This is a season for thanks and giving

According to information received from St. Jude Children’s Hospital, wife Jean and I have been making a monthly donation to the organization since March 24, 1983. This began when my late friend Dave Baker, remembered by many as co-owner of Five Oaks Tires and Service in Sevierville, TN, told me about the great experience he and his wife Betty had with St. Jude when daughter Melissa (Missy) was a patient there.

He said St. Jude’s loving care for children at no cost to families was beyond compare. Years earlier I was aware of the Memphis hospital in its pink building, founded in 1962. I grew up only 70 miles from Memphis, later attended Memphis State University (now University of Memphis) for some post-graduate study, and lived in an apartment near St. Jude when I taught/coached at Memphis’ Humes High School, 1963-64.

All of this came to mind this month when I received information about St. Jude’s annual “Thanks and Giving” campaign, which occurs every November and December “as a way to kick off the holiday season.” This is a great reminder that Thanksgiving is all about thanking God first, thanking family second, thanking friends and others third, and then following up with giving in various ways during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.      

At this time of the year, we may get overwhelmed by the barrage of organizations asking for financial and/or volunteer support. In the end, choices have to be made. Just as Jean and I began giving to St. Jude as a result of Dave’s experience, we have also chosen to give to other organizations for specific reasons, just as many of you have.

Beginning with our places of worship, there are numerous organizations on the local, national and international levels to which we can contribute that will result in giving hope to children and adults with specific physical, mental and spiritual needs, Local groups in communities across the nation are especially valuable in the various ways they minister.

Being highly familiar with Sevier County (TN), I think of organizations like Sevier County Food Ministries and Smoky Mountain Area Rescue Ministries that work year around to (1) help people realize the importance of being thankful (2) give to those going through problematic circumstances and (3) help these receivers to receive gratefully.

Sevier County Food Ministries is a voluntary interfaith ministry that helps assure that no one in Sevier County goes hungry year around, and especially works to give this assurance during the holiday season. Its work is based on Mark 6:36-37, a portion of Scripture that refers to Jesus’ challenge to his disciples as he is teaching a throng of people following him:

“By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a remote place, and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But Jesus answered, 'You give them something to eat.'" As most of us know, thousands were fed. 

To parallel this work, Smoky Mountain Area Rescue Ministries provides one-on-one assessments and point-of-need services such as short-term housing, utility assistance, transportation, food, and clothing. SMARM also provides organized mentoring and permanent housing resources to help families move from crisis to stability.

The holiday season is a special time to thank God for blessings and opportunities, along with passing along those blessings and opportunities to others who cherish help in their times of need.

? 2020 by Carl Mays, National Speakers Hall of Fame member and author of over a dozen books, including A Strategy For Winning (foreword by Coach Lou Holtz). Email: [email protected].