Help. I'm Cold, Hungry and Homeless.

I was going to write a blog about participation trophies and entitlement.  But I think I'll wait till tomorrow to do that.  Instead, this holiday season I thought I'd share about an experience that changed my life forever.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to hunt on some private land way out in the middle of nowhere. On sunday, I was out preparing my spot to hunt and stumbled across a family living in the woods. They certainly were surprised to see me, and I them. Their hom
e seemed to meet their immediate needs. You could see that is wasn't well put together, but using what little resources they had available it served the purpose.  They didn't say anything to me, despite me trying to talk to them.  You could tell they were frightened.   I decided that I best just mind my own business and let them carry on. I didn't really know what to do. I think I scared them because they thought they were so well hidden and all they worked so hard for would vanish.

Should I tell someone about them? What if I told the wrong person and I made this family worse off?  Certainly the landowners wouldn't appreciate squatters on their property.   Do I take responsibility for them? I already have a family to take care of. So many questions.....

I could bring food to them, but only for a few days. I would be leaving. I don't know that they would understand that the food would stop. Do I leave enough food to last them the winter?  And how do I know that they wouldn't eat all the food right away?  I could give them money, but that would certainly not do any good for them way out here.

It really got me thinking about all the opportunities to help people that I have. Like the homeless man on the corner asking for money. Is the $5 really going to help him or should I take him in town to the local shelter if he really needs help? Clearly he knows it's there, but maybe he does "better" standing on the corner gathering spare change and dollar bills from passing motorists.
It begs the question, What really helps people? A one time gift? Does that work? What about relying on many others one time gifts too?

So what did I do to about the family in the woods? I gave them about 6 almonds, 4 macadamia nuts and a few pumpkin seeds. It was about 10% of what I had on me at the time, I could have given them more.  But I remember something about 10% being all you needed to give.  Besides, I really don't know how much a family of mice living in an upside down 5 gallon bucket filled with leaves up in a treestand eats, but I'm sure every little bit helps.

HAHAHAHAHA Good one Jon! You really had me going!  Right? Wrong? This situation happens all day every day for many people. You come across needs of individual people or groups.  We all want to help (well most of us do) but it is a very hard decision on how. How do I help them so that they can take care of themselves long term?  So many times we say feed a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him and he eats for life.  Is everyone supposed to be fishing though?  What happens when someone gets real good at fishing and starts selling the fish at prices many can't afford?  UH-OH, this blog is long enough.  We don't need to go down that rabbit hole.

I don't have all the answers. I'm still searching for them.  Just wanted you to think about that good feeling you get when you drop some money in the bucket of a family in need.  You may not be helping, you may be making it worse.  I don't really know.