A sibling duo from Virginia turned a sour experience into something sweet.
Late last month, 10-year-old Rebecca Caldwell and her brother, 8-year-old Joshua were hosting a lemonade stand in front of their home, when a man came up to the table and robbed them while their mother was inside the house.
The initial shock left the family upset. However, they decided to pray and forgive the man who stole their lemonade stand funds.
"We prayed for the man who stole our money because I wanted him to become a Christian," said Joshua in an interview with CBN.
"I think it's better to forgive than always be mad at the guy. Otherwise, you'll keep thinking back on that day and stay angry," Rebecca explained to CBN.
After the community heard about what happened and how the children chose to respond, the community rallied behind Rebecca and Joshua, hosting a special lemonade stand that raised over $6200.
"We're blessed by this whole thing," said the children's father, Ryan Caldwell. "Something bad happened in that moment, but ever since then, it's been blessing after blessing."
The Caldwells say they've been using this experience to share God's goodness.
"We've talked a lot about forgiveness in our interviews," said Rebecca and Joshua's mother, Annetta. "We just want people to know that God forgave us, and we want to forgive other people. If we hold onto bitterness, it hurts us more than it hurts them. So, we wanted people to realize that it's more important to forgive."
A good chunk of the funds raised will go towards Rebecca and Joshua's older sister's mission trip to Asia. The rest will be used to buy some special gifts.
The man who robbed the lemonade stand has since been arrested and could face up to 20 years in prison.