Compassionate Heart

While I was putting Kirra to bed the night of Christmas Day, she was broken hearted. She was so sad over the fact that there are so many homeless people in the world. She was particularly worried about the homeless in our city with how cold the temperatures were and was in tears over how unfair it was that there were even homeless people that live on the streets at all. "Mom, I have this warm bed and all these blankets and some of them have to sleep on the sidewalks and they don't have enough warm blankets to keep them warm in this weather." So we did all we could at bedtime - we prayed.

Kirra's prayer was simple but heart felt:

Dear God,
I pray for all the homeless people in the world that are struggling in their life. And that they get what they need - like warm shelter to sleep, food to eat, books to learn from, and even toys to play with. And that they learn about you, Jesus. In your name, Amen.

The next day, Kirra started going through her bookshelf and her toys to see what she could give to those less fortunate or maybe sell so that she could use money toward buying things that the homeless would find helpful. She and I looked on The Mustard Seed website to learn what sort of urgent needs they have and she decided to go on a shopping spree using her own money to buy things like toothbrushes, combs, razors, deodorant, shampoo, socks, etc. Kirra and I then went down to The Mustard Seed Shelter and dropped her donations into their donation bins. Her heart felt good for the good she had done. And my mother's heart felt good as I couldn't have been more touched by Kirra's compassionate heart. We continue to pray for the homeless and Kirra asked if it was possible for someone her age to volunteer so we plan to look into opportunities to do that together. We also read a story about how touched one homeless man was over receiving a Christmas card and the joy it brought him. Kirra hopes to make some valentine's to bless the homeless at Valentine's Day, perhaps getting some of her friends to help so that more people will be blessed and feel the love of Jesus. I love how kind, loving, and compassionate my daughter is. Please join us in praying for the homeless in our city and around the world. And if you want to be part of making Valentine's or giving donations to places like The Mustard Seed, please let us know.

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these, brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' "

~Matthew 25:40