06/10/2026
The Mission Center has been closed this week because nearly all of our volunteers, including me, have been serving in support of our church's Vacation Bible School. I've still been stopping by each afternoon to clean, receive donations, handle paperwork, and return messages left on the answering machine.
While we're closed, we maintain a Community Blessing Box outside so that some non-perishable food remains available to those who need it. Several neighborhood children whose families visit the Mission Center have been stopping by on bicycles or on foot to see if there might be anything there they could use.
A couple of them were there when I arrived this afternoon. As I got out of my truck, they walked over carrying a box of cereal and a few fruit bars they had found in the blessing box. I asked if they wanted a bag to put their treasures in and went inside to get one. While I was there, I added a few cookies, some macaroni and cheese cups, ramen noodles, and a couple of bottles of water.
When they looked inside the bag, their smiles were worth far more than the few dollars' worth of food it contained.
I could tell many stories like this, but I often hesitate because I never want the focus to be on me or on any supposed "good deed." The real story is that too many children today are carrying burdens they were never meant to bear. Behind every visit to a food pantry, every stop at a blessing box, and every grateful smile is a child trying to make sense of circumstances beyond their control.
If you ever find yourself becoming cynical about the world, remember them.
Remember that there are children growing up in homes touched by financial stress, instability, addiction, illness, loneliness, and countless other struggles. Remember that acts of kindness, however small they may seem, can make a difference in ways we may never fully understand.
So thank you to everyone who donates to ministries, charities, churches, and organizations that seek to meet needs and bring hope. Your generosity matters more than you know.
Don't become cynical. Don't become jaded. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep believing that what you do matters.
Because for many people—and especially for many children—it truly does.
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