2015 is Upon Us!

[JimmyUt]

After I get back from my Two Cruises and a couple of more weeks in Florida, I promise not
to buy leads from anyone especially on here.I'm
going to hire my own Telemarketers and get my own Bulk Rate permit to go on my calendar not
any make believe IMO who says he doesn't make
money on leads but has it as a convenience.Good luck in 2015!

Good luck with all of that.

 

[Newby]

We have a local charity where 100% of the funds go where they are supposed to. It's all volunteer. Started years ago by a local car dealer. Now has the backing of a local TV station a lot of local businesses and Wal Mart sells the clothing at cost for this charity.

They do an auction on TV on a Sunday around Thanksgiving every year. All the items are donated by local businesses. The TV personalities donate their time and many local people donate their time to run it. For every $103 raised it will allow one child to go into Wal Mart and select two new outfits plus a coat and pair of shoes.

We donate money every year and my wife works one of the phones on the auction day.

We also donate to animal shelters and spencer a family at church each year.

It's good to give back. I credit my wife with making it a priority every year.

 

[Cornelius]

Beyond all the drama which is funny at times this is a very great site for information and inspiration. Merry Christmas all. These blessing stories are great..

 

[SPUR CITY]

It used to be important on TM leads to ask about a bank account. But today everyone has an account. I don't see the importance. Why are you saying that's important now? ---------- Speaking of Trinity, I got a nice little Christmas gift from them in the mail today. The only gift I got from an insurance company. My IMO gave me a great gift. But nothing from any of the companies except for Trinity. And Settlers sent me a calendar. So I guess that's 2 gifts?

I got my Trinity gift today! I was starting to feel left out

 

[JimmyUt]

I got my Trinity gift today! I was starting to feel left out

I wish Trinity would give me the gift of offering products in the states I am contracted.

 

[Bob W]

Spoken like a true gentleman.

I don't per se give out Christmas presents in person but I do donate to toys for tots and other programs. I also try to help in other ways. I help keep a local food pantry stocked for those down on their luck. I will be helping serve food later today as well.

Probably my best experience at giving happened in 2004. I live in the suburbs. Away from it all. It has its good points and its bad points. Growing up in Manhattan, everything was a walk away, but here in the Midwest, you will be driving. Anyhow, I had a very important meeting in the downtown area, which is about 15 miles from where I live. It is the dead of winter and my car will not start, I turned the key and my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Man, I was pissed as it was brand new. My wife was out of town with her family. My other car which was 5 years old would not start either. This was absolutely unbelievable. I called for cab service. An hour later, I was still waiting. So, I started a long walk to a bus stop about 3 miles away. I kind of wanted to ask a neighbor for a favor, but was too embarrassed. Anyhow, I made it to the bus stop. I have never rode the busses so that in itself was frustrating. I eventually made it to downtown. I got to the meeting late but still made it. Afterwards, I was to be part of a discussion panel at a local but well known university. I took the #2 bus straight down the street to the university. When I was done, it was a little after 5pm. I had to go back to downtown to have dinner with some others at one of my favorite steak houses. Anyhow, for whatever reason, the bus was not particularly full. I sat about 3/4 of the way back by the rear exit door. I noticed an African American woman with a kid about 8 to 10 hears old. I noticed that there clothes were a little raggedy but otherwise clean. The boy had a pair of glasses on. Thing is, the right side was missing the piece that extends to the ear and the right lens had a spider web looking crack on it. He was holding what looked to be one of those romance novels. I wasn't sure because several of the first few pages were torn off. It was an old paperback book. All of a sudden, I started to feel guilty. My father always taught me that, "Of whom much is given, much is asked." I asked him what book he was reading. He mumbled something that I have never heard of. Just then, I looked to my left and say a Pearle Vision out of the coroner of my eye. I immediately asked him about his glasses. He said it happened at school. I told him and his mom that a friend of mine is the optometrist at that Pearl Vision. I told the mom and him that if he would go there after school, that my friend at Pearl Vision would fix his glasses or give him a new pair for free. They were silent at first, not knowing what to say. I told them that I was serious. I moved over closer to them and gave her my business card. I said just show this to the people at Pearl Vision. The boy was so excited. I was kind of shocked how excited and happy he was. Anyhow, I engaged them in conversation until my stop came. The mom and the boy thanked me profusely and then I departed. Here is the problem. I had no friend at that Pearl Vision. I called but they were closed. Surely, I thought they would be open later. So, I resolved that first thing in the morning, I would go down there and explain the situation. Essentially, I wanted to prepay for this kid. So I have dinner and a friend ends up taking me home. When I got home, my wife was back. I told her what happened to the cars that morning. I **** you not...I got in my daily driver and that SOB started right up. No dash lights or anything. I skeptically took it around the block, with no problems. My wife thought I was nuts. The other car started as well. I was left speechless. The next morning, my car started right up. I was at that Pearl Vision first thing in the morning. I explained that a boy would be coming in. I wanted to giver them my CC to charge the exam and glasses. They did not want to do that for liability reasons, so I have them $1000 in cash. They agreed. Thank God. I impressed upon the importance of treating these folks well. About 4pm that day, I got a call from Pearl Vision stating that everything went well. The boy would have his glasses ready in 3 days. They told me I could come to pick up the change. The cost was irrelevant. The boy and his mom called to thank me that day and days later when the glasses arrived. The boy and I talked about an hour on the phone. His dad has been in prison since he was a baby. I eventually met them once again at their home. I was able to do things here and there to help them. The boy though was quite smart. Got straight A's all the time. Javon invited me to his school one day to be a guest speaker. It was fun. Thing is, this was an inner-city school. I got the impression that Javon was not really being challenged. I ended up making him an offer. If he could maintain an A average for the rest of the school year which was about 3 months, I would see about getting him into a better school. Sure enough, he held up his end of the bargain. So, I had to hold up mine. I was able help him get enrolled in a local catholic school. I had no problems footing the bill. Before he started there, he asked me instead if I could just pay for him to go to summer school. I asked him why in the world he would want to do that. He said that he did not want to stop learning for the summer. He said that during the summer he normally goes to the library all day and reads. He likes the A/C at the library and nobody bothers him there. When he said he wanted to go to summer school so that he did not have to stop learning, I almost teared up. That really got me. The catholic school where he was going to go actually had a summer program. Everything worked out. I hired a school transportation service to take him from home to school. He told me that he felt like a King being chauffeured back and forth! As the years passed, he stayed a straight A student. Top of his class. Thing is, he was getting to enter the 8th grade and that is the farthest that that school went. If he wanted to continue with a catholic school, he would have to go to a catholic high school downtown. This was considerably more expensive, but that is okay. I explained the importance of high school and a GPA. I told him that I would pay for him to go to college if he maintained good grades. Now this was a competitive school. To me, A's, B's would be fine. He kept a 4.0 for all four years. He even graduated valedictorian. He received lots of offers to universities as well as scholarships. I really did not even have to pay that much out of my pocket. He is pre-med! Absolutely unbelievable. I think he graduates in 2 years if I am not mistaken. Sometimes I often sit back and reflect on the events of that day. I can come to no other conclusion that it was God's will that neither one of my cars started that morning. It set a chain of events that has certainly changed my life.

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I agree. Well said, Steve. Merry Christmas.

So I'm tearing up in my office just now. It is simply amazing that God paired the two of you up in such a manner. I assure you will be amazed the way this story ends my friend.

 

[JoshC]

So I'm tearing up in my office just now. It is simply amazing that God paired the two of you up in such a manner. I assure you will be amazed the way this story ends my friend.

Yep. That is a cool story.