Olivia's Project~

Yesterday when I got home from work I decided to give Olivia (my 6 year old) a project. My only words to her were "Olivia, I need you to take 3 pictures of things you are thankful for. After you take the pictures I am going to ask you why you are thankful for those things" I gave her my camera and left the room because I didn't want to persuade her decision. I didn't want her to look at me for approval. I wanted this to be HER project. These pictures were the results:

I asked her what she was thankful for in this picture and she said the CROSS. It's a little difficult to see it on the mantle because it's black and blends in with the picture (Paige gave this CROSS to me for my birthday this year) Olivia said "When Jesus died on the cross he was special but they killed him because they thought he was lying"

She's thankful for the flowers because "they are beautiful and when someone gets married or dies they get flowers".

I said "What could you possibly be thankful for here?" Her response was "Granny's candy dish. Your Granny died and it made you sad but you can look at this and think about her."

I stood in amazement...no pictures of toys, baby dolls, stuffed beenie babies, bicycles, or anything I thought she would choose. The cross didn't surprise me because I talk about being Thankful to God for a lot of things. The flowers were a little funny to me....a wedding and a funeral....I hope she doesn't associate them as the same. My Granny's candy dish blew my mind. Granny Grace (my paternal grandmother) died September 6th, 2003, the same year Olivia was born. I have 1 picture of Granny holding Olivia and I don't even remember telling her the story of the candy dish but she knew and she never forgot.

Olivia blessed my heart with her selections and she also taught me to look around at the little things in life that I can be thankful for. We're all thankful for family, health, and God's love but are we thankful for the simple things like a cross on a mantle, flowers, and a candy dish?

I challenge you to do this same project with your kids. It doesn't matter their age, it will give you a perspective of what's important to them. Well done Olivia, if I was grading your project....you'd get an A+ (and a great big hug from Momma)