They keep us warm, too. Have you ever been cold? When you’re cold, it is hard to think about anything else besides getting warm. That’s why blankets are such wonderful things. You can wrap yourself up, getting warm and cozy. Here’s a story about my friend Maria and her family, who got blankets when they really needed them!

Maria Salazar and her family drove home in a covered pickup truck. They were returning from the north where her parents had worked in the fields picking produce all summer long. Mama and Papa rode in the cab with her baby sister. Maria and her six brothers and sisters crowded in the back of the truck with all of their belongings. Maria looked forward to coming home to south Texas. The best part was going back to school. She liked to study.

Once they got to their colonia, or neighborhood, they saw their house with its two rooms and no indoor bathroom. Now that it was winter, the house would be cold, especially at night when the wind blew in through the cracks around the windows and doors. Maria knew that at night, they would need to huddle together in two beds pushed together to stay warm. Though there was a small heater in one of the rooms, it didn’t make much difference.

After getting home, Maria and her brothers who were old enough went back to school and to doing homework. Sometimes that was very hard. Because there were only two rooms, they had to do their homework before the younger children went to bed. Sometimes Maria was just too tired to think because her house was too cold for her to sleep.

One cold day last January, Maria’s family went to the local church food pantry to get food. This day there was a wonderful surprise. Besides food, the Salazar family were given blankets from Church World Service! Now, Maria has a blanket all her own, so on cold nights she can put her blanket over her shoulders when she does her homework. And, she goes to sleep warmed by her blanket and the love of those who made it possible.

Sometimes the most ordinary things are the very things most needed by someone else — blankets, tools, safe water to drink, a house to live in. Extending ourselves to others — sticking our necks out — not only helps others, it also gives our life more meaning, more joy!