Authors Note: This writing piece is based off the song "If you lived every day like it was Christmas" by Peter Eide. In this piece I attempted a more free styled introduction and also tried to use a lot of voice and opinion.
When you think of Christmas you think of gifts, family, food, and love. Families sitting around the tree opening presents and sipping hot chocolate and worrying about nothing. Not everyone's Christmas is like that though. Many families in America are not sitting around the tree and opening gifts on Christmas, but searching for food and struggling for warmth. We need to take action in our communities, in America, and around the globe and help these people not only during the holidays but year round.
In December the most money is spent and also given to those in need through charities. Many companies organize toy drives, fundraisers, and giving trees for children and adults in need, but why only during Christmas time? People struggle all through the year but are only helped a lot during the holidays. There are food drives and other small fundraiser throughout the year but people give more during Christmas. If we lived everyday like it was Christmas the world would definitely be a more giving place.
An example of giving throughout the year is sponsoring a child. My family has been sponsoring a child in the Phillippines for a few years. We were inspired to sponsor a child when we were educated in church on how little money families in the Phillippines have. We knew it was a very poor area but when we saw that kids could not go to school because of lack of money we knew we needed to help. On a wall in the entry way of our church there were pictures hanging of all the children that could be sponsored. We picked a little boy named Arnoldo. Every month we send money to him. He uses the money to buy school supplies, clothes, and food. We also write letters back and forth with his family and him and during his birthday and the holidays we send gifts.When they write in their letters how much of an impact we have made in their sons life we know it is worth every penny.
If you can't live everyday like it's Christmas then try once a week or once a month but not once a year. Make a difference in the life of someone else and I promise, you will be happy you did when you see the smile on their face.
Aww that was a very touching essay. It really spoke to me. You had a lot of voice which is excellent. My family and I make care packages through church during the holidays but it is important to help not only once a year, but as much as you can. I thought you had a nice thesis statement and overall good job!
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a good job with your voice as you said you wanted to do, so well done! Also, I thought it was very convicting. I liked how you talked about how your family sponsored a kid.
ReplyDeleteI love this piece; the way you use your real voice to share something so real is the thing we should be shooting for whenever we write. Your writing is maturing quickly now as you take ownership of not only the topic, but the goals that are driving you as an author. Excellent work.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is truly touching. All of the thoughts are connected, and easy to follow. You did a very good job showing voice and opinion. It is truly touching to hear about the families in the Phillipines, becasue everyone hears about poverty, but no one really knows the reality of it until they do something like sponsorship. My family is deeply involved in our church's sponsorship of three burmese refugee families who have moved to the United States to start a new life. Thank you for writing this.
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