Last night, my three year old wanted to read "Noah's Ark." Nothing new. In our house, both boys get to pick a story, and then we read a Bible story together. Toby has asked for "Noah's Ark" for the past several nights.
Last night, while reading it, I got an idea. This is a great opportunity for a teaching moment, I said to myself. So here's what I did.
I read the story, like always. Then after we were done I had a little talk with my preschooler. "Toby, do you know what? Last week, something happened in a faraway country called Japan. You know how we just read about the flood that happened in the Bible and how Noah and his family stayed safe and warm in a big boat? Well, there was a great big flood in Japan. But the people there didn't have a big boat. So they got caught up in all the water. And some of them lost their homes and everything. Isn't that sad?"
At this point, he began to get really interested in what I was saying. He made a sad face, and moaned a little, "Yeah. That's sad."
So I went on, "But you know what? Even though we're really far away, we can help the people in Japan. What do you think we can do?"
"I don't know. What, Mommy?"
"Well, tomorrow we're going to go to the store and do some shopping. We're going to buy some things for the people in trouble in Japan. Things like soap, so they can take a bath, and toothpaste and toothbrushes, so they can brush their teeth. And we're going to put it all in bags. Your job is to pick out a little stuffed animal, like your bear, to put in each of the bags. So when the people in Japan get these special bags, they'll know that someone cares about them enough to make sure they have the things they need. Isn't that cool?"
"Yeah, Mommy! We make some bags!"
"And do you know what else we can do? We can do something else that's very important to the people in Japan. We can pray for them. We're going to pray that God will help them to find their families, and find new places to live, and we're going to pray that God will comfort them and keep them safe."
It so happens that our family is going through "Ashes to Fire," a fourteen week study from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost, with our church family. This is the first time Toby has been in a big kid group on Sunday nights. His teacher sent home a folder with a page of prayers we were to pray every night this week with him. Last night, this was what we prayed:
"Dear God, thank you for being with me. Please be with the people who are in need. Amen."
As his Daddy prayed that prayer with him, tears filled my eyes. Toby is only three years old, but he is already learning about compassion, prayer, and that God comforts those who are in need. How awesome, that God can be so present in such a small life! I'm so proud of him now, but I know that as he grows older, it will be our job to cultivate those things in him. What a blessing to be a parent!
The tsunami victims and survivors in Japan really do need our help. If you would like to donate via Red Cross, you can visit www.redcross.org, or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10.
You can also assemble a Crisis Care Kit like the ones our family is making.
Gather new items in quantities listed below. Assemble Crisis Care Kits (CCKs) and seal the Zip-loc bags. Include only those items listed on the inventory. Deviating from this list can cause an entire shipment to be rejected in customs. INSTRUCTIONS: Into a 2-GALLON ZIPLOC BAG put the following items:
1 medium size bottle of shampoo (12 to 18oz.), please tape flip-tops closed
2 bars of soap (no travel size)
1 medium toothpaste (4.0 to 6.4 oz.)
3 toothbrushes
1 box of Band-Aids (30 or more)
1 fingernail clipper
1 sturdy hair comb
2 hand towels
4 pocket-size packages of facial tissue
1 Beanie Baby-size stuffed toy
Drop these off at your nearest Church of the Nazarene, and we will ship them to our headquarters to be distributed to disaster victims in Japan.
To find a church near you, go to http://app.nazarene.org/FindAChurch/
For more information, go to
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Very sweet!
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