Care Corner Photo Journal – Page 70
Sheila Sims Iding
Sometimes you teach the lesson and they learn it and sometimes the lesson is reversed and they live it. When we take our money to the poor box each month I tell them we don’t know who they will help. We don’t know what kid will have cereal for breakfast instead of nothing for breakfast. And…those kids won’t know who gave the money to help buy food for them. The big lesson is: we give merely for the hope and the sake of giving to others. Today that lesson was turned around. Today they each received a gift from someone they don’t know. They were given a gift from someone who gave the gift merely for the hope and sake of giving to others. The package that arrived this week was from my high school friend who crocheted 29 angels. Twenty. Nine. Hand made angels for the Care Corner Kids…their teachers and an extra one for Brooklyn Adele. The kids don’t know the effort she put into making ALL these angels. They don’t know the hours of hard work, the expense, or even the time it took for her to make each little package. But they do know it was a special gift. They do know it was a special purpose. And they do know how much they loved getting these angels to “keep forever”. And…even more…she tucked some money in to the package for our poor bank. Really. Not kidding. She gave us a check for our poor bank. The kids clapped for that. As I was telling the story about how she made each one and one for Brooklyn and the money for the poor bank, I got a bit weepy. A little girl asked if I was crying and I told her “happy tears”. A little boy in the back said “Mrs. Iding…I felt like crying too.” The beautiful angels are now decorating our cubbies for awhile and then they will go home. One little girl already has plans to hang hers on their door “to protect my family”. I wished my friend could have seen them open the angels. I wish she could see them decorating their cubbies. When I left tonight and saw the angels on the cubbies, I thought of my friend and all her work and love and care…for us…I knew we were blest to have these angels among us.