A Not-So-Random Act of Kindness

The holiday season is right around the corner & like so many of the millions of Americans, I have found myself perusing the endless catalogs that arrive in the mail, trying to find yet another soon-to-be-forgotten toy to charge to my maxed-out credit card!! Not that there is anything wrong with gift-giving . . . it's great!! Who doesn't love to give & receive gifts of love from others?!? But in the midst of the hustle & bustle ~ and nobody loves hustle & bustle more than me . . . except maybe my brother & sister who join me in a shopping frenzy on Christmas Eve (now that's brave, or perhaps crazy) ~ we often get so caught up in the "stuff" (and there's a lot of stuff . . . stockings, gift wrap, trees, lights, fake snow, bells, reindeer, mistletoe, festivities . . .) that we forget that there are so many people in this world who have nothing. While we're moping around over the $200 Dream Bake Kitchen that we can't afford to by our daughters because it's just not in the budget, there are children in other countries who don't have a $2 toothbrush. While we stress about finding the perfect stuffed animal (because the 199 that are sitting in the basket in the playroom just aren't enough), there is a child somewhere who has never seen a stuffed animal, much less touched & cuddled one of their very own.

So, my challenge to you this holiday season is to find a worthy cause . . . and give!! Maybe you can volunteer at your local homeless shelter, or perhaps buy a bag of groceries for a struggling family, or maybe join my family in preparing shoeboxes of goodies for "Operation Christmas Child." Whatever it is, GIVE . . . and give generously. God has blessed us all so richly, let us not forget to lavish His love onto others who are often unloved & forgotten.

**For more information about "Operation Christmas Child" go to www.samaritanspurse.org & click in the link provided.