Giving

After writing this, I was reluctant to share this post.  I don't want it to be contrived as tooting my own horn or flying my own flag.  This is a post about how we are sharing with our community the goodness that God has blessed our family with this year.  I wanted to share this so that you may be inspired to give as you are able.

Last Friday we finished packing our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child and delivered them to church.

I picked up extra groceries and we delievered them to the food bank donation basket on Sunday at church.  I do this periodically through the year.

We have growing donation bags in the upstairs hallway that need to make it to Goodwill soon. The bags are filled with outgrown clothes and shoes from the boys, clothes from my closet that haven't been worn in a few years - no point in letting those perfectly good clothes "hang around" when someone else could put them to good use.  This is usually a seasonal donation, as the children grow and as the weather changes.

We have a few new toys that are "duplicates" (gifts that were received that the children already own).  Those will make it into the Toys for Tots donation box where our boys swim.

It's nearly that time of year - to sift through the toys in the playroom and decide what will be stored for future grandchildren to play with and what will be donated.

We will soon receive requests for donations to families in need from our town through the school and through my husband's work for a Santa's Elves program, paring families in need from a local special-needs school with each department in the company where he works.  We will contribute to each of these programs what we are able when the time comes.

We always have the person on our list who we don't know what to give to the person or they have everything and don't really need anything.  For those people, I try to find a handmade trinket on Etsy or at a local craft fair.  Then we make a donation through World Vision to purchase chickens or a goat or whatever I would spend on the person's gift.

Giving of our time is perhaps the most difficult.  In the future I hope to be able to do some sort of time-giving contribution - delivering Thanksgiving meals through Fellowship House or serving meals at a local soup kitchen.

The feeling of giving is amazing, incredibly rewarding.

In this process I remind myself that I cannot save the world, but I can touch a life.  I also have to remind myself that there is a season for everything.  There may be a time when we are unable to give or when we are in need of someone else's generosity.

I would love to hear how you give, at this time of the year or during other times of the year.  Please take the time to post a comment below.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day!