By Danny Minton

“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NASB)

Do you remember growing up hearing the fairy tale “The Three Wishes,” the story of a woodcutter and his wife who were given three wishes by a fairy for not cutting down a specific tree in the forest? Then we would hear stories of a genie granting people three wishes for freeing him from a bottle in which he had been trapped for centuries. Three wishes seem to be the gift given by mystical characters in fairy tales and stories with which we grew up over the years; enter eleven-year-old Ruby Chitsey.

In 2019, Steve Hartman of CBS News shared the story of a little girl in Harrison, Arkansas, who liked to go to work with her mother. Her mother, Amanda, was a nurse who traveled to several nursing homes in the area. Eleven-year-old Ruby went from room to room, asking people if they could have three wishes, what they would wish for. “I don’t think she had any intention, really,” Amanda said. Ruby said she was mostly just curious what they’d say. “I was very surprised. I thought people would say money, houses, a Lamborghini,” Ruby said. But, instead, here’s what she got: electric razor, new shoes, Vienna sausage; for some reason, a lot of people asked for Vienna sausage and other really basic items.

So, Ruby decided to do something about it. She started a GoFundMe to get money to buy the little things that the men and women in the homes were missing. They were simple things, special foods that they missed or clothes that fit. She discovered that in her area, many residents had only around $40 a month for personal needs, leaving little for anything that would bring a little joy. The heart of this eleven-year-old grew into a project called “Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents,” which has granted over 100,000 wishes, not just in Arkansas but in other cities across the country that have started similar projects. On the Three Wishes website they state, “Without someone paying attention, these wishes go unmet.” Ruby is now the CEO of her small organization, which is run by her mother and several other adult volunteers. She also has an organization of young people who help with the project and the residents. Every dollar they raise goes to help the residents. Everyone is a volunteer. You can find the original story at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/11-year-old-girl-granting-wishes-to-nursing-home-residents/. You can also see Ruby’s site at 3wishesproject.org.

I have found it depressing to see so many stories online and on news programs that always focus on negative events or actions by young people. A young person commits a crime, and all the networks cover the story in depth, sometimes for long periods. Evil deeds make good headlines and seem to draw people to the story. As a result, people begin to find themselves seeing our young people in a negative light. In reality, there are far more youth today living positive lives, doing good works, and having a heart for those around them. 

The country is full of Rubys doing good works in their communities. They won’t necessarily make the news, but they still quietly go on, involved in projects that lift others’ spirits. People need to stop putting down the youth of this generation, open their eyes, and realize you can’t put everyone into a negative basket because of a few. In many ways, the youth of today have the soft heart that so many of us as adults have let harden over time.

Let’s go back to the Proverb, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Our youth of today learn from us as adults. If we teach them good works by our actions, we train them to do good as adults. On the other hand, if we observe their hearts in action, maybe it will help soften our hearts, which have been hardened by all the negativity we’ve faced in our lifetime.

One day, when a Ruby comes to you and asks, what will your three wishes be?

Danny Minton, a member of Southern Hills Church of Christ, is a hospital chaplain