Last year I wrote and published a story called "Who Will Help Me Make Iftar?"

The idea for this story occurred to me several years ago when perusing the children's section at my local library. I picked out Little Red Hen to read to my daughter.

For those of you who haven’t read the story, it’s essentially about a Mama hen who is baking bread for herself and her chicks. Along the way, she asks other animals to help her with the different steps: planting the wheat, harvesting it, grinding it to make flour, mixing the dough, etc. but all the animal refuse. At the end of the story, she decides that she won’t share the bread with the other animals because they didn’t help her.

I didn't really love that the book was teaching my child to give to others only what she receives, and nothing more.

As believers, we know that our actions are done for the sake of God alone. We strive to be the best for Him, regardless of what others do.

Then I thought: wouldn’t it be cool to rewrite “The Little Red Hen” but with a positive ending?

Who Will Help Me Make Iftar follows a similar narrative. Our main character sets out to cook iftar for his friends and neighbours. His wife is sick this year, so she can't help him. He asks his family members, neighbours, and friends to help him with the different cooking tasks, but everyone makes excuse and doesn’t end up helping.

At the end though, he decides to still generously share the food with everyone because he is doing it for the sake of God.

It’s a really touching story, and our character's actions end up really transforming the people around him.

It also gives readers a little bit of a paradigm shift: when all is said and done, what you do for the sake of God is what’s most important. Even if people do not thank you for your work, or don't assist you, that shouldn't deter you from doing the work that God loves.