I’m sitting on the couch today surrounded by a sea of little paper cranes.
Each of these tiny pieces of paper means much more than the paper they are made of or the effort to create them. Each is being sold to help fund my missions work, and each was made by my little sister to support me.
Let me tell you the story of Anna and her Cranes for Kristin…
My little sister is a joy in my life. She’s 13 years younger than me, and from the day she was born Anna captured my heart. When she was an infant, I would walk her to sleep when she had trouble sleeping. When she was a toddler, everywhere I went she wanted to go as well. Grocery shopping, craft stores, clothing shopping. We did it all together. She and I would even do homework together in high school, me with my textbook and Anna with a pad of paper to scribble on. When I moved away for college and work, we talk for hours on the phone and every time I came home to visit I knew she would be the little one waiting up to see me.
With our closeness, it was heartbreaking when she was diagnosed with eye-hand coordination difficulties at the age of 8. Anything related to fine motor skills and writing was incredibly difficult for her. Even with therapy, she still fights to overcome her difficulties every day five years later. Seeing her determination and endurance is inspiring. Last year, she tried to learn origami but all of the fine motor skills required to create the perfect folds were too frustrating and time consuming for her to enjoy it.
Over this last summer Anna came and spent a week with me to help me pack to move, and we found some beautiful origami paper at a local Japanese store. Armed with the motivation to try origami again, Anna and I learned to make paper cranes together. It took several days of practice for both of us, but we managed to master the 21 folds needed to make the perfect little crane.
Fast forward three weeks.
I was at training camp when I received a call from my mom. My little sister had been practicing her cranes, and after praying about it, she decided to start selling her cranes to help raise money to support my misisons work. Cranes for Kristin is what she calls them. I actually started to cry when I heard it. Knowing everything Anna has been through and struggled with to learn origami, her dedication and courage in making paper cranes to sell means so much more than just the time and effort she is giving to help me finance this next year.
Her actions really opened my eyes to the fact that this journey is not only about the work God is calling me to do and the changes in my own life, but also about God’s calling on my entire family’s life for the next year.
I’ve watched my little sister sit and diligently make cranes every chance she gets, and I’ve watched Anna, my little brothers, and their friends walk door-to-door in the summer heat of Texas to sell cranes to help support me. Anna’s actions have opened my eyes both to the depth of my family’s love for me, as well as to the lessons and changes God is working in their lives as well as mine.
As an update- Anna sold her 1,000 cranes. In fact, she sold enough cranes to donate not only to me but multiple other missionaries and charities.
God bless, and thank you so much for all your support and prayers!
