Normal

Saw a little girl this week — to protect her privacy, I won’t show you her face.

But I can tell you about her: Big smile, and all the curiosity and energy of a 4-year-old.

Ready to chat but also willing to listen. Well behaved in public but fully engaged, not bossy and also not shy or fearful.

A happy child. A normal child.

She doesn’t realize it, but she is a triumph.

A quarter-century ago, we met another little girl about her age — in a shelter for abused and abandoned children, in a town in Belarus.

No telling what tragedies brought her to the shelter, but over the years, we found her there repeatedly.

Friends of New Thing gave generously to renovate that shelter, to make it as comfortable and homey as possible for the children.

You might say the little girl sort of grew up there. She felt the love.

Today she’s a college graduate, with a full-time job. She’s a wife and a mother.

The little girl is her little girl.

The fact that her daughter is what we would call “normal” is a huge win.

Love brought healing, and by the next generation, healing wasn’t necessary anymore.

This is why New Thing sticks with it. Day after day, year after year.

Even when you can’t see the benefits of love today, you trust there could be benefits later on.

And that potential is worth the gamble of generosity. The gamble of love.

Thanks for journeying with New Thing.

More adventures to come!

Much love,

Doug Brendel