Guest post by Justin McDonald, author of JSA: The World
Growing up as a young man during my early years a child, my mother always had this saying whenever my other siblings got into trouble and I didn’t do anything to prevent it from happening. She would always say this quote: "If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem." For the longest, I wondered to myself why would my mother say I was apart of the problem, when I didn’t do anything to lead my brothers into getting in trouble? But as the years went by, I finally understood.
If I didn’t do anything to prevent my brothers from fighting when I was well and able to, I may as well had been the one that teased them up into fighting. So to this day, I’ve learned that whenever you have the ability to help someone else or prevent something unpleasant from happening and choose not to take action, its a sign that you agree wholeheartedly with whatever’s taking place. As a child, my parents always taught us to help those in need (especially during the holidays).
I can assure you that this post isn’t just another post telling people, "Hey Everyone! Stop what you’re doing and give all you have to the poor!" No. That’s not what I’m here for, unless you want to end up in poverty yourself, afterwards. However, the main point of this post is to tell people that whenever you’re well and able to bless and make someone else’s life better, you shouldn’t sleep on that golden opportunity. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and for a moment, I’d like to break down that term.
"Thanks," as in giving thanks for the things that you have rather than focus on what you don’t. "Giving," as in continuing be charitable and give to the people care most about, least about and also to the people you know nothing about. Because after all, you never know when there might be a time that you’ll need something. My family and I do what we can to help get involved.
Once or twice out of the week, the family and I donate clothes and all sorts of other goods to places such as Salvation Army or Goodwill, in hopes that we can be apart of the solution. Although what we’re doing may seem small and insignificant, if we could at least make a difference in just one person’s life, then we’ve at least made a difference.
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Books by Justin McDonald
JSA: The World ~ View on Bookshelves | View on Amazon