When the doorbell rings

The other night, Erwin and I were just relaxing in the living room watching TV (what else is new?) when the doorbell rang. I don't know why we have become fearful of answering the door because it always seems like we're trying to pass the task off to each other. ["You answer the door!"--"No! You get it! I got it last time!"] We don't really know anyone in the area except for a couple of friends, but they would usually let us know if they were coming to visit. I guess answering the door is like a crapshoot. Or like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get. (okay, I ripped that off of that Tom Hanks movie)

One time when the doorbell rang, it was two men in shirts and ties carrying bibles. Erwin was able to see them from the window so we didn't answer the door. Now don't think I have anything against God or Jesus. I believe in the both of them, and that's how I was raised. I have two bibles in this house and a church around the corner that I like very much. I know that what these men were trying to do was witness to me, but there is just something about that that makes me uncomfortable. We have freedom of religion in this country which is why there are so many religions that are practiced freely. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't feel comfortable with anyone trying to preach to me just like I would never feel comfortable preaching to someone else. For me, and I'm speaking for myself only, I need to feel comfortable with the priest or pastor that I'm listening to, and any person off the street isn't going to gain my trust like that. It takes time. And just like I was explaining before with the freedom of religion, these people actually do have the right to go around and spread the Word of God, but I also have the right not to answer the door. (Okay, that sounds really bad! I'm not a heathen, I swear!)

Another time, there was this girl that rang our doorbell who was trying to fundraise for her speech team. Ahhh! I love people who participate in speech! It's so beneficial to young people to learn that skill early on. It helps you so much in life because speaking with confidence is such a deal-breaker in this world. Anyway, this girl was selling magazine subscriptions, and since I always end up paying the full cover price at Target, I figured we might as well get the subscription and save some money. And you know what else this girl did to prepare? She made little stickers that she left with all of her customers so that no other students would come to the same houses she had already hit. We still have the sticker on our door which states "Shasta's a Rockin' so don't come knockin'!"

Going back to the evening I was first writing about, I was the one that pulled door duty for that one. It was this young boy who had a bag full of stuff to sell. He told me that it was for this club he was involved in that helped keep kids out of gangs and involved in other activities. The club was fundraising for their trip to Knott's Berry Farm and he said he had never been there. Okay, maybe the kid was borderline cheesy, but I had to have faith and help him out.

For one thing, I remember being that age and trying to fundraise for all of my activities with school and church. There wasn't enough money to go around and we were trying to offset as much cost as possible. Some people were helpful but many more were grouchy and mean. I don't ever want to be that way towards a kid that is trying his or her best to participate in positive environments. I told the kid to show me what was in the bag, and he had some pretty scented candles and chocolate and mint patties. I bought both and he was extremely grateful. I honestly was glad to help.

Here is something important that I want to share. There are a lot of kids that want to participate in extra-curricular activities but can't do so because of lack of finances. Schools used to be able to take care of these costs, but more and more, they are losing money in their budgets and they rely primarily upon fundraising to keep these programs running. When a kid has an activity that they enjoy doing, they now have something to work hard for and they follow the rules because they don't want to risk losing their opportunity. The next time you see a kid fundraising, stop and check out what he or she is selling. You are helping them out more than you even realize.