As a new parent who waited and wondered if I'd ever be blessed with the title, it's hard not to spoil my son. Not that he knows yet what being spoiled is, or asks or wants for things, but everywhere I go, I am tempted by toys, clothes, books, and snacks that I "just know he'll love." Sometime in the last year, I decided that when faced with these situations, I would try my hardest to skip unnecessary purchases in the above categories, make a note of their cost, and add that much to Ben's college fund the next time I was at the bank. While this did happen on occasion, I often failed to keep track of such temptations. Overall though, it's a good thought process because it has dissuaded me from many purchases.
On Saturday morning, while driving home from our slumber in the city, I pushed this thought process to another level. The weather outside was quite frightful and although the roads were slick and snow was coming down, I was cozy in the car with great KBCO tunes while Ben snoozed away in the back seat. We approached a large crowd of people at a business on the right side of the street and several people were struggling across the street with their arms full. As we got closer, I realized the people walking away had coats in their arms and the crowd was the line around the building of people waiting for coats. It was a Dependable Cleaners location, which has long been a sponsor of Coats for Colorado. The temperature was 20 degrees and the snow was falling fast and I watched one woman in only a hoodie reach down to pull her baby out of her stroller and cover her in a light fleece blanket. Then I noticed all the other small children gripping the hands of their parents. By this point I was absolutely sobbing. At one point my crying woke Ben so I got a grip in hopes he would nod back off.
So my thought process about Ben's savings went to ....others. Why not take those moments of temptation and think about what that $5 might mean to others? As a family, we do give regularly to those less fortunate but there is always room for more. As we were driving home from two days away, Ben had 3 different warm coat options for whatever the weather gave us. I just can't stop thinking about what one of those coats might mean to someone else. We are often moved to give around the Holidays, with the sentiment, " 'tis the season", abound. I hope that drive and this post serve as a reminder for how many have so little and how the need does not diminish when" 'tis the season" ends. Further, I challenge our family to think of direct routes of giving. Surely almost anyone who can't afford a coat, has other financial challenges. What might $20 have meant to someone in that line? Most certainly more than the 10 cents of my dollar that might end up helping in other charitable situations. We won't stop giving to places that need to pay others to create the good, but I am also going to dig deep for ways to help directly, hand-to-hand.
