Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A Moment to Reflect, Hope, and Help


'Tis the season for giving, and all that good stuff, yes?

There are the pre-planned ways to give, and the spontaneous ones that take us by surprise too.  In our house, we donate to charity (or people) when we can, and when it feels like we're supposed to (even if we can't really afford to at the time), and it always feels right.  One of the pre-planned ways we donate is to give new coats to the children in the homeless shelters, or domestic violence shelters.  We pick up coats all year long that we find on sale (right when winter ends you can find brand new coats for as low as $5 in some places!), and then just before Christmas we take them to the directors of the shelters, for them to disburse as needed.

My littlest got involved last year & this is him taking a coat and a toy in while the rest of us gathered our coats to donate too.

My vow was not to complain about the cold this year, and I'm doing so-so on that, with subtle complaints rather than out-and-outs, but in reality, I cannot stand to be cold, and the thought of a child being cold makes my heart ache.  So I do my part, small as it is, and take the extra effort to be on the lookout for coats throughout the year, and it makes me feel very happy to know somewhere a child is warm this winter because we bothered to bother.

There are many, many ways to donate (time, effort, money, items) any time of the year, but Christmas is an extra special time of the year when we should be reaching out and giving.  For God so loved the world... and we should too.

If you haven't considered volunteering in some small (or large if so inclined) way this season, there is still time, and I hope you will take the time out to do so.  No one even needs to know but you.  It will do your heart good (and someone else's too!) to go that extra mile.

I hope you will take a moment to reflect on how blessed your life is, and if you're sitting in a warm house, browsing sites on the Internet, you are blessed; offer hope to others who may not be so lucky, and reach a hand out to help.  If you do, your heart will surely thank you.


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41 comments:

  1. I think it is wonderful your little one is involved now. Coat gifting is a great way to donate. We donate when we can as well and IT DOES always feel good. Thanks for stopping by Consider Me Inspired!

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  2. What a great example to have your kids involved in such great projects. It helps them develop a giving attitude that will carry on. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I hope it does carry on when they're older. It's so easy when they're little because they love to give. :)

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  3. I volunteer to help out my sister's family. I know they are family, it's expected that I should help, but we all help. It's been hard with all my nephew's ups and downs. Trisomy 18 is supposed to be what the hospital considers to be, "Incompatable with life." well he's 1 1/2 now. He's had to get jaw surgery, be put on a ventilator, had a hernia fixed, his adenoids out, his club foot fixed and he got 2 tumors on his kidneys that have had to be treated with light chemo. I've taken in our other nephews during hospital stays and tried to come up with things that are fun to keep their minds off of their brother and mom being at the hospital.

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    1. It sounds like you are amazing at being both a sister and an aunt!

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  4. Great idea! Such a nice way to help out during the holidays. We have lots of "Coats for Kids" drives in the area. I'll be on the lookout for coats on sale this year to donate!

    It's so nice how you have your son involved. Start them young!

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    1. I'm happy to say I've seen one (Coasts for Kids) drive this year too, hurrah!

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  5. I always hate to hear about people that freeze to death. Anyway I am happy you are able to give to others this time of year, and I am sure throughout the rest of the year. Hopefully it will catch on to others as well. Happy Holidays!

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    1. I like the idea of contagious giving. :) Thanks for stopping by, Gina.

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  6. Awesome post. It is good to help others who are not as fortunate as we are. Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday.

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    1. Agreed. You have a good Wed. too, Judy. :)

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  7. What a beautiful and most of all inspiring post. I love that you have vowed not to complain about the cold but instead focus on having, hopefully, helped a child in need stay warm by donating winter coats. I love this idea. I hope to incorporate this wonderful tradition into our own family history.

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    1. Oh, it's fun, the kids really, really like it! We take toys too, but the coats are even better because you know they're going to get a lot of use. Thanks for your visit!

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  8. How lovely of you to be so generous and caring. It's the perfect time of year to be thinking of others not so fortunate. Merry Christmas to you and thank you for visiting me and for your sweet comments. xx

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    1. Thanks for visiting here too! I really liked your tea station! as: Sign out
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  9. Awesome what you are doing! I always give all year long! This year I organized a foo drive and clothes drive for a shelter in our county! I got so many bags and bins, the entire back of my van was filled to compasity! The shelters head person was so grateful for all the things I collected! Wonderful post!

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    1. I bet the head person does appreciate it! How wonderful, Pamela!!!! My mother-in-law just donated all the clothes she had in her huge barn (after she washed them even!), from yard sales passed, and it was just like you are noting. Her things went to Detroit, I believe, and there's a LOT of need there.

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  10. What a great idea and how thoughtful!

    You are awesome!

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    1. Thanks, Veronica. Your 12 Days of Christmas post was awesome today!

      My cookies never come out looking like that, I can tell you. ;)

      http://ofmiceandramen.blogspot.com/2012/12/twelve-days-of-christmas.html

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  11. This reminds me of Operation Warm Coat that Klove does. It's such a wonderful thing you are doing!
    I was taking a bath today and praying with thanks that we could have warm water! And then I thought of all the people who didn't.

    I love when we get our children helping with donating and being hands on. It teaches them to be this way later on in life.

    A wonderful sharing Rosey.
    God bless y'all!

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    1. The Warm Coat Operations are so awesome, aren't they?!?! Way, way better than anything I could organize. Love them!

      You and I both have quite a few things in common, I already know, but a soft spot for any child is one of them. :)

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  12. An inspiring post. Very thoughtful.
    Wishing you a happpy holiday season.
    Pat

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    1. Glad you came to visit, Pat. The same happy wishes to you. I love this season!!

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  13. Great idea and way to help out during the holidays! So great that your little one is involved too :)

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    1. The kids (even the older ones) get so into it (or any kind of volunteer help), that it makes it even more special. Enthusiasm is contagious. ;)

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  14. My daughter is on the Student Council and they are sponcering a clothing drive this year--we do complain about the cold so much, and we forget some are not even dressed for it--that's something that we can change!! Very nice project for the whole family to get involved with.

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    1. Big kudos to your daughter, and you're right, if there's something huge going on, like people being cold or hungry, we really can make a difference. I hope her school's clothing drive is a HUGE SUCCESS!

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  15. That's wonderful that you donate your coats to the local shelter. I know our church did a coat drive once, but mostly now they look for donations to the food pantry (and we dontate to that a few times a year). I also give to Toys for Tots at Christmas time. I usually have each of the boys pick out a toy to donate and I buy a few extras to accompany them! It makes me sad to think of anyone having to go without at Christmas time - especially kids.

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    1. We donate at Toys for Tots too. Can you imagine your kids not having even one present for Christmas? I know I can't. I love how the communities pull together for the toys.

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  16. a lovely and inspiring post. Thank you for sharing at the blog hop xo

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  17. Such a great post today Rosey! So inspiring! Our school sends home a lot of papers this time of year for donations. The last one was for warm pajamas. It never really crossed my mind about donating pj's, but it totally makes sense. Walmart had $5 jammies, so we went and got those for donation. We will be taking the girls out for Toys for Tots toy buying this weekend. And of course, the food banks always need extra food this time of year too!

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    1. Warm jammies, I like it!!

      I agree, the food banks could always use food, but this time of year it means a ton in more ways than one!

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  18. What an inspirational post! That's great that you do this around the holidays, which reminds me that i have to find the location where I can drop off my unwrapped toy for a tot this year. Thanks for sharing.

    I'm stopping by from Katherine's Corner blog hop.

    Happy Favorite Things Thursday!

    http://artpark78.com/blog1/i-made-my-2012-holiday-wreath/

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    1. I have barely had a chance to hop today, but I'll be going this evening. I'm gonna head over to your place right now.

      Toys for Tots is awesome, isn't it? They took the bin out of our local toy store last year and I said, "Whaaa?!?!?" It still baffles me. Thankfully there are other stores locally who still participate.

      Thanks for stopping by.

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  19. What a great example to set your kids.

    Thank you for stopping by and linking up at the Friday Chaos this week.
    Have a nice weekend

    Kerry
    www.ohsoamelia.com

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  20. That is such a wonderful idea! My heart is always wanting to donate, but can't afford extra things myself. Looking for winter coats on clearance is a great way to get something affordable in any size.

    Thanks for sharing with my NO RULES Weekend Blog Party :)

    Paula
    lifeasweknowitbypaula.blogspot.com

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    1. I was in JcPenney this weekend and they had tons of things on sale (really, really good sales) but not the coats. Not yet... :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  21. What a great example. Thanks so much for sharing with Wednesday's Adorned From Above Blog Hop. This weeks party is live. Here is the link. I can't wait to see what you have to share.
    http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/12/5-fun-posts-and-wednesdays-adorned-from.html
    Happy New Year.
    Debi

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