Don't Forget to Give Back!

Giving

A reader recently sent me a video on how fair trade is helping Kenyans improve their standard of living.  After watching the video, it really puts things into perspective.  In the video, one of the first things that was mentioned was that that many live on $1 a day.  That translates to $30 per month.  How easy it is for us to blow $30 on a single meal!  My wife and I brought our 11 month-old daughter to Burger King tonight and even with a coupon, we spent $11 on our meals (no, we didn't feed our little Adele a Whopper...just the two of us eating)!

While I advocate direct depositing part of your paycheck into a retirement investment account as a way of saving for retirement, I also think monthly donations to your favourite church/charity is an obligation that Christians should bear.  I'm not talking about tithing (giving one-tenth of your salary to the Church); rather, it's making a financial sacrifice, however small or large, to show our Christian charity to the less fortunate.  While not all of us have the freedom to volunteer to go on missionary trips or to distribute food to the needy, the very least we can do is put our money to work.  There is really no "right" amount to give, but I would think if you were to sacrifice one nice meal per month and donate that, it'd be a good start.  One of the great things about donating to a charity is that chances are, it's tax deductible!  So, go ahead, be generous!  Not only are you preparing yourself for a nice tax refund after April, you're also storing treasures for yourself in heaven!

Misconceptions About Catholics

Another reader, Karen, sent me a blog post that she had written about the misconceptions about Catholics.  I'd bet some of you have those misconceptions yourself!  Go ahead and give it a read!