Two Sides of a Coin

In the post below, I talked about our efforts to teach Sarah obedience and to not talk back. That can be a tough road to travel when your child is strong-willed. But if that's all we looked at, it would be hard to see who Sarah truly is.

Daniel and I have 3 gifts plus 1 from Santa policy for Christmas. Sometimes we are good about sticking to it and sometimes not so much. This year, we are trying very hard to go that route. (Especially since Sarah's presents are starting to cost a LOT of money!). The purpose behind this is to focus more on what Christmas is truly about (Jesus) and not on the gifts we get.

This year, we reminded Sarah of that again. About that time, we received another World Vision catalog in and she started leafing through it. She asked if we could donate to one of the causes. I told her that we already supported a child in Peru and were not planning on giving extra. I then said that if she wanted to give up one of her presents, I would put a donation to the cause of her choice. She got very excited. For the past two weeks, she's been going through the World Vision book over and over trying to decide just where she wanted her gift to go.

Today, I donated in Sarah's name to help children who have been sexually exploited. Sarah doesn't understand what it means to be sexually exploited but she does know it helps kids who have been hurt by terrible people. And to her, giving up a gift to help these children is worth more than getting another present.

I'm so thankful that I get to see this little snippet of who God means for Sarah to be. Sometimes, I let poor behavior blind myself to what God is doing in her heart. But regardless, he continually opens my eyes to see who He is making her to be - a generous, caring and giving person.