"Earthly Compassion"

On Earth Day especially, our thoughts turn to our planet and all of its glory with the hope and concern that it will endure far beyond our comprehension of years.  However, when I think of the earth, I think of all of its inhabitants and how we all need to do our part in caring for one another.  I recently sent out an email to all in my contact list asking for clothing donations so that we could deliver an abundance of blessings to a local rescue mission here in Orange County called "Village of Hope".  Village of Hope is a part of the Orange County Rescue Mission, and if you are interested in learning more about what this wonderful organization is accomplishing, please take a look at their website:  http://www.rescuemission.org/.

Well, the response that I received was awesome to say the least as I would come home day after day and find bags of clothing on my porch. Thank you so much for anyone who donated as you are assisting me in the teaching of this very important virtue to my children, but you are more importantly clothing many individuals who genuinely need it!  Here we are, about to set out to deliver these gracious donations...

What an awesome experience to get out of the car and have the mission volunteer say to me, "Hold on, I need to get a bigger container!", when he saw all that was in the back of my car.  He brought out a wood flat with a large container where we placed all of the clothes, shoes, and toys.  I wanted the kids to pose by the container so that they could get a visual of the "giving" aspect and how wonderful it feels.  A forklift then appeared and drove the container into the warehouse.  Giovanni wanted to see what was in there as he is fascinated with forklifts.  We went to the door, and he and Sophia looked up in awe at the stacks and stacks of shelves with boxes, containers, food, etc.  I explained how all of what they saw is going to help families and individuals someday soon in order to make their lives happier.  A certain smile appeared on their face as if to confirm that they not only understood, but felt as if they were a part of that.  Mission accomplished.