"Eat Your Dinner, Lucy!"

By Ernestine Mumford

Memory Verse: Give us each day the food we need. Forgive our sins, as we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us. (Luke 11:3-4, Contemporary English Version of the Bible)

"Lucy, will you please stop day dreaming and eat your dinner? You know the Gems Choir has rehearsal tonight. You need to do your homework before we go. Remember how you begged your grandma and me to let you join the choir? You promised that you would do your homework and your chores every Thursday night before we have to go to church."

"Ah Ma," Lucy said.

"Lucy, you are a very lucky little girl," her mother said. "Please sit properly in your chair and eat your dinner."

"Why am I so lucky?" Lucy asked her mother."I have to eat stuff I don't like. I don't like rice with gravy on it. The gravy is too wet. I don't like greens. The greens are too green. I don't want to eat yukkie food. I'll just eat my dessert."

"Lucy," her mother said,"Let me tell you why you are lucky. I went to church today to help with the senior citizen's lunch program. When I had a break, I picked up UMCOR Update, the newsletter about the United Methodist Committee on Relief. I read an article about little children who had to leave their homes because of wars, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides.

"Their families had to try to find somewhere else to live. The sad thing is that many of these children got lost from their parents. Remember the day we went to the shopping center, and for just a little while you could not find me? Remember how frightened you felt? Even if these children have parents, their parents cannot take care of them because they don't have jobs, or the farmers have lost their farm land.

"UMCOR has programs in many of these places that help care for these children. They give them food and provide medical care.

"Also, they give training for older children so they will have skills that they can use when they become adults.

"Now can you see why I say you are lucky?" Lucy's mother asked. "When we say our grace before we eat, it is our way of giving thanks and being grateful for the food we have. Also, when we say our prayers, we should remember to pray for the home- less and hungry people in the world."

"Look Ma," Lucy said. "While you were talking, I ate all of my food and it was good! Thank you and grandma for taking such good care of me. I hope I never get dis- dis-; what's that word?"

"Displaced dear," her mother answered.

"Yeah, I hope I never get displaced," Lucy said. "But, Ma, how can we help the displaced children?"

"Well, there was some information in the newsletter. I will get it tonight when we go to church for your choir rehearsal," Lucy's mother said.

"Good," said Lucy,"And I can tell all of the Gems about the displaced children. I bet they will want to help also."

"I bet so," said Lucy's mother. "Now run along and do your homework so we can go."

Activity

Use the underlined letter of each word in the boxes to spell a food or food product. Draw a picture of each thing.