Sharing Is Caring -- Helping Others
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I am reminded of times when my family helped others. Mom shared our food several times, especially during the holidays. In one town, we lived next to an elderly woman who lived alone. Mom dished up a plate of food for her every time we had a special meal.
Sharing was a family tradition. Grandpa shared vast amounts of veggies from his enormous gardens. He even gave food to the town school so the kids would have fresh veggies in their lunches! My aunt continues the tradition by sharing goodies from her garden.
Not all of our gifts are food-related. Our family has a long history of sharing handmade things, such as knitted, crocheted, embroidered, and sewn items.
Crocheting and giving prayer shawls to churches and cancer centers is one way that Mom helps people. Almost all the lovely shawls go to people whom Mom will never meet or hear a "thank you" from. But she still makes them while saying a prayer for the wearer's health.
How can you help people?
1. Sharing
Food
Like Mom shared a simple meal from our holiday
table, many people could give a meal to a neighbor, a friend, or another person
in need. Our neighbor takes food to an elderly friend a couple of blocks away. You could invite someone to your table to join in your family's
festivities or you could dish up a yummy meal for a home-bound person.
2. Running
Errands
Often people need for someone to run an errand for them. Some people do not have transportation while some have other challenges. Simply offering to pick up some essentials for a friend or neighbor can make that person's life easier.
3. Fixing
Things
You don't need to be a master repairman to help someone. Something as simple as changing a lightbulb or shoveling a snowy sidewalk can make someone's world safer. What do you think you might be able to do to brighten someone's world?
4. Giving
Small Gifts
A small, unexpected gift can help a person in surprising ways. Imagine how nice it would have been to receive a gift when you least expected it. Often, a simple, inexpensive gift is the nicest. Mom gives a piece of candy to the Meals On Wheels delivery person. The small token of her appreciation – decked out in colorful foil – is like receiving a decoratively wrapped "thank you" gift.
5. Sharing
Time
Perhaps the best gift of all is a piece of
your time. Even before the pandemic, we did not spend quality time together like
they did decades ago. When was the last time you sat and talked with someone
who needed your companionship? Or played a quiet game of cards or chess with a
friend?
Or simply listened to someone recall special moments of their past?
In the past, people shared their companionship. Friends dropped in on each other. Family members gathered around the dining table after church on Sundays. Neighbors sat on their porches and welcomed others to join them.
Giving a piece of your time can make a
person shake off their depression for a few precious minutes. It can tell a person
with cancer that you care. Or it can just bring a bright smile to a tired face.
As we write our Thanksgiving menus and make
our plans, we pencil in some time to spend with people who need our help. Some
need our fix-it skills. (Hubby is replacing a broken kitchen light fixture tomorrow.)
Some need to add their errands to our errands run. But some people just
need to feel our hugs and tell us their stories.
Those of us at Terrie's Studio hope that
all of you have a warm and blessed time this Thanksgiving. May your fave team
win the football game and may your fave dessert be delicious! Happy
Thanksgiving!
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| Scout wants to play! |
(We are thankful that the vet diagnosed the source of Scout's pain. He has compressed discs in his neck and arthritis. Poor guy! His spirit is willing, but his body isn't.)
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