Back to School
I got a real kick over this year’s K-Mart television ads for back to school clothes. They gave me a whole new perspective on the old (and usually offensive) “yo mama” jokes as well as riding on the school bus. I’ve included the links below in case you haven’t seen them.
While it’s been a while since I road the school bus, I certainly remember my school year always started with a trip to Sears for the annual back-to-school shopping experience. Of course, when I was older, I may have dreaded the shopping experience, but looking back it always felt good to be looking my best on that first day of school. However, for many children and parents in our community, the thought of “new” back to school clothes would be an impossibility. However, for the last several years, RUMC has participated in the Vernon Social Services sponsored “Back to School Clothes” program, in which organizations such as RUMC bring this dream of new back to school clothes to reality. This year, project coordinator Sylvia Yoder was assigned 7 year-old and 5 year-old sisters. Based on the generosity of the congregation she was able to purchase the following items for each child:
- Winter Coat
- sweatshirt jacket and sweatpants
- 2 pairs of jeans
- jean skirt with leggings
- long top with leggings
- short-sleeved shirt
- 3 long-sleeved shirts
- socks
- underwear
- backpack
- $50 gift card (each) for sneakers
Do we feel good about this? Absolutely. Should we feel good about this? Again, Absolutely. Story over? Absolutely not!
On September 10th, we received a form letter back from the Vernon Department of Social Services. Obviously they were thankful for our contribution. However, also enclosed in the envelope was a thank you letter from the mother of the 3 children we supported, as well as cards and drawings from the children. While the complete letter and the children’s cards are posted on the Missions Bulletin Board in Fellowship hall, let me share a couple of items from the letter:
- “We appreciate your generosity so much & you have helped restore some of the hope in our family.”
- “This program reminds me how amazing people truly are & gives me hope & renewed drive that we may be down now, but we will be up again. All it takes is some patience and faith”.
- “I may not know a single thing about you, but I definitely know you’re my guardian angel. Great things just started happening once we learned of you!”
- “I’m so thankful people like you still exist today & I will be paying your kindness forward when I’m able”.
After reading this, we should all ask ourselves who is the giver of the gift, and who is the receiver? Based on the letter, I think we received much more than we gave.
God is Good!
– Dave