Mat. 7: 12 ...whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them...

Well, now I'm meddling as Bro. Gruver use to say. But I went walking after listening to the news about the Gulf Coast, and I was thinking about how the Americans give, not just big corporations and the government, but little people like you and me whenever there is a national or international disaster. And now that we face another in the gulf states, I hear a lot about how we are canceling our vacations there. Why is that? The people there depend on us for their livelihood especially the little restaurants owned by Mom and Pop and the small hotels and motels. It makes me sad that many vacationers have canceled. Because why? They can't swim in the ocean? Probably for most, it wouldn't be the first time that they swam in the ocean anyway, or took a boat ride out to wherever. Wow, wouldn't it be great to see all these vacation people go there anyway and help these people retain their livelihood? If I was home and was going on vacation, I would go there. I've never seen an oil spill(not that I ever wanted, too), but it's there. Maybe I could even help clean some of the stuff off the beach, I don't know. We help everybody else, why can't we help them? I'm not saying send money to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or any other charitable organization. Just go on your vacation. Can't think of anything to do while there? Maybe you should just do nothing and rest. Wow, there's a novel idea, especially when Americans have said that rest is their #1 recreation. Well, rest is not a recreation. It's a bodily need in order to stay healthy. America is facing BIG problems in every area. But this is one area that we can do something about. Just go on the vacation. We can choose to help our brothers in need. Maybe it won't keep them in business for the next ten years, but it might. Sure can't hurt. Who's to know? And they need to see our bodily presence there and know that we do care about them, not just people from government offices who are paid to go there to help fix the problem. Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive. But we do receive a blessing when we give of ourselves and our money. Almost nothing feels better than knowing you have helped someone else when they were in need. And if we were one of those in need, would we not appreciate someone coming and helping us?

I love my country, the U.S.A. And in my heart, I feel one of the reasons God has blessed us so is our willingness to give. Didn't He say that when we gave, it would be given back to us, pressed down, shaken together, running over? We can't out give God, and he cares about these people. So maybe He's saying to you, "Hey, why not go south to the Gulf this year?