#342 - LB

As Christians we are told to spend out lives in service to others.  This is oftentimes easier said than done.  It is pretty easy to spend our lives in service to our families.  This is where our hearts are and where our loyalties lie.  But when it comes to spending our lives in service to others...some of us do it better than others.

#342 is a person that I admire.  She chooses to spend her days serving those less fortunate.  In her case, the majority of her time is spent with the children at St. Louis Infant Center.  For those of you who are not familiar with this organization, it is run by a nun to benefit children who have been taken out of their homes for various reasons.  I remember doing some service work here when I was in high school.  The kids may come from homes of abuse, they may have been abandoned, and I remember that some of them where just very difficult kids with a variety of medical problems and had parents who could not handle them.

When you say the word "kids", my mind conjures us lots of fun, playing, carefree precious boys and girls.  But when you talk about the kids at St. Louis, I get a slightly different mental picture.  Many of these kids have never been carefree for even a day in their short lives.  They do not know what it is to play just for the joy of playing.  In short, the world has not been kind to them, and oftentimes, the only love that they know is from the service of the volunteers that work there.  Having spent a few hours there, I will say that even though I love children, these children are often hard to love.  Their life experiences have taught them to be defensive, to trust no one, and to hurt before they get hurt again.  It takes special people to work with these kids day in and day out, and I commend #342 for making this center such a large part of her life for so many years.

#342 is actually my dad's first cousin.  Her mom and my mom were very close sisters, and their children grew up together.  When I was little, we use to spend Thanksgivings at each others homes, but as we grew up and grew apart, that tradition was replaced by different ones.  I remember enough to know that #342 has always been a hard worker.  In addition to working at St. Louis, she also has spent many years cleaning and doing housework at a local rectory.  Prior to this, she and her husband owned a grocery store and she logged in many hours there also.  Now that I think about it, my great-aunt (her mom) was her role model for all of her hard work.  She worked hard her entire life and I always remember smiles and kind words from her...just like #342.

I have so much in my life and by proxy so do my kids.  VC does an excellent job teaching their students to give back with many different service programs and organizations.  Our little elementary school also has many ways for people to volunteer their time and talents in service.  Our new principal feels like our students need to be more service oriented, which I consider an excellent goal.

Give back.  Give of yourself.  Give your brother the shirt off of your back.  Sometimes I need a little reminder of what scores points with God.