A couple of weeks ago, Caleb and I were driving home after dropping Isaac off at work. I had the radio tuned to our local Christian station, WMHK, and they were doing their morning news report. I was only half paying attention to it, when all of a sudden I heard Caleb gasp from the back seat. "Did you hear that, Mommy? It rained so much in Haiti that the water is getting too high and the people there can't get food." I expressed my shared concern. Then, very distressed, he said, "But Mommy, they just had an earthquake and now there's a lot of rain, too. We have to help them!" We used this opportunity to talk about our Christian responsibility to help others in need and I explained how God uses events like this to give us a chance to pour out God's love to people who may never have experienced it. He wanted to know what we could do to help. I told him that, first and foremost, we can pray for the Haitian people and for those that are volunteering over there. I also told him that, while we can't physically go over there to help, we can give money to organizations/people who CAN. That night, following a beautiful and heartfelt prayer for the people of Haiti, Caleb again started pushing me to help him figure out a way that HE could help Haiti. I was able to pacify him by promising to help him brainstorm some ideas the next day.
The next day, Caleb was ready to come up with a plan. He'd already made up his mind that he wanted to donate money, but didn't know where to get the money. He first asked me if I'd give him some money. I told him I thought it'd be better if he earned the money he wanted to donate. I asked him what he thought he could do to make money. He responded with, "sell stuff." I asked him what he could sell. He said, "Well, I like to draw pictures. Do you think anybody would buy those?" I told him that I was sure there were some people who would. It was settled. And thus was born Caleb's idea to help Haiti. If you're interested in helping Caleb out, please email him at CalebHelpsHaiti@gmail.com to request an 8 X 10 drawing. His specialties are anything having to do with Super Mario, animals, or vehicles, but he has assured me that he'll attempt to draw anything requested. All proceeds will be donated to Red Cross for disaster relief in Haiti.
I am so proud of my little guy for wanting to help others. I am constantly amazed and challenged by his compassion and empathy. When I asked him specifically why he wanted to help Haiti, he said, "I just want everyone to have the things that they need." I love my son!
Here he is in his own words-
7 years ago
