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A pint of stewardship


DALLAS (BP)–It’s Sunday morning at your church and the subject of the preacher’s sermon is stewardship. Merriam-Webster defines it as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” Everything we have belongs to God. The preacher has mentioned stewardship of our time, our finances and our family, but he might have missed stewardship of our bodies.

Taking proper care of our body can allow us to share our health with others who are not as healthy. Every three seconds someone in our community needs blood. Just one pint of healthy blood can save three lives. Five to six times a year about 100 GuideStone employees take time from their busy work schedules to donate a pint of blood. Sixty percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, but only 5 percent do. Why? Some say they’re “afraid of needles” or “allergic to pain.” Other say they’re on medications or they have diabetes or high cholesterol.

No one chooses to be stuck with a needle, and most all of us are “allergic” to pain. Just because you are on medication or have been diagnosed with a disease doesn’t mean you are ineligible to give blood.

However, participation in mission trips to many foreign countries can either temporarily or permanently exclude you from giving because of the possibility of exposure to certain diseases.

So, what are the benefits of giving a pint of blood? First, knowing you have helped save another life. Second, knowing that you have clean blood. Fourteen tests are performed on each pint. Eleven of these are for infectious diseases.

Science has proven there is no substitute for the human touch and there is no substitute for human blood. If you are a regular blood donor, hats off to you! If you can give but you don’t, please don’t wait until a national disaster. Half a million Americans donated blood in the days following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Your local blood bank needs you today.
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Tamara Quintana is a graduate of All Saints Episcopal Hospital School of Vocational Nursing and the director of the employee wellness program for GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

    About the Author

  • Tamara Quintana