OPERATION - GIVE BACK

Well, I gave myself until December 15th to be "done" with all my preparations for the holidays..and aside from stocking stuffers, I am done. The house is decorated, the outdoor lights are up, the presents are wrapped (I still need to get the out of town gifts out of my diningroom).

I had yet to feel the spirit of the holiday, that is until last evening. My daughter and I went to our church and helped wrap gifts for the adopted families of the community that need help this year. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the people of our church, but also the large need in the community. We were wrapping for more than 800 families...(We have a large church). My heart broke when I read the situations that these families were in, and even though we were giving them something, I hardly thought it was enough. There were no ipods, cameras, or video games on the list of the children. They were replaced with socks, hats, mittens and food. Food. I always knew there were people struggling to make ends meet, but food...a basic necessity to be on a Christmas wish list was unbelievable to me. In a rich nation such as ours, people should not have a hard time getting food.

I have decided that what I want to do this year is not just remember these families in December, but I will start volunteering at least several times EVERY month in 2009. My own personal OPERATION GIVE BACK.

As I mentioned in a previous post we will be saving a significant amount of money on our refinance. I will put part of that extra money toward my goal for 2009 -- to GIVE BACK.

I have been so fortunate. And I'm a bit embarrassed that I have not truly recognized it sooner...