Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday! No gifts to get, just give thanks and love to others and eat!
I have been thinking about how grateful I am, starting with my cushy bed and designed surroundings. However, not everyone has that luxury…
There is an organization called Pen and Napkin (click here to check out their website!). They help homeless people after they obtain a place to live to get the furniture. I learned that when people with little resources get a place to live they often have no furniture and eventually go back to being homeless because there is literally nothing there for them to sit on, sleep in or if there is it is substandard.
This organization works with people whose lives are so underprivileged we cannot even imagine it. One day Catie, the young woman who founded the organization, went to pick up a client to go and pick out her furniture, but she would not get in the car. After much coaxing Catie got out of the car, went around, opened the door and invited the woman in, she would not get in! Catie did her level best to get her in and she would not budge, even though she was going to select new furniture for a new apartment.. Perplexed, after 30 minutes Catie finally said, this is safe, I promise, and the woman started crying and said she could not get into the car because the last time she got in a car in Columbia she never returned to her regular life. Her best friend had sold her as a sex slave and she was abducted, taken to America and was a sex slave for the past 5 years until another organization helped get her out. The poignancy of this moment made me cry when I heard it.
Most days I take for granted that I have freedom and a car, and so many other things. Today I am so grateful for being able to contribute to other peoples lives in a small way so they get a nice bed, chair, lamp and have a chance to be safe.
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