Giving Day 2007 (w/ a little Christmas Miracle)

I went back and forth as to whether I should share this post. After all, we want to store up treasure in Heaven, not on earth, but this is also my only journal. So . . .

We started "Giving Day" when Leia Rose was two-years-old. It started as one day only that involved both neighborhood and community, but that got to be too much for one day! So we split it. : ) Now we give to the neighborhood one day and the community on another (and sometimes another). From very early on in Leia's life, I felt like it was important for our children to feel a responsibility to help the needy, both in the context of the world and in our very own community. Even though the poor are often spoken of in Christian circles (and especially at Christmas time), there's nothing that compares to seeing the living/working poor, and helping them in whatever way we can, . . . and actually allowing Leia Rose (and Annie) to do the giving. [And, no, it shouldn't be just one "Giving Day" per year. It should be year-around, . . . in a perfect world. I'll admit that we're not always this generous. However, I do keep a small stash of gift-cards set in the side pocket of our car for just that purpose. We will give small gifts as well as small gift cards, but never ever money. I just don't want us to contribute to any bad habits that the person may or may not have.]

Anyway, the other day we picked up a very special teddy bear ornament with the name of a little three-year-old girl on it as well as one for a fifteen-year-old boy. (I wanted one for each child, . . . and the poor older boys are always neglected, so . . .) I asked Leia Rose what kind of toy(s) she would like to buy for her little girl, and she said that since both herself and Annie loved their Perri-Pat-Pat/Cherry-Chat-Chat, that maybe we should get her one of those. So we went right to CVS and I let both Leia and Annie pick one out to give. I chose a nice cologne set for the older boy to add to the mix. I told Leia Rose she could choose one more thing for her little girl, and she chose a little doll in a carrying case with clothes and accessories. : )
Then we took the gifts right to the special Christmas House box in the mall, . . .

. . . imagining our little girl and boy so happy on Christmas Day.
Annie gave her little kitty away as well, . . .

Then we purchased some McDonalds gift cards to give out to the poor. It was at this point that a tiny Christmas Miracle happened: When we were done purchasing our gift cards to give away, I was asking Leia Rose if she remembered any of the stuff we watched/read about the poor, . . . and I mentioned the song "Christmas Shoes," which I hadn't heard yet this year, but I was telling her it was a good example of the struggles of the proverbial poor child. Anyway, I was fretting a bit about not reading/watching appropriate materials with Leia/Annie about the poor before this trip. Well, you won't believe it, but guess the next song to come on the radio? "Christmas Shoes"!!! I couldn't believe it!!! I told Leia Rose that God sent that song to us at that moment, to help her understand the poor in our community. And I truly believe that, too.

Then it was off to Durham to give away some McDonalds gift cards to any poor person we could find, so at least they could get a hot meal on this cold day. (Mamma knows where they usually hang out.) What was funny was that the first person we saw, I waved over and it turned out it was just a guy crossing the street. Ha! Leia Rose thought that was SO funny! (And so did I!) Anyway, I instructed Leia that she could be the one to give the gift, but all she was allowed to say was "Merry Christmas." The man who's plight struck us the most today had a sign that read, "Homeless. Living in woods. Just need a little help. God bless." Leia Rose did really well with her, "Merry Christmas," and how grateful he was to get that gift card! He said Merry Christmas to all of us with a big smile.
And little Annie experienced it, too, . . . but she had no idea what was going on. : ) Maybe next year.

Now traditionally, beforehand I spend a long time having the children read/watch some stories about the poor. Today we did it all after the giving, . . . this is mostly because I'm a bit scatterbrained these days. First, we got home and colored our ornaments from the children (so now we have two more cute teddys on our tree) and then we did some reading/watching. There's a good book called Fly Away Home about a little boy who lives in an airport with his dad, . . . The first episode of Punky Brewster is good too, with a homeless Punky living in a vacant apartment having been run out on by her Dad and then left at a shopping center by her mom. A small section of Santa Claus the Movie has a homeless boy as well, . . . and there's always bits and pieces of Oliver. These are all sensationalized, of course, but enough for a little child to understand (I hope). And I'll always wonder what kind of impression this "Giving Day" idea has had on my girls view of the world. It'll be interesting to hear their ideas as they grow older.

The only thing we haven't done yet is deliver the goodies to the Police and Firefighters to thank them for keeping us safe. Those poor public service people, they always get only what's left in regards to goodies. And this year it's only popcorn! (If we make it there at all.) So much for our civic duty!