38. Buy a cow (or goat, or sheep) for Christmas

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

A few years ago I received my first Heifer International catalog in the mail at Christmastime. The 65-year old organization solicits donations for the purchase of providing livestock and crops to people in areas of need, along with the appropriate training and education necessary for the recipients to use their gift successfully. The recipient is also charged with Passing on the Gift (one of the 12 Cornerstones of Heifer's philosophy) by donating in turn an offspring of their gift to another needy person.

I think what really touched me about this type of charity is that one of the primary goals is enabling needy people to become more self-sufficient. Giving is one of life's greatest joys-but giving with the knowledge that your gift will not only meet a need of the moment, but provide an individual with the opportunity to help themselves and their family for the future-that is an even GREATER gift. The old idea of 'Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.'

Now I know that there are a lot of folks around that would argue that these types of organizations are not really helping the people that are in need....animals are not a truly sustainable way of providing for the future and will eventually just be killed for food, etc., etc., etc. Or that the organization is not being run efficiently enough: too many dollars going to the cost of administration and solicitation and not enough to the actual charity. (I read stuff online, too, you know.)

To these arguments I say this: Valid points, all....And, 1. There is always a down side to every good idea (good ideas rarely being perfect), and 2. How many of us would give to an organization without those handy brochures and catalogs they send out? Now there are some that would. And Bravo to them! (No, really.) But most of us, myself at the top of the list, are just not that aware unless a colorful flyer crosses our path (preferably right under our nose) and gets us thinking about it. Painful truth, but true nonetheless.

So despite all the valid questions about this or that, I decided to just GIVE. I like the idea of helping people to help themselves (see above). And my goat, sheep and flock of baby chicks might just change someone's life somewhere. There is the literal, factual account of where all the pennies go, and then there is the prayer that goes with them of a better life for someone else in the world that has far less than I. Without ignoring the pennies, I put a lot of stock in the prayer portion of that equation: isn't that what giving this way is really about?

There are a thousand perfectly reasonable excuses NOT to give part of all that we have...the real challenge is to find our one reason to go ahead and give anyway.