Helping Eachother- The Core Of A Wonderful Life

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 21, 2012 --

I am having a joyous day! We had an amazing Christmas holiday. There seemed to be joy, hope, and giving at every turn. The spirit of the season appeared around Thanksgiving. We had an amazing Thanksgiving feast at work where everyone on our team chipped-in. I offered-up the turkey and my friends brought all the other "yumminess" needed to complete an amazing harvest offering. The turkey sat on my desk wrapped in foil and dish towels to keep it warm, and gave-off a decadent aroma that tortured us all until it was time to eat. The feast warmed our stomachs and our hearts. Working together to make it happen made us appreciate each other even more. I went home for my Thanksgiving holiday actually looking forward to returning to work. The glow is till hanging over our team. I'm more thankful for my job every day. Gratitude leads to growth which comes full circle back to gratitude.

My readers know I also own my own business which is a huge source of pride for me and something I love. My online gift shop, Jo-Ann's Gift Basket Potpourri, is so much fun and has also taught me so much about sales and marketing. Almost everything I do for my business to get the word out is through online marketing, and of course, Facebook is huge. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I started visiting fan pages of other WAHMs and small business owners. It's a very simple premise; I "LIKE" your page, and hopefully you'll return the favor on my page. I connected with many amazing people and learned so much from reading their statuses and looking at their marketing methods. I am SO grateful they clicked that button and shared my business with their friends! One of these amazing women, Debbie Hastings-Holland, reached-out to me to partner with her. Immediately we started promoting each others businesses, and have become friends and colleagues. We work to support our businesses and our success together. She's an amazing business woman and inspires me every day.


It's no secret my family has had a tough time since the recession hit. With a husband self-employed in the construction industry, we have been hit full in the face(and pocketbook). Too many of you know the same hard times we have experienced and the feelings of fear, anger, and frustration. My husband is the strongest, hardest working, most honest man I know. This has been an extreme burden on his heart. There have been times there was nothing. No money, no groceries, no gas to get to work.

But in the midst of all that has been dear friends and our church. In the 22 years and two parishes, they have always been there for my family, no strings attached. They have held us up, helped us financially, prayed for us, and loved us. They have inspired me to look past the struggles to what I can do to help others. As I walk through the doors every Sunday, I am greeted by friends with smiles, hugs, and kisses. I am never a burden. I am a part of a huge holy family.

As I meditated on all this over the holidays, I heard of gifts of grace going on every where. Churches were giving away Thanksgiving Baskets by the thousands. People were dropping valuable jewelry into Salvation Army Kettles. Churches and agencies nationwide were working to make sure no child went without Christmas. People were walking into department stores across the country and paying-off Christmas lay-a-ways for complete strangers. God was at work everywhere, and people were
letting Him have at it.

We went to our local Christmas parade and made quick friends with the strangers standing beside us. We offered to share the sitting quilt with her little man so he wouldn't have to sit on the cold concrete curb. My best friend in the whole world, my sis-in-law Karen Peck, found us and we had big hugs and laughs. She had her dear friend Bonnie with her whom I adore, and the sense of being whole surrounded us. Our kids and grand kids were so joyous an attendee went and grabbed a TV reporter to come film and interview the kids. We had a blast. The Christmas spirit was every where. Open arms were every where, second only to open hearts.

When riding the wave of comfort and joy, the urge to help others is a big deal, maybe more so at Christmas than at any other time of year. With no real money to offer myself, I searched-out other ways to help. I rang the bell for the Salvation Army a few years ago, and LOVED being a part of their huge charitable contribution. I had always wanted to do it again, so I called and set-up a two-hour shift an evening close to Christmas. I took two of my grand daughters, Autumn and Madison. We stood outside of the Belk's at Friendly Center and sang Christmas Carols and hollered "Merry Christmas" to anyone within ear shot. I was so humble to be able to share this with them, and they are ready to do it again. The response we got from passers-by, the huge smiles, the season's greetings, gave right back to us. The girls got to see the response that comes from helping others. It was an awesome experience.

Autumn and Madison(on the right) having fun with a friend!
One of the highlights of Christmas for me is going to see old holiday movies with Karen. It's become a tradition for us. This year was extra special as her Mom, Joan, my niece Jenny, and our friend June, joined us. Joan bought me a glass of wine.BFF offered to come pick me up as she always does. I wouldn't have been there if she hadn't.

My sweet daughter Shannon gives me a ride to and from my amazing job every day. When she couldn't, several friends stepped-up and offered to get up and get me to work at six-thirty in the morning. Our baby girl Tiffany lets us drive her car daily. We get the things we need to do daily because of her kindness. My friend Rita takes me to church. My son-in-law John let's me drive his car any time I ask. People helping people.

Maybe it's because times have been so hard for so many for so long. Maybe more people are reaching out to God. But I am positive that in the last few months I've seen the beginnings of a miraculous change in our country. We are coming back to taking care of and helping each other. Sure, there have always been, will always be, people who will help. But I see a return to our roots. To a time when neighbor reached-out to neighbor, friend to friend, stranger to stranger. It was not so long ago, when someone fell on hard times, there were too many helping hands to count. From the pioneer days of barn raisings, to the depression era when whole neighborhoods pulled together to help each other, the spirit of helping and generosity is what our country and our families were built on. Was it thirty years of prosperity that made so many so jaded? I don't know. I do know we became a selfish nation, and greed and materialism steadily chipped away at our amazing foundation. Greed wears many faces, and has tentacles of judgement, self-centerdness, and numbness that reached and strangle the souls of multitudes. To say we've been lost is an understatement. It's ironic that at such a time of prosperity, a spirit of hopelessness started to appear. I remember feeling it. I came out of no where and swallowed us whole.

But as our country was built on a foundation of caring for others, our spirits were built on a foundation resting on the shoulders of God. Often tested, that spirit has a two thousand year history of crawling out of terror and muck we can't even grasp. It always rises from the ashes. It always returns. Every time, it's brighter and stronger than before. Every time, it teaches us the importance of caring. Every time, we come back a better people.

My name is Jo-Ann. I care. What can I help you with today. Blessings.

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