Two Special Toddlers

Good morning…

My parents in Ohio donated $25 to PAWkids (a non-profit in downtown Atlanta) in honor of 3-year-old Ludvig, who is battling cancer in Oslo, Norway. Wow, what an opening sentence – Ohio, Georgia, Norway. Look at God’s creative web of connectivity! This seed money became a magnet for the generosity of many and, through individual donations of $10, $25, $50, $100, $200, our written word community raised enough money for the staff of PAWkids to feed one hundred and twenty talented Kipp teachers at their back-school-breakfast last week.

After the story was told in our post, A Letter From My Dad, Ludvig’s grandmother, Margit, emailed me from Norway: “What a wonderful update! So happy Ludvig could contribute to your important work. His father sends his thanks to you too.”

“Dear Sue,” she wrote later. “Ingar (Ludvig’s dad) sent me this picture of Ludvig and his mother Sandra. Hope you might use it in a future blog post.”

“I think this photo illustrates the battle Ludvig is facing,” Margit continued, “but also the loving care from a parent. We are delighted that his story inspired people to donate to other kids in need.”

Ludvig’s story did inspire people to donate funds to serve breakfast for those teaching the children most at risk in our community. But that was not the end of God’s generosity. The donations snowballed into a surplus, enough of a surplus for us to write a thousand dollar check for PAWkids to help with the back-to-school needs of a family whose father was killed this summer, six days after he was released from jail. When I went to take our check to LaTonya Gates, the founder and director of PAWkids, I enjoyed the privilege of meeting the mother of this family and the youngest daughter who will benefit greatly from our generosity.