This group worked tirelessly and joyfully on their wrapping, and when they had completed all of it, they pitched in to help us with some other projects: assembling and decorating a large Christmas tree in our gym, unloading a trailerful of Christmas gifts and food items from the Fairview Heights (Illinois) Church of Christ — which is another great story of its own — and just generally being an enormous blessing to our agency.

But this group wasn’t content to be a blessing “only” to us. Their work here had special significance to them and to a family in our area. I’ll let our new friend Brandi Hodges, a reporter for Jonesboro TV station KAIT-8, pick up the story from here:

CLICK HERE TO READ OR WATCH THE REST OF THE STORY!

Children’s Homes is so thankful for the thoughtful things so many people do — especially at this special time of year — to help non-profit organizations. But more than that, I’m personally thankful for the reminder that people seek out ways to bless others — whether those others are children who’ve been separated from their families or a family grieving the loss of a loved one — through selfless volunteerism.

So I joined her in building a school and a playground. And it was a blast for both of us. I could tell she enjoyed having someone to play with since all her buddies were in school that day. She kept finding more and more jobs for me to do so I’d remain tethered to the task at hand rather than being distracted by all that silly grown-up stuff (like work, for instance). Sensing that I was being pulled in further and further, I began to try to extricate myself gently from our playdate. When she assigned me the task of building a set of monkey bars, I told her that I wasn’t very good at building monkey bars, and that maybe she should build them. (I planned to escape while she was engaged in the construction process.)

“OK,” she said, and started to work. And then, without looking up from her monkey bar project, she said:

“I want to tell you something: Don’t ever give up on yourself.”

I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. It was comical to hear such big advice coming from such a small fry. My co-worker, Kim Stewart, witnessed the whole thing and was really amused by it, too. But at the same time, I wanted to cry.

I don’t know the details of this little girl’s life, except that I know she’s already endured far more pain and suffering in her five years than I have in my thirty-six. But I’m sure somebody somewhere has given her that advice at least once in her brief life.

Think about that: A five-year-old who’s already given up on herself. A child who’s survived familial dysfunction so severe she can’t be with that family anymore. A child beaten down by the world before she’s old enough to write her name.

Yet she took the advice to heart and committed it to memory. This tyke hasn’t given up on herself. And if she hasn’t — given all that’s been dumped on her to this point — then surely you and I can cope with whatever comes our way. Right?

Have a great day! (And don’t ever give up on yourself.)

I’m Terry Austin, the director of public relations for Children’s Homes (often abbreviated “CHI”), and it’s my goal and hope to update this blog periodically to give you some insight into what goes on within our organization on a daily basis. At times we’ll include stories of guests and special donations that are made, and we’ll post information and announcements you can use to promote our agency in your church, business or “just” among friends.

One of my goals is to get semi-regular contributions from James Balcom, our executive director emeritus. In addition to his vast library of stories from his days criss-crossing the state on behalf of CHI, he is still in near-daily contact with lots of friends of our organization. I know many of you know James well and will enjoy reading his stories.

We’ll strive to do the same with Micah Brinkley, our executive director. Micah is now doing that “criss-crossing the state” thing that James did for so many years, and we’ll invite him to add things of note when the mood strikes.

Please feel free to let your friends know about The Rainbow Connection, as well as our newly redesigned CHI website. In addition, be sure to visit another blog that I think will immediately become one of your favorite online places: Cottage Living. It’s a blog moderated by CHI housemother Terri Warnick. Mrs. Terri will include stories and reflections from her work at Children’s Homes, and she’ll also relay stories from the other housemoms in an effort to give you a glimpse into the often difficult but equally rewarding job of caring for kids in need. Both of our CHI-related blogs can be accessed from our website, or you can visit them through their native addresses:

The Rainbow Connection: childrenshomes.wordpress.com

Cottage Living: cottageliving.wordpress.com

Welcome… and please feel free to drop us a line in the comments section!