a four year old HERO

my phone was binging off the hook that day. three friends had texted me, simultaneously asking if they could swing by the house to drop off yard sale donations… oh yeh! we are having a yard sale! THEE yard sale of the century, I might add. all the funds will go toward our next wave of fees – about $6000 is needed by Sept. there’ll be another wave soon after– like labor pains (agh!), they come on slow and steady- you can certainly feel ‘em, then they’ll ease off for a sec only to come back harder and stronger and longer. But let’s not talk about any of that. God IS providing and believe it or not, He’s teaching me so much right now.

Back to the story…

that evening, those three texts turned into three people arriving at perfectly random consecutive times. While unloading a carload full of retired items and receiving a thoughtful present- the kind with a Starbucks logo (thx Kelly), I spotted my girlfriend, Tess, pull up and park across the street. Assuming she was dropping off items for the sale I tried to make it quick and painless, but as she walked away from her locked car and toward me, I knew something was up. Toting a reusable recycling bag, her 4 year old daughter stood shyly beside her mama waiting for me to finish unpacking the previous carload. My guess was that my friend Tess was attempting to teach her daughter a lesson in giving away her rejected, unplayed-with toys. We, too, get the kids to purge their toys on a monthly basis. Adam is militant about excess, while I hoard. It’s an ongoing dispute.

 Organizing the newly acquired stuff, I nonchalantly asked the precious one what she had in the bag.  Totally bashful in reply she looked to her mama who previewed a peek of a piggy bank. But this wasn’t just any old piggy bank. This was a special bank divided into three sections. One labeled GIVE, one labeled SAVE, and one labeled SPEND.

I invited them into the house because I could tell her face had a story to tell. We all sat around the kitchen table; I waited eagerly for further insight (too bad my kids were at the pool with grams and missed out on the lesson of a lifetime). her mama went to recite the conversation they had earlier that morning.

I collaborated with Tess for this part to ensure I wouldn’t butcher it:

TESS: Since my friend is adopting a beautiful little girl with DS, I wanted to give Anberlyn the chance to be a part of something cool. When she woke up I sat down with her to talk to her about adoption and how there are children, babies of God who don’t have a mommy and a daddy here. I told her that they lived in a place, where they don’t get to eat yummy food, and play with lots of fun toys and that they don’t have grandmas and papas to take them shopping for anything they wanted. I told her that Miss Christine found a little girl that she wants to adopt and love, that Miss Christine is going to be her mommy, but that it was gonna cost her a lot of money. I told her that Miss Christine was doing a fundraiser and asked if she wanted to donate $5 from her GIVE money to help out {{Anberlyn works on commission, when she does a chore it goes into 1 of 3 banks, give, save and spend, give being the first fruits, she always puts into give first}} She said, No, and that she wanted to give it ALL to her, I said ALL her GIVE money.. she said NO all the money from her give, spend and save! My heart melted. She had been saving for a magnadoodle, and now she wanted to give it to someone she didn’t know!

I asked her if she wanted to put it in a baggie for Miss Christine, she said No, she wanted miss Christine to help her count it! She was so excited to help out, and kept asking me questions about her new baby, asked what color her hair was and how long it was, she then asked if we could go to a baby store and get a baby who didn’t have a mommy or daddy to love them.

****

:)

Tears flowed from her mama’s eyes as she recited the never to be forgotten dialogue between them that morning. Initially i stood there frozen with my jaw stuck on the floor. then bending  to her level, I was able to squeeze her tight and thank her and feel... just soooo horribly inadequate. who am I? seriously. This child with her dollars and quarters and nickels and pennies spread out all across my table, like a sea of little sacrifices given as an offering for Elizabeth, I had become undone.

What bounty, what love! My Lord is speaking and He uses a mere 4 year old to make His point! whew!

She sorted the coins, stacked the quarters into fours, and lined up the bills for a grand total of $28.64 That is a lot of money for a 4 year old. She knew her options. And coincidently, per her mama, she forgot her GIVE money the last couple weeks of Sunday school.

But we know there’s no coincidences. We know God had orchestrated it all.

 To show me, us, the world

His glory

through His ultimate role model

the heart of a little child:

who knows ....the source of her supply,

who trusts ....she'll be taken care of,

who depends ....without worry,
who forgives ....without question

who persists ...even when let down,

who doesn't think about tomorrow, period.. 

Without a second thought she followed her heart.

 she chose to lay it down on that table,
to be incarnated by Him

as a paradigm for this journey,

 for this life.

Matthew 18:3 Then he said, "I tell you with certainty, unless you change and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

To harken unto those words takes belief, trust, faith, surrender.

Lord, help us in our disbelief, help us remember what it means to be childlike.

I will never forget this little girl who sold her everything for our Elizabeth.
Anberlyn, sweet child, you truly are a HERO. Thank you.
Elizabeth has no clue right now, but i'm guessing the two of you are going to hit it off.
May we promise to love her and teach her just as your mama has done with you.
May God always bless you and your family.

every cent she had...

So yeh, craziness huh?! it's all around me at the moment, (more stories to come). I feel so humbled to see the hand of the Creator of the universe work on such a personal and real level, literally right before my eyes! oh how little am I, how weak my faith. But He knows so much more, he see’s the done deal – he see's me rocking my sweet angel in our prayer chair singing her favorite song.

He IS sovereign in all things and He chose this 4 year old hero to enlighten those who choose to see Him work..
can you SEE Him?

One more thing, Check out Clayton (on my sidebar)... we are his prayer warriors. Crazy thing is i found him on pinterest and couldn't stop staring... he looks A LOT like Adam at that age. Please join me in Prayer for him and his forever family to find him soon! Let's be the hands and feet of Jesus and protect these babies from their otherwise sick and twisted fate. Better yet, are you his mommy? he's got a pretty decent grant amount. click his pic to read more.