I find myself thinking sometimes, what it would be like if it were only US. Slap me, that is not AT ALL what I would want, you just sometimes have to think it. I might have more money (a lot more money) ... I might get more sleep (a lot more sleep) ... I might get to eat a fancy dinner, at a fancy restaurant with my husband ... I might be able to GIVE more … hold that thought … but I would never appreciate those things.
Instead, every Saturday morning I am awakened by that sweet 4 year old voice ... "Mommy, Daddy, is it a school day or a stay at home day?" "Is it time to get up?" "I want you to get up!" ... some mornings this string of questions and demands comes before 7 AM ... and then we hear "Daddy .... Momma" from the cribs ... "out, out, out, out" ... I would not change it ... EVER.
So back to the busy. We decided having three kids four and under, working full time jobs, over hour commutes to and from work in the big city were not enough. So we added baseball in 3 nights a week, Brian has enrolled in school two nights a week and applied for a more demanding role at his work. That should satisfy us for a while!
Check out number 66 :)
Except … that is all about us. So I have been thinking about what else we can do? How can we give back? I had a “get real” moment in church today. We have it pretty good … really good. Yes, we have been tested (another thing you hear me say a lot). However, we are so blessed. We have healthy children, more home than we need, busy lives to brag about … so I have to remind myself to “get real involved” and find a way to help.
Up for suggestions … big or small! We have donated clothes, we give to Church every Sunday, I signed up for the charity committee at work, and we roll our windows down to the people collecting money on the street … but what else?
2 comments:
A little something we do...we don't have party guests bring gifts to the girls @ their bday parties. Instead, we pick a charity, usually something that the girls can easily understand or geared towards children, and have guests give donations in lieu of gifts, if they want to. For example, Abby does the Angel Tree, since her bday is in early Dec. We usually get enough to sponsor 2 kids. I take pics of Abby shopping for the stuff, etc. and update everyone that donated as to how much was raised, what we were able to purchase with their generous donations, etc. The guests really seem to love it and the girls do not need anything, and they get enough gifts from us, Grandparents, other family members. It's a win/win for everyone. We also have Scott's paycheck set up so that each time he gets paid a percentage is taken out and a portion goes to St. Jude and another portion to Susan G. Koemen. It's somehting that his work offers, but you might want to check into it. You can set it up to take however much you want each time. And, even though we don't have large amounts going out each paycheck, by the end of the year it adds up. They had a large list of charities to chose from, and we selected those 2, but there was the option to give to just about anything you could think of.
I have a ton of ideas. I think the best thing you can do for your kids is to sponsor a child. They will grow up with their sponsor child and really see the impact that caring can make.
I volunteered with an amazing orphanage in India that is desperate for sponsors. Every month they are just barely making ends meet. Your kids would be able to get frequent updates, photos, and stories and hear how your sponsor child is doing. Plus, no admin funds like big organizations, so 100% goes directly to the kids.
message me if you are interested!
Post a Comment