My youngest child has everything she needs and most of what she wants simply because she is truly such a good kind hearted child and I rarely have issues with her that would lead to a “No” or a restriction. She cleans up and in fact when I got home the other day she had started laundry without me even asking. But with all her good traits, she has times when she tells me about material things that she wishes she had because her friends have or vacations they go on that we cannot afford. We are blessed, but we live on a limited budget. I think her asking me is a normal part of growing up and I am not really concerned, but I wanted her to see that there were people that were a lot less fortunate than us and that we were truly blessed.
Last year I had the opportunity to sign us up for an event through church where we pick and organization and help them for a day. So I signed us up to work at a nearby Soup Kitchen that feeds a hot lunch to approximately 200 less fortunate people every day and then gives them a bag containing a sandwich and water for dinner. Last year we spent the day organizing their clothing area where the organization gives out needed clothing and sheets as we were told most of the recipients sleep of the on the ground.
This year my daughter asked if we could go to the same place again to help. I said,” Yes, we can go to the Soup Kitchen.” and I was secretly very proud of her.
We started the day with a prayer and went first to sort out hygiene products. “Mom, some of the shampoo bottles are open” my daughter said.” Close them and bag them up because the people that are coming here have nothing and will be happy to get a bottle of liquid soap or shampoo even if the seal is broken.” I replied. Many of these items were small bottles that you get during a hotel stay and so forth so think about this if you are a frequent traveler.
We then went to make sandwiches, bread and two pieces of meat or peanut butter and jelly. I can’t tell you how many we made, but we made hundreds. Enough that some were frozen for the next week. I said to my daughter as we were working, “ Do you understand that this is what someone eats with a bottle of water every night for their dinner.” “ Yes Mom.” She said sadly. I didn’t want her to feel sorry for these people as they deserve dignity too, but I wanted her to know that while we can’t go out to eat at fancy restaurants or go on extravagant vacations, we are not eating peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.
We cleaned a bit after that, looking in the pantry for outdated food that people donate. Even homeless or unfortunate people deserve good food within the expiration date.
While we were working, a homeless man named Mike that lived in a tent a couple of streets over, came to do some work in the yard and get a quick snack. He blessed us for doing work and helping out.
As we left, it was tax free weekend for us told I told Megan that I would buy her a few things she needed for school. Immediately she saw this shirt written with the word Blessed on it. “May I please have this she asked?” ” Yes, I said, as I felt blessed.
