It’s beginning to be that time of year again!! Here at The Chiropractic Villa we are
collecting toys, which will benefit:
·The
Family Place
·The
Boys & Girls Club of North Central Texas
We were very pleased with the generous amount of donations
we received last year and hope to collect even more this year! Of course all
toys are greatly appreciated, but toys needed most are for the 10-14 age groups
for both girls and boys. It’s easy and fun to buy for those little kids, and so
we often forget about the pre-teens and early teens needing some Christmas
cheer as well. It’s heartbreaking to
know that there are so many children, even in America, who have to worry about
when their next meal will be. Giving them a toy for Christmas doesn’t begin to
solve their problematic situations, but they are still children and deserve to
experience times of joy, if even for a little bit.
Mission work is something very dear to both my and my
mother’s hearts. I hope to have the opportunity of doing Chiropractic missions
work in the future, but so far I have been fortunate enough to do a few things
here and there. From when I was very young, I remember not only participating
in things like the local Angel Tree opportunities and Operation Christmas
Child, but we also went as a family to mission’s trips to Mexico with an eye
Doctor friend of ours. There are always ways we can relate with others, no
matter where they live and I remember having lots of fun as a five-year old
playing with the children in Mexico and helping them choose sun glasses and
understand how to use hygiene items like toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Because of my mom’s successful work with World Vision by
getting many children sponsored, she has had the opportunity to go to
Guatemala, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and I was able to join her on a trip to Haiti.
World Vision is an excellent organization and we have been repeatedly impressed
with how they differ from programs that just give handouts. World Vision is a
child sponsorship program that provides the sponsored child things like clean
drinking water, food, and education. My mom was amazed on one of her trips when
there were several children in one particular family, but not all of the
children were sponsored. When asked why the additional children were not
sponsored yet they were told that they didn’t want to teach dependence on
handouts, but instead wanted to teach self-sufficiency to the locals. What a
concept!
What’s neat about World Vision is you can actually
communicate through letters with the child you sponsor and you will receive
pictures as they grow and information on their progress. If you want to
personally send them some small gifts you can do that as well, which of course
they love. Some people help their sponsored child’s family get things like
goats or chickens, which further helps their self-sufficiency.
We aren’t all called into the mission’s field, but I think
it is important for all of us to experience a small portion at least once. So
many of us have truly no idea how blessed we are. We have never experienced
what it feels like to have an actual hunger pain. We don’t have to walk
barefoot hundreds of miles, while risking our life, just for water...that is
dirty and most likely contaminated. My mom witnessed several times on her trips
where small children, kindergarten age, would tuck away a portion of their
already measly scrap of food into a pocket either to eat later or to give to a
relative back home. No we shouldn’t feel guilty for our advantages and run off
and sell everything, but putting things into perspective and not whining about
things that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things is my goal here.
There will always be a new version of the Iphone, a more
supped-up car, and bigger and better houses. Our desires will almost never be
met. But giving someone a chance to meet their daily needs when there may be no
other opportunity for them, and giving a child something small to smile about
is irreplaceable in both your heart and theirs.
