HATCH
–verb (used with object)
1. to bring forth (young) from the egg.
2. to cause young to emerge from (the egg) as by brooding or incubating.
3. to bring forth or produce; devise; create; contrive; concoct: to hatch a scheme.
When these baby birds finally hatched, their initial survival was dependent on their parents to feed and keep them warm, but as they grew the parents had to let them go. When dreams or ideas are hatched, we sometimes have to let them go so they can mature.
I have been thinking of a woman I know – a long standing resident of the town in which I live. As a school teacher she saw how devastating poverty was for her students. She wished that every student could, at the very least, begin the school year on level ground. So she hatched an idea. She began asking people in her church to donate new boxes of crayons and backpacks and pencils – the essential things for an elementary school student. She inspired other people to care about children they would never see or know, and from the basement of their church they distributed these items to school children who showed up to claim them. Her dream led to an idea that was hatched. That one idea inspired other people to dream and to hatch new ideas. Many years ago this “Back to School” project outgrew the church basement. Other organizations got on board. The women who hatched the idea in the first place gradually gave other the reins to other people and now it has grown so big it takes place at the fairgrounds. I doubt it is what she had in mind when she first hatched her idea, but she had the wisdom and maturity to let it grow beyond her own dreams.
A few years ago this same woman wondered what all the school children who qualified for a free lunch would do in the summertime, so she dared to dream again and let another idea be hatched. She inspired some other people to work on the idea and they got together and gave away free bag lunches in the local parks. In 2005 they gave away 3000 lunches. Last year they gave away 9000 lunches. This year they are getting food from the Central Missouri Food Bank – they have to keep records and post some information required by the government. I doubt this was part of the original idea and dream, but this woman was wise enough and mature enough to let the idea grow. If they abide by the new guidelines, Central Missouri Food Bank is refunded enough money to cover the cost of the food for children in Kirksville as well as enough to help feed children in other communities.
Today my blog post is dedicated to this woman who has hatched some grand ideas to benefit children she will never see or know.
