's motd Sunday December 11, 2011

[Guest guest]

IT'S BETTER TO

GIVE...

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Than to receive. Okay everybody, it's Sunday and time for a

little Sunday School lesson. My parents taught me the

importance of giving from the time I was very young.

See, my folks did a lot of charity work when I was

younger and they passed their giving spirit along to

me and my brother, Lenny.

My mother would donate my

old toys to the Volunteers of America who'd then give

them to needy children all over New Orleans.

Every year, just a few weeks before Christmas, my

mother would come into my room and ask me to round up

some of the old toys I wasn't playing with anymore.

And boy, let me tell you, I had a lot of toys. She'd

help me pick out the ones I no longer played with,

making sure they were all in good shape and she'd

donate them to the Volunteers of America who would

then give them to needy children all over New Orleans.

At first, the little kid in me would get upset. What...give

away my toys?! But after taking a good look

around my room, I realized how many of those toys I no

longer even played with. I'd end up handing my mother

quite a few of my old toys and she'd thank me for

being such a generous boy.

And you know what? After my mother left the room, I'd

sit on the edge of my bed and think then...cry.

But they weren't "sad" tears, not at all. They

were more like tears of happiness. See, I'd imagine

all of those needy children with big smiles on their

faces as they got to play with the toys I no longer

played with. They may have been my "old" toys

would they would have been new to them. I

always kept my toys in mint condition, thinking about

how, someday, they'd make a kid less fortunate than me

really happy at Christmas.

When you give, God is

watching your act of kindness.

May I tell you something? When you give, you get a

warm, good feeling all inside. And when you give, God

is watching your act of kindness.

As you all know, our country's economy has

been very tough the past few years and a lot of

Americans are feeling the pinch. So this is the

perfect time of year to go through your own house and

find things you no longer use that may be useful to

someone else.

As you go Christmas shopping over the next couple of

weeks, when you can, be sure to drop a little donation

into one of the Salvation Army's red kettles. Or

maybe you can donate some food to a local homeless

shelter. And by the way, if you have nothing in your

house to donate, you can always donate your time.

How's about volunteering to help serve meals at a

shelter or doing something nice for that elderly

couple who lives down the street from you?

I want you to always remember, giving is a two-way

street. It not only makes the person on the receiving

end feel good, but like I said before, it'll make you, the giver, feel good,

too!

Be one of Santa's helpers

this year.

So please, be one of Santa's helpers this year. Do

your part to make these holidays merry for those who

may not have been feeling so merry during this special

time of year.

Love,