Little kids can be so kind and encouraging. My nieces, ages 5 and 6, spent the night with me while my youngest son and husband were out of town. My eldest is away in college. We had a ball during our “girl night” playing, making homemade pizza, and snuggling in bed with a stack of books I haven’t read in years. It was pure joy to have two small people curled up on either side of me totally immersed in storybooks.
During our evening we decided to bake cookies. The wind was howling and the April blizzard had hit. (We live in “polar vortex” country—Minnesota.) While the three of us were measuring, mixing, and tasting, the girls hatched a plan. Their oldest cousins are both in college.
“Let’s send the big boys a package!”
Suddenly our little baking session became a mission for two stressed out college kids. We texted the boys to see if they preferred with out without nuts . . . and to give them the heads up to watch for a special package in the dorm mailboxes. The text responses were of happiness and thankfulness. And a hearty, “Yes, lots of nuts!”
We finished baking, allowed the cookies to cool, and boxed them up to be mailed in the morning. The girls wrote notes to the big boys too. The three of us talked about how happy their cousins would be to receive a sweet treat from home and how the packages would be an encouragement.
To witness the love from these two little girls for their big boy cousins was sweet reminder to me. Families are tied by heartstrings, whether across town or across the country. The love and encouragement we give one another is a gift, mimicking the love the Father gives us. Even a package of cookies can become an eternal moment, showering two college boys with the knowledge they are not alone but loved deeply by a family God has so lovingly provided.
How do you encourage your kids living away from home?
The love & encouragement we give mimics the Father's love! @BeckyDanielson1 @Grit_Grace
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