My four children and I had the sweet privilege of going to a Salvation Army Breakfast to honor their volunteers. Last Christmas we helped out with preparing food baskets for Tulsa area families. (Here’s their website.)
The breakfast was good. We went to a Marriot Southern Hills hotel. Basically, we had scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit like pineapple, strawberries, cantalope and grapes. And then there were other tasty foods like potato cakes and biscuits and gravy. My kids liked it.

The table was set up with the hotel’s fine linen tablecloths and napkins. Waiters and waitresses were around to attend to refills when we emptied our glasses. I warned my kids to use their best manners. Many nicely dressed men and women of leadership and volunteering were around us. Ginny asked me if this was like meals that our president would eat.
I had to stop eating my breakfast for a moment, lift my head to observe all the activity and details around. . . a nice hotel, a ballroom, an elegant dining setup, the clanging of fancy glassware and long sparking silverware, the quiet chat of those around, nicely dressed volunteers. But the detail I loved the most . . . there were my four children, sitting around me, enjoying their breakfast and living out a nice memory. This was the first fine dining event they had been to. I’ve been to a few other dinners like this. Those were very nice but they weren’t enjoyed with some of my most favorite people. I was around just other grown ups. Doesn’t matter how nice the gourmet meal was it didn’t measure up with enjoying this fine meal with my family. So to wrap up my pondering moment I looked at the faces of my four as they focused on their meal. . . loved it. I had to annoy my children for a while, while I took a few pictures on the cell phone.
They had an awards ceremony for volunteers of the year from different areas. My children and I went to shake the hand of the Major of the Tulsa area after the ceremony. I signed up to be a bell ringer for next Christmas.
We each received a coffee mug. I liked the quote on it it,
“There is no reward equal to that of
doing the most good
to the most people
in the most need.”
~ Evangeline Booth,1919
I’m going to hang our mugs in a prominent place in the kitchen so hopefully my kids will be reminded that it is a good thing to keep busy helping others.