At Granny’s House, we love mentoring the kids in giving to help them understand that living in public housing does not exempt them from being a blessing to others.
Annually, our friends at Kent Willett Dentistry travel to Jamaica to provide dental care among the poor. Because they always encounter lots of children, we jumped at the chance to have Granny’s House kids experience the joy of brightening someone else’s life by making jewelry for the mission team to take with them. Members of “God’s Precious Jewels” and “The Princess Academy” made bracelets and cards to send.
I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled I was to hear all the “Ooooohs,” and “Aaaaaaaahs” and “Isn’t this one cute?... Hey, look at mine!” that echoed around the room as we worked together on this project all while telling the girls about the difficulties of growing up in such deep poverty. I don’t recall ever witnessing such extreme joy coming from this group of wiggley-giggley little girls as they eagerly created gifts for Jamaican children! The, literally, turned into little “jewelry-making machines” and cranked out several dozen bracelets to send off with the missionaries.
Upon their return, the kids were visited by “Granny” Linda (Ealey) and “Granny” Libby (Grantham) who shared stories and pictures of patients who had received the Granny’s House children’s custom-made jewelry. What a thrill to see the smiling faces of those who proudly wore the jewelry created with such love and joy by their new friends from Granny’s House. It really is more blessed to give then to receive! –Granny Pam
