Would you Help One?

Would you help one?

It seems impossible and overwhelming to do everything for everybody. But does the impossible become POSSIBLE when we refocus our efforts from everybody to somebody.

I was scrolling amazon for another gift option when I got the message. She told me about siblings huddled up together—all of them sleeping on a couch because they don’t have beds. A different family uses a cardboard box as a table. For others, free and reduced lunches at school are the only sure meals.

These are just a few stories of the many in our small, simple, rural town. I’m tempted to think of fancy words and doctored-up sentences to paint a picture of all the sad stuff. But you don’t need all that. Take one look around the local grocery stores, gas stations, medical facilities, and schools. The kid with worn out shoes. A mama holding down two jobs. A dad working the nightshift to make ends-meet. Broken families. Empty bank accounts. And dwindling hope. It doesn’t take a wordy apologue to remind us of what we wish we couldn’t see every day in our hometown.

The only way I’ve learned how to make sense out of all the bad is to change the lens. Reframe. Refocus. And look into the everyday bad to find the everyday good. I’m convinced there’s not a shortage of good. There’s a shortage of people finding, seeing, and being the good.

Several years ago, our community linked arms to help one another at Christmas. Our small goal was to provide Christmas gifts for 7-10 local families. Weeks later, after making Gifts for Good public to the community, we had a 14-page list of almost 100 families to support. Each family received gas cards, gift cards, food, clothing, toys, and other need-specific essentials. One person donated a CAR to a man who had been walking to work for years! We gave away good gifts and the Gospel too.

God took something small and made it big. Donations and volunteers appeared like magic and showcased Christmas for the miracle it is! This community giveaway taught me a few specific things: 1. There are multiple opportunities to create GOOD from really bad, hard situations. 2. We live in a community of GOOD people who WANT TO HELP–sometimes we just don’t how or who or when or where. And 3. We don’t necessarily have to do BIG things to change the trajectory of another human life; we just have to DO GOOD THINGS.

Dear Community, there are those of us who have and those of us who have not. That said, we have one thing in common: We have each other. And we have some work to do together.

Do you have a good bike in your garage? A good guitar you don’t play anymore? A good Patagonia you’ve outgrown? Good books collecting dust? Good gift cards you haven’t used? Good groceries you could share? Good clothes to donate? Good beds to give? Building community doesn’t mean breaking the bank! Give what’cha got!!

The Everyday Good is a brand new, non-profit organization created to make all the Good around us contagious. (More on all that later!) Here are some specific and immediate needs for anyone willing to pause the chaos, forget ourselves, and focus on someone else in need:

***PLEASE, please, please note that Good Gifts do not have to be brand new, unless you’re giving toiletries, panties/underwear, feminine products, toothbrushes/toothpastes. ***

1. Art supplies, clothes (small adult woman), costume jewelry, small coffee table, and walking shoes (size 7-8)—she walks everywhere, e v e r y d a y. 2. Various gift cards you aren’t using—good for gas, groceries, food, etc. 3. Twin beds, pillows, sheets, and blanket/comforter for family whose home destroyed in fire. 4. Bikes, scooters, skateboards, ……….ahem……a CAR! Hey, you don’t know until you ask. 5. Toys—various ages, for both girls and boys. Musical instruments—anybody got a bass guitar or Irish whistle? 6. Diapers, wipes—mamas go check the closet for those diapers your baby has outgrown. 7. Coats, Sweatshirts and sweatpants for a school’s clothes closets—teachers and staff fund this themselves or have to raise money for these expenses. Don’t our teachers do enough already??? 8. Toothbrushes, toothpaste—obviously these need to be new. please and thank you. Who are some sweet GOOD dentists willing to donate?? Don’t make me tag you. 9. Tampons, Panties/Underwear—kids and adults. Toilet paper, Soap, Deodorant—you would be shocked at how many go without basic necessities. 10. 10 brown bags of groceries. Think rice, canned goods, beans, soups, cereals, etc.—Coupon Collector Crazies—this is your jam—donate from your stockpile!

(Good Gifts aren’t always things. Sometimes they’re the thoughts and actions. These next needs are personal and much appreciated.)

11. Handwritten encouragement letters to a grieving mother—she lost her teenage son in a car wreck and just needs some support. PM me for details and address. How cool would it be for people—even strangers—to support her with love and remind her that her pain is our pain and her son is not forgotten?? 12. Flowers—fresh out of the yard or arranged. We’re taking these to the nursing homes, police stations, fire station, and widows. 13. Cookies—for doctors, nurses, medical staff, and teachers in the area. 14. Last, and most important, commit to looking for the everyday good all around you. Every day—but especially during this holiday season. Find ways to serve. See people in need. Be a help.

Pick any of the above needs!! Please feel free to message me here, PM, email, or on my cell if you would like to help and contribute GOOD GIFTS as part of The Everyday Good’s call to love one another as Jesus commanded. If you have a Good Gift, The Everyday Good will make it happen and get it to the right person!! You do the giving. We do the working!

When I get stressed about the details, God reminds me to do my work and let Him do His. There would be no Good without the God inside the very word. Read that again and sign up below.

Be. Give. Do some Good.

We CAN make a difference. One Good Gift at a time.

A million thanks to you!

hlbcody@gmail.com 706-499-7609