Thanks and Giving….Both are Important

WHATS IN THIS BLOG:
• A beautiful pay-it-forward story
• Tips: how to be more thankful
• Tips: how to be more giving

A BEAUTIFUL PAY-IT-FORWARD STORY:
This comes from my step-daughter Kim McGrath and occurred during the week of Thanksgiving many years ago. She used to teach a class of twenty 6-7 year olds in a public school.

In her own words……
“I had the most wonderful lesson this week. Told my students Monday that if they read 10 stories by Tuesday lunchtime, they’d earn a coupon for a Braum’s single-dip ice-cream cone. They all did lots of reading and earned their coupon.

However, their excitement turned to boo’s when I told them they now had to “Pay-it-forward.” They had to give their coupon to some other student at school, and someone they didn’t know. They were not happy.

So I talked about blessings, giving to others (how that makes us feel), and how it makes others feel. I told the kids to think about how they felt when they gave their coupon away and wished the receiver a Happy Thanksgiving. And how it made someone else feel to receive such a nice surprise.

All afternoon the kids were seeking opportunities to give their coupons away. To see the exchange and the responses was heart-warming! At the end of the day, the kids all returned to their school room and discovered on each desk two new coupons: a Braum’s ice-cream sundae coupon and Taco Bell coupon for a taco and a medium drink. The kids were so surprised and excited, they were jumping up and down! It’s called pay it forward!”

Thanks and Giving are opposites. Thanks are for things we receive. Giving is what we initiate. Finding a balance can be difficult……especially since some of us are more givers and others are more takers.

TIPS: HOW TO BE MORE THANKFUL:

• Be like Andrew. A huge man who looked like a defensive tackle for the NFL reached out to shake my hand, just to wish me Happy Thanksgiving. Huge hands and strong handshake. He was a clerk in the Apple Store in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He looked into my eyes and added we should all be thankful because we have so much. My brother Neil in Australia said, Being born in America or Australia is like winning the lottery, we are so lucky.

• Develop an attitude of gratitude that lasts all day long. Click on this link to find out the benefits. There is also a chapter in Spontaneous Happiness, by Dr Andrew Weil, that lists the benefits.

• Thank God often. Thank him that you can walk, and you can see. And for your families, your job, your home. For your health. If you ask him for help, thank him when help comes. If it’s a big help, thank him twice: thank you, thank you God.

TIPS: HOW TO BE MORE GIVING:

• Be like Sumi. She was relatively new to Patient Records in Jane Phillips Hospital in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Couldn’t have been more than 21 years old. When I asked her where the Imaging Department was, she offered to take me there, a long way out of her way. She didn’t have to, but she did. It’s called going the extra mile.

• Give when you feel down. Psychologists have nailed this one……giving is a good thing (but a hard thing) to do when we are feeling down. They know it makes us feel better.

• Follow this ancient formula. And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry, and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness….and the Lord shall guide you continually….and make strong your bones. (From Isaiah, one of the great prophets, Chapter 58). While I love the middle promise, the two other promises make it seem like a big payoff!

A HEALTHY BALANCE OF GIFTING:

• Downsize gifting at Christmas. I have heard this from several parents. The number of children’s toys and other gifts by parents, aunts and uncles, and g-parents is sometimes excessive. For the child, it dilutes the value of any one gift, and all gifts. To illustrate the excess, one husband ended up piling a previous year’s gifts into a truck and hauling the contents to Goodwill…….and no-one at home missed the older gifts.

• Gift a goat instead: A couple I know have dramatically downsized their Christmas giving, and redirected the money by donating a live goat to a family in a third-world country. It’s easy to do…… And it reduces the stress of having to choose so many gifts and the worry whether the gift will be wanted, or if the new clothes will fit. Reliable NGOs exist that are feeding starving children, or drilling water wells, or building orphanages for teenage girls who have been trapped in the sex-traffic trade.

TAKEAWAY: The quickest way to touch the finger of God is to give something, or find another way to help someone in need.
This blog is a repeat of a blog I wrote ten years ago.

I wish you lots of fun and happiness at this Thanksgiving 2025.
The Gray Nomad

Preach the Gospel always. Use words if necessary. [St. Francis of Assisi].