Joshua wanted to invite his old friends from the orphanage for his birthday. When he tried an unusual idea to make it happen, a stranger visited his home with an unexpected question.
“7 days to go!” Joshua was excited as he crossed out another date on the calendar. He would turn ten soon.
As he watched his new father, Carl, put up the birthday banner and his new mother, Jessica, clean the kitchen cabinets, Joshua realized how lucky he was.
It had been nine months since Jessica and Carl had taken him in. The little orphan who had no one but friends, who had only three pairs of clothes and a tattered old bunny toy, was suddenly carried into a life of luxury. He now had an elder brother, two little sisters, parents who taught him how to fold clothes and water the garden, and a life blessed with warm food, lullabies, and love.
He could see the sweet excitement on his parents’ faces, yet he couldn’t shake off the gloom in his heart.
“I wonder how my friends at the orphanage are doing…”
“Damien and his buddies must have finished building the cardboard dollhouse for little Gina. Kelly must have finished reading at least a thousand books by now. But who must be feeding that stray kitten?”
Joshua’s tender heart couldn’t help but feel bad for his friends. He kept thinking of their happy faces, smiling and cheering for him one last time.
That’s when he thought of an idea that made his eyes light up.
“Mom, dad, can we please invite my friends from the orphanage for my birthday party? I know you said this one would be only with family, but I think they would be thrilled to be here!”
“How many friends are we talking about?” Jessica asked without lifting her eyes from the spot she was trying to get rid of.
“25!” Joshua replied instantly. He wouldn’t want any children to miss out on his big birthday bash.
Jessica heard the number and looked at Carl, who was thinking the same thing: ‘How do we tell him that we can’t afford to throw a party even for five people this month, let alone 25 children? How do we say this gently, without breaking his bubble of a perfect, abundant life?’
