Comments on: Not Just For Christmas {Christmas in July}

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:02:17 +0000

A while back when I was at our local scrapbook store one crop night, one of the ladies there who works in the nursery at a hospital here was saying how they really needed volunteers to come and rock/hold the babies that are born to mothers who are drug addicts. These babies cry alot and are restless (going through withdrawal due to their mothers use) and their mothers usually don’t want anything to do with them. She said they are always so busy and never have enough volunteers or ones who want to deal with these babies. I told her, “I think I have some girls for you, mine!” I ran it by my two oldest daughters and they jumped at the chance. The first day they volunteered, my oldest told me “mom, it felt so good to help these babies out, I really felt like they needed me.” My other daughter loved it as well and added, “how awful that these moms did this to these little ones and the effect it has on their babies, how could someone do that?”
They still volunteer when the need is there, thankfully there are not too many babies born like that. They have our number and call and ask if the girls can come in. It is also such a teaching moment to my daughters, they see first hand what drugs can actually do and how harmful they really are. They were both in some tears their first day, they really felt for these babies, and then also gave me a big hug and kiss for doing right by them and their other siblings and for being a good mom and how blessed they are! That’s an extra BIG bonus!

By: Rose

Rose — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:25:14 +0000

Great post

By: Sue

Sue — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:15:07 +0000

What a wonderful reminder of everyday giving as well as the spirit of giving! It’s so true that things we model on a regular basis for our kids influence the values they adopt! My kids are now grown, and it’s fun to see what values they have taken from their family of origin. Thanks for the nudge!

By: jamie

jamie — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:59:14 +0000

We lived in a small town in Oklahoma a year or so back, and there was mentally handicapped man that wandered around town (everyone told us he lived with some family). He spent the winters at the public library during open hours. We would go two or three times a week and I started making sure that I had some money handy each time we went, and my oldest started to notice. It didn’t take too long for her to begin asking about making sure we had something to take the man. Sometimes we took him food, or clothes, or money, but she always made sure that we had something to give him. A few times we went and he wasn’t there, and we were sad because we had come to look forward to giving him little gifts.