I remember a Thanksgiving a long time ago when I was a little girl, when my dad loaded a turkey and a bunch of groceries in a box for a family in need. I don't remember how many of us went with him, but I remember him parking the van several houses away, putting the box of groceries on the porch, ringing the doorbell and running back to the van where we were waiting. I just always remember that, and that it was a good thing to help others in need. There were probably other times in my childhood that reinforced that, but that's the one I remember.
With that in mind, when I was asked to bring dinner today to a family in need, I decided to bring one of the girls with me. I was hoping to create the same kinds of memories for them, to show by example and not just Family Home Evening lessons that we should be kind to others. I asked Meagan to come with me, and at the last second, Bethany asked to come, too, so I had them both with me. We were bringing dinner to an elderly couple who were both sick. On the way there, I told them that we were bringing food to people who were sick and couldn't make their own food. Meagan at first thought I was bringing them our dinner and that we were going to eat with them. Then Bethany and Meagan both kept saying they were sick and needed food. Haha. When we got there, a nearby apartment had a dog out front, and Bethany was focused on that, and Meagan was focused on all the dandelions around that she wanted to pick. I was starting to think that the whole point of the exercise was going over their heads, but now that I think about it, maybe not. I don't know if they'll remember this or not, but they did realize we were taking food to someone who was sick. Maybe that will be good enough.
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3 comments:
I remember that-it may be the same event-I vaguely remember Dad telling us he usually does it in secret but wanted us to feel part of it that time.
It's amazing the things kids pick up when you think they are not paying attention. When I would sing with the nursery kids, very few of them would actually do anything but sit and stare at me, or even run around playing with toys. But several parents told me that they would go home and sing the songs all week long.
I can remember being sent countless times with dishes of food to someone in the ward that needed a little help and tending kids so parents could go to the temple. I don't think mom really planned that I learned from those experiences (then again, maybe she did) but I certainly had it stick with me.
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