So for those who don’t know Jordan and Hailey Jacobus, they are our “neighbor daughters”. The Jacobus Family (Will, Angie, Jordan and Hailey) lived next door to us for 5 years on Solta Dr and became some of our very best friends… one day (conveniently when Will had been out of town all week on business, and I had happened to take Angie a couple dozen red roses left over from a friend’s wedding) 3 or 4 year old Jordan proudly answered Will’s question of “what have you guys been doing this week?” with “oh, Neighbor Daddy came over a bunch of nights and brought us flowers”…. Can you hear it now? “ummm…. ANGIE?!!?” Come to find out, Neighbor Daddy was Rick, and I’m Neighbor Mommy, and thus the name has lived on.
So we spent one of our last nights in Texas with our neighbor family, and Jordan and Hailey gave us some awesome gifts – a heart to carry around the world with us, and a blue inflatable ball (picture small dodgeball style ball). The ball was for us to play with on a beach on the other side of the world… <<okay, Angie, don’t read this part to them>> so the rest of y’all can imagine I’m thinking “seriously, how am I going to fit this in my backpack?! I mean I’m down to 1 pair of pants for a year, a dodgeball is not in the cards for my packing”
So I asked Jordan and Hailey, “this is such a fun toy, what if we meet a kid on the other side of the world that would like to play with it? What if you could share your toy with a kid on the other side of the world that didn’t have a ball… could I give it to them?” They LOVED the idea!! They were so much more excited about sharing a toy with someone who might not have one – so we made a promise, we would take it and share it with a child somewhere and tell that kid that it was Jordan and Hailey who wanted to share their toy.
…now, picture us walking around Kathmandu and I’m caring a small dodgeball in my travel purse looking for just the right kid. “here kiddies, come see the crazy white lady with the free toys” … No that’s not weird at all.
From reading When Helping Hurts, I’m determined not to just be the god-complex-filled white person who comes in and gives toys. So I need to find a kid (or a parent) who speak English so I can explain what I’m doing, and that it’s from Jordan and Hailey and is up for me taking a picture with them. On day 2 of carrying the ball everywhere with me, I’m starting to stress a little about finding this ideal situation. And Rick tells me, “Don’t worry, if God wants you to share Jordan and Hailey’s ball with someone, He’ll make it happen.” And about 5 minutes later, as we’re walking through a definite NON-tourist backroad, these three boys run up to us and say in English “Hi. What is your name?” so we start talking with them a little. And I finally tell them that we have two little girls at home that wanted to share a toy with someone in Nepal, I ask if they would like a ball. I have to re-explain a couple times and they get it, and they’re in! So I pull it out of our bag and they are SO EXCITED!
I asked to take a picture to show the girls who they shared with and of course the boys were excited to.
Jordan and Hailey — your generosity made the day of Ramiesh, Ram and Biren!! Thank you girls for letting us be a part of your sharing and giving – it made our day too!!
Miss you girls! And we are so proud of you!