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Friday, April 3, 2015

Purpose


Deep in the midst of bobcat scat
The mountain crocus blooms
Through its tender splendor
The fearless wild wind rips
Above tree line in winter’s chill
Undeterred its beauty still
Resilient determined buds displayed
However others judge afraid
The mountain crocus blooms
Knowing only purpose.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

The Intentionality of Giving

Once the snow is gone, the yard work begins.
While it should not amaze me, it still does...the intentionality of giving is powerful. I know this and believe it to my core, but every now and then, I slip away from believing and forget. And then something like today happens and I am reminded that the intentionality of giving is POWERFUL!

My house is surrounded by huge trees, some of which drop over 100 bags of leaves each every fall. When the previous owner of my ome thought about removing the trees because she was too frail to rake the leaves that fell, the neighborhood rallied and agreed to rake her leaves for her. Unfortunately, that offer did not go with the house. year after year, our family has raked and removed leaves and branches and sometimes trees as they fell.

The City of Austin has a great leaf recycling option and so the leaves get reused as mulch, but the branches and trees pose a much more complex problem. At this point I could have a bonfire every night for a year and still have a woodpile that would be the envy of any Survivor contestant. This winter has been hard on our trees and they are dropping branches faster than I can keep up. Our chain saw is being repaired and so there is a lot of manual labor that needs to go into cleaning up the yard each day.

One of the many piles of wood in my stockpile
Just yesterday, I piled up all of the branches that had been revealed as the snow melted and I had quite a pile. Stacking up the wood I said to my husband, "wouldn't it be great if the kids from the apartment next door wanted to have a bonfire - I would have them come over and take this entire pile." His response was not helpful, something like "do they want to have a fire?" and I got discouraged. He was right of course, who was I to impose my will on someone else. So I resigned myself to having to chop up all of that wood and add it to my stockpile. It actually made me really sad. I love watching the kids in the apartments next door playing outside and I especially love bonfires, so thinking that I couldn't do anything to make it happen made me really really sad. But I secretly hoped...

It is a beautiful day today and I have resigned myself to cleaning up the yard. And, wouldn't you know it - as we pulled in the driveway from grocery shopping there was a family circled around the fire pit next door watching the smoke from the dank wet 3 pieces of wood they were trying to light. Stan hadn't even stopped the car and I was out the door running down to the family to share with them my gift.

These trees continually give us plenty of fuel for family bonfires
The family is four boys and a mom who had just moved in after losing their house and their shouts of pure joy as they ran over to my yard and gathered as much wood as they could carry and then came back again - was beautiful. Not only did they completely clean up my yard and filled their firepit and stockpile with loads of nice dry wood, but they began inviting their friends and neighbors to come and gather and enjoy the bounty.

I just want to cry, I am so moved and inspired. It is good to be reminded of the power of giving and the increased impact of intention.

For more about giving intentionally and One Hundred Days of Giving and let the giving journey begin.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Give Today To Make An Impact

100 Days of Giving is about hope, healing and simple gifts in times of difficulty and creating opportunities for each of us to have fun with unique ways of giving. Create rich opportunities to give of yourself...it is possible, have fun with it, create joy give freely!

Each day of the 100 Days of Giving includes a daily reflection for you to consider. Included within the 100 days are interludes, bonus times to stop and reflect. While you are reflecting...be sure to remember to LIKE 100 Days of Giving on Facebook

Today's reflection is about giving just for fun: Day 64

Last year, when I was working with a team of women preparing to return to Ghana I was moved by the outpouring of support and generosity that the team experienced. While the team was not the final beneficiaries of the support, the generosity and confidence of others was uplifting.

People who want to be part of something bigger than themselves, who want to know they are having a meaningful impact...that is what this is about...being part of something. To make this work we need all parts of the puzzle together which is a pretty big task - but this group was up for it and so are you. Be part of something, know you will be making an impact - support someone who is making it happen.

To learn more about our trip to Africa go to: www.csksghana.blogspot.com . You can be part of something - just do it.

All 100 Days of Giving are available as an e-book you can purchase it for $2.99 at Smashwords: 100 Days of Giving e-book at Smashwords or for your Kindle at 100 Days of Giving e-book at Amazon and get all of the daily experiences, journaling exercises and stories.

Your daily reflection: Simply give yourself, be a friend...reach out.

For your daily giving journal:  Give just for fun
  • What did you give today?
  • What did you do for fun when giving today?
To write your comments on 100 Days of Giving on Facebook click here

Please feel free to write about your experience in the comments section, share with someone else, or keep to yourself...whatever works for you, just keep in mind that one of the most important part of giving is being open to receiving and the more you share with others, the more you will receive in return. As difficult as receiving may be for you, it is an essential part of giving, so challenge yourself and give receiving a try, or a "do...there is no try, only do."

LIKE 100 Days of Giving on Facebook

Now that 100 Days of Giving is available as an e-book you can purchase it for $3.99 at Smashwords: 100 Days of Giving e-book at Smashwords  see coupon in sidebar for Smashwords and get all of the daily experiences, journaling exercises and stories.

To read today's reflection click on this link: Day 64

To read about all the 100 days of giving experiences you can download the e-book in a variety of formats at:
or through Amazon for your Kindle: 100 Days of Giving e-book at Amazon