Mondays with Nonnie: Nuturing Compassion

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

- Dalai Lama

A friend invited our family to join her and some other friends in preparing a meal for the families staying at the Children's Hospital. We thought it was a great opportunity to help bring some much needed love and relief to these families who are experiencing much heartache. We later found out that our kids wouldn't be able to help prepare the food or even be in the building (you need to be 13 years or older).

The kids still wanted to do something, particularly for the children who where suffering from either illness or accident. In thinking how we could offer relief I remembered a time when I was suffering and my sister sent me a stone with the word 'Faith' written on it. It brought me great comfort, this small stone. The kids collected some stones by a creek, cleaned them off, and then wrote 'Faith' on each stone. Along with the stones the kids wrote some sweet cards.
This experience was a great reminder of how service for others can impact not only the receiver but the giver as well. It was a gift for me to witness the compassion my children had for these children they didn't know. As a parent I realized that if I want to raise compassionate individuals I need to be proactive in giving them ample opportunity to exercise compassion. Now that the Season for Giving is upon us I hope you'll look for opportunities to help nurture this already deep desire children (and adults;) have to help others in need.

With Love, Nonnie