Our oldest daughter, "L" loves learning big words and today our family talked about philanthropy. The definition is...Love and benevolence toward the whole human family; universal good will; desire and readiness to do good for all mankind. It led us to basis of what we believe. God, wants us to give with a happy heart. The scripture can explain it more clearly than I can...
Let's back up a minute. What sparked the whole subject? It was a blog that I came across today. I browsed it and it set my mind racing. This young guy is making a small donation to a charity every day for a year. He also provides a way for others to donate with him. And even sweeter, he is dedicating his experience to his mother. (I bet that his mother is proud.)
I found myself doing an internet search on micro-philanthropy and was inspired. When you give a little to a lot of people, basically, you can make a big impact. There are many groups and individuals talking about this and encouraging others to participate. After all, we are not all wealthy or have foundations with our name on it. We are just people that want to make an impact. This is also not about if you are a Christian or not, just a member of the human race.
It is very important to"H" and I that our children grow to be generous and compassionate. We want them to be grateful and to know the joy that giving to others can bring. Frankly, I believe that all parents want similar things for their kids. Unfortunately, living in middle class suburbia can limit ones perspective at times. So how the heck do you do that?? Let me know when you find the perfect answer, please. All I know is that "H" and I fall short of our own personal goals to give more of our time, talents, and resources to others. We get caught up in our own wants and needs for our family, in regards to our time and our money. We give to our church and some other causes, and do some volunteering, yet our children rarely are involved in the decision making. We discuss donating and tithing with them and they know that it is important but they are mainly spectators.
We have decided to shine a brighter light on giving at our house. We decided that organizing a daily donation seemed to be a little too overwhelming and unmanagable for us. However, starting today, we are also going to give a small donation to a cause that one of our kids picks, every Saturday. We can then talk and pray about them all week. We will generate ideas together and each child can research charities and make his/her own choice. We will call it "Sharing Saturday."
The kids (minus one sleeping baby) seemed really excited and when I asked them why we were doing this, they said...
"J" - "It means LOVE!"
"PT"- "To show other people that God loves them no matter what."
"L"- "God loves us and other people and we should show other people that God loves them too."
This is just a small step but we hope that it will not only lead our pocketbooks, but our hearts and minds to other people needing assistance. Hopefully, we will become more emotionally and physically involved in service this year too as a family.
This week, our donation is going to Ohio Valley Voices. They are a school and their fundamental belief is that deaf children can learn to speak. "L" suggested this one because her friend in Girl Scouts, who was helped by the people at Ohio Valley Voices as a young child, was disappointed when the troop voted to donate a portion of our Girl Scout cookie proceeds to another deserving cause. "L" thought that she'd "like to make it up to her." (P.S. I love that kid.) If you want to know more about O.V.V. just click above on their underlined name and it should take you to the website.
So why am I babbling on like this?? First of all, I am excited and long-winded. I think that it will be fun and good for us to actually chisel out time to discuss the charities we choose. I know that a few dollars isn't much but I believe that it will have a positive impact us and on the recipients of our donations. Even more importantly, I wanted to share the idea with others so that maybe, if you choose to do something like this too, the impact will continue to grow. Wouldn't that be great! If you and yours already do something like this or even something completely different, or even plan to, please share it with us. You never know who you might absolutely love your idea too.
Who's in??
Acts 20:35
...that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.
...that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.
1 comment:
When I grow up, I want to be just like you. I need to work some of this into our family. I am not worthy!
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