Charity and A Jar of Apples

Tonight is one of those nights I cannot sleep! And I would truly LOVE to be asleep right now-- believe me! But I'm not, so I might as well make the most of it. So I'll share something that has been on my mind for some time yet. I'm not sure how organized I have my thoughts but I'll give it a shot anyways.

Again the topic is- My Kids! I have to wonder sometimes if I'm doing a good job being their mom. And most the time I tell myself that because I wonder it so much I must be doing a decent job of it... I hope that makes sense. There is just so much that I want to teach my kids and instill in them that it scares me to think that I might be forgetting something, or not putting enough emphasis on some things as I should. The Gospel is important to me and I hope they see and feel that. Education is important to me. Keeping a clean home, cooking meals, family time... the list goes on and on. One of the things that I have felt a need to teach them lately is charity. I don't think there is a respectful age to teach that and I think the earlier the better.

There is an older gentleman in our ward and he is extremely well educated but socially awkward-- a genius... And I noticed him a few months ago shortly after he moved in. He dresses humbly and lives alone, doesn't talk much and seems to like to keep to himself. When I first saw him he struck me as someone who was so alone and I didn't even know how to approach him. I also wondered about his welfare and if he had the means to feed himself. I felt strongly that my family needed to reach out to him and share some of the things that we had excess of (thanks to couponing, I can do this). So the kids and I went over one day and gave him a few bags of groceries. I was afraid he could of been offended, but I braved it and I was scared. But he took it graciously and offered that we come back and pick apples from his apple tree when they ripened. Now, I know the church has resources t help those in need, so I did contact a member of my bishopric and they are looking after him. Because I could not continue providing groceries on a regular basis. So there is a little bit of background there. To make a long story short, the other day the kids and I walked past this older man's home on one of our strolls and I noticed a Free Apples sign. A few days later our whole family, Jasmine our dog included, went over to pick some apples. Again I brought some groceries with me as a gift and thank you for apples. The kids thought it was so great to pick apples from the tree. They had never had that experience before and were so excited.

When we knocked on this man's door the first time, there had been no answer, so I left the groceries on the front steps and we went and picked some apples. After we finished, I went and knocked on the door again. This time he came to the door and I thanked him for the apples. He told me to pick as many as we wanted and to come back again. I found out they were baking apples and he told me a few things that I could do we them. I handed him the groceries and again he took it willingly and so I felt encouraged that it was the right thing to do. But this time, something else happened. It was a split moment feeling, and it was gone before I knew it. He turned away from me and said he had something for us. When he came back, it was a large jar of preserved apples. It didn't look clean. I'm not going to lie, it's not something I would of trusted to eat or give to my kids, but it was touching all the same. Here was a man who is a loner, socially awkward, but very gentle giving me and my family something that meant a lot to him- something he had spent time preparing and preserving. For all I know, perhaps that was all he had in his home, apples?? I felt in that moment we (my family) were shown the greater of the charity offerings. A jar of apples, and the gentle, kind spirit of a man who was terrified to reach out but did. In that one moment he turned away, I saw excitement in him, a need for him to share with us. I want to say that this is the start of a beautiful friendship. But I don't know that... I think it'll always be this way a little give and take between my family and this grandpa of a man. But he has found a place in my heart and I feel responsible to look out for him a little.

Lily asked me, "Mommy, why did we give that man our food?" And I told her, "Because we share what we have with others." On the walk home, Lily kept on insisting she carry the bag of apples or the jar. And Kyle had fun throwing an apple and picking it up again all the way home. My family walked away with so much more than just apples that day. I'm not sure I've written my thoughts down correctly. It's really hard to put into words.

When we got home, I washed some of the apples, sliced them up and placed them in a baking dish with butter, oatmeal, cinnamon, and sugar. It was delish! And it was a nice way to end that day for my family.