Charlie bounded out of bed and rapidly got dressed. Carefully, he counted the bills that lay on his dresser. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten dollars. Smiling, he shoved them in his pocket and slipped downstairs. He began making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Meticulously, he spread jelly and peanut butter on the bread. “Maybe,” he thought, “Darren won’t have any lunch or the money to buy a lunch and I can share with him.” With this thought in mind, Charlie took special care to make the sandwiches perfect. He packed them into his lunch box so they would not get squished. The door gently closed behind him as he walked to the street to wait for the Barlows.

It seemed forever before they arrived. Charlie jumped in the backseat. Frank Barlow and Andrew Johnson were already talking about everything that would do that day. When they arrived at the retreat center, Mr. Barlow helped Charlie through the registration process. He felt very big as he paid the ten dollars for the entrance fee and calmly said he did not need food.

Entering the big conference room, the boys looked around in awe. There were hundreds of people there! Charlie kept his eyes open scanning the crowd for someone. At length, he spotted Darren across the large room. Darren crossed the stage, setting something up. Charlie watched him, until Darren glanced over the room and saw him. A smile light up Darren’s face and he nodded hello. Charlie returned the smile and waved to him.

The morning flew by. Pastor John spoke to the boys and men. Between his sessions they had a series of activities. Charlie listened eagerly to Pastor John and gave his all to the activities. He felt especially proud when Darren gave him a high five at the finish of one race and complimented him on doing a good job.

Lunchtime rolled around and most of the men and boys headed down to the cafeteria to eat. Charlie stepped to the side, shoved his hands into his pocket, and watched them. Soon everyone even the staff seemed to be gone, except the guy at the sound booth. Charlie walked over to watch him. “Are you going to lunch,” he asked after awhile.

“Nope,” the young man said, “Something was messed up with the live stream this morning and I have to fix it. So, there is no time to eat. You’d better head down there yourself or there may not be any food left.”

“I’m providing my own food today,” Charlie said proudly. This knowledge made him feel big and he did not want to think about the fact that he seemed to be the only one doing so.

The two lapsed into silence. Charlie watched and thought. He had four sandwiches for the day. He could give him one and still have three. It seemed like the thing Darren would do and Charlie wanted to be just like Darren. Charlie reached in his bag and pulled out a sandwich. “I have an extra sandwich,” he said holding it up. “You must be hungry, you’ve been working all morning. Would you like it?”

The young man looked down at him. “Thank you,” he said with a smile as he took the sandwich. “I was hungry. Are you sure you won’t be hungry?”

“Oh, no,” Charlie replied. “I’ve got more sandwiches. I made some extras this morning.”

“That was thinking ahead. I really appreciate it.”

Charlie watched satisfied as the young man started eating the sandwich while he continued working. He turned and walked away. It felt good to give to someone else. Charlie walked into a deserted courtyard. He realized that he was hungry. Sitting down on a bench in one end, he ate one of his sandwiches. He examined the other two. They were still in good condition. Maybe someone wouldn’t get dinner and would need one of them.

The afternoon continued with more activities and sessions. Charlie soaked up everything he could. It was hard toward the end of the afternoon when they had a father/son activity and he did not have anyone to do it with him. A grandfatherly man noticed him standing off to the side, half hidden behind a tree and came over to him.

“Could you do me a favor,” the man asked looking down at Charlie.

Charlie looked up quickly, a trace of sadness in his eyes. The older man continued, “My boys have grown up and they live far away from here so I am all alone this afternoon but I love to canoe. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind being my partner?”

A small smile light up Charlie’s face. “I’d love to,” he said eagerly, “But I’ve never been canoeing before.” He looked timidly at the man. He would love to canoe but it was doubtful that this man would want him to canoe with him since he did not know what he was doing.

“That’s no problem,” the older man said, “I’m Mr. Peters. I’ve been canoeing for years and can teach you in no time.”

Charlie’s face was covered in a massive grin now. They walked down to the canoes and Mr. Peters showed him how to hold the paddle. They did not win any of the races but had fun participating. Mr. Peters got to know Charlie and they had many laughs.

As the sun set, men and boys started flocking toward the cafeteria. Charlie hung back and watched those who did not go. He noted Darren and a few other of the staff members discussing something.  They seemed concerned. Slowly, he made his way over to them. They were discussing how many people had signed up last minute for dinner. It did not seem that the food would last. “I can go without food,” Ben said laughing good naturally, “But I’m not sure the others can.”

“I think we will all be going without food,” Darren replied. “But there should be enough if they serve small portions for everyone in attendance.”

The small group started to disperse to get things ready for the final session of the evening. Ben hung back, asking Darren a question about how he wanted something set up. Charlie worked up the courage and pulled on Darren’s coat. “I overheard you guys,” he said, a bit nervously. “I have some sandwiches, would you guys like them?”

“I don’t want to take your food,” Darren said looking down at him.

“I made extra this morning,” Charlie begged, “Please?” He held the two sandwiches up.

“Okay,” Darren said, taking them, “Thank you. You saved the day this time. You don’t have to go hungry after all,” Darren said with a slight laugh, handing a sandwich to Ben. “This young man has come to our rescue.” Darren patted Charlie on the shoulder as he said this.

Charlie smiled broadly. It felt so good to do something for Darren. A call over the walkie, hurried Darren off. Ben sat down on a bench. “Come,” he said cheerfully to Charlie, “sit with me while I eat.”

Charlie sat down next to him. “Are you going to eat,” Ben asked, opening up the sandwich.

Charlie shook his head. “I already ate,” he said.

“Ah,” Ben replied, nodding knowingly. “What caused you to pack extra sandwiches this morning? That showed a lot of fore-thought.”

Charlie looked down a bit embarrassed. “I wanted to do something for Darren,” he said at length, “so I thought maybe he wouldn’t be able to get food here so I would bring some extra sandwiches.”

“Is Darren a good friend of yours?”

Charlie nodded gravely, “He’s one of the best friends I’ve got. He always has time for me and cares about me.”

Later in the evening, Ben mentioned some of this to Darren. Darren got a surprised look on his face. “I’ve only spoken to him a handful of times,” Darren commented, “and those times were mostly just saying hi, seeing how he was doing, or something encouraging.”

And this, my friends, just goes to show the power of an encouraging word and the impact you can have by making the time for a child (or someone younger than yourself).