The Village ILWIDIot

Walt Wiltschek

“You may be sure that wherever the good news is told all over the world, people will remember what she has done. And they will tell others.” —Mark 14:9, CEV

An article in Peoria First’s recent newsletter shared about a local elementary school class that created a “Gratitude Tree.” The students developed it with their families, working on it at home and bringing the fruits of those efforts to class.

The teachers then took the various pieces and assembled them into a colorful tree, providing a vivid display of all the things for which their students were thankful.

The school, Hines Primary School, is one with which Peoria First connects regularly—particularly through its “Snack Pack Ministry” that delivers packages of snacks for each student once a month. And one of the items that a student created for the Gratitude Tree was the Snack Pack. 

“It may seem that (your ministry) goes unnoticed,” Hines principal Julie Hancock wrote, “but it is definitely appreciated.” The donations, she said, are “like gold.”

I wonder how many of the ministries of our congregations or individuals, large or small, end up on someone’s Gratitude Tree. Whether it’s rebuilding a house or donating food, visiting a homebound person or volunteering to do some clean-up, teaching a child or doing some random act of kindness, our actions matter. We might feel that our work goes unnoticed when it’s actually planting seeds of gratitude in our wake.

Peoria First shared that its ministry is “intended to help provide nutritious food to children who may not have access to adequate food when they are not and school AND to let the children know that we care of them, and more importantly, so does God.” Where God is made real, gratitude naturally follows.

Happy planting!