Happy Giving Tuesday!  We had Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Those days were about shopping for bargains and buying more stuff.  Today the focus isn’t on getting, but on giving.

We talk a lot on this blog about living a healthy lifestyle so we can live longer, stronger lives.  Why?  If we aren’t doing something important with those lives, why bother to extend them?  I don’t know about you, but I want to live so I can give.

And people who are involved with others are healthier and happier. Look around you.  There are hurting people everywhere.  Some need a helping hand. Others need a listening ear.  You can provide both!

No ideas?  Why not pick up some inexpensive gifts, wrap them up, and drop them off at a local nursing home.  Ask the workers there to give them to someone who doesn’t have a family on Christmas.

Check with your local homeless shelter.  I’m sure they will have suggestions for you.  They always need things like blankets, coats, gloves, and scarves.

Do you have a heart for children? Toys for Tots and various other groups are collecting Christmas gifts for needy kids.  Citizens Caring for Children is our local group in the Oklahoma City area that provides clothing, shoes, and coats for children in the foster care system.  I’m sure there is a similar one in your city.

And here is one of my favorites:  Reece’s Rainbow helps fund the adoption of children with Down syndrome from third world countries.  Often the children are moved from an orphanage at the age of four or five and are warehoused in adult mental institutions. It’s expensive to get them here, but there are families eager to welcome them into loving homes.  You can check them out here:  http://reecesrainbow.org.

And if you want something even more personal, my friends Karly and Joseph Jaco are raising funds to adopt baby Micah who is one of those kids with Down syndrome.  You can check them out here http://theuplook.blogspot.com.   Just two minutes and $2 can help make a life-or-death difference in a baby’s life.  So take two and give two to celebrate this Giving Tuesday!

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown