Helen Martin’s Blog

When our two oldest go off to school in just weeks, they’ll be taking some “old friends” with them. So many of their school supplies are leftover from last year, a lot of the stuff on this year’s supply lists are already checked off.

For instance, we have more perfectly good colored pencils than we could use in three school years, so I’ve already sorted and sharpened the longest and nicest looking ones, in a rainbow-array of colors, I might add. We have leftover folders, pens, sharpies, rulers, etc., that barely show signs of wear. Even their backpacks are still in great shape! So we have a few less things to buy, right? Nope.

We’re still going to buy an entire list’s worth of supplies—all brand spankin’ new packages, too. And all this will be stuffed into a brand new backpack and dropped off at our local Frattallone’s Ace Hardware store as part of the yearly drive organized by the Union Gospel Mission.

My kids are living in the lap of luxury compared to the rest of the world, and even compared to some kids in their own neighborhood. This is especially evident considering the fact that their parents love them and care for them to the degree that we track their colored pencil supply!

Without one bit of true sacrifice on their parts, they are going to give a child something that he or she probably has never had. A first day of school where they are fully supplied… A year full of days when they won’t need to borrow a pencil… A chance to draw the sky God made with Robin’s Egg Blue, Cerulean, Aquamarine, and even Sky Blue, if they feel like it!

(Not to mention the really neat sharpener in the box!)