Freezing Fog Advisory

The freezing fog advisory is in place until 9am this morning – that said we will continue with our bland weather pattern through mid week with above normal temps and daytime highs in the low 40s – end of story.

As we move into the Christmas season we focus on giving and receiving and should be more on the giving as this is the reason for the season.  There are very many women with children and veterans who are homeless or who barely can make ends meet.  Many keep trying to get ahead but it is hard with minimum paying jobs and a one household income.  When I was a deacon in the church we would go to the homes of these people to hand out gifts for the children and food for a Christmas dinner.  It was a humbling experience to say the least….

Churches were formed not only for worship but to help those in need, not only with food and financial help but to offer budget planning and other resources to help them get ahead.  On the other side people must be willing to have the gumption to get ahead and never give up.  I was poor once myself so I know how hard it is to keep moving forward when everything seems to be against you.  My philosophy has been to never, ever give up which over time  I moved into a better place financially with a lot of determination to make things better for my family.  The end game was I was able to take an early retirement at 63.

Still, there are those who do need help to get the wheels moving mentally and emotionally.  We often over look these people because we are caught up in our own bubble of existence. Most of us are truly blessed and can share with those in need even if we don’t have the money to give to them we can share our time and listen, perhaps give advice on how to move forward.  Some, like myself can give life stories of how we moved from living in a car to getting better educations and jobs and building a life based on a positive attitude and gumption.

Nothing is easy in life, one has to fight for it and sadly many give up the fight – others are locked into their condition due to health issues or issues beyond their control.  It has always been the churches mandate to help the widows and children who are the ones who have the hardest time to move forward.  We have veterans who come back from war broken and it is my belief it is up to our government to take care of them as they have fought for our freedom.

I guess the main gist of my post today is for us to look around beyond our own lives to see there are others less fortunate than ourselves and that their existence goes beyond the Christmas season.  My neighbor had a blanket drive a few weeks ago which gave blankets to the homeless to help keep them warm.  Food pantries such as Christian Neighbors always need food donations – places like Mel Trotter Ministries and Kalamazoo Gospel mission can always use donations and help as do the Salvation Army and Goodwill.