I keep getting asked what I got for Christmas. So... heres my answer to a material question: I got nothing. However; I did get everything. What did I get? Blessings, in my heart & in my soul; by sending out loads & loads of clothes, bedding, toys & more to local families in TRUE need. (The pics posted here are an example of a SMALL AMOUTN of what was sent out. I worked so freakin hard at this the past week at donations, that today I can barely move & I hurt from head to toe from so much carrying, sorting, lifting, etc). I am a very non traditional breed of folk, so you wont see me post pics of a million presents under our tree.... cuz the fact is, there werent any this year. There was never one present under my tree this year. My life changed about 5 yrs ago. When I was bedridden w/the rare brain illness I fight; I was going through my daughters facebook account making sure all was safe & reading some of her friends christmas posts. One caught my eye & has never left me: A boy wrote to his friends Will you please stop posting all your presents under your tree & stop posting all the gifts you got, because many of us didnt get anything & seeing these pictures only make us sad & depressed. My heart sank the deepest I had ever felt it. That, is why I refuse to post stuff like that. The bad thing was.... he wasnt the only middle school kid who posted that same message & he wasnt the only one who didnt get anything. Jesus, the person whom Christmas was suppose to be about, only got 3 presents; yet our children get a blue million stock piled under that tree. Im sorry, but thats not what Jesus meant for being born. How many of your childrens presents could you have taken to another child in need or to the orpahange in johnson city, to a neighbor who has nothing, to a sick elderly person sitting in the hospital right now alone with no family.... etc? Have you done anything to TEACH YOUR CHILD to help & give to another, instead of drooling over the oodles of presents they are about to dig into??? Well, anyways..... I personally, didnt get anything for christmas..... not in the way you think. What I did get..... was BEING BLESSED. The past few months have been super busy for me gathering, picking up, sorting & delivering donations to families who have nothing, who are in dire circumstances, etc. I have done this gathering of donations for local families & children in need for 4-5 years now mostly through Facebook & local folks, & have realized that this is my calling in life; it is what I love to do (& we rescue cats, heal them, care for stray/ferals, make distribute winter stray cat boxes, etc). It all started with watching my mother do the same for others as I grew up. And now, these past years, I found my truest purpose in life. To post on here from my personal page about each family or child in need, their story of why they are destitute, & I beg my peeps for donations & help for families, children, elderly people, (many have health issues, are disabled or facing rare, terminal & deblitating diseases..... the children especially)... etc in need. IF IT WASNT FOR THE SELFLESS PEOPLE, FAMILIES & CHILDREN on here, (who some I know & some I still have never met); if you/they had not dropped off or met me with donations, money, furniture, toys, clothes & more...... not ONE of the families, children, animals & elderly folk, that have been in true need, COULD NOT HAVE BEEN HELPED. So.... I give the credit to all my selfless friends out there who have for years gave, donated, delivered & helped to help all the people in need that have came to me. So, the past 2 mths have been the busiest for me in helping folks in need. I get the donations, sort them, organize them, clean what needs cleaning & then deliver them in person to the families or send them by way of kind folks who will deliver them for me. Sometimes my mom & sis help. I have lost count at how many families have been helped the last 2 mths, but I will say roughly about 75 total, maybe more. I had gotten a message a few days before christmas about huge load of children in need & the woman could not get anyone to really help. Thank god, I had alot of childrens clothing in stock that I save when I have extra donations, plus I called out for help on here & out you all came with dropping off donation after donation, like you always do. So, for 3 days & 2 nights, I sorted & organized so many clothes, toys, etc till I was blue in the face. My daughter helped some. I stayed up the past few nights till about 4-5 am cuz we direly needed to get the clothes to the children today. The lady had her children to pick them up around midnight last night after I was finally done sorting & labeling. Then I had another family to come about 1 am to pick up their stuff. And that was just the past few days; thats not mentioning the last few months & last few years. So anyways; you wont see me posting a million wrapped presents for my kids, cuz well, Im sorry, but that was never what Christmas was suppose to be about, but we have turned it into a huge buy my kids a million things they dont need just to make them happy or else we feel guilty as a parent extravaganza. (Hey, I was one of those moms years ago... so I say this while including myself, k?) So, here are pictures of donations that folks kindly gave to help many, many children & families who had nothing, who are facing scary diseases, lost their homes, ran from abused men, had a house fire, kids whose parents dont give a crap about them, kids who are wearing clothes 2 sizes too small, starting over & many other reasons. My heart gets happy going through nice clothes going to kids who have none & giving nice bedspreads/blankets/sheets/comforters to families whose every blanket has holes & are so used & old they they are rags. I could go on & on; but I tell you this.... until you & your children stop focusing on the material possessions & open your eyes to WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN OUR COMMUNITY & start getting involved, this world will never change. There are teenage kids in sullivan county who are going from home to home, sleeping on a different couch each night.... and more. GET INVOLVED PEOPLE. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN NOT TO BE SO SELF ABSORBED LIKE US GROWN UPS ARE & HAVE BECOME. TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO SEE THE ONES NEEDING HELP & TO HELP THEM. So, again, these pictures here are of items that went to people & children who were in desperate need. AND THIS IS PROBABLY ONLY ABOUT 15% OF WHAT I HAVE SENT OUT THESE PAST 2 MONTHS ALONE; NOT COUNTING THE LAST 4 YEARS OF HELPING FAMILIES. So..... what did I get this Christmas??? I got a heart filled with loving blessings knowing a childs day is a little brighter, knowing a child has clothes that actually fit now, knowing a mother of sick children now has clothes instead of one outfit she wore over & over & over, knowing that some families have nice bedspreads, instead of ones with rips, holes & shreads in them & knowing more stray cats were helped too. And most of all, knowing, that I start the spark of change that must occur within each one of us, in order to change this world. ****Disclaimer: This is not a post to make you feel bad.... because THIS IS THE TRUTH OF LIFE OF WHAT IS GONG ON DAY AFTER DAY IN OUR COMMUNITY & MANY OTHERS. Also, I do not normally do my charity work through my business page; so the intent of this post is to get folks to open up their eyes to the true meaning of helping one another. It is to also show folks who do not know anything about us but who spread rumors about us; to show folks WHO we REALLY ARE & how very involved in our community we are & have been for many years now. And most important, it is to also hopefully start a spark in other local businesses to step up to the plate & start doing the same.... helping our local poor & needy. Also, I normally try to keep my wording not focused on I did this & I did that.... so if wording came out that way, it was not intended. Look, im tired, exhausted, hurt all over & havent showered in a few days from working non stop at getting loads of donations out, so my wording will most likely suck. My point is; I may have put alot of of love & physical work into this without help; but the donations came from so many people... a small portion was from my family, us & myself, but 90% was from all the wonderful peeps on here. Without such giving people, there is NO WAY on earth this could have been pulled off; and no way that hundreds of folks could have been helped the last 4-5 years of me posting for help on here for such needed families. So I give thanks & blessings to my friends & strangers on here who gave, delivered & helped, to all these other people less fortunate. God bless you, each of you, who have contributed to making every post where I make a call out for help, to come out successful each time. So... it is not ABOUT ME & ITS NOT ABOUT US.... ITS ABOUT DOING WHAT JESUS ACTUALLY MEANT FOR US TO DO.... and that is, to help one another, love one another without condition & to stop being so selfish. SO... MERRY CHRISTMAS & GOD BLESS!!! ***** We are taking today off & spending my day at home.... resting, with a heart filled with joy, peace & love. And I am enjoying seeing everyones families & children in your happiest, colorful moments. Again, what you see pictured is a very, very small portion of what we collected the last 2 months, organize & send out to local families in need. This is in no way compared to the true amount that has been gathered & distributed in the past 2 months & in the past 4-5 years. It is a MUST to give back to the community. GOD BLESS. ~Harold & T
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 21:37:50 +0000
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