Emma's Lemonade Stand

While Adam was away, I was all for leading the simple life. Chicken nuggets for dinner? Perfect. I was feeling uber-prego, having uncomfortable contractions, and felt that we had plenty to do in keeping up with school, church, and musical commitments. We pulled a few cards off an angel tree at church, and I was excited to let the kids come shopping to help pick out the things we would be giving, thinking that would be sufficient involvement to spark the Christmas Spirit in our home.

Emma had other ideas. She picked a pink card off the tree. When I talked with her about making a trip to the store to pick out the "baby doll with changing clothes," Emma unveiled a plan she had hatched. "No, Mom. I want to earn the money." She wanted to have a lemonade stand. My first instinct was to put a stop to that idea, knowing the busyness of the week ahead. However, I remembered some wise counsel to "never suppress a generous thought" and decided to support my generous girl. We checked the weather and saw that the following day was going to have 70 degree weather, miraculous for December in VA. The lemonade stand was a go.

Emma and I went to work making flyers, which she colored. She wanted to take them in her backpack and distribute them to neighbors at afternoon bus time. I thought I would be doing most of the passing out and explaining, but Emma, motivated by her cause, took care of that. Nearly every friend getting off at our bus stop already had a flyer in hand, and she gave others to the adults waiting to greet their children. 

Emma helped make chocolate chip cookies to sell. 

The next day, she made the lemonade and prepared trays with foam ornaments kits (also for sale), plates for the cookies, and cups for the lemonade. I got the stand set up so that as soon as she came home, she could be open for business. Friends and neighbors came, many having spent time with their little ones finding change around the house to participate in Emma's cause.

The response was overwhelming. Neighbors we didn't even know came to Emma's Lemonade Stand. Trina, Grammy and Gma stopped by. Aunt Shauna (in UT) gave Valerie instructions to buy a couple of cookies on her behalf. We sold all the cookies, ornament kits, and went through the better part of two pitchers of lemonade. In addition, many gave donations. 

Emma made almost $50. After paying tithing, she had enough to buy a generous gift for her angel tree friend and funded most of the gift card our family was to purchase as well. As a result, the following week we were able to pick several additional tags to contribute further as a family.

Here's Emma with a very patient Customer Service rep at Target who allowed us to pay in small coins and bills.

I'm so grateful to have a daughter with such a generous heart. She really wants good things for others and has a special place in her heart for anyone hurt or having a hard time in life. 

Thank you, Emma, for teaching our family - our whole street, really - about the true meaning of Christmas.