This afternoon I packed my kids up in the car, ran a couple errands, picked up a few groceries, had a picnic in the backyard, and talked about child slave labor.
Yes, we did all of those things.
I have a little chalkboard sitting on my kitchen windowsill right now that simply reads "Do small things with great love".
Over the past couple of years, as our children have gotten a little older and we've been able to carry on longer conversations with them about things aside from superheroes, we've intentionally started having harder conversations with them. This year our homeschool curriculum centers around other countries and cultures. We've learned about a whole handful of other countries- their languages, religions, customs, and even the specific struggles of the people there. We've also read some great biographies about the missionaries who've spent their lives working in those countries and many times we've had to talk through some really hard things. We've discussed the struggles happening in countries like India and how the caste system leaves men and women in very desperate situations without much hope for change. We've read about missionaries in Africa who fought to educate the impoverished and others who fought to end slavery in some of the most untouched areas of the countryside. We've talked through the issues of suffering and death and discussed why some countries allow people, even children, to be bought and sold.
Some days it has been difficult to get through a whole day of school work without a few tears. Many days after we finish reading my Jackson will ask if we can stop and pray for the people or the country we've just read about.
As we've taught our kids the Gospel and taught them about the wonderful love of Jesus, we've had to have hard conversations with them about the realities of living in a broken world plagued by sin. They can see the effects of this brokenness daily when they smash their finger in the bathroom door or when they get upset with each other and say things that are hurtful, but as we're learning more and more about the world we live in they're seeing the brokenness in bigger and harder ways.
My biggest prayer for our children - the thing I want for them above all else - is that they would know the Lord. There are also the things every mama wants for her children- that they would be happy, and healthy, smart, and fulfilled, but aside from those things I am so burdened to raise our children in a way that will give them a worldview that extends to the nations. I pray that even as they are little that they will consider the needs of others as greater than their own and that they will live in a way that is very different from what our American culture dictates for them.
A few weeks ago as I started thinking about buying Easter candy soon and feeling this tug at my heart to make ethical choices when doing it I brought the topic up to Daniel. I told him a little about what I had learned about the part that slave labor and child labor play in the chocolate industry and discussed my struggle with not being able to avert my eyes from the truth that I now know. So many times we are simply unaware of the injustices that happen around us, but once we learn the truth I believe we have a responsibility to act in a way that is in line with that truth as best as we can.
One of the stops we made today was to run in Aldi. We grabbed a couple things for dinner and a few handfuls of their Choceur brand candy. If you look closely, many of their chocolates carry a little emblem letting you know they are UTZ certified. UTZ certification comes with a whole host of great assurances, but among those is the promise that slave labor and child labor were not a part of making the product.
I have never before bought candy at Aldi and the kids were obviously excited but wanted to know what I was up to. On the way home and as we ate lunch we talked about slave labor and child labor and about how many times the chocolate candy we love so much is actually hurting children around the world. It was definitely a heavy conversation to have, but as I watched my kids grasp this hard subject and react with such concern I was so thankful we had decided to take the time to make this issue a big deal and taken the opportunity to foster a little more compassion and understanding in our kids hearts.
Chocolate bunnies may not seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but over 2 billion dollars is spent every year on Easter candy alone with 70% of that being chocolate. Many small actions done in love and out of a responsibility to choose better and to do what is right add up to a greater sum. Many years ago as the organic food industry was just gaining popularity many people talked about our buying choices as our opportunity to "vote with our dollars". We can see the effects of this overwhelming vote for more organic options all around us. Organic foods used to only be available at specialty grocery stores and were priced very high. Today it's so easy to run in almost any grocery store and find a whole range of organic options at competitive prices. (I actually buy most of our organic staples at Aldi for less that I would pay for conventional brands at any other grocery store!) As we vote with our dollars we let corporations know what we will and will not choose to spend our money on and they will listen.
As we work diligently to teach our kids to "do small things with great love" I pray that their hearts will be burdened to seek the good of others in small things - things like chocolate and deciding whether to choose the biggest cookie or pass to let a sibling have it and in the big things - things like what they'll spend their lives doing and how they'll choose to love and serve the Lord.
