Recently, while listening to the radio, we heard about an organization called World Vision. Actually, we heard again about World Vision. What they do is go into countries stricken by poverty and provide food, clothes, clean water, and things like education and job training. I’ve actually heard about World Vision several times at an event called Winter Jam. It has always made my heart heavy whenever presented with the opportunity to sponsor a child, but I never could get past my memories of Sally Struthers (or what ever her name is) walking through African villages talking about how poor and hungry the children were and how much they needed our help and then seeing her in a commercial five minutes later slinging certs and degrees by mail…seemed hokie. So I wrote it off. This time, as I listened to the experiences that the DJ had in Tanzania, Africa, I thought a little more about it…this could not only be a chance to help, it could be a teachable moment.
Sadie is 2.5 now, and becoming more and more aware of the people around her. I threw the idea out to Kristen and she said that she had felt that this was something we needed to do for awile now. So when the boss approves you go for it.
We decided that we would look for a girl that had the same birthday as Sadie. Out of all the children from all the countries that World Vision supplies aid to, there were only three that matched. We are pretty sure that one of the children was really a boy (don’t ask how we know), so that left us with two for Sadie to choose from. We sat her down last night to talk to her about how some people don’t have the nice things that we have, or that sometimes they don’t even have food or clean water. As I watch her try her hardest to look at anything but me as I’m telling her this, I’m thinking that maybe we should have waited a little while. Even as we pick our girl, she is more concerned about who’s lap she is sitting on than about the task at hand. Maybe this was a waste of time. I clicked on the button to sponsor and filled out the appropriate forms and as I told her “there we go, all done” she looked at me with a puzzled face and said “I want help that girl”. I tried to explain that we did help the girl by sending her money. She looked at me with her bottom lip stuck out a tears welling up in her eyes and just as she repeated what she had said before, she broke out into crying. It’s not very often that my baby girl cries and I feel good about it, but this was different. Perhaps she gets it. Maybe staring aimlessly at anything and everything is her game face. She felt for this girl and it broke her heart.
Today she recieved a card from her Grandma Beth. In it were two one dollar bills. Getting two dollars when your two makes you rich. Imagine the possibilities two dollars could bring. Imagine the joy of handing your very own money to the cashier. She wants to send it to Vilma. Good girl.
This is a true story.
KURTIS THE STOCK BOY AND BRENDA THE CHECKOUT GIRL
In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry out at register 4. Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye, the new check-out girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love.
Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card and punched out, then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out only to see her start walking up the road. Next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work. She simply said it wasn’t possible.
He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn’t afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday. That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The baby-sitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, “Well, let’s take the kids with us.”
She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with Down Syndrome.
Kurtis asked Brenda, “I still don’t understand why the kids can’t come with us?” Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities – just like her first husband and father of her children had done. Kurtis was not ordinary – - – he had a different mindset.
That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids, went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him and brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with.
A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children. Since then they have added two more kids.
So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy and Brenda the check-out girl? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona. If you tune in on 1 February ,
you can watch him quarterback the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl against the
Pittsburg Steelers!
