being appreciative that we, unlike that family, had enough. But, in the end, it was - as it always seems to be - my children who taught me more. They are so much wiser than I often give them credit for. And while I sometimes lovingly laugh at their simplistic view of the world, you know what? Sometimes that simplistic view is the best one.

So tonight I sit here, humbled and wiser, and offer up a prayer to that family in hopes that theirs is a temporary need and that, when they no longer need help, they'll pay it forward to the next person who does.