The Long and Short of it

It’s not unusual for my kids to gather up their crafts, pencil crayons and papers, to start to make pictures and cards to give away to someone.  They love to do this, and they are always looking for a reason to give another picture away.

Last summer, my girls saw a lady with no hair at the park. One of the girls asked me WHY she didn’t have any hair, and I went on to explain that she was a cancer patient, and the affects that chemotherapy treatment had on a person was loosing their hair.

I then explained how people give their hair away so that wigs can be made for the ones who have lost all their hair.

This struck a cord in my girls, and they lit up thinking that THEY could be two individuals who could GIVE their hair away. So, last summer, they started to grow their hair in anticipation of donating it this spring!

As we talked about it over the months, they realized that this was a gift that couldn’t be thrown out, or a card that wasn’t going to get lost. This was a gift that will bring someone they don’t even know joy and confidence!

Emma and Sophia were SO excited!  They marked the date on the calender.

There were a few times though, that one of them said “but, I like my long hair!”.  It gave us a good opportunity to explain the significance of giving, even when we don’t want to.  Throughout our character studies, we discussed a lot about the act of giving – we went through different Bible stories of ones who GAVE.

The widow who gave her last two copper coins Mark 12:41-44, the cheerful giver 2 Corinthians 9:7, and of course, Jesus our saviour who gave His life Matthew 28.  We talk a lot about tithing as well, and the great importance about giving back to God. I love how my kids are ‘getting it’!.  They are excited to give, and put others before themselves!.

We woke up early that morning,  and the excitement in the girls was so neat to see. We drove out to the hairdressers, and began the process.

The hair was braided, and tied,….. and the cut was made!

We bagged up their braided hair, and sent it off.  They even wrote a note that said  “I hope my hair helps!”.  What an awesome experience this was for them. For us too, we got  to watch their responses and teachable spirits.