It's Your Turn To Give

A mother was sick and tired of hearing her children always telling her what they wanted Santa to bring them.  On one such occasion she reminded them that Christmas is a time of giving and not receiving.

The children could tell that Mom really believed what sounded like absolute nonsense to them.  They secretly met and tried to figure out what was going through their mother's head.  They finally came to a conclusion as to what must be done.

They went to their mother in a very concerned manner.  The oldest child acted as the spokesperson: "Mom, we've been thinking about what you told us about how important it is to give at Christmas; with all of our talk about Santa, you must have felt left out.  We don't want you to feel this way, Mom.  So I'll tell you what we have decided to do.  Santa doesn't have to get us all the presents; if you want to get us some, too, we're going to let you!"

- Michael Hodgin, Parables, Etc. (December 1993)

Anyone Can Be Generous

"NBC Nightly News" carried the story of the retirement of an unusual volunteer at Pittsburg Children's Hospital. His name is Albert Lexie. Lexie shined shoes there two days a week, but there is a lot more to the story. Lexie had been shining the shoes since 1981. He only charged $5, but said anything more than that amount was given to a free care fund at the hospital for people who can't pay their bills. His first year, Albert donated $750. That rose to more than $11,000 in 2012. In all, he donated more than $200,000. Albert served in a humble way, using his particular gift, which reaped great rewards for others. On the day of his retirement, there were news cameras, applause and many tears.

- The Daily Nightly (December 18, 2013)