World Thinking Day

Do you ever think...how can I expose my kids to the rest of the world?  I feel like we get so caught up in our own lives that often we forget how fortunate and blessed we are.  My kids have never known what it feels like to not have a safe, happy home.  They have never experienced intense hunger.  They are so blessed, as are Trev and I, to grow up in such a beautiful, safe, happy, and abundant part of the world.  For which I am intensely grateful.  


However, I worry sometimes that if they never see how hard things can be...they will lose the appreciation, or worse yet, never gain it, for how blessed they are.


This is something that I fret over now and then, but then quickly realize two things.  


A) I can expose them to these things through a lens.  They can see these things online, I can tell them about current events going on in the world, I can take them to places close by that they will see those less-fortunate, etc.  There are ways in which they can live safe, happy lives, yet still feel humbled by it.


B) I need to make an effort to do this.  It is not something I think about often, so I need to make sure I act on the thoughts I have and impressions that come WHEN they come, not put them off to be forgotten.


Fortunately for me, one of those opportunities presented itself last weekend.  Morgan is in Girls Scouts.  They had an activity last weekend called "World Thinking Day."  It was held at a church in Salt Lake, and basically it was an event where a few Girl Scout troops from around the valley did reports on different countries throughout the world.  They each had their own "booth" and all the other Girls Scout Troops were invited to come and see all their displays and learn about the countries!  When I heard about this activity I thought, oh...that is the same day as Morgan's birthday party.  It might be too much for one day...but then the thoughts I discussed above popped into my head...I needed to take her to this!  So we signed up - and boy, I was glad I did. :)  Here is how it went:


1. Meet up and more Celebrating!  We met up with M's troop at the Registration table so that we could all go in together.  Before we went in, M's cute leaders had a fun birthday hat for her to wear and a present chock-full of crafting supplies.  They all watched her open it...it was really sweet. :)

2.  Learning about Distant Lands, Cultures, and People.  I loved watching Morgan walking around and thinking...this is one way I can teach her about the world!  Mom teaching list...CHECK! :)

Do you love this face??!!!  I sure did. :)

This was great...world exposure and family heritage wrapped up into one!  DOUBLE CHECK!  (Trev's family is from England, in case you were wondering).

This was some sort of a mask made in Israel, I think. :)  After about 2 minutes she wanted it off.  It kind of smelled funny. :)


3.  Life in the Peace Corp.  The last section of the event was a woman came who served in the Peace Corp.  She lives with a family in Kyrgyzstan.  She had pictures to show and explained to the girls how different life is this part of the world.  It was pretty neat to see for myself...Morgan was pretty tired by this point so we wound up leaving a little early.  She had woken up at 5 am that morning because she was so excited for her party.  This presentation came around 3 p.m., about the time M was crashing. :)    

Even though it was a long day, I am so glad we went to this.  The people who put this on did such a great job!  They worked hard and I am grateful as a mom for their efforts to teach my daughter about the world.  I am grateful we had and took advantage of this opportunity.  I think it will be little things like this, happening often, that will help my kids realize how great they have it.  Thank you Girl Scouts!