An Older Brother's Gift

I thought this Christmas story was touching and appropriate for this special time of year. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!

By Ada Foy
It was the Christmas season of 1994. Nine-year-old Jaron and his six-year-old brother, Parker, were excited. They had entered a reading contest sponsored by a grocery store in their hometown. The two students who read the most books would each win a brand-new bicycle. All they had to do was have their parents and teachers sign for each book they read. Two bikes were to be awarded, one for the first-to-third-grade levels, and one for the fourth-to-sixth-grade levels.

Parker was especially excited because this was a way for him to earn a bike. He really wanted one. He was tired of watching his older brother ride around on the new purple ten-speed bike he had earned by working at a yard sale. Parker thought that it would be great to earn a bike of his own by reading books. So he started to read books as fast as he could. He read Curious George, Green Eggs and Ham, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear. But no matter how many books he read, someone in his grade level had read more.

Meanwhile, Jaron had not been all that enthusiastic about the contest. When he went to the grocery store and checked the big chart with all the readers listed and how many books each had read, however, he could see that his younger brother had little chance of winning the contest.

Touched with the true meaning of Christmas, the joy of giving, he decided to do for Parker what he could not do for himself. So Jaron put away his own bike and, library card in hand, went to work. He read and read. He read when he wanted to ride his bike. He read as much as eight hours a day. The thrill of perhaps having such a wonderful gift to give kept him going.

The day came when the final lists were to be turned in. Jaron’s mother took him to the store, and he turned in his list, then admired the prize-winners bikes on display.

The store manager watched him admire the shiny red twenty-inch bike. “I suppose that if you win the contest,” the manager said, “you’ll want the larger bike, won’t you?”
Jaron looked up at the man’s smiling face and said very seriously, “Oh, no sir. I would like one exactly this size.”

“But isn’t this bike too small for you?”

“No sir—I want to win it for my little brother.”

The man was surprised. He turned to Jaron’s mother and said, “This is the best Christmas story I’ve heard all year!”

Jaron’s mother hadn’t known that he had worked so hard for his little brother. She looked at Jaron with great pride and joy as they went home to await the contest results.

Finally the phone call came! By reading 280 books, Jaron had won! With his parents’ help, he hid the bicycle in his grandma’s basement until Christmas Eve. He could hardly wait to give Parker his gift!

On Christmas Eve, the whole family gathered at Grandma’s home for a special family home evening. Mother told the story of Heavenly Father’s gift to the world of His Son Jesus Christ. Then she told the story of another older brother’s love. Although it wasn’t the great sacrifice the Savior has made for each of us, she said, it was a sacrifice, and it showed how much the older brother loved his younger brother. Parker and his family listened to the story of a brother who had read 280 books to win his little brother a bike.

“My big brother would do something like that for me,” Parker said.

At that, Jaron ran to the other room, where Grandma had moved the bike. The rest of the family proudly grinned while he wheeled out the two-wheeled treasure he had earned for his younger brother. Parker ran over to the bike, and the brothers hugged over the top of it.

To Be or Not to Be is a Very Good Question

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Unknown

Many of my blogs focus on action and on doing something. As important as action is, there is something even more significant than doing and that is being. We can do all the things in the world but if that does not lead us to “be” someone good, than none of it really matters. Our way of being is even more important than what we do.

A lot of what we become does depend on what we do. However often times we “do” with the wrong the attitude and wrong heart. For example, this Christmas I may decide to donate my pay check to the Salvation Army. This would be fantastic however if my motivate is simply to get a tax write off, be recognized in the local paper, and avoid Christmas shopping for others, than perhaps I am not being as generous as I may appear. And thus I will not receive the full benefits of my action. Our state of being is so critical to our success.

So simply doing good with strings attached is good but simply doing good for goodness sake is grand. At times it may behoove each of us to reflect on our actions and determine our motivation behind them. Are we serving others because we truly care about their well-being? Are we smiling to brighten others day? Are we giving of our time because we know how much it may help others? Assessing our motivates behind our actions can help us know if we are truly becoming who we want to be.

The sad truth is that many of us can do a lot of good things without becoming good people. We may profess to be generous, kind, thoughtful, etc. and play the part well in the public eye but when left alone we may behave just the opposite. What we do when we believe no one is watching is a big indicator of what we have become.

I believe most of us have a desire to become good people. Who we are is often determined by our sincere actions and desires. I hope during this time of year that we will strive to “be” rather than simply do, that we will focus on becoming who we want to be rather than achieving what we want to do. I believe doing this will lead to great happiness, success, and satisfaction in life.

The Power of Positive Thinking

One day, not too long ago, I saw a stack of old books that had been donated to my place of work. One of the titles of the books caught my eye so I immediately picked it up and began reading it. The book was written in 1963 and is called “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Peale. I found that the book was full of wonderful insights and great truths that if applied will help us be more successful leaders and more successful people. Below are three of the main themes found in the book.

#1 Thoughts are Power

Based on the title of the book it is pretty obvious that this is the main theme. Throughout the book the author explains that our thoughts determine who we are, our outcomes in life, our happiness, and our ability to be successful. Controlling our thoughts is such an important practice in our life and too many of us allow our thoughts to hold us back or even sometimes to destroy us. Thus we must become masters of our minds and control what we think about. The author states, “Our happiness or unhappiness depends to an important degree upon the habit of mind we cultivate.” Thus being happy, being successful, and being content starts in our mind. For how we think is what we are. For this reason there is true power in positive thinking.

#2 What we Believe, we Achieve

If you are a fan of the "The Secret", then you will be a fan of this book because the author stresses over and over again how what we picture in our mind becomes our reality. In essence, we create our own reality by the mental pictures we hold on to and by the desires we have. The author states, “When either failure or success is picturized it strongly tends to actualize” and “what the mind profoundly expects, it tends to receive.” The author also refers to this as “imagineering”—for what we imagine in our mind can ultimately become reality. Our vision, and our ability to believe leads to our ability to achieve.

#3 Make Relationships a Priority

We were not meant to come to this world and be alone. Personal achievement is great but helping others achieve greatness is even better. The author stresses that relationships are important and that good, healthy relationship is a desire each one of us has whether we admit to it or not. Learning to get along with others, serve others, and help others leads to success and happiness for us. The author noted that as we help others, others in-turn help us. It is nearly impossible to help someone else without helping ourselves. The author frankly encourages his readers to “Love others and forget yourself” and when we do, we will find the joy in life we are searching for.

I believe there is true power in positive thinking as the title of this book suggests and I believe some of the main points in this book can have a profound influence on each of us for good. By controlling our thoughts, picturing our desires, and caring for others we will find a recipe to realizing our goals and living our dreams.

To see how I ranked this book, click here.