"Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor." -Proverbs 22:9.

*Holy Bible. 3rd ed., Tyndale House Foundation, 2015.

"Jordyn Elizabeth Hill, c'mon hurry and come downstairs! It's 12:30!" came the distant yell of Mrs. Hill. Jordyn was startled, as she finished brushing her teeth. 

 "Coming!" Jordon yelled.  She was getting ready to meet her friends, Kaylee and Luke, at the mall at 12:30. "Oh no, I can't be late! Jordyn quickly put on her clothes, brushed her hair, and ran out her room.

"Oh, look who finally decided to arrive," Luke said, side-eyeing Jordyn. 

 "I'm so sorry I'm late. I lost track of time," Jordyn replied, out of breath. Luke and Kaylee laughed. 

 "He's joking, girl," Kaylee replied. "We've been waiting for you to go eat - we're starving!" Then the three friends went to the food court and decided on Italian food. 

 "Yum, pizza is the best food, and no one can convince me otherwise," said Luke taking a bite of his hot slice of pepperoni pizza.

You're not wrong," Jordyn replied, chuckling. 

 "So, guess what? Did you guys hear that Hannah and Ryan are dating?" Kaylee was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see a young girl (probably a few years younger than her and her friends) with long brown hair and gorgeous green eyes standing there with a sad expression. She looked skinny, pale, and tired. Behind her were two little girls who looked just like the oldest girl. 

 "Excuse me, Miss, but my sisters and I are very hungry, and we haven't eaten in three days," said the girl.

"Would you mind sparing a few dollars, so we may get some food and water?" Kaylee stared at the girl for a moment and then burst out laughing. 

 "Heck no, I'm not giving you anything! My dad told me that broke parents make their kids beg strangers for money, so they can become rich!" The poor girl looked shocked and hurt that Kaylee didn't believe her. 

 "B-but that's not the case. We don't have parents because we're orphans." 

 "Okay, yeah, sure," Kaylee said, continuing to laugh. Go scam someone else for their money."

The two little toddlers started crying. "Dana, please feed us! We're so hungry!" they complained in unison. 

 Dana looked at them and smiled. "Let's go. I'll get us some food soon!" 

 "Yay, we eat food!" The two little girls skipped away happily. Dana sighed and walked away, following them. 

 "Haha, can you believe that? She really tried to take my money! I worked too hard on my chores to give away my $50 to some strangers!" Kaylee said, rolling her eyes.

Jordyn observed the entire encounter in disbelief. She never knew that Kaylee could be so rude. Just before she was about to chime in, Luke interrupted her. 

 "Seriously? They expected us to believe that sob story? Shouldn't they be in the orphanage or something?" Kaylee and Luke burst out laughing, and Jordyn became angry. How could her friends be so cruel? She realized that she may not know them as well as she thought.

"That's not even funny, Luke," Jordyn said firmly. Luke stopped laughing and looked at Jordyn, raising his eyebrows. 

 "Yes, it is. What do you mean?" 

 Jordyn sighed. "Just how naive are you guys? Did you know that more than 800 million people are hungry, but yet a third of all of our food is wasted?" She glanced at a guy who was throwing away a half-eaten burger. "See, people take for granted that they have food all the time - well until they don't have it anymore."

Luke and Kaylee thought for a moment about what Jordyn had just told them. 

 "Well, to be honest, I didn't know that," Kaylee replied. "But that doesn't mean that I'm wrong. That girl looked so suspect." Luke nodded in agreement. 

 "I doubt that she's lying," Replied Jordyn. She pointed behind them, and they all looked to see the same girl and the two little kids in front of a Mexican restaurant." See - they are really trying to get some food because they have no family to help them."

"Yeah...I guess you're right", Luke said sadly. He felt terrible for the three girls who wouldn't know when they would eat their next meal.

 "Maybe I shouldn't have judged them so quickly," Kaylee sighed. "I'm going to apologize." Kaylee, Luke, and Jordyn all went up to the kids, who had finally managed to grab some chips and salsa for lunch. 

 "I'm so grateful that you let us eat for free, sir; thank you so much!" Dana said cheerfully. 

"Of course, and let me know if you girls need anything else, okay?" said the worker. 

 "Okay!" Just as she was about to take her and her little sisters to a table, they ran into Jordyn and her friends. 

"Um, hello," Kaylee said nervously. "I see you've gotten some food." 

 "Yes, the kind man gave my sisters and me chips and salsa - unlike you and your rude friends," Dana replied snarkily. She was about to walk away when Kaylee tapped her on the shoulder. 

 "No, wait, please! I just wanted to say I'm sorry for being so mean - you didn't deserve that." 

 "I feel so bad that we didn't give you a chance to explain your situation. That was very insensitive of us," Luke added. 

 "Yes, we're very sorry we didn't give you money for your meal," Jordyn said remorsefully. 

    "Please forgive us, here-" Jordyn went into her purse. She looked through her wallet, and sadly couldn't find any spare cash. But then she saw a small card poking out from the bottom of her bag. It was a $25 gift card to SafeWay! She handed it to Dana. "Take this as our sincerest apology. We hope that this is enough to feed you and your siblings for a little while-" Jordyn was cut off. 

 "A little while! This will feed us for a whole month! Thank you so much!", Dana exclaimed embracing Jordyn.  

"And don't forget this!" Luke went into his pocket and pulled out a $25 gift card to Starbucks.  Kaylee gave Dana her allowance of $50 as well. 

 "" Here, you deserve this money much more money than I do." Kaylee announced.