refugees

Whenever Christmas approaches, I always start feeling like we have too many toys in our house.  Our kids are so incredibly spoiled, and I don't love the notion that they just need more things.  I was trying to be more selective this year about gifts and what they actually needed.  They each were going to receive something fun from Santa, but several of their gifts from Kevin and I were things that they actually needed, like new socks, underwear, rain boots, a backpack, etc. 

I had also been trying to clean out a few closets and decided to reach out to a refugee organization in Dallas.  Their website had lists of the most-needed items, many of which I had to donate.  These items included our old vacuum, rugs, towels, kitchen items, decorative items, and cleaning supplies.  Children's toys were also on the list, so I talked to Brooke and Colby about giving some of their toys to children that came to this country with only the clothes on their backs, or maybe a few personal items.  

They were both eager to find some things to donate, but as we talked over dinner, we had the sweetest moment with Colby.  He had commented that he could give one of his Hot Wheels to the refugees.  When I praised him for sharing one of his beloved cars, he then said, I want to give 4 of my cars.  I told him again how proud I was that he wanted to share, and I explained that some little boy would be SO happy to receive something so cool.  He then said, "I want to give my new pull-back car." He had just bought that car at CVS with his own money ($6), so I told him that he didn't need to give away his brand new car.  He said, "It's fine, Mom. I want to give that car."  I was really quite shocked and asked why he wanted to give it away.  His response was this, "Because it's my coolest car."  I literally had tears in my eyes and in that moment, I knew that he understood what we were trying to accomplish.  He wanted to give his best toy to another child, and here I was, giving things that I didn't really want anymore. He taught me a powerful lesson that day!

As we went through our toys, both Brooke and Colby were generous in what they wanted to share.  We have so much, and I wanted them to realize that!  Brooke wanted to give some of her old baby toys away, and while we did give some, I was feeling a little bit sentimental about some of her old favorites!  I told her that we would save her singing teapot and little pink purse in case we ever had another baby.  I knew it wasn't likely, but it made me too sad to get rid of them and face the finality of that decision. 

In the end, this was their box of donations...

I had them place it by the tree because I wanted Claudia to make a surprise appearance. She wrote them a note asking if they were donating these toys.  She said, "If you are, that is so kind of you."  Brooke was super surprised to see her the next morning, and immediately had the greatest idea.  She told me her plan (to have Santa deliver the toys to the refugees) and quickly wrote a note back to Claudia.

Dear Claudia,

I was wundering if you cud tel Santa if he cud tac thes toys and give them the toys."

Love, Brooke and Colby

She really thought she had a brilliant idea, but I explained that the refugee children might need the toys sooner than Christmas.  We agreed that we would have to wait until Claudia responded. Well, sure enough, she wrote a note the next day explaining that it might be best to just deliver them ourselves to the refugee organization.

I had set an appointment to drop off all the stuff one day when Brooke was in school, but as we were 10 minutes into our drive, I received an email from the coordinator. Luckily, I saw that she sent a message and got off the freeway to read it.  I would have been pretty annoyed if I would have driven an hour to North Dallas only to find out that she couldn't meet me after all,  The entire block was without power, which meant that they didn't have access to their storage unit.

In the end, I'm glad that we rescheduled because we went on Brooke's last day of school before Christmas Break.  I went to her class party, checked her out early, and we made our special delivery to International Rescue Committee. Having the kids with me was a really great opportunity for them to see where everything was going;  We helped the coordinator load everything only a flatbed cart, rolled in to the storage unit, and helped her unload everything.  She explained that they keep all the donations in one unit, but have several other units where they stage the items for refugees to come and "shop" from.  She explained to Brooke and Colby that the toys were always the first things to go, so that their donations would be much appreciated.

Going into the holiday season, it was a great lesson and reminder for them to have.  We are incredibly blessed, and I hope we never forget it!