Struggling

I am wrestling with this passage:

Matthew 6:1-4  Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

I'm not quite sure what to do with this.  I have acknowledged on this very blog that there are some things our family does to help the less fortunate.  I want to believe my motives were pure because my ultimate goal was to help raise awareness and encourage others to get involved, too.  But were they?  Was I trying to be "seen by men?"

John and I have talked about some of the amazing organizations that average people have started in order to help the less fortunate.  Just today, someone presented at church about such an organization - he's an average guy with not a lot of means, but he had a heart to make a difference in the world and so he is doing what he can.  I so respect that.  In order for this organization to flourish, though, he has to get the word out.  Is he then flaunting his "act of righteousness?"  I don't think so. 

Then there is the whole "orphan" tshirt category.  I happen to own a few myself, so there is no judgment here.  I'm wondering, though, at what point does it become a little too "in your face" - look what I have done!  The purchase of one shirt fed a child for a month and that is totally a good thing.  But, is wearing that slogan on my back merely announcing the good work I did or is it more than that?

Finally, we have adoption itself.  Our faith prompted us to be a family for two little girls who needed one.  They were needy, but they aren't anymore.  Now they are just our daughters.  They are wanted, loved, and accepted every bit as much as our boys who were born to us.  When people ask us why we adopted, we tell them the truth - it was in response to a need that we were made aware of because God opened our eyes to it. 

Ultimately, here is where I have landed in terms of helping the less fortunate:  we have been blessed.  Therefore, we need to be a blessing to others.  Sure, we both work hard for the money that we earn, but we are so fortunate to live in a place where we have jobs that pay more than the $2.50 a day or less that HALF THE WORLD lives on.  That means that over 3 billion people are living on less than the cost of  the box of Ritz crackers that I purchased at the grocery store today.  Can you even imagine?  How, then, can we not share the plenty that we have with those that don't have their basic needs met? 

And so I wrestle.  There must be a fine line here that I am missing.  When is it okay to let people know what you are doing and when is it not?  I would love to know your thoughts...