Change a Child's Life

Last month we had a fall festival at church. Kids came and played games and were rewarded with candy. We tried to be as intentional as possible about setting it up in a way that we were able to interact with the kids and their parents. I think we succeeded in some small way with interacting with the families. I got to spend some good time playing and talking with the kids. I worked three games and it was so much fun. I loved meeting the families. It seemed the most popular game of the evening was the soccer ball kick. Basically we had a goal and the kids kicked the soccer ball into the goal. What I liked about it was the way the kids took their time to aim their kick. This gave us a great opportunity to talk. There were lots of names and faces and I know I will not remember them all, but I will definitely remember one family. There were 4 kids of varying ages and a mom. They were friendly as I said hello and introduced myself. One of the girls came dressed up in a home made costume. I could tell she felt uncomfortable with some of the other kids wearing their store bought costumes and the look in her eyes told me she wanted to fit in and have a nice costume like the other kids. I could tell from her hair style and the sparkly jacket she was dressed as Hannah Montana. I watched this family as they went to various games. Understand that most of the people working were of retirement age and had no idea who Hannah Montana was. However, they could recognize Spiderman, Batman, and Batgirl This made the girl feel even more inferior. When she came to my game, I decided to treat her like a star. I walked over to hand her the ball for the game and said. "Wow! Hannah Montana is right here beside me." The girl smiled because I recognized her costume. I began to ask her what her favorite song was, what she liked about performing, has she ever done a talent show at school, would she be willing to sing for us. Her mom got teary eyed as I asked "Hannah Montana" for her autograph. As the girl walked away with a big smile, her mother stayed behind and said "thank you." The family was so moved by the experience, they stayed after everyone else had left to help us clean. We loaded their arms with left over candy and food. I walked with the family to their car and thanked them for coming. I especially thanked "Hannah Montana" for coming to visit us. Their eyes and smiles were beaming with joy and happiness as they drove off. I said a silent prayer for the family and went to hug my own kids and tell them how much I loved them.

What I did was nothing significant. I did not solve world hunger. I did not explain the deepest mysteries of life. I made a family smile. I made a little girl feel good about herself. I made a mom cry tears of joy. It was so small, yet it made a difference to that child and to that family. I often find myself around people who want to make a difference but do not know how. They feel in order to make a difference, they have to do something really big and life changing that converts hundreds of people. I understand where they are coming from. I used to have those same thoughts. I thought if I made a difference in the world - it would have to be huge and gain national attention. But the fact of the matter is I made a difference to that little girl and her family. She went from feeling awkward and inferior at the beginning of the evening to confident and filled with laughter by the end of the evening. Her mom went from feeling sad for not being able to buy her daughter a costume to feeling so happy that her daughter's costume brought her so much attention. Making a difference in someone's life is not always some big act of kindness like giving them a car or house; sometimes it's making them smile and feel good about their life. I thank God that I met "Hannah Montana." She reminded me that life is about building others up when the world tries to tear them down.