Eli Wants To Help You

That's what Eli wanted to write on his sign.

After Eli felt the urge to help, and we talked more about our 'plan' Monday night, Eli told Lehr that he really wanted to hold a sign letting people know he had water for them, so they could come get it if they were thirsty. He also started sorting his coins....all of his coins. He wanted to give people money too so they could buy other food and drink, if they didn't like his. It was all I could do to not smother that kid with kisses and hugs. His heart is so big! While I loved the idea of giving money, handing someone a quarter, a dime and a nickle (Eli's donation of choice) may come off as a bit patronizing, so Lehr and I talked about how he could borrow some paper money from us and think about other ways to use his coins. I did help him make a sign though. We went back and forth over what it shoudl say: I think Eli's first draft was "Come-get-some-water-and-a-bar-cuz-I-brought-it-for-you-cuz-I-knew-you'd-be-thirsty". We scaled it back a bit, had Eli write the words himself, and taped the final product to one of Eli's drumsticks, so he could carry it. He really wanted to have another sheet of paper and a pen so that people could write their names down and he could pray for them. I loved loved that idea, but we forgot to bring a pen, so it never happened. (Next time!)

Yesterday after breakfast, chasing a squirrel around our temporary kitchen, and some house issues, the kids and I drove down to Piedmont Park with 35 bottles of water, 45 granola bars, the double BOB stroller (to carry it all), and some paper money in Eli's pocket. Of course Maddie wanted to ride in the stroller from the beginning; she barely walked across the street before she hopped in. Eli walked a bunch more, but got discouraged after a while. We covered a LOT of ground and didn't run into anyone that was in any obvious need of Eli's 'help'. We did see one man, but Eli got a bit shy, so Maddux brought him a granola bar. About an hour passed and still no more than the one, so we stopped by the playground before heading back to the car. Even though we went a different way, we still ended up taking all 35 water bottles back home with us. Hopefully we can hand them out the next time Eli has a day off from school.