Monday, November 24, 2008

Giving Back

It was a rough journey down here to NC. Tom's work never paid a penny for any of the move down here. Not the hotel stays, not the apartment, not the actual packing and moving, NOTHING! We stayed in an apartment, while trying to maintain a house in PA, and praying everyday that it would sell. It finally did after we took a huge loss. It's been rough this past year. But now we are finally settling in. We have a beautiful townhome, and are looking at beautiful homes for next year. We just were blessed with an amazing minivan. We are all in good health. And I feel like God will get you through the hard times, and will bless you with even more. I feel so lucky with what we have. And this Christmas I have a strong urge to give back. I always have wanted to help others, my mom always used to give to the needy when I was younger, and I looked up to her for that.

So here is what we chose to do:
First off, my grandmother is my only grandparent I have. I had a grandfather(on the other side), but he had a stroke and we never bonded. So I always knew grandmom the most. She has lived in a studio apartment for as long as I can remember. She does not drive, she is on Section 8 and Welfare. Her apartment is so gross, as soon as you walk in you want to leave. But she is so sweet and so loving! And my uncle (her son) is very poor as well. He is an army veteran, and has several times been homeless. Its rough to see family members go through this. And some ask, why we don't help them, and my family does, but there is only so much you can do. So I decided to make them baskets with personal things and food.
My second choice to give back was to adopt a family (Tom's work does this). So we got a boy and a girl. And its sad to see they like the same things Ryan does. And that just broke my heart. So many men and women are losing their jobs this year, I wanted to help out. So we will be buying them gifts this year.

I am tearing up just writing this. Can you imagine not being able to provide for your kids, especially at Christmas. Well now, because of us, hopefully they will be able to enjoy this Christmas! You know the look of your kids faces at Christmas, and their faces will be in my heart on Christmas morning. I hope Ryan follows our example like I saw my mom's and will learn to be just as caring. Maybe we really can make this world a better place!

Happy Holidays

1 comment:

Unknown said...

That's great Leigh!!! :) Takes a special person to give back like that. :)


And yes, Ethan throws tantrums daily. Hope Ry has a happy 2nd birthday!!