Sweet Sydney

Sydney is growing up fast and I love seeing her grow into an amazing young lady. She surprises me sometimes by what she knows and what she is catching onto.

There are some things that Sydney has said and done over the last couple of weeks that I do not want to forget. For example, today in church, Pastor Paul was talking about how it's sometimes hard to believe that God is hearing our prayers. He said something like, "Sometimes when I am praying, I feel like it stops about right here (holding up his hand) and bounces back down." I honestly didn't think that Sydney was listening to a word he was saying the whole sermon. She definitely had enough to distract her since there was no child care today! But, after he said that, Sydney, without missing a beat said, "Yeah, but God still hears that prayer because God is everywhere!" Wow! She was right! He is everywhere, He does hear our prayers (even if we think He doesn't), He does care! AND she was listening! Yay!

Recently, Sydney experienced something that was heartbreaking for her. There were some sweet little girls playing and the parents were nagging and yelling and getting after them for every little move they made. They honestly were being very good kids, just playing and interacting with each other. But the parents were just annoyed with them. (It probably wasn't anything that the kids actually did, the parents were just stressed with the lives that they have chosen to live.) Anyway, when we were driving away, Sydney said, "Why were their parents so crabby and treated their kids like that? They weren't doing anything wrong!" I agreed with her and said that it was really sad that some kids had to grow up like that. She said, "Wow. I am blessed. I have such great parents!" Another Yay! I know, I know. That attitude won't (and didn't) last long, but it is great when she sees it sometimes!

One more thing that I don't want to forget...Around Christmas time, I have always tried to make a point in involving Sydney in giving to other families in need. When she was really young, we did Operation Christmas Child, last year we bought a bunch of presents for a girl her age that was going to get nothing otherwise. This year time just got away from me. It was a crazy December and before I had time to think about what we were going to do, it was too late to buy gifts for anyone. Then I had an idea. Last October, Matt and I went to an amazing conference in Atlanta, Georgia. We listened to many amazing speakers, but one of them touched my heart so much and I came home and told Sydney her story. The speaker's name was Katie Davis. She is an amazing girl who has given her life to serving Jesus by serving the people of Uganda. You can check her ministry out at amazima.org or read her book called, "Kisses From Katie." I can't recommend that book highly enough!!! Really, truly amazing!!! So, here was my idea for Christmas. Sydney has discovered money lately. She has been saving it up and wants to do extra jobs around the house for a buck or two. (Great for me because she really does a great job or organizing and cleaning, so I am usually very happy to give her a dollar to clean a room!) The only thing about Sydney saving her money is the girl needs nothing, so she can't ever even think of something to spend her money on. So I reminded her of Katie's ministry and said that if she would give some of her money to that ministry, I would match her giving by ten times that amount. I had no idea what Sydney would think of that idea because she really like her money. She likes to count it out and keep track of how much she has. But, I thought it would be nice if I could get her to part with some of it to help others who desperately need it. She had fun asking how much I would have to give if she gave certain amounts. It didn't take her long at all to decide that she wanted to give ALL of her money!! (Much to my surprise!) I let her think about it for a week and she still wanted to give all of her $55.00 (plus our $550.00) to Katie's ministry. It was so exciting for me to see her giving heart and have her realize that we do have so much while others are struggling to have enough to eat.