Thanks and Giving

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Judith’s comment below reminded me that I had planned to make a post prior to Thanksgiving, but time got away from me. My plans, which had be so carefully coordinated, got ripped apart literally at the last minute and I had just a short period of time to pack and get on the road.

No emergency, just learning to be flexible this season and go with whatever life throws at me. Holidays with Rachel make that almost a necessity. It’s the reason I keep a “toiletries bag” packed all the time. All the bathroom essentials just waiting to be grabbed.

ANYWAY…my entry would have been…I’m sure…full of gentle encouragement to turn thoughts outward this season, not just to give thanks but to also GIVE. Instead, I’m giving over “gentle” for “blunt.”

Yes, I know…such requests come at you constantly during the next few weeks, but I’m hoping that it’ll last beyond that….and it doesn’t necessarily require money.

Give blood. I do. I’m now a six-gallon donor. No, giving doesn’t make me feel altruistic in the least. If fact, it’s sometimes inconvenient and uncomfortable. But, for the most part, it’s 1.5 seconds of pain and 45 minutes out of your life that can save another.

If you can’t give money (or blood) to whoever’s begging this season, volunteer. This I don’t do, with all the usual excuses, but my mother does, and she loves it. She volunteers at the local hospital. I have friends who work the missions (before and after). Our church participates in the Room at the Inn program, and I’ve cooked for them before. Great stuff.

Start the new year by cleaning out closets. Lots of folks need last year’s clothes and ESPECIALLY coats.

And if you do have a little extra, please remember those who need help year round, or are still in need of help from recent disasters, from local storms to those on the Gulf coast still trying to regain ground wiped out by Katrina and Rita. Just to give you a hint, more than 99,000 families (no, that’s not a typo) still live in the tiny cramped trailers that FEMA sent down. Much help is still needed there.

In light of that, I’ve developed an affection for this book, and I bought it as a gift for several of my soft-hearted or celebrity-loving friends: Love Letters to the South. Proceeds go either the Red Cross or Habitat for Humanity.

It’s a heavy little sucker. Definitely a coffee table book, with a twist. A surprise for me in it was that DJ Qualls, whom I’ve mentioned here before, is in it. But it’s more than shots of celebrities; it’s also a record of why the book exists and why help is still needed.

So, yeah, here’s one more voice wanting you to dole something out. ‘Tis the season to be flexible…and generous.

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