Hope, Haiti, and Cupcake

After the massive earthquake in Haiti two summers ago, our church partnered with an organization called Mission of Hope. Long after most people have forgotten the quake, MOH has been there serving, restoring, caring for, and bringing hope to the people who are still recovering. Our church asked us to sponsor children. Since many of the children available for sponsorship were within Cupcake's age range we decided to involve her.

I remember printing the pages of faces of little girls. We laid them out on the coffee table and let her pick. She was younger then and wasn't talking as much but her heart was the same sensitive heart we are coming to know more and more. She studied them carefully. She confidently picked one. This one was petite, like Cupcake. She had big bows in her hair. She smiled but didn't look directly at the camera.

We submitted our information and since then have been supporting her schooling and sending little gifts along the way. In the past year our church has been sending people a couple of times a year to physically go and help build homes, play with the children in the school, and love on the hurting people of Haiti. About a month ago one of our friends went and agreed to take a backpack with some goodies for our adopted child.

I took Cupcake to the store and explained that we would buy a backpack and fill it with some goodies. It was SUCH a great opportunity to explain that she would not want a Disney Princess backpack because she may not even know Disney Princesses. You might think 3 year old children can't understand but I disagree. Cupcake changed her approach from picking what she would like to looking for something that would be fun for our girl. She literally combed the store for a backpack that would be special for our sweet friend in Haiti. Cupcake made very thoughtful suggestions on what to put inside including new markers because our girl has a particular interest in art.

I was so proud of Cupcake for taking our shopping trip seriously and thinking of someone else in the way she did. Our friend's trip to Haiti was canceled because of the tropical storm. A few weeks later they finally were able to go. I thought Cupcake would have forgotten the backpack but when the following pictures came to us from Haiti, Cupcake was so excited! She couldn't believe her backpack had made it all the way into the hands of the girl we had talked so much about. I can't thank our friend enough for sending these pictures. Look at this precious girl who is so grateful for even the little things:

I think it is important, even at a young age, for my children to have the opportunity to think about the true things in the world. When a neighbor is dreaming about a "bigger" house with all the amenities that come with it I want to counter that for Cupcake with the reality that our friend in Haiti is hoping to get a home that will be about 16ft X19ft for her whole family. For reference that's about the size of a ONE car garage. When friends are rushing to the store to buy Cinderella the day it was re-released on DVD I want to counter that with the reminder that our friend doesn't even have a tv. When Cupcake says she wants a fancier car (she really just likes the doors on mini-vans) I want to remind her that our friend doesn't even have a car and has to walk very long distances in crazy hot heat to get to school or anywhere else. And when Cupcake and Cutie Pie are fighting over a toy I just want to scream because, really? They have it good. Our sweet friend in Haiti won't make my kids better people....but it is an opportunity to keep a conversation going that provides perspective...perspective that even a 3 year old can grasp AND perspective that even a 3 year old needs sometimes.

If you want to have that opportunity too, you can join us in loving the children of Haiti. Sponsor a child here:

http://www.mohhaiti.org/get_involved/child_sponsorships/