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New Year Resolutions AND Syrian Refugees



Perhaps you have been asked the usual New Year Question, What is your resolution?

Perhaps you asked yourself before anyone else did.

Usually, I play the game and answer with one of the standards that everyone else says then find myself failing by February.


This year I chose to make annual goals. That way I have the whole year to complete the tasks instead of expecting to fulfill one resolution every day.

How about you? What is your resolution for this year?

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I'm one of those who enjoys sending snail mail Christmas cards. I do it because I want to receive Christmas cards. There is a doorway in my home where I tape the cards. When the tree comes down, I take down the cards. 

Some of the cards include Christmas letters. 

Traditionally, Christmas letters serve as a year in focus. A friend tells what happened in their family's life over the course of the previous year.

One friend had an interesting closing paragraph. She described for me what she chose to do with her free time in 2018. She said, 

A lot of my time was spent with Syrian refugees that were settled in our area. It is overwhelming to hear their stories of death and destruction in their homeland. The women especially miss their mothers and sisters. I fill some of that void, helping them with English, the kids with homework, driving to doctor appointments, and figuring out our American culture.

I thought, this is a wonderful volunteer activity. It is an opportunity that could be done with any group anywhere in the U.S. In my local area there is a reading for adults program. These adults are very intelligent people who somehow didn't understand the concept and process of learning to read when they were younger. The methods for teaching adults are different than for children. As a result, many men and women are grasping the concepts and finding their way in a world of words.

You may find your schedule overwhelming at this time. I have had several years in my life when that was such the case. But when you do find a time when you might say, I have every Tuesday evening open, and you'd like to help someone, consider volunteering.

Here are some ideas:

Local VA
Community Reading Outreach
Community Senior Outreach
Moms Outreach
Teen programs
Refugee Outreach
Child Advocate Programs


I'm sure there are thousands more, these are just the few that spilled off the top of my head.

You might be surprised how fulfilling volunteering can be. 

This post has been brought to you by the one-word FulfillingNewYear

Photo credit: Pixabay.com


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