A Group Effort

I was sitting behind the piano in the primary yesterday, just watching. A few of the teachers in primary are also moms to the kids in there. As the good sister at the front was teaching and interacting with the children, I noticed how the mom's eyes would light up when their child was noticed or acknowledged or encouraged or congratulated. I noticed that I did the same thing when it came to my child. There is something fundamentally validating about having your child recognized, isn't there?

I guess that's why it totally warms my heart to tell you about Joel...

Sometime last summer Joel became enamored with money. Not in the usual way, though. Joel wasn't in love with being rich or spending money. He just wanted to collect it. First, it was bills. He would do anything to earn a $1, $5, $10 bill, etc. From there, he had very specific kinds of bills he was looking for. The new "rainbow" bills had to be traded out for the old "green" ones. He wanted a $2 bill and even a special edition $2 yellowstone bill.

For Christmas, Joel got a special gift from his Grandma Malone, a coin collecting book.

Once the word was out that Joel was looking for coins (and trust me, if you came within a few hundred feet of Joel, you would know about it) everyone joined in. We had people from all over working to help Joel find the specific coins to fill the slots in his book. People at Matt's work would send them home, people would stop us in the hallway at church, the babysitter showed up with a few, too. The ladies at the bank were on the lookout for some of the harder ones. As Joel's birthday approached, the search intensified. Matt's parents had ordered a few to send and my Mom was scouring ebay for a few. Aunts and Uncles contributed. Guess what his birthday cake looked like?

You guessed it.

When all the money had come in Joel had all but 10 slots filled in his book! So many people came together to help Joel find his special coins. He's a special boy. It made me so happy to see so many people coming together to help him meet his goals. Thanks, everybody!