This weekend our family hosted a fund raiser in our backyard. I cooked 160 pounds of craw fish plus corn, potatoes, shrimp. sausage etc. and we had friends and friends of friends all over the place. It was awesome.
We set out jars for folks to drop a little cash or a check to help support Young Life, a non denominational outreach ministry to high school kids. In between trips to the tables to drop another basket of craw fish, I spotted my sweet six year old daughter walking towards the jars. She had just run in the house, and I later learned, pulled most of her savings out of her piggy bank, and was heading straight to the jars. I stopped her and asked what she was doing and she simply and confidently said,
"I want to give my money to Young Life so other kids can learn about Jesus."
I cleared my throat a couple times and told her how proud I was of her and let her continue on to finish the job.
Then, I bragged on her to her mama and a few of our friends. Parenting can be hard, but seeing your children turn into kind and generous people is a gift.
Needless to say, I've been reminded and inspired by my daughter to give first , give generously, and to give joyfully. My wife and I have a lot of fun giving, but we want to give more, bless more folks, share more of what we have, and of course, to experience more of the joy of generous and kind children.
What can you give joyfully today to brighten someone's day? A smile, a dollar or two, a meal, an encouragement, a prayer?
Let me know if you do it.
Have a great day,
Todd Tramonte
P.S. This is as good a time as any to let you know that we are doing our annual Peanut Butter & Jelly Drive again, so stay tuned for details about how you can help us feed hungry kids all summer while school lunch programs are not active. All food will go to North Texas Food Bank partner organizations. Call 214.216.2161 for info and our website www.PBJdrive.com will be updated soon.
