pequeños, medio, or grandes?

When B and C and I went to visit Hope for Guatemala last May, these were the first three words we had to learn within about an hour of landing in Guatemala City. Very shortly after arriving we were tossed into service helping with the 3 lunches being served to the children. In order to be efficient and not waste food, each child coming in the door states the portion they would like for that day. It didn't matter the age, size, or gender of the child, each could eat to their hunger needs of the day. The amounts of each small, medium, and large request were quickly tallied and the ladies in the kitchen began feverishly dishing up plates for us to hand out. The kids tried to generally sit in groups of portion request size, but not necessarily so we had to learn these words really quickly to make sure we gave them the right amount of food. It was great to see nothing go to waste, and no they didn't all order grandes, in fact we  probably gave out more pequeños than anything, and even to the older children. They all understood there would be more the next day and there was no need to hoard and/or waste.

I always think of this story anytime someone mentions Starbucks and their stupid size ordering words. A friend posted this rant on FB yesterday which immediately had me thinking of the children of Hope.

How many times I got to tell ya (Starbucks hipster java server), I ordered a 'medium' - not your change-the-coffee-world-train-the-lemmings 'Grande'. I aint sayin it! Quit attempting to correct me. My apologies to my adworld/branding friends.

Don't you hate it when marketing people try and out smart us or come up with stuff because they think we're obviously too dumb to figure it out otherwise? Children seem to get it though, small, medium, large, and don't waste any. Sometimes children are so uncomplicated, they just see through all of the nonsense and just "get it". Jesus made a habit of telling us how the children got it, as described in Matthew 19 and Luke 18.

I saw children first hand who get it this past January in Honduras on my trip to Plan Escalon with Lifesong for Orphans. Children like Edgar who understand there is a bigger story God is penning and how his character in the story matters, despite his father being killed and his family leaving.





The children at Plan Escalon are a microcosm of living out the Gospel, of not perpetually staying in a state of victimization, of realizing their value in Christ, and how much they now have to offer others.

As part of our trip we got to spend some time reviewing their annual budget and plans. Due to a large donor having to pull out this year, the 2011 year is one on paper that is going to be in the red. They do however have someone else willing to match as much as we can garner in monthly or one time donations. Lifesong is looking for 100 sponsors. So Lifesong is on a Honduras blitz:





They just want and need you and me (we are doing 5 sponsorships) to give up a few of those stupid "grandes" from Starbucks each month, surely we/you can do that! And on top of that, you get to double your money on this investment. Click on the logo below and read all of the details and stories related to children and their pursuit of living out the Gospel story.

Surely you can forego a few trips to Starbucks a month, right?
So next time you here someone ordering a grandes, you can take solace in what is happening in places like Guatemala and Honduras.

These children really do get it, let's help them continue in their efforts!