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In our land of plenty, we take so very much for granted. Food, shelter, clean water, shoes.

Yes, shoes.

How any of you reading these words have more shoes than feet? Ah ha — busted.

Imagine having no shoes. Or imagine having just one pair of shoes, so worn and tattered the soles are weak and you have to stuff newspapers inside just to get some cushion for your weary feet.

If you only made $800 a year or less, the gift of a new pair of shoes may seem like a blessing.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Those insightful words from Winston Churchill came to mind when we heard about a group a local youngsters working to help others.

Twenty-two girls at the Second Baptist Church of Hamlet, in the Girls in Action program there, along with their adult leaders Millie Vickers, Crystal Smith and Alyssa Bailey, held an event recently that allowed them to take up a collection of new shoes.

The annual Princess Ball was held on Feb. 9 and each girl wore socks to the event and brought a new pair of shoes to donate to a shoe ministry, in which Richmond County sends shoes to Guyana, a small country on the northern coast of South America, where the average income per person is $800 a year.

Sherry Watkins of White Lake, N.C., returned to provide the program and entertainment for the fourth consecutive year. Her theme for this year’s Princess Ball was “Being a Godly Girl.” Watkins stressed that every girl is special in God’s eyes. Other adult assistants, Elaine Cockman and Nancy Stricklin, helped turn the gym into a winter wonderland for the girls.

The Girls in Action group, a Southern Baptist mission program for girls ages 6-12, meets each Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. Throughout the year, they visit rest homes, complete many mission projects and help promote North American and international mission offerings to the entire church.

This group is an integral part of the church’s Woman’s Missionary Union program, which supports missions and missionaries by studying about, praying for, giving to and going to missions in both our country and foreign countries. The Bible and the Girls in Action magazines are the main resources used in the Wednesday night classes.

These girls at Second Baptist Church of Hamlet should be an inspiration to us all, young and old. When you help others, you help yourself.

We began with a quote from Winston Churchill. Let us finish with this touching thought from Mother Teresa: “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”

Get scribbling now.