According to the travel expert on Good Morning America this week, now is the time to make travel plans for the holidays. I’m reminded that gone are the days when gathering my family members for a holiday celebration amounted to calling upstairs to the kids in their bedrooms. They have scattered like leaves in a wind and their young adult responsibilities now impact their time spent at home.

We’re texting and Skyping and instant messaging each other on Facebook. We want to be together; it’s coordinating who will come when, what bedrooms need to be prepared, what foods they want included in the menus, and what they want to do while back on Whidbey Island that encourages us to look ahead and make our plans now.

I am also in the process of preparing my heart for the upcoming holidays, keeping in mind that it’s not just about gathering the Klope kids or my plan to rework family favorite recipes into creations that are lower in sugar and higher in nutritional value. There is a bigger world that also deserves our attention. If not us, then who? What about those living in extended care facilities? Families parted by military service or divorce? People living with life-threatening diseases? What about our neighbors who can’t afford a celebration on any level? Those who have been displaced by financial crisis, home foreclosure, or unemployment? What about women and children who are trafficked in our area? We may not see them as we come and go, but according to Dan Rather, who recently investigated the trade, it’s not merely an international problem. Business is booming; the worst lines running from Seattle to Portland.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, but I say choose someone and pick a church or organization with whom you can coordinate your efforts. Next, pray for energy and conviction, resources and creativity, companionship and time. Then act. Sometimes being thankful and responding with action is a choice, not based on our circumstances or momentary feelings. It calls for the same kind of discipline needed to drive within the posted speed limits when there is no police officer nearby and you are running late. The same discipline it takes to pay your taxes and get up out of that cozy bed so your child will be fed and delivered to school on time.

The most thankful of us were also the most broken hearted at some point in our lives. We look back on our own rage and grief and desperation. We also remember when God brought relief. He brought people who carefully tended to our needs. And lo and behold … we began to experience gentle change. We saw a way past the sadness. Our character grew in strength and out of a growing and grateful heart we experienced a longing to pay it forward.

So cultivate a thankful heart and build depth into your own holiday planning by getting up and moving. Giving the best of ourselves, our time and resources, will produce a ream of benefits -— like new friends, a sense of deeper belonging, discovered talents, energy, goodness and hope. It’s thankful living we can all be proud of.

Reach Joan Bay Klope, faithfulliving@hotmail.com.