posted by Jessica Lynette on Judah&Wezzy, Missions

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…The dear boy struggled to give away the 5 {individually sealed} cones. He had at least 40 people brush by him as he said “I love you – have an ice cream.” or as he’d excitedly yell “HERE! HAVE AN ICECREAM FROM ME!”…

Wesley was given a bit of birthday money and last Friday I sat down with him to talk about what we could do with it. I told him there was enough money that, if he wanted, he could buy something for himself and something to share with someone else.

He decided he wanted something for the mailman and for our next door neighbor, as well as something for himself and Judah to share.

He really wanted to buy each of them a camera, but after a little chat about what things cost he decided he’d buy them food.

We went out to the store to look around and Wesley knew right away he wanted flavored bottled water for the neighbor and mailman, along with a little snack bag of mixed nuts.

It took the boys a bit longer to decide what snack they wanted for themselves, but eventually they decided upon a box of icecream Drumsticks. A pack of 8. With sprinkles.

Ice cream is a huge treat in our house, so they were ecstatic about this – Wesley proudly paid for the items we purchased and as we excitedly headed outdoors to start home Judah asked if we could sit outside the store and eat the ice cream treats there. I told them it was a fabulous idea – but that we’d have 5 extra ice cream cones – what should we do with them?

Wesley suggested we give them away so we could show people we love them. {This had been a topic of discussion throughout our morning; “How can we practically show people that we love them?“} Since they were Wesley’s birthday treat I told Wesley he could hand out the 5 remaining treats.

The dear boy struggled to give away the 5 {individually sealed} cones. He had at least 40 people brush by him as he said “I love you – have an ice cream.” or as he’d excitedly yell “HERE! HAVE AN ICECREAM FROM ME!”

I knew that trying to give away something might not be well received but I didn’t expect that amount of people to completely ignore his sweet offering.

Judah observed the reaction from people – that they would turn the other way, keep their head up high, not even glancing at this bundle of exuberant energy at their knee. He asked why? Knowing that what we were doing was a little weird I told him just that – “People don’t normally sit outside stores and hand out free ice cream cones. No one knows what to do about it, and when people are uncomfortable they tend to ignore it rather than politely accept or decline. What we are doing is a bit weird.”

Judah, ever practical, said “Well, more people should be handing out ice cream. It’s a really good way to love people. I hope people feel loved.” Me too buddy.

I prayed for each of the people that took a cone. From the little boy whose mother literally kicked him when she told him to say thank you to the hard working store employee who took a break from collecting carts out in the hot parking lot. Who knows if those people will ever think twice about a three year olds love offering in a hot parking lot – my own children got to experience the incredible joy of exercising generosity and creatively loving people while sharing something they thoroughly enjoy themselves.

It made the giving part a whole lot more fun for them – and that to me is the exciting part; each time my children find the joy in giving it becomes easier for them to do it the next time. They remember the times in the past where we’ve done out-of-the-ordinary things and talk about those occasions with fondness – from flying across the world and handing out Silly Bandz to handing out prizes and letters of thanks to our favorite Christmas light displays – they are exercising their ability to give generously, to think beyond themselves.

And while at times the exercises are hard for them  it is encouraging to see them growing in their love of sharing and thinking of others. One day we’ll focus on making the sharing a bit more practical than handing out ice cream cones to strangers, but for now it is the weird things that capture their minds and make it exciting for them. And the excitement of giving is what I want to capture and help grow.

 

Tags: activity, children, family, thoughts