Who Knew A $5 Pizza Could Do All That?

Every Friday night is pizza and a movie night at the Love Shack. We make our delicious homemade pizza and Troy sets up the projector outside and we sit around in our camp chairs eating popcorn and drinking soda and I refuse to feel any guilt whatsoever. :)

Well, Troy is out of town this week but pizza night is Lizzy's and Ben's favorite activity of the week so I needed to keep up the tradition. I decided to splurge this week by buying a $5 pizza and then we could snuggle up on the couch in our pajamas watching a movie and hopefully the kids would fall asleep and I could have some time to myself. Great plan mom!

So we headed off to the pizza place. As we pulled into the parking space I noticed a woman sitting on the ground in front of the restaurant who was obviously very needy and I knew I had some cash in my wallet (which by the way is a complete miracle that I will need to share later but the money was a blessing from our Father in Heaven - without a doubt) and I knew I was going to give her money. Not begrudgingly. I've been studying the Law of Consecration lately and, besides, King Benjamin taught me to get over that when I taught the Book of Mormon in seminary a few years ago...

"And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

"Perhaps thou shalt say: the man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for  his punishments are just - ( guilty! I have said those same narrow minded, self-righteous words before)

"But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.
"For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?...

"And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one  to another.

"And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.

"I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world." (Mosiah 4: 16-23)

That was long, I know, but there isn't a single part of it that doesn't go through my head in these types of situations so I had to include it all. So I got the kids out of the car and immediately the woman asked if I could spare some change to buy some candy from her. As I approached the woman I noticed one of her eyes was missing - completely gone. I gave her what I could spare (wishing I could just heal her and give her what she really needs - faith in Jesus Christ) and then I opened the door to the restaurant. Lizzy, very loudly asked, "Mom what is wrong with that woman's eye?" To which the woman replied, "Tell your daughter I had cancer. Help her understand."

That was when it all started...

Once we were back in the car Lizzy said, "Mom, I feel so sad."

Me: "Why is that sweety? Are you feeling sad about that lady?"

Lizzy: "Yes. She doesn't have an eye! I feel like I just want to cry and cry for her."

Me: "Yes, I feel sad for her too. I guess we need to add having both of our eyes to our thankful list today."

Lizzy, starting to tear up: "Yeah. That poor woman. I wish I had my allowance money to give to her."

Me: "Heavenly Father will take care of her. She is His daughter just like you and I and He will take care of her. Maybe He sent us to that pizza place today because He knew we would be able to help her."

Lizzy, crying now: "Our last name is Love. Heavenly Father really wants us to love others a lot when our last name is love." (where does she get this stuff?! I swear she's older than I am!)

By then we were home and I thought the sweet experience might be over but it would soon take a different turn...

Troy called and Lizzy was too sad to talk about the experience on the phone with him but Ben told him all about it. I didn't know it had made that big of an impression on him as well. Then Lizzy started asking questions.

Lizzy: "Mommy, that woman told you to help me understand cancer. So you need to help me know what cancer is."

Me: "Cancer  is  when some bad cells start growing in your body and it makes you very sick."

Lizzy: "I want to know all about it. We need to watch some movies about it on the computer."

It was then time to pray before eating our dinner. Lizzy prayed and I wish I could remember all of her prayer but it was sweet and tender and filled with her tears as she prayed for this woman and then prayed for our family and then asked Heavenly Father to help her feel happy again because seeing the woman made her feel so sad.

She kept up her questions about cancer all through dinner and her movie until Ben finally fell asleep and so she and I sat at the computer and watched clip after clip on you tube about cancer. She wanted to see the scientific info about how cancers form in our bodies and she also wanted to see several different movies about people who have struggled with cancer, some dying, some not. She, naturally, was most interested in the clips about children who have/had cancer.

I must admit I was very hesitant to show those movies to Lizzy. She is so young and I don't want her to feel afraid of life. I mean, just seeing that woman for maybe 30 seconds earlier this evening seriously changed the course of our night. I wasn't sure how she would take scientific and emotionally touching movies about cancer. But she sat, transfixed and curious and compassionate. We talked about her friend in school who has Leukemia, (click here to read about that) and I shared with her that her Grandma Davis - my mother - died from cancer before she was born. That instantly brought it home to her. She asked how people get rid of cancer for good and I said that there are medicines but that scientists are still working to find out how to cure the disease. She turned to me and said, "I'm a scientist. I will help these people get better." (I've been telling Lizzy since she was born that she is good at math and science so that hopefully, the power of positive thinking would help her not be afraid of these two subjects.)

It was time for bed. We had watched movies about cancer for a while and she was tired. She asked if she could sleep in my bed tonight and, of course, I said yes. We said our prayers and then she snuggled close to me. She was quiet for a while and then she said, "I learned something tonight. I learned that cancer hurts a lot, a lot, a lot."

As she was drifting off to sleep I looked at her sweet, innocent, beautiful face and a feeling started growing inside of me. Lizzy has a mission on this earth, as do we all. I pray often that the Lord will open my spiritual eyes to see the greatness within my children so that I can steer them in the right direction and never hold them back from performing their foreordained missions upon this earth. Lizzy loves people. Lizzy has very tender feelings for those who are sad and sick and lonely, but especially those who are sick. Lizzy loves school and science and learning (Her first report card was glowing but especially in math where her scores were in the 1st grade level). I never thought of Lizzy going down a path that would lead her to the medical field - heck the girl is 5! But what if that is in her future?

Interestingly enough, it was during the time we went through in vitro in order to get her here, that I developed a tremendous love for science - for INSPIRED science is what made our having her possible. (You can read some of that story here)Maybe someday, Lizzy will help others in need of INSPIRED science as well - our Father is the Master Scientist and is incredibly involved in the details of our lives, even down to the smallest of molecules.

Above all else, and most importantly, Lizzy loves God and I know she will be on His errand no matter what journey is ahead of her. As she pointed out earlier, her last name is Love and she is full of it and wants to share it (just ask her brother who endures at least 50 kisses a day!)  I pray the Lord will make me equal to the HONOR of being the earthly mother of Elizabeth and Benjamin. I pray that in spite of my weaknesses, they will accomplish all they were sent here to accomplish.

All of this came from giving a few bucks to someone who needed it more than I did. Look at how the Lord returned that few bucks back to me - my heart is filled with joy - there is not even room enough to receive it all. I had told Lizzy earlier that maybe the Lord sent us to that woman so that we could help her. After the sweet experience I had this evening with Lizzy and the greatness I saw in her, it might be the other way around. We helped each other. Money means nothing to the Lord. It is the riches of eternity which are the greatest treasures He can give. I'm feeling very, very wealthy tonight.