Tim & I have recently noticed the indulgence our country has. There is little left for us to be given as gifts. Everyone in Canada has their basic needs met and when it comes to ‘giving’ for special occasions such as birthdays, It’s often really hard to think of what to get each person. For Lucy’s birthday, we are often encountered with the question of “what does she need?”. We know a 4 year old will still expect birthday presents but the Liberian children we sponsor are so grateful for the $30/month they get that just covers the bare essentials that it made us realize just how much we have here in Canada. We don’t need to indulge ourselves any more when there is people out there that would think they won a lottery if they traded positions with any one of us.
Another factor that is going to be more than obvious the very first morning after Halloween [or even currently in some stores] when the “Christmas Joy” freight train smacks you in the senses and shows us just how much materialism is part of our daily lives and provides skewed ideals to shoot for and leaves us feeling incomplete if we don’t have specific items- “What? Those jeans are from last year? You poor bugger!”. Anyhow, my point is how much we are dependent on material goods to make us feel better and complete. It’s very much a part of our lives and culture but we are going to make an effort to steer from that and give presents that truly make a difference.
So this is our unorthodox and small effort to do something that matters. We want to replace the idea giving presents to one another but instead sponsor a child the giftee’s name for that month. We have taken on another child just for this purpose. Fifteen year old Uriah who was never sponsored was gushing when he found out he has ‘parents’. But being a ‘Linklater’, let him know that he has a much larger family than just us. He has grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, friends and a dog [who maybe might not write him]. So he has become our ‘gift kid’- we plan to sponsor him on your behalf on your birthday/occasion.
That’s our plan. We aren’t going to change the world but after reading Uriah’s letter, we realized we may help his. This is a head’s up for when your birthday rolls around, you may get a sweet Liberian boy in your mail box. The money we would have spent on a present is going directly to Uriah’s needs. And on the flipside, we don’t expect any more presents either. We have more than enough. If you would like to learn more about kids like Uriah….
Letter from Uriah upon learning he was finally sponsored:
Hi mom and Dad, I was very happy when i received the letter from mama karen. I am happy in the Lord for having a new family in the Lord that will care for me.I pray for a longer time and God has answer my prayer.s I love Shalyn and dad Tim.I also Ziggy, Isable, Lucy I love you all. I am hopping to see a picture of you all.I love to play soccer. My age is 15. Uriah
