Counting Our Blessings = Giving To Others

In early December, we received the annual request from Mom and Dad T. regarding what we, The B's, wanted for Christmas. Last year we ended up with a check card, that, along with a gift from Mom and Dad B., we used to celebrate our 3rd anniversary at Magnolia Grill several months later.

This year, Mr. B and I (as previously mentioned) decided to cut back on our holiday expenditures for one another. We budgeted for a nice Christmas Eve dinner and a few gifts to exchange Christmas morning.

So, we get above referenced email and it made me think. What do we REALLY need, anyway? Yes, we can ALWAYS find something to buy/splurge on. Then, I remembered that, when I was reading The Wall Street Journal (I've got that subscription on hold right now; talk about a waste of money otherwise), I would on occasion see an advertisement for an organization called The Smile Train. Each and every time I saw their ad, I'd think to myself, "Now, that is a worthy outfit". Basically what they do is provide free cleft surgery to kids (in underdeveloped countries, mostly). In addition to immediately improving their health, it gives the kids beautiful, normal smiles.

I asked Mom and Dad T. if they'd mind terribly if we combined the money they were giving us (in lieu of a physical gift) with money we would have spent on them and make a donation to The Smile Train. Now, talk about a meant to be; I sent Dad an email one morning and that very afternoon, they received something in the snail mail from The Smile Train.

Long story short, they felt it was an excellent idea.

So, a few moments ago, I made a sufficient donation to provide one child with a new lease on life.

Talk about smiling! I feel GREAT about this!

We also received gifts of cash/gift cards from Mom and Dad B. and Father and Margot. Being in a generous mood, I allocated some of their gift(s) to another worthy organization, The Cancer Recovery Foundation Children's Project. This outfit provides all sorts of help and assistance to kids with cancer and their families.

Maybe it's been all of the sentimental Christmas music I've been listening to for the past several weeks that brought this spirit of giving on; in particular, "Count Your Blessings"; but, I just felt the need to acknowledge MY blessings by helping those that are not so fortunate.

Mrs. B