Giving Back

Giving back. This is such an essential part of our lives that we tend to forget or undermine. The motivation behind sharing with others is our own gratitude. If we are grateful for what we have been given, then we are willing to give to others. When God blesses us, it is important to share those blessings. God loves a cheerful giver.

We say that because we work so hard for what we receive and accomplish that it's impossible to part with it to share with someone else who hasn't worked for it. That is a falsehood because we could be that person who doesn't have anything. It is only because God is good that we have anything at all. We can never have so little that we cannot share something with others. Even if it isn't our wealth. We can share our love, our joy, our time. There are many ways we can sacrifice and give of ourselves that really pleases God. 

There are so many wonderful charities we can support who really appreciate our offerings. I can recommend a couple religious orders who are in need of donations. One is the Benedictines of Mary in MO (benedictinesofmary.org). They just shared a new video with requests for funds for their new church. I've been there before and they are a wonderful, joyful, traditional community. Another place in need of funds is the Carmelites in PA (fairfieldcarmelites.org) The Sisters are trying to build a whole new monastery because their old one is falling apart. Anything you can do to help either Community, I know will be greatly appreciated!

Finally, I wanted to share that thanks to all your purchases on our Handmade Catholic Shop, we just sent our first donation to our local parish from the 10% profits of our first three months. Thank you to all our customers who have supported the shop. It's thanks to your orders that we can send funds to Catholic Churches. We are also only about ten sales away from sending our care packages to the American Troops through operationgratitude.com. It takes about two months for them to get the boxes overseas, so they will probably have our packages around Thanksgiving, which will be really nice. 

Again, let's remember to share what God has given us with others. If we can share monetarily, that's great. But more importantly, through our prayers and sacrifices we can help others as well. At the heart of every gift should be joy and gratitude.