Thursday, July 2, 2009
Lessons from a Child
Have you ever noticed that some of the best lessons we learn as adults, come when we watch how children make decisions? Let me explain.
A six year old girl from Fishers, Indiana was watching TV one day when a program came on describing the plight of poor people in another country. These people were in need of life’s most basic essentials – clean water, food, and shelter.
The images on TV were very disturbing to this young girl, so she went to her mom and asked how she might be able to help. Even as a six year old, she was insistent that she respond to their plight – after all – she had never been without food, water, or a place to sleep. Her logic was that she had the means to help. Following a discussion with her mom, she understood that she was too young to hop on a plane and cross the Atlantic, so it was decided that they look for a way to help a neighbor who might be in need.
Her mom explained that there are poor people right in her own community, and there is a place for them to go to get a meal. That seemed to be the answer for this determined little girl because she gathered some canned goods, and had her mom drive her down to Wheeler Mission. She presented the gift of food and was finally satisfied that she had accomplished her goal.
The little girl saw a need - she knew she had the means to meet that need and she did what she could do. What a great lesson for the rest of us.
A six year old girl from Fishers, Indiana was watching TV one day when a program came on describing the plight of poor people in another country. These people were in need of life’s most basic essentials – clean water, food, and shelter.
The images on TV were very disturbing to this young girl, so she went to her mom and asked how she might be able to help. Even as a six year old, she was insistent that she respond to their plight – after all – she had never been without food, water, or a place to sleep. Her logic was that she had the means to help. Following a discussion with her mom, she understood that she was too young to hop on a plane and cross the Atlantic, so it was decided that they look for a way to help a neighbor who might be in need.
Her mom explained that there are poor people right in her own community, and there is a place for them to go to get a meal. That seemed to be the answer for this determined little girl because she gathered some canned goods, and had her mom drive her down to Wheeler Mission. She presented the gift of food and was finally satisfied that she had accomplished her goal.
The little girl saw a need - she knew she had the means to meet that need and she did what she could do. What a great lesson for the rest of us.
