The reason I haven't been around much on here the last week is because I had my first garage sale [and summer softball, and family visiting, and sitting outside and reading, and our laptop is broken, and we had an AC issue...but mainly the garage sale]. I'll write a little more about that later, but today I want to talk about my first born and her first lemonade stand. Because she nailed it.
First of all, can we all just agree that this stand made out of pallets is the coolest? My friend let me borrow it and I am so grateful. So Blythe is only three. She can't count change and she sure can't pour from a pitcher. But she sure can welcome people and offered friendly service.
When the day started, it was raining. And then pouring. But did that dampen this girl's spirits? Not in the least! She was dancing and twirling in the rain as people slowly but steadily trickled in. As Brent and I watched others be welcomed by her, and laughed as she showed people "the hole where the lemon comes out", and try and hand people some of her quarters, we were reminded of our prayers over this little lady from the moment we found out she would be a girl.
We began praying four traits over her: compassion, hospitality, modesty, and joy. At the end of the day, Brent said he had so much fun watching her run her stand because he was getting to see the traits come to fruition. And it was true. One of the first ladies to make her way up our driveway stopped and danced with Blythe in the pouring rain. As they both spread out their arms and lifted their faces to the wet drops, I saw joyfulness being shared. And that was not the last time that I was able to see my daughter give joy that morning. And as the sun finally poked its way out later, Blythe was in all her glory, and before people were even close enough to hear her she was telling them "Good morning!" and asking how they were doing. She was being so hospitable while welcoming people.
Like any three year old, she did have a period of time where the foot traffic was slow and she was a little bored, but otherwise she had a blast. Brent and I decided that all the money she made would be given to our Compassion child, Reggie-Kim. Blythe knows who he is, and we explained this to her and she rolled with it. We hope that this small act will build compassion deeper into her over the years.
She served over 50 people, showing hospitality and offering joy. She made some serious money [my mom had put some nice stuff in our sale and Blythe almost edged her out in profit... but this says a lot about the wonderful community that we are in, as so many came to generously support Blythe, and apparently not my mom ;)]. It's always fun to see the traits we pray in action, and it was a fun morning watching her shine. Our overarching prayer is that Jesus would be evident in our girls, and I believe He was that morning.
2 comments:
so good. does Reggie-Kim live in the Philippines?
Awesome. That stand is the coolest.
Our kids, along with two neighbors, have done a lemonade stand the past two years, and they're already asking when we can have it this summer. The first time we CLEANED UP because we were across from a construction site on a super-hot day. I'm always amazed when people hand over bills and say to keep the change.
The first year the 4 kids split the cash; last year, we donated about 80% of it to the local women's shelter. Haven't decided what we'll do this year, but you had a great idea. Good job, Blythe!
And it is so neat to see the evidence of what you've been praying for them. We've been praying for 9 years (!) that Nathan would be a hard worker. Just last week, I spotted him going the extra mile on his chore that day, and I pulled him aside and reminded him that we'd prayed for that trait in him before he was even born.
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