Goodwill for Good Works

And let us be concerned about one another

in order to promote love and good works.

(Hebrews 10:24)

Like many people, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Love. Joy. Peace. Goodwill. Recently, I was watching the morning news and quickly became irritated about number of bad reports so early in the day. I almost turned off the TV, until I heard a story about a Christmas Angel: An elderly woman gave $5000 to a local retailer to cover the final cost of Christmas layaways. Her motivation: she remembered the year that her parents were not able to give gifts.

Here is an expression of love from an elderly woman, concerned about children having a Merry Christmas. As parents, are we teaching our children similar lessons about care and concern for our elderly? Growing up in Stuttgart, we did not give a second thought if a neighbor saw us out playing and politely asked us to go to Bowman’s Grocery, IGA, or Jimmy’s Quick Check to pick up a few items. We simply stopped what we were doing, walked to the store, gathered the requested items, and returned all left over change. As adults, we realize that those good works were valuable life lessons in developing ethics, honesty, integrity, etc. We did not have to wait until holiday season to demonstrate goodwill—it was expected everyday.

We have been graced to give our son a good life. As he enters the teenage years, we realize that we want him to have some of the same experiences we had growing up, purposely trying to avoid a sense of entitlement and instead, encourage the goodwill of character. We are advocates for preparing children for future industrial works, so we can begin by introducing them to some old-fashioned, hands-on work that can benefit an elderly neighbor. Here are some examples of good works that can be performed over the Christmas break:
Washing the dishes (or at least loading the dishwasher)
Raking the leaves (or at least using the blower and bagging)
Running errands (or at least asking a parent to drive)
Bathing the pet and cleaning out the kennel
Replacing the trash cans with recycling bins
These efforts do not cost anything, but time. Perhaps actually doing the work may spark an innovative method of performing the task more efficiently or effectively (wishful thinking on my part). And if nothing else, perhaps the effort may spark a future memory from a conversation held during the action or become a future source of motivation / inspiration during gift giving seasons.

‘Tis the season of peace on Earth, goodwill toward men. What are you doing to encourage your children to show concern for others by demonstrating love and practicing acts of good works? Let us know by commenting or sending me an email at latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.