“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – Psalm 139:13-14

It is a privilege to write about the children who eat FMSC meals and the volunteers and donors who make it all possible.

But every once in a while I feel something tugging on my heart as we focus so much on the circumstances these children were born into.

And it’s just that – circumstances.

Hunger is a situation. It is not an identity.

I am guilty of elevating malnutrition’s role in a child’s life to a spot it doesn’t deserve -- to a spot where it can actually damage the dignity of a child if I am not careful.

I think about my own story and the circumstances of my life.

I would be devastated if my whole, complex life story was whittled down to a situation I was born into.

While it is an undeniable part of their stories, hunger does not define these children.

They have names: Jenny, Jose, Tisine.

Jenny is a tomboy. She refuses to play with dolls or wear dresses.

Jose wants to be a pastor when he grows up.

Tisine’s smile lights up the room.

They will grow up to be farmers, doctors, teachers. They will change the communities they live in. They will change the world.

Let us never forget the role each child plays in their own story. And please pray for me in my daily work that I will treat each child’s story with the dignity it deserves.