Before
the holidays get here, with steep expectations about gift lists, entertaining,
office parties, and family gatherings, let's take a few minutes to check our
soul compass. Who are the holidays about, for you? I readily admit that I've
been guilty of something similar to putting up a "Me" tree. I've
wanted the tree of my choice, decorated my way, and I've scrutinized presents
underneath it to see if they suited me. How about you? Be honest!
Probably
the best antidote to a self-absorbed holiday season is to prioritize giving. I
don't mean giving the obligatory gifts and gift cards and party invites to
familiar faces who in turn reciprocate in kind. But, rather, giving to those in
need, who truly need us to share our resources with them. This may mean
extending to strangers the blessings that we take for granted--safe shelter,
warm clothes and decent shoes, adequate food, the graces to find a job and land
a job, transportation, and freedom from abuse, addiction, and domestic abuse.
Hopefully,
your kids' school or youth group has encouraged them to get involved in
community outreach. Perhaps they have earned "community service"
hours. Perhaps you are a part of an adult service club that raises money to
eliminate polio or to help fund local agencies. But, have you prioritized this
as a family activity? Maybe this is the year to mobilize your spouse, friends,
or family to help stock the community food pantry, or serve at a local soup
kitchen, together. It may mean donating to a warm clothing drive, a toy drive,
or a can-a-thon. As anyone involved in outreach will tell you, the soul rewards of helping, far
outweigh any sacrifice it involves. It also serves to strengthen marital and
family bonds, to focus outward bound compassion. Thankfully, there is a vital
role for every person to play! A call to local agencies, or to 2-1-1, will help
you find where your skills would be greatly appreciated, from everything from
swinging a hammer on a Habitat House, pitching a ball at the Miracle Field,
baking goods for the Senior Center, playing piano at Floyd Medical Center, or
visiting folks at a nursing home. You may well find that the joy of pitching in
during the holidays, becomes a habit that lasts all year!
I'd
also like to highlight four additional places to offer your time and financial
aid: The Salvation Army, the Murphy-Harpst Children's Home, Q102 Cheerful
Givers, and Operation Christmas Child.
Look for Life Changing Giving: The
Salvation Army:
Offering national and local assistance, this organization seeks to help
youth and adults find safe shelter, develop life skills, overcome addiction,
and escape poverty. Their services includes adult rehabilitation, Veteran
services, prison ministry, and elderly services. They also combat human trafficking
and respond to natural disasters. Help fill their "red kettle" this
year! www.salvationarmyusa.org.
Look for Life Saving Giving: Murphy-Harpst
Children's Home: Imagine being 3 years old, arriving at a
strange place, with your life possessions stuffed in a small trash bag. No
toys. No change of clothing. No family. That is the predicament of many kids
who find love and healing at Murphy-Harpst Children's Home. Many of these boys
and girls look at a toy with confusion, because their lives have never been
about playing or being a child. This
local organization ministers to Georgia's youngest and most severely (sexually,
physically, and emotionally) abused girls and boys, with residential housing,
therapeutic care, and tender love. This non-profit organization has a 91%
success rate of helping traumatized children recover and reach age 18 with a
positive outlook and vibrant life skills. State budget cuts have drastically
cut therapeutic service funding, creating an urgent need for donations. Please consider
giving a financial gift to Murphy-Harpst. Inspiring stories at
www.murphyharpst.org.
Look for Local Radio Giving: For example, in North Georgia, Q
102 Cheerful Givers project: Hosted by a local radio station,
this program invites you to "Play Santa" for Floyd County children who are under the care
of the Department of Family and Children Services, who are not serviced by any
other agency or charity. Wish Lists can be viewed at www.q102rome.com.
Look for International Giving: Operation
Christmas Child: My family has loved our involvement with
this outreach of the Samaritan's Purse.
Ages 13yrs and up are invited to volunteer at gift box processing centers, and
all ages are invited to pack gift shoe boxes with items like toys, school
supplies, hygiene items, books, etc., to be delivered to children in need.
Messages of hope, love, and the gospel accompany these boxes to children around
the world. Pinterest ideas abound for low cost, high joy items!
www.samaritanspurse.org.
Chances
are, for many of us, we've unknowingly slipped dangerously close to putting up
the "Me" tree, or "Me" menorah, or "Me" Kwanzaa
decorations, driven by the distractions and exhaustion felt this time of year.
But, this year, we can determine to make
this a time of deep spiritual renewal. If we do that, I believe that concern
for those around us who suffer in body or spirit, will become an impassioned
commitment! We'll be drawn to look beyond ourselves, to reach out to others.
Not because it makes us look good to others, but because a hunger develops
inside us to feed the hungry. We'll thirst for encounters that grace and
comfort others, young and old. We'll light up this community with love and
connectedness that will keep us meaningfully engaged all year!
Just imagine helping to rescue a baby from
poverty, a toddler from abuse, a teen from choosing the gang life, an adult from
drowning in addiction, or a couple at wits end from the scars of deployment and
PTSD. The help YOU give, may enable a suicidal teen to find hope or a child
fighting cancer to feel connected to friends through a laptop computer. These gifts
may not fit beneath your holiday decorations, but they will most certainly
create a glow within you, that warms and lightens your way and the way of
others. Now, that is how to LIVE and GIVE the holiday spirit all year around!
