Matching Gift

So during the Lemonade Benefit for the Hero Program, I casually threw out over FB that I would love for someone to match the total brought in at the end of the day.

Sure, it would be cool.

I didn't really pursue it.  Just prayed that perhaps someone reading the accounts of the day would feel compelled to give.

Our total was $220.

Then another $5.00 came in.

And another $10.00 today.

AND A MATCHING GIFT OF $220.

I can't not adequately describe how I am feeling.

Thank you.

Are You A Puppet Master?

I read this incredible quote today:

The gift, once given, is no longer yours to control. If you give someone something, do so openly and freely, otherwise, what's the point? If you're not giving joyously, but to control the people around you, it's time to reassess.


It's not as if this idea is a new one to me. But this quote does a great job summing up a belief I've held for years but have been unable to communicate as well. Sure, we've all heard the cliche "no strings attached". Those strings insinuate CONTROL - like a puppet on a string.

When we give, and then treat the givee as a marionette, we've not actually given a gift 'tall. Think about it.

I'm still giving as I shared with you I would. Whether it be tithing, putting change in our Christmas jar, placing aside clothing, shoes, and household goods for Good Will drop-offs, picking up items at the store for friends or running their errands, donating cosmetics and personal products to the women's shelter, etc. I have traded my, "How much cash can I get for this?" for "Who could use this?"

And trust me. I could use the cash!

I've had great examples to guide me. When I look around my house, every room has an item that has been graciously given to me. Without those puppet strings.

So, I do the same.

Lighten the load for someone else when you have the opportunity. Heck, it could be as simple as picking up a loaf of bread for a neighbor.

Simple gifts translate into full hearts.

Trust me. My heart runneth over.

Planning for Next Christmas

"What?!  You're already thinking about next Christmas?!"

Yes.

Part of our goal as a family is to give more.  I've blogged time and time again about my quest to give one item away each day.  And while I've missed a day or two here and there, the action and discipline of giving has had the effect I had hoped.  For now, I am habitually looking for ways to give away belongings I do not use, money of which I have excess, and time which can be used to help others.

Which brings me to NEXT Christmas.

This week, our family started a Christmas Jar.  Let it be said that I have no intention of reading the book attached to this project.  I've got enough reading to do.

The chore thing in our house ebbed and flowed all through 2010.  The kids have gone through periods of being spot on with completing their chores, followed by weeks of inconsistency - an endless back and forth of paying them or not paying them for the completion of the specific responsibilities each one has been given.  I've written about our family, um, "system" (I can't stand that word), here.  I actually like our current plan, even if the chores are only getting done maybe 65% of the time, so this is not some big announcement that we're chucking it.

Rather, we're adapting it.

Enter, The Christmas Jar.

We mentioned this idea to the kids a few nights ago and the response was favorable:  upon completing a chore, rather than receiving coins for themselves, all spare change (whether chore-related, or that random dime you find in the washer) will be placed in the jar.  All. Year. Long.

Come Christmas, we will anonymously give our jar of spare change to someone who needs it.  One person.

Harper's response, "Can I put my tithe in the jar?"  I was more than fine with this.  Spirit of the law. In went her quarter.

Zane?  Not sure he got it. But he likes the clinking sound the coins make when they get thrown in.

The kids are still so "high in sky" from receiving Christmas gifts and have birthdays to look forward to this month, so any thoughts of buying items for themselves is thankfully off their radar screens. Perhaps this is why the idea went over so very well.  They are currently well stocked.

The jar is visible - right on the kitchen windowsill.  So, if you stop by, and have some coinage jingling away in your pocket - drop it on in.

We'll make sure it gets to the right person in December.

We're pretty sure God will make that person as clear to us as the glass of the jar itself.

He's cool that way.

Give a Little Bit . . .

Remember this?

Well, I haven't forgotten about it.  That's more important than whether you remembered that I'm on a "giving quest".

I am.

So how's it going?

Well, the attic is no longer a storage facility, but rather a playroom for the children.  That ought to tell you something.

While cleaning the large space in the attic (it is finished and divided into a large and small room),  I found mounds of items that could be useful to someone else.  It seems as if I have been adding something to my giveaway pile daily.  We have cleaned up and donated so much stuff that our storage can now fit in the smaller attic space. And despite moving all our stored items to that smaller room, it isn't full.

Talk about downsizing.

Tonight I brought another load over to Goodwill.

You know what?  I realize that I could probably get a little coin from selling a few items on Craig's List or Ebay, but really, I've been blessed with a great freelancing life.  Writing, Beachbody, and Mary Kay keep me busy.  And paid.  I think I can afford to simply give away these items.

And so I have.

For those of you who have joined me on this quest - how's the giving going???