As the Christmas season nears, some of us are in a giving mood.  Every year I notice that there are two different types of givers.  There are those that give until it hurts, and those that give until it feels good.  I thought I would take a minute to share a couple giving stories that are close to me.              

The first story is about my wife’s home town.  It’s a really small town, and like most has a unique set of challenges.   Like most problems, it revolves around money.  Some leaders emerged and formed a committee to help make the town better.  Their top priorities are quality of living, and business promotion.  They have had a good deal of success in both areas. 

As a side note, I think the key to their success is attitude.  Like all things, when you achieve some success you get more support.  I know a guy who grew up in this same community.  He has since moved away and now owns a big feedyard in western Nebraska.  After seeing the accomplishments the town made he gave them $25,000 for future projects.  He shared with me how proud he is of his childhood friends, that are making this change, and if they continue improving he will give more money in the future.            

The next story is one I feel particularly good about.  Through a series of events my eyes were opened to how great the need is for food assistance in my area.  The county I live in is pretty much agriculture and manufacturing, so people here have experienced the pains of layoffs.  My wife and I really wanted to help, but we don’t have a lot of money to give.  We prayed about it for a spell and the answer came to me one morning while I was feeding cattle.  I was listening to the Christian radio and the point of the broadcast I was hearing was “you do what you do, and God will do the rest.”  I raise and feed cattle.  So we decided to donate a side of beef to our church.  This beef is used when it is the church’s turn at our local Warren’s Table.  Or they can use it if there is a house fire, and take that family a meal.  The volunteers on the church’s outreach committee do the cooking and clean up

Merry Christmas everybody!