welcome Elisabet

Miss Sauce has a deeply tender heart for children. She reaches out to children at the park who are playing alone, notices and seeks to comfort each crying baby we encounter, is impacted to her core when children are hurting around her, and - lately - cannot be in the room when the TV is turned onto the news, because she asks, "are the bombs and smoke hurting children, Mama?" with teary eyes and a wise little face.

Gulp.

Over the past few months, she has increasingly shared her ardent vocal distress that there are children who do not have enough to eat, a place to sleep, medicine, clean water, school, or sometimes - anyone in the whole wide world to love them. Last night, she hit a fever pitch. She became overwhelmed at dinner and began sobbing over her burrito. She decided that she wanted to send all our food to the "hungry children with swollen bellies." All of it. Right now.

She announced that we have too much and they had too little, "Those children are hungry, Mama!" She bounded up from the dinner table and tried to pack a box with everything from bananas to cans of split pea soup. When she was done, she demanded packing tape and stamps. She was going to send our food where it could nourish tiny little bodies that are so, so hungry. Never mind that she had no idea where that was - she was mailing this package. Anywhere. Everywhere. Just to help the children she loves without having ever met them. Because that is her heart's desire. And she had utter faith that if she gave her Mommy the box of food, surely I would know how to get it into the children who need it so much?

Well, actually, I do.

My heart and mind was flooded with her compassion. Although Copper and I had talked about the possibility of sponsoring a child some time ago, we thought the kids were too young to truly appreciate the phenomenon and reality and hope and need and committment. Quite evidently, we were wrong. Miss Sauce is there now. She understands the need and she wants to respond with her whole heart. Isn't it our job to help her hone that raw desire into a practical application with real power to change the world for, at least, two tiny children who share it?

So, today, our family has a new member. Miss Sauce has a new friend. Today, we adopted Elisabet. Through sponsorship at Christian Children's fund, we have added to our family a child from Indonesia. And my beloved daughter now can see the world through the eyes of another little girl. And love her with her whole heart (which today, consists of putting the entire contents of her piggy bank into an envelope to mail to Elisabet and making art projects to share with her - so far, she has produced 17 large hearts cut out of art paper, and a big cross made of pipe cleaners and sparkly stickers).

Today, my heart is singing. And my child has, again, taught her Mommy how to live.