Charity begins at home

Over the years my travels have taken me across this great nation of ours. On those trips the one thing that stands out to me is the generosity of others.

I wanted to share with my readers some of the things I have witnessed when it comes to the charitable giving of others.

In Atlanta I once sat at a hotel looking out of the lobby window when I saw a man carrying a large brown paper grocery bag.

He was being approached by a homeless gentleman. When the homeless man asked for money to buy some food I watched the man put down his bag, reach inside and pull out a loaf of bread and peanut butter and make a sandwich.

This was an ingenious way to immediately satisfy a need without possibly contributing to another vice.

In New York City I watched as a man took his leftovers out of a restaurant and immediately placed the food on top of the nearest garbage can.

I thought he had forgotten his doggie bag as he walked away, but before I could say anything I watched as another individual who was living on the streets came along and took the food from on top of the can rather than having to dig through a disease-infested dumpster.

A recent trip to San Diego showed me another side of charitable giving as many of the restaurants would round your bill up to the nearest dollar.

The difference in the actual bill and what you paid went to nearby neighborhood kitchens to help them feed the needy.

Charity doesn't always have to be about the homeless. Last week I had to opportunity to purchase the best lemonade and cupcake you could ever hope to taste.

I bought it from a little friend of mine named Sam. Sam had set up a lemonade stand where he and his mom sat for four hours on both Friday and Saturday in the blazing heat. Sam wanted to raise money for a worthy cause - to help children who were suffering from cancer.

Over two scorching afternoons Sam managed to raise just over $1,000.

They say charity begins at home. That is certainly the case at Sam's house where his parents both taught and learned a valuable lesson.

Sam's parents listened to his little heart and instructed him to be a cheerful giver. He truly touched my heart when he said he also wanted to add all of the money he had in his piggy bank.

You may think that at 6 years old Sam doesn't know the value of a dollar to be willing to part with it so quickly. I think Sam knows the value in helping an individual in need better than most. And that knowledge is worth every penny.

When I grow up I want to be just like Sam.

We All Need The Human Touch

When you really break it down, there are two kinds of people in this world; those who like physical touch and those who do not. And when those two people get together it is like when a cold front meets a warm front. Thunderstorm, here we come.
The physical-touch crowd is easily recognized. They are the ones who must put an arm around your shoulder or a hand on your hand when they speak to you. Words are not enough to convey what they mean. A simple squeeze of their hand lets you know they are trying to show how sincere they are. The funny thing about the physical-touch person is that he is totally unaware he is doing it.
PTers should not be confused with space-invaders. Space-invaders get as close to you as possible without actually making contact. You need reading glasses to look them in the eyes. PTerswill at least speak to you at arm’s length. Far enough away to not feel they are threatening, but close enough that they can touch you at the moment of deepest sincerity.
Those who prefer not to be touched are also easily identifiable. They are the ones who are in a full sprint in two strides when they see a PTer come near. You will find them standing (sitting makes them vulnerable) with their arms crossed soaking in all that is around them. This includes the nearest exits.
Non-PTers can sometimes seem unfriendly and non-inviting. That is usually not the case though. Non-PTers may not be touchy-feely type people, but when they love you, they love you for life. While everyone is a friend to the PTer, the non-PTer has fewer but deeper, more meaningful relationships.
By now you have already put yourself in one of these two categories. You have certainly tagged someone you know with one of the two labels. A good friend once told me that there is good touchy-feely, and there is bad touchy-feely (actually I think she used the word “creepy”). Being captain of my local PTer chapter, I worried about which category she put me in. Fortunately, she wasn’t running away when she said this. Perhaps because I was hugging her shoulder too tight.
Recently my father and brother and I went on a trip. For four straight days I went without holding a baby, hugging a friend, or tussling the hair of a toddler. Was it any wonder that my brother asked if he could have a room to himself the last night on the road? I missed my wife. I missed the babies I get to keep each week in the church nursery. And, although I thought this impossible, I missed my daughter even more.
So, if you see a non-PTer running through your hallway followed by a PTer, consider yourself warned. A thunderstorm is on the way.