Protect the Children

 

Boris made a mental note about how often he would read about homeless children, abused children, and children being trafficked all across the entire United States. Feeling frustrated and angry that the weakest members of society were being neglected, abused, and treated as mere objects to be used by the wealthy and powerful, he started putting a great deal of thought into how to improve the situation and help those who were being neglected and overlooked.

He began discussing this nationwide problem with several of his wealthy and powerful friends, and as these discussions continued to grow and raise more questions, he was advised by those in authority to contact people with good hearts, who also would be concerned and willing to financially assist in helping and protecting the weak and innocent. With this idea in mind, Boris began making contact with various bishops, patriarchs, and priests across the entire United States. He was excited to receive positive feedback from those in authority and that he should continue developing these ideas with specific plans and direction to do acts of kindness and love.

After making contact with over forty different wealthy and powerful individuals around the United States, he received encouraging words and promises of financial support for this wonderful work of philanthropy and protection of the weak and innocent. Over the course of six weeks, a large amount of money was received from these individuals which allowed Boris the opportunity to contact realtors across the United States, communicating that he would like to purchase large facilities that could be converted into housing for orphaned and abandoned children. As properties were purchased, remodeled and filled with staff, he began to make contact with Orthodox Churches near the purchased properties, who would be responsible for overseeing the proper use and direction of each location.

Personnel were hired, relocated, and properly reviewed to ensure that they were safe, loving, and kind people who would genuinely love these children, protect these children, and take care of all of their needs: physical, emotional, and psychological. As the next four months slowly crept by, Boris saw ten different facilities purchased, remodeled and fully staffed to eventually be filled with children who had been abandoned, rescued from abusive situations, and rescued from human trafficking. Money continued to arrive from many different people, many different institutions, actors, musicians, and religious leaders.

He knew that he was not capable of handling all of these details on his own, so he formed an office on the East Coast to handle the details, the legal paperwork, and to ensure that everything was handled in the appropriate manner. After hiring a number of business leaders, a legal team, and numerous secretaries to handle all of the paperwork, he learned that each location now housed anywhere from fifty to one hundred children. To assist in the adoption of these children to safe and loving homes, he hired a team of adoption experts in each location.

Over time, many of the children were adopted out to many homes and the vacant positions were quickly filled with children who had been rescued from abusive situations, and homelessness. He began receiving dozens of emails, phone calls, and texts from people all across the United States, informing him that his work was being spoken of highly and was being advertised by well known and powerful people across all social platforms and news locations.

Boris kept a close eye on each location and was pleased to see that most of the children had been adopted to good, kind, and loving parents. When each location had room available, more children were brought in, fed, loved, and protected. Money continued to be donated to the organizations headquarters which allowed for thousands of children to be fed, clothed, loved, and protected. He continued to see many famous and powerful people speaking about this work that was being done to protect the weak and innocent.

The philanthropic organization continued for multiple decades, forcing Boris to put rules into place to keep the organization functioning in the event that he would repose and would need to be replaced by someone else with the same vision. A board of individuals with the same vision as he, was formed, identified, and named as successors if he was unable to continue doing the work. He remained in continual contact with the local Orthodox Churches for each location, to communicate the details of how the organization would continue to function and with new leadership if he ever found himself in a place where he could no longer continue leading the organization.

As the decades crept passed, he and the organization began to receive letters of thanks from the children who had been rescued and placed in loving homes. Thrilled and filled with joy at the wonderful work that the organization had accomplished, made him realize how important this work was in rescuing, protecting, and caring for the weak and innocent. He would receive the occasional letter from the different locations informing him that some of the children who had been rescued in the distant past were now applying for positions at the locations.

Boris could feel himself growing old but he still remained motivated to continue the work of helping the abandoned and abused children, rescuing them from horrible futures of neglect and despair. He contacted the board of directors at the headquarters on the East Coast, informing them that he needed to step down from his position of leadership and that the previously identified board of leaders would need to begin their work of keeping everything functioning and successfully protecting the weak and innocent.

Financial support continued to flow into the headquarters, allowing for many more years of help for these children. He made the decision to travel to each location, visit with the children currently living therein, and connect with the priests at the Orthodox Churches that were overseeing the locations that were providing for, loving, and protecting the children. He was overcome with joy at the incredible work that had been accomplished over the past thirty years and the many lives that were changed because of his idea, and the financial support that came from so many good hearted and loving people.

He completed his tour of the United States, effectively visiting each location, and he returned home feeling old age creep upon him, leaving him feeling weak, tired, and somewhat depressed at his loss of ability to continue his work. When he returned home, he wrote many emails to those persons who had given such great financial support to their cause. He went into great detail, explaining the work that had been accomplished, and the thousands of lives that had been changed all across the country. After sending off these emails, he placed several phone calls to the religious leaders in the multiple branches of the Orthodox Church, explaining in detail the work that had been accomplished and the lives that had been changed because of their willingness to support this work.

Within the next two weeks he received multiple email responses, thanking him for his detailed explanation of the wonderful work that he and the organization had accomplished over the last three decades. As time continued to slip by, Boris could feel himself slowing down, growing weaker, and he could feel death creeping up on him, threatening to remove him from this life. He could feel himself growing excited at the prospect of moving into eternity and finding glory and peace in the presence of the Triune God.

His grandchildren began to visit him on a regular basis, insisting that he should hire a live in nurse to tend to his needs and provide basic medical care as he was constantly growing weaker. He followed their advice, hired a nurse, hired a cook, and hired a number of caretakers to clean and organize his home. He contacted a lawyer to create a will that would distribute his wealth, and his possessions to those who would use them appropriately and continue assisting the organization.

Within three weeks of having everything put into place, Boris found himself restrained to his bed, unable to reasonably function as an able adult. Two more weeks passed and Boris slipped into eternity. A funeral service was held at his local parish with hundreds in attendance, mourning the loss of such a wonderful, caring, and self-sacrificing person. Though Boris would no longer be able to see how the organization and locations would continue to function. All of these continued to help thousands of abandoned and abused children over the next two hundred years.

Financial support continued to come in and keep the organization and locations functioning. Over time, his photo, his name, and words of praise were spoken about him in each location and across many social media platforms and news locations. Those who knew and loved Boris well, met and gathered as many details as they could about the work that he began so many decades before. The story of Boris’ life was eventually published and began to sell across the entire globe, being translated into seven different languages, so that readers from many different countries could understand and appreciate the incredible effort he put into save, protect, and provide for the thousands of children across the United States.

Visiting the Sick

 

            Dmitry sat in silence wondering about the purpose of life and how he could help those who were suffering, who were ill, who were in pain and bedridden. Suddenly an idea popped into his head about how everyone should use their time, use their extra money, and take care of those who are alone, who are lonely, and have no one to care for them or protect them. “You know, I should start visiting hospitals and retirement homes and begin asking about anyone who is alone, who is struggling with sickness, pain, or overwhelming debt from medical treatment,” he thought.

               He stood up from his prostrate position on his couch, walked to his prayer corner and began to immerse himself in deep, thoughtful prayer, begging God to give him wisdom and find others who could assist him in this effort to help others. After sending one email to about twenty people who he knew had extra money and would be interested in doing good, helping others, and providing love and support. In the email he carefully articulated his idea about visiting the sick, and paying medical bills for those who were drowning in debt.

               Two hours passed and he received fifteen positive responses. He replied to each one with the explanation that he would be placing many phone calls to hospitals and retirement homes. Before the day came to an end, he called the three hospitals that were in the city, he called twelve different retirement homes, and received positive feedback from those with whom he spoke.

               Now that darkness had settled on the city, he sent another email to those who positively responded, informing them of the great success he achieved in contacting the hospitals and retirement homes. In the email, he requested that everyone who was interested in helping those in need should meet and discuss the details of how to bring this idea to a successful end. Several dates were suggested in the responses he received, he then created another email with all suggested dates and requested that everyone communicate which days and times worked best for them to meet.

               By the end of the next day, he organized and communicated the day and time that worked best for most of his respondents. Three more days passed and they all met at a local restaurant to work through the details of his act of love and compassion on those who were ill, who were suffering, and who needed help and connection. Their meeting came to an end, while everyone enjoyed eating pie and drinking coffee. Dmitry shared that he could create another email with all of the details for how they would proceed with this work.

               One full day passed and he carefully crafted and sent the promised email. An hour later, he traveled to his bank, opened a new savings account, to then return home and share the details of how those who agreed to support this effort could send money to help those in need. Two more days passed and he continually checked the balance of the new savings account to see that it was growing at a wonderful rate. He then sent another email, thanking everyone for their generosity and that a few teams of people would need to be created to visit those who were sick and suffering.

               Dmitry spent the next day creating several teams of people, based on their locations, and contact information for each hospital and retirement home, so that communication could be solid and direct. When the list was organized and articulate, he sent out another email, informing everyone about with whom they would be working and which locations they would visit. It was the responsibility of someone on each team to schedule visit days and times at each location.

               Three teams were created with one hospital and four retirement homes for each team to contact and visit. In the last email he sent out, he requested that each team leader communicate to him, when they would begin visiting those who were sick, those who were in need of financial support, and those who were lonely. Another full day passed, and he received email responses from each team, informing him of their schedules and their plans for visiting and helping as many people as they could.

               Two full weeks passed and he remained in contact with each team to learn that they had successful met, encouraged, and socially supported those in the hospital and in the retirement homes. Now that great success had been achieved, Dmitry began a routine of visiting each hospital, each retirement home, and offering the pay the medical bills of those who were in dire need of help. In each location, he wrote out a check to cover their needs, and he was absolutely thrilled that he had devised this plan to help those in need.

               At each location, he requested with the financial department that he and his team remained anonymous, because he didn’t want to draw attention to himself or them for their willingness to do what was right and loving for those who needed help. Over the next few days, he continued to watch the new savings account and was thrilled to see that the checks he had been writing had been withdrawn.

               As the dollar amount of the savings account slowly declined toward zero, he sent out another email to those who had been financially supporting this effort, requesting more financial support so they could continue helping more people. Over the next few days, he watched as the amount of money in the savings account grow, giving him the opportunity to revisit the hospitals and retirement homes, to provide more funds for those in need.

               As Dmitry sat eating his dinner, he turned on the news and listened to a report about an anonymous organization that was helping those who were ill, who were struggling with medical bills, and who were suffering from loneliness. The news reporter praised this mysterious, anonymous organization for the good they were doing and suggested that more people needed to philanthropic work like this. When the news report came to an end, Dmitry sent out another email to those who had been so generous in their financial support, informing them of the exposure that was taking place because of their financial support.

               Three days later, Dmitry revisited the hospitals and the retirement homes to learn that their financial support and social interaction was creating a great example all across the city. Each location reported that other people and other groups were beginning to imitate their financial support and social interaction. He thanked each person at each location for communicating that their work was being imitated by others, shook hands, and began his drive home. He stopped at a local coffee kiosk, bought himself a large cappuccino and returned home.

               When he settled down in front of his laptop, he sent another email to everyone who had been supporting this effort, that other people and other organizations were imitating their financial support and social support.

               “Oof,” Dmitry said to himself, “I forgot about providing social contact with the elderly who are trapped at home and bedridden. Time to make a few phone calls.” He began a thorough search of the internet for social outreach organizations. After calling four different organizations, he finally convinced one of them that he and his organization were interested in visiting the elderly in their homes to provide friendly interaction and emotional support. He then set up a time to visit their office and introduce himself and the others who were working with him.

               The next afternoon he was thoroughly pleased with the successful interaction with the social outreach organization. He gave them his email address and requested that they contact the elderly who were interested in receiving social interaction and emotional support, asking as well that they provide contact information for those interested in visiting with them.

               The next afternoon he received a long list of names and phone numbers. He divided the list into three lists and sent two of them off to the other teams with whom he was working. The next two weeks were filled with many visits to most of those on the lists, which resulted in great joy and happiness for the kind interaction that Dmitry and his people provided to the lonely and elderly. When he returned home after his last visit, he sent out an email to discuss the success of their visiting the elderly and lonely, he communicated that he could see a light return to their eyes, he could see joy on their faces and could hear thankfulness in their voices.

Helping Those in Need

 

            Alexander realized that he had an extra hour before he needed to leave for the Church service, instead of sitting around and doing nothing, he made the decision to drive through the poorest part of the city and see if anything was happening or if there was anyone who needed help. He left home early and began the drive toward the poorest and most destitute part of the city, as he drove through the most poverty stricken and corrupt part of the city, he counted nearly two hundred people sitting on street corners, in dirty alleys, barely clothed and obviously hungry.

               He came to realize that he still had thirty minutes before the worship service was scheduled to start, giving him time to visit a local restaurant. As he walked inside, he asked to speak with the manager of the restaurant, he waited a few minutes and was invited into a small office to speak with the manager. “Thank you for giving me a few minutes of your time,” he said, “I have an idea to help those who are hungry and suffering. I would like to create a small, limited menu and invite the homeless and the hungry to eat for free. I will pay for every meal that is consumed by them.”

               He provided the manager his contact information, a few hundred dollars, and a suggested start date for the free meals for those who were in dire need of help. “I was thinking that we could choose one day a week at a certain time frame of three or four hours. With this decision in place, I can create flyers to hand out to the homeless and hungry.”

               “That is a wonderful idea,” the manager said, “I would recommend a Sunday evening from eight until eleven.”

               “That sounds perfect,” Alexander said, “I’ll create the flyers and we can work together to choose two or three specific meals from which they can choose. Can we start this endeavor next Sunday evening?”

               “Yes, that sounds great,” the manager said, “I’ll step out a find a couple of menus and then we can decide which items to make available.”

               “Ah yes, very good,” Alexander said, “You will need to be careful about who you allow in for free meals, you will need to determine who is actually in need, who is actually hungry, and who genuinely needs help. The last thing we need to be doing is giving free meals to those who are not actually in need but are only looking for a free hand out.”

               Alexander sat in silence as he waited for the manager to return with the menus. The two men discussed the healthiest and easiest meal to make available. Four meals were identified as the best choices, as well as soda, tea, and coffee. “This is very good,” the manager said, “I will speak with my son to create this special menu and I truly look forward to helping those who are hungry and who need assistance.”

               The two men shook hands, Alexander thanked the manager for his willingness to do good to those who needed help, and he left the restaurant to arrive at Church a few minutes before the service started. The Church service began, everyone gathered after the service came to an end, to enjoy a community meal and spend time socializing. When he had a few free moments, Alexander requested a brief meeting with the head priest to inform him about his plan for feeding the hungry of their city.

               When Alexander and the priest concluded their brief meeting, the head priest rang the bell, called for everyone’s attention, and announced the plan for feeding the hungry and if anyone was interested in donating some money to pay for food for those who were suffering. Over the next hour, multiple people approached the head priest with large amounts of cash, which resulted in over five hundred dollars being donated for those who are genuinely hungry.

               The head priest gathered the money in an envelope, gave the envelope to Alexander, and encouraged him to continue doing the good work of seeing Jesus Christ in every person, feeding the hungry, encouraging the depressed, helping the sick, and providing for the needs of others. This became a regular practice at Alexander’s church each week, which provided hot and healthy meals for the hundreds of hungry people around the city.

               The head priest once again rang the bell and thanked everyone for their generosity to feed the hungry and he would provide details about the work that was being done, with Alexander providing additional details. Alexander moved into a back room, created a flyer, added the file to a flash drive. Alexander and the head priest were the last two people to leave the church that afternoon, he then drove to a local print shop and had several hundred flyers printed. He drove back into the poorest part of town and began handing out the flyers.

               He could feel great joy and could see happiness and thankfulness in each face as he interacted with scores of people. He also stapled more flyers on telephone poles in other neighborhoods. When he completed the advertising effort, he returned to the restaurant to update the manager about the progress that was being made and that he would certainly see plenty of homeless people on Sunday evenings.

               On the following Sunday evening, Alexander drove to the restaurant, parked in obscurity, and watched as scores of people arrived and enjoyed free, hot, fresh meals. When eleven o’clock arrived, he entered the restaurant, met with the manager, and asked for the total bill. He received the total count of people fed, the total dollar amount, paid that amount and added an additional tip for the restaurant workers.

               This became a regular pattern for Alexander each week, parking in obscurity, watching scores of homeless people approach the restaurant and fill themselves with hot, healthy food. Each week after the community meal at Church, Alexander reported to everyone the number of people that had been fed the previous Sunday evening.

               After three months of this philanthropic work, Alexander approached the manager of the restaurant and informed him that their effort of providing free meals would come to an end the next Sunday evening. The next Sunday morning service came to an end and Alexander met with the head priest and suggested that they purchase a small building in the poorest part of the town and open a free soup kitchen for anyone to visit who was in need.

               The head priest called for a meeting of all the men in the parish to discuss this new idea. A great amount of excitement burst forth when the suggestion was made as well as a great deal of money was raised open the soup kitchen, purchase the ingredients for the soup and for bread.

               Alexander contacted a real estate agent about purchasing a small property in the poorest part of town, purchased equipment for preparing the food, as well as tables and chairs in the form of a makeshift restaurant. Three weeks passed, which gave them time to clean, organize, and prepare enough food for those who were hungry. Many people from Alexander’s church volunteered to prepare the food, interact with the homeless and hungry, pay for the food stuffs, and help with the advertising.

               Everything fell into place in a good way, and now that the makeshift restaurant was clean, established and organized, they opened the facility from six in the evening until nine in the evening. Someone from the Church offered to keep track of how many people arrived to eat each evening. Every evening was about the same, they received around fifty customers between six and nine pm. There was always a priest or a deacon available to answer questions, to invite the customers to the Church, and to offer help in other ways.

               To no one’s surprise, each week at the Divine Liturgy, new visitors would arrive, would interact, and expressed their gratitude for the kindness and social interaction they received at the soup kitchen that had been set up. Over the next several months, the number of people who regularly attended continued to increase. After the community meal following the Divine Liturgy, the head priest called a meeting with the men of the parish and praised them for their hard work, their willingness to reach out and support those who were in need of help.

               The soup kitchen continued it’s provision of free soup and bread five evenings a week, which consistently received at least fifty visitors each evening.

Selfless and Loving

 

            The Divine Liturgy had reached its halfway point, at which the priest emerged from the altar to deliver his homily. “We read in Scripture about the importance of loving God, loving your neighbor, caring for the sick, giving to the poor and visiting those in prison,” he said, “if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, your life must be more than simply believing particular doctrines in a mere academic sense. There must be actions accompanying your faith, love for your neighbor, and providing love and protection for those in need. Someone suggested to me that as a parish we should gather after our midday meal and discuss the details of visiting those in prison and bringing hope and love to them.”

               The priest concluded his homily by emphasizing the importance of actions being part of the life of the Christian and not merely an academic approach to taking the label “Christian” upon oneself. The homily was finished; several prayers were spoken as well as a great deal of singing by the choir. Communion was served to those who had been involved in confession either the night before or at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The service concluded with many prayers by the deacons, by the priests, and glorious singing by the choir.

               The holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was venerated and over the next several minutes, everyone gathered in the dining hall to enjoy a lovingly prepared meal. The prayer of thanksgiving was spoken and sung, everyone took their seats, enjoyed the wonderful food, and sadly a handful of people finished their food, left for their homes, and offered goodbye to their loved ones. The priest rang the bell to obtain everyone’s attention, reminding them that a brief meeting would be held to communicate how they as a parish could connect with and develop friendships with those who were currently imprisoned.

               Names and contact information were collected from those who wanted to be involved in visiting those in prison and bring hope and love to them who had no one else visiting them. The meeting came to an end, and the priest excused everyone with the assurance that once all of the details and needs were determined, everyone interested would be contacted and everything would be explained.

               The two priests and the two deacons sat together and watched as everyone left the meeting. Now with a list of twenty-five people interested in connecting with those in prison, assignments were handed out between the four men, knowing that several phone calls needed to be made with the hope that there were enough people in the men’s prison and the women’s prison who desired to receive visitors. The two priests and the two deacons interacted in a loving and friendly manner, bid one another goodbye with the promise that as everything was brought into place, all of the details would be communicated to those who were interested in being involved in prison visitation.

               Three full weeks passed and many phone calls were made to the men’s prison and the women’s prison. Both deacons learned that there were plenty of people currently incarcerated who were interested in receiving visitors. The two priests made plans to meet with those in authority in both prisons to match up visitors with current inmates. Several days passed and four meetings were scheduled, which brought about the opportunity for all twenty-five people on the list to connect with those currently incarcerated.

               The following Sunday after the Divine Liturgy and during the midday meal, the head priest communicated all that had been accomplished and called for everyone who had signed up to be involved in the prison visitation to meet with he, the other priest, and the two deacons to explain how visitation would work. “The prison has a carefully planned calendar and each person currently incarcerated has specific days that they can receive visitors. I will send out emails to everyone involved so you understand how to begin the visitation process,” he said. “This is a very good thing we are doing, there are many people currently in prison who simply have no one visiting them, this is a wonderful opportunity to love our neighbor, to bring hope and joy into someone’s life. You will receive an email with the details about how to gain permission to visit your person.”

               The head priest crafted an email with an attachment for everyone involved with their name and the name of those they would be visiting in prison. Everyone was encouraged and reminded to act quickly, fill out the necessary forms, and begin visiting as soon as possible. Six weeks passed and all twenty-five people filled out their forms, received permission to begin visiting their people on the inside. Once everyone had been approved, the head priest called another meeting and encouraged everyone to share their thoughts and their experience as they visited with and interacted with those currently incarcerated.

               Over the next three months, many stories were shared, many wonderful situations were explained as a radical change was seen in the lives of those who were being visited. Fifteen of the original twenty-five volunteers were excited to share that the people they had been visiting would be released within the next month to begin a life of productivity, a life that contributed something of value to their society, with plans of new employment, new relationships and wonderful interaction.

               Over time, many of those who were being visited began to occasionally attend the Divine Liturgy and became like family with everyone in the parish. As the weeks began to pass, the parish consistently saw fifteen people begin regularly attending, sharing their excitement and thankfulness for the kindness shown to them over the last many months. Eventually all fifteen of these new attendees, chose to be baptized and become part of the parish. After the large baptismal service, a large celebration was planned with a great deal of beautifully prepared food, dessert, and drinks. Everyone in the parish attended the baptismal service and with great joy celebrated with the inclusion of so many new people into the parish.

               As the months continued to flow past, the new members began to connect and interact with many in the congregation and began bringing family members and friends in their excitement as being part of a loving and kind community. The head priest paid careful attention to the lifestyles and attitudes of the new members, encouraging them to spend more time in prayer and the reading of Scripture than in social media or watching the news. Many in the parish began to notice a difference in the way that the new members spoke, acted, and interacted with others, thrilled at the radical change that was taking place in their lives.

               Ten of the fifteen new members met with the head priest to discuss the idea of them continuing the effort of visiting those currently incarcerated, knowing that the kindness they received from those in the parish helped them move toward lives of productivity, kindness, and love, feeling moved to contribute something of excellence to their communities and social circles. The head priest praised them for their thoughtfulness and willingness to step up and be a good part of the community.

A full year passed and eventually those who were visiting those currently incarcerated began to attend the Divine Liturgy with their visitors. As the priests and deacons emerged from the altar, they began to notice how full the sanctuary had become with the addition of so many new people.

Close Personal Connection

 

The drop off line outside of the elementary school was ridiculously long, Mrs. Johnson pulled into the line to wait for her turn to drop off her son so he could join his friends for another day of school. Excited that her son now had many good friends and the occasional play date, she arrived at home approximately twenty minutes after watching her son walk into the building.

               As she rounded the corner to her block, she pressed the garage door opener button that hung on her visor, watched as the door rose out of sight, pulled inside, closed the garage door as she slipped into the laundry room that led to the kitchen. She took off her high heels, escaped into her bedroom to change into her workout clothes for a few minutes of yoga to release the stress that had slowly built up as she waited in line at the school.

               Now wearing yoga pants, a loose t-shirt and her trainers, she rolled out her yoga mat, did several minutes of stretching and began her thirty minutes yoga routine. Lying flat on her back, she heard her cellphone ding to see a note from a mother of one of her son’s friends, inviting her to a meeting of several mothers to discuss an idea that had been suggested. She quickly answered and said that she would be there and was very interested in the suggested idea.

               She completed her yoga routine, took a cool shower, chose an outfit, and found the address of the coffee shop where the meeting would be held. Now feeling much better, much more relaxed, she ate a small lunch, and sent a note to her husband informing him that she would be away for about an hour to meet with some mothers from the school. He responded back with a simple “okay, have fun, I look forward to hearing what this meeting is about.”

               She noticed the time, and began planning the rest of her day. “Okay, Christy, you have about three hours before the meeting,” she thought, “make a decision what to prepare for dinner, and do some house cleaning.” Now fully relaxed and excited to spend some time with several women from the school, she walked around the house in a baggy t-shirt and socks, putting in a great effort to be productive before needing to leave. One hour before the start of the meeting, she chose a comfortable outfit, ate a small snack, sat down on the couch to relax and think through the rest of her week.

               She arrived at the coffee shop ten minutes early, was greeted by nine young mothers, ordered herself a coffee, joined them at the table and immediately broke into friendly conversation. Within the next fifteen minutes, ten more women arrived and the topic at hand began to be discussed. “Thank you everyone for coming,” one of the women said, “a few of us have been talking about bringing our children to local retirement homes in order to bring some joy into the lives of the elderly. Of course, we will need to make arrangements with at least four of the retirement homes and receive permission from the school to bring the children one afternoon a week.”

               Phone numbers and email addresses were exchanged, assignments were given, and Christy could see the excitement building as many ideas were suggested about how good it would be for the elderly to spend time with small children, and the children to understand how good their presence would be for helping others. Everyone finished their coffee, exchanged hugs, and left for their homes. Two days later, Christy received an email from the leader of the mother’s group, providing details about the four retirement homes and that permission had been received from the school, giving them the freedom to accompany the children one afternoon each week.

               Five mothers were assigned to lead the group of children each week, to different retirement homes with specific written plans for how to proceed and interact with the elderly. Christy noticed that her name was included in the fourth group and shortly after the email arrived, a second email arrived which contained the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of the other women with whom she would be working.

               Before the end of the day, she contacted the other mothers, made a plan to meet and work through the details for their afternoon trip. When her husband returned home from work, she talked through the details and the plans for the retirement home trips. She was encouraged to hear that he believed this plan was a great idea, because taking care of the elderly, bringing joy into people’s lives, and introducing a different social environment for the children would be good for everyone.

               The next day, Christy met with the four other women for coffee, made specific plans and times, and one of them offered to contact the retirement home and talk through their plan to connect the small children with many of their elderly occupants. The day of the trip finally arrived, thankfully one of the mothers was skilled at driving large vehicles, the five women arrived at the school, obtained the keys for the school van, gathered the children, and drove to the retirement home.  The eighteen children met several elderly folks in the game room and were very excited to meet new people, bringing joy and energy to people who had lacked any sort of excitement or livelihood for many years.

               The five mothers stood at the doorway and watched as the children filtered through the room, gave hugs to the old men and old women, bringing out looks of joy and excitement in many of their faces. The three-hour time period came to an end, the five mothers began gathering the children, allowing them to hug and say goodbye to their new friends. Four of the mothers took the children to the school van, while the fifth mother engaged in conversation with the head nurse at the retirement home, promising that they would return next month on the same day at the same time.

               After an uneventful drive back to the school, the five mothers delivered the children back to their classrooms, returned the school van keys, thanked the school for allowing them to bring the children to the retirement home. “It was a wonderful time,” one of the mother’s said, “it’s too bad you couldn’t have been there to see the joy and happiness in the faces of the elderly people there. I know they thoroughly enjoyed the visit and I spoke with the head nurse and promised her that we would return next month on the same day at the same time.”

               The five women left the school office, exchanged hugs, and promised to stay in contact over the next month as they prepared to meet again and revisit the retirement home. The five women drove home and two hours later returned to the school to retrieve their children, and discuss how important it is to be kind to others, to love others, and to bring joy into other people’s lives.

               Christy, her husband, and her son sat down for dinner that evening and the little boy talked through the entire dinner, telling his father about the wonderful time he enjoyed visiting the elderly at the retirement home. “It is very important to be kind to people, to love people and to bring joy into people’s lives,” the little boy said, “we’re going to go back again next month on the same day at the same time, I am so excited to see them again.”

               “That is very good, son,” his father said, “it is a common problem for the elderly to become lonely and seeing excited and happy little people brings them great joy and fulfillment. Make sure that you give them hugs and talk to them as much as you can.”

               “Yes, of course,” the little boy answered, “I did both of those things with many of the people there and we spent some time playing games and learned about each other. One older woman that I spoke to told me that she has one daughter who chose not to have any children, and she said she was sad that she’ll never have any grandchildren. I promised her that I would come back next month and we could be good friends.”

               “That makes me very happy to hear you say that,” his father said.

               “She was very happy to see all of us children arrive that day,” the little boy said, “I am so glad that we were able to visit them and bring them such joy. Maybe some other day and time, you, Mom, and I can go visit them on a day that isn’t a school day. I know they would be very happy to have more visitors.”