To Whom Much is Given, Much is Expected.

“To whom much is given, much is expected” is something I tried to instill in my children. I wanted to teach them the ways of kindness. It would’ve been easy to have focused only on our own family. By allowing my children the opportunities to extend love and kindness to others helped them grow into better human beings.

From exposing children to the greater needs of others teaches compassion and empathy.  I loved reading to children. Children at home, children at school, or even nieces have heard me read again and again. My favorite book to read was Where the Red Fern Grows. Yes, I cried every time I read this to class after class. This book is one of the best books to teach empathy.

Empathy is trying to understand what another person is feeling; it is seeing the world through another’s eyes. It helps people to get along better and to feel better. Hearing the story of a little boy’s adventures with his beloved dogs and experiencing the loss with the boy brought many tears from everyone in my classroom. Empathy. They felt what the main character was feeling. They saw his experiences. They felt what he felt.

Being able to understand how others feel is paramount to having peace in this world. “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” – Theodore Roosevelt

I watched my parents become involved with various needs in our community. Mom volunteered to drive patients to chemo treatments, worked to make the $35 donations stretch into enough food to serve needy families for days, or fight for the rites of the often overlooked population. Dad would donate pints that lead to gallons of blood, deliver meals, and donate platelets that were just perfect for a fellow church member. Together they decided to open our home for foster children when my brother and I were in elementary school.

This doesn’t include the hours they each spent in the PTO, girl scouts, ball fields, or driving teenagers from park to park in a rented van for safety.

My parents were not only dedicated to our family, but also to the family we built outside of the walls of our house. This taught me to always think of others. Being community minded, working with and for others, or looking at others with the attitude of  love and kindness can lead to bigger and better things for everyone involved. It embodies “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

Knowing that I have been blessed beyond measure, I hope to always remember that “We are all in this together. Each and everyone of us can make a difference by giving back.” (Beyonce).