I Smell Cookies

Today was the first day back to school for the boys. Their teachers survived and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went with a group of 20 or so to an extremely poor barrio (neighborhood) called "La Carpio" to minister to the children there. It was similar to some things we have done in Mexico with our homechurch. We played games, sang songs, told a Bible story, and had some activities related to the story. All the kids were very sweet and you could tell they loved the attention they received.

At the end, I saw one of the regular workers passing out some cookie packets to some of the kids. Somehow my kids each ended up with a pack. I told them they should give them to one of the other kids because they never get treats like that. It was a no brainer for my oldest. He quickly went to another boy and in his best spanish asked the little guy if he wanted some cookies. "Si, gracias," was the response he heard.

My youngest was not on board with giving away something he already had in his possession. After all, he is only 6. He began to chow down like the cookie-monster ending a 40 day fast. As he was nearing the end of the package we noticed the skinniest little dog you can imagine. This poor, hairy, skeleton of a canine was walking up to everyone looking for something to eat. A couple of us began to coax my son into giving his last cookie to this hungry little dog. Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was peer-pressure but he put the cookie on the ground for the dog to eat. That scraggly little pup timidly approached the cherished morsel, gave it a couple of good sniffs and quickly decided that sometimes it's just better to be hungry. I want to know who picked THAT snack. As for the fate of the rejected cookie, last I saw, some kids were trying to feed it to some random chicken walking down the street. Try to find a street like that back home.