Gleaning bean fields

There are many things that Ian and I desire for Kylie! We, of course, want for her to be healthy, to enjoy her childhood, to have a good education, to appreciate the many cultures of the world. Even more importantly, we want for her to love the Lord her God with all her heart, mind, strength, and soul, and to love her neighbor as herself. Our Sunday School has been focusing on reaching out in Christian love to EVERYONE we meet in our recent study. Last week we found ourselves thinking outside the box at some ways to stop feeling overwhelmed with all the troubles of the world and just start making a difference, even if it means one tiny difference at a time.

Then someone asked how we could begin to instill that passion to make a difference in our children so that at an early age it becomes almost second nature to them. We basically decided that getting them involved in mission opportunities early was key. While we aren't ready for an international mission trip with Kylie just yet, there are many things in our local area that we can do and today she helped out in her first mission venture ~ gleaning "October beans" from the field of a local farmer.

A group of about 20 of us headed into the field for just under two hours. We had some of our junior high youth, a group of eight year old boys from a slumber party last night, three generations of one family (grandma, mom, and kids), a young family, and several middle age adults. God blessed us with a perfect day ~ blue skies, warm sun, and a cool breeze when the temperature topped out around 74. In the end we had filled the back of pick-up truck with beans that had been "missed" when the field was harvested ~ not bad for a morning's work!

At first Kylie just stood and watched, then she supervised Ms. Teniah and Aunt Traci from her wagon...

But before we finished for the day, she had observed enough and figured out what we were doing. I had gone to the end of a row to work back toward the group and left Kylie halfway between me and Traci. I looked down for a few minutes to finish off one plant that was loaded down with beans and looked back to find Kylie hard at work. Who says one is too young for the mission field?

And no, I promise that this was not "set up." She really figured it out on her own and ended up cleaning this plant out... Get ready for the next time fields!

I also have to share a great photo from yesterday. Kylie and I headed on the spur of the moment up to a park near Lake Norman to join an open play date for two boys in our FCC group. The boys are adorable, but at three they are full of energy and not at all interested in playing slowly around a 19 month old. Luckily there was another mother there with three of her daughters ~ the youngest 20 months old ~ who had also decided to attend on a whim. Kylie had a great time being entertained by the two older girls ~ ages 11 and 7 ~ and competing with the littlest for their attention. I got some great shots of them interacting, but didn't think to ask their mom permission to post pictures, so I'll just use this one of them heading to the swings when Kylie pointed in that general direction. What a fun morning!