$3.30 & Father's Day Without Ellie

The above Father's Day Card from Hannah reads: "Happy Father's Day and 6th yaer (sic) of being My Dad. Love, Hannah."

The past two weeks we've been out of town. The first week we went to Louisville for a class. The second week we were in Wisconsin. I'm pretty much a homebody and so two weeks away from home was hard.

On Monday of the first week, we received our referral. I am, of course, excited. I am also apprehensive as we begin the difficult task of waiting. It's very strange. I now feel an obligation to care for this little girl I can not bring home yet. Father's Day felt especially odd this morning. It was as if a member of the family wasn't here.

After church, Hannah gave me a box she had made out of paper with the above note attached. When I opened the box, there were three crumpled dollar bills, a quarter and five pennies. I immediately realized $3.30 was basically her entire fortune and was overwhelmed that she had given it to me. My first instinct was to give it back, but I realized it was important to allow her to be generous. Still, it's hard to take money from a six-year old so I resolved to make sure the money found it's way back to her.

"Hannah, that's so sweet," I told her. But before I could say anything else, she interrupted.

"It's to help us bring Ellie home."

Hannah will not be receiving a dime of that money back. It will all go to help bring Ellie home. I don't think I can compensate her nearly as well as Someone else can.