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I was sitting in church (the LDS Church) this Sunday listening to the teacher in Sunday School when a lady spoke up from near the back of the chapel. The teacher could barely hear her comment so he walked the microphone back to her so we could all hear. She was an elderly lady but it looked like she had a good comment. When she got the microphone up to her mouth she recited this poem.

“Once there was a little boy who wouldn’t say his prayers,
and when he went to bed at night away up stairs,
his mammy heard him holler and his daddy heard him bawl,
and when they turned the covers down,
he wasn’t there at all!
They searched for him in the attic room
and cubby hole and press
and even up the chimney flu and every wheres, I guess,
but all they ever found of him was just his pants and round-abouts
and the goblins will get ya if ya don’t watch out!!”

The teacher handled the situation masterfully and moved on with the lesson but several people grinned not understanding what had just happened. I smiled too but immediately I thought of my Grandma Blake. Erma Blake used to recite this poem to me when I was little. Memories of my Grandma flooded into my mind and I smiled as I thought of her in her home with the thick shag carpet and the heater vents in the halls. I remember her playing card games, telling us stories and fixing us meals. I felt a closeness again with Grandma Blake while sitting there at church. I was determined to walk over to this elderly lady and thank her for reciting that familiar poem.

When the lesson was over and people were leaving for their next class, I found her sitting in the pews and asked her about the poem. She was very pleased to start reciting the poem again but started reciting a different poem about Joseph Smith. She stopped half was through and asked if that was the one that she I recited earlier. I could tell she was a little confused about which poem she had given during the lesson. I then told her it was about “Little Orphan Annie”. She immediately began to repeat the correct poem again for me. When she finished, she told me that she learned the poem when she was 8 and that she was now 80. I thanked her again for reminding me of my Grandma and went to my next class. I found out later that this lady had Alzheimer’s disease just like my Grandma Blake.

I am grateful, during this week of thanksgiving, for my Grandma Blake. She worked hard all of her life so that her children, and grand children, could have a good life, good education and a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I felt close to her today as I remembered her through this poem. I hope I am living up to her hopes for me. I will read these three poems this week to remind me of her.

The Little Orphan Annie
Epamandas
Johnathan Bing

This weekend I had some extra time to just sit at the table and read the newspaper.  It doesn’t happen that often so I tried to enjoy it.  I read through the comics and then looked for something else to read.  On our kitchen table was the New Era.  It is a mormon magazine for teenagers.  I cracked open the cover and read down through the titles of the articles.  One particular article caught my eye so I opened to the page.   It was an article entitled The Popular Table.  I read down a few paragraphs and liked what I read so I decided to start over but this time, I would read out loud.  My 11 year old daughter was sitting at the computer playing games.  I wasn’t sure if she was listening, but I read the article anyway.

I completed the article and with a little bit of feeling crackling in my voice, I put down the magazine and looked at my little girl.  She peaked over the top of the laptop monitor at me and said, “I had to do that exact thing this year in middle school.”  I was shocked by both facts that she had to decide whether to sit at the “Popular Table” or not, and that she had been listening.  She then proceded to tell me about her experience of  having to decide whether to sit with the popular girls with bad language and popular clothes, or sit with a group of girls that had her same morals and standards.  She even told me which table was the popular one at her school.  I grinned and felt warm inside knowing that she had made the hard decision and that she knew how to choose good friends.  The story would have been great if it had ended at this point but somehow, it got better.

Out of the next room behind the wall and on the couch came a lower voice that said, “I had to make that decision too”.   It was my 13 year old boy from the living room.  He had been eavesdropping on my reading and wanted to chime in with his version of what had happend to him.  He loves to play sports and all of the popular kids were on his baseball and basketball teams.  He was popular but, year after year these teammates began to change.  Eventually, Andy had to make the decision to leave the “Popular Table” and move to a table with boys with his same standards.

I am so happy to hear that both of my kids have made the hard decision to find friends that have the same standards and values that we have as members of the LDS Church.   It is not an easy choice because the appeal and the pressure from the “Popular Kids” is hard to resist.    I am blessed to have two wonderful kids that have made the tough decisions. These decisions will guide them to a happier and more fulfilling life.

My parents are wonderful examples of service to our family and to the world.  I have mentioned many times that my parents are the founders of Charity Anywhere Foundation.  They are both members of the LDS Church however the foundation is completely non-denominational.  Even though CAF is not tied to any church, the Mormon Church has been a wonderful resource for doing good.  Most of the volunteers are Mormons but all religious faiths are welcome to participate.

My parents are both retired now however, they spend most of their time serving others and helping others serve.  The CAF Foundation has had projects all over the world.  They try to give back to those in need in third world countries.  Recently they made a trip to Ecuador where Washington Zambrano and the CAF foundation in Ecuador had setup a medical and dental project to service the needs of the poor. My Mom took a Flip Video camera along for the ride and took some short clips of some of the things they did and interviewed a few of the volunteers.  I took the video clips and blended them together into a video and uploaded it to YouTube.

If you are interested in participating in any project with Charity Anywhere Foundation, just follow this link.

Below is the video we made of their trip to Ecuador.