One hundred dollars.....

My 28 year old sister and my 21 year old brother are living with Steve and me and our four kids. Because of this,it is rare for the six of us that make up my immediate family to have dinner alone. Last night was the first time it has happened in the several months we have been in our new home. Both the sibs were working, and Alex was off.

My family has been hit by the economic firestorm, same as most Americans. We have tried to be faithful in our giving, in spite of the uncertainty that we are feeling. Steve and I decided to give a portion of our normal tithe to another charity, besides our church. In the past we have given to St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and Birth Choice, a pro-life abortion counseling center. We decided to get the kids input and pick one as a family. Steve and I took advantage of the family meal to ask the kids about it. Their responses shocked and delighted me.

"We have $100 t0 spend on a charity that we choose. We wanted to know where you thought the money should go." I said.

They began talking over each other at once. 11 year old David piped up, "Children's' hospitals."

14 year old Katie said "I always think of young mothers. It must be hard to be poor and have kids to take care of."

18 year old Alex, ever global minded said, "Starving kids in Africa."

But the most passionate response came from 6 year old Annie. "Homeless people!" We all stopped talking and looked at her in surprise. She went on, meeting our eyes, sharing information she found to horrible to be believed. "There are people in this world who don't have homes! They live in the wild, and they need money to buy clothes, and food! Maybe we could give them a thousand dollars to buy a house." She looked at us beseechingly and went on. "They don't have homes. We need to help them."

I didn't know Annie knew homelessness even existed. Not only does she know, she cares. All the kids made their cases for the charities that thought we should support, but no one came close to Annie's passion and persuasiveness. I think we were convince of her commitment when she began pounding on the table chanting "Homelessness, homelessness," like Al Pacino, but in a very different sort of movie.

The truth is, they are all important causes. Bad economy does not preclude children getting sick. Africa is no better than it has ever been. Children are dying of starvation and AIDS. Single mothers need more help than ever, especially if Christians say they oppose abortion. My eyes filled with tears, because, as my family made their points about the causes they wanted to support, $100 suddenly seemed like such an insignificant amount, and there is so much need and pain in the world.

In the end, Annie won. Steve and I decided that, starting with the youngest, the kids would choose the charities for the next four months. After that, maybe Steve and I will get a turn, and then we will start over.

I am proud of my kids, and how instantly they came up with things they thought were important. Not one of them even paused long enough to ask if we could keep the money, even though we have been going without things we used to take for granted.

Where would you give a hundred dollars?