"mom", he said, "we should give that man a ride; i think he's cold."
well, of course he was cold, it was probably negative something out and he was homeless. no home. no car. hell, i didn't even see a blanket.
for a second, i pictured myself pulling over and offering to take the man to get something to eat. he would climb in the car, smell terrible most likely, and freak my kids out. freak me out. plus, you know, he could rob or kill us. i was afraid. yeah, i was too scared to do that.
second option: i could pull over and give him money. then, the man could buy his own dinner in a warm restaurant... or buy drugs. or alcohol. yeah, scratch that idea too.
i walked through my fears with "the monster" and explained why we couldn't help the homeless, car-less, blanket-less man on this negative degree day/week/entire winter. then, "the monster" had a great idea that propelled me into a moment of pure pride of my son's huge heart. he thought we should put together packages of food and pass them out to all the homeless people in the city.
well, i'm not totally sure where to find all the homeless people in the city, but we did put together little packages of snacks, water, tissues, etc. now, we will always have them in our car and when we find a homeless person asking for help, we can help them! we can provide for them without fear. and, my son can learn what it feels like to do acts of kindness... like his huge heart is pulling him to do.
i encourage you friends, to do the same. clean out your cupboards and make little packages for the homeless and/or needy. carry them with you and help when you can. it's so simple, yet so huge. xoxo
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