Eight Days and Counting

My Pick Five simplification is so close. I'm beginning to feel the waves of preparation and anticipation flow through me. It's like the deep breath before plunging to the bottom of the pool.

The cool thing is, that I have already started to see changes in me and, in turn, my family. As some of you may know, my daughter hosted a lemonade stand a couple of weeks ago to raise money for Casa Hogar, an orphanage in Mexico. I told her that her reward was in heaven for doing such a selfless thing. She smiled ear to ear. That's beautiful, but not the whole story.

So, a couple of days ago I told her that she was going to help me this Saturday in giving hotdogs to the homeless in Austin. My son, who is five, said he wanted to join us. (I'm thinking "hotdog" must have struck him as something he wanted to be involved in.) So I asked him why he wanted to go. His answer: "Because, um... maybe... I think I want to get an award in heaven, too."

What a lovely thing, that he would have tucked that phrase away in his little heart for MORE THAN A WEEK as something special. Something that he aspired to obtain. During this 40-day Pick Five exercise, there will be an emphasis in my house on the needy, the hungry, the oppressed. Being that my kids have everything they need, I think it's important for them to know that not every child does.

And there are things that we can do to help.

As for the reward in heaven, a little delayed gratification never hurt a kid.