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.

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.

Order Your Signed Copy of 100 Days of Giving Today

Order your signed copy today and let your giving journey begin!

100 Days of Giving and Giving Journal Now in Print

So excited to share this with you! Enjoy and please send feedback about how giving has impacted you.

100 Days of Giving and Giving Journal in Print

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:

 100 Days of Giving at Smashwords

or through Amazon for your Kindle: 100 Days of Giving e-book at Amazon

What Small Difference Will You Make Today?

COUPON FOR One Hundred Days of Giving e-book on Smashwords for the holidays - buy today and give one as a gift. Use coupon code NB98U

Day 78 ❦ Sometimes Even a Small Gift Can Make Difference

The Gift: Personal Care Items for the Emergency Shelf

As you may have ascertained, I get to travel a lot. Often I have the privilege of traveling to crazy great places and have experiences with which I could fill books. But the fun and adventure comes at a price. There are always trade-offs right? The problem with traveling for work is that oftentimes, the trade-offs are not so apparent to someone who has just asked me where I have been lately. I am not going to spend any time listing the trade-offs for so many reasons, I just want there to be a stated awareness that the work that accompanies the travel can be difficult, draining and downright dirty.

I am fortunate that most of the times I am traveling for work I am staying in hotels - although the times I get
to stay in people’s homes are special; hotels give me the respite that I need to recharge for another full-board day of work the next day. I will learn later in my life why I need that recharging time but for now, during this exercise, 100 Days of Giving,  I have not yet learned why I need my alone time so desperately. When I get back to my room I may just sit for an hour or so trying to clear my mind and refresh my thoughts for the next day. I always have visions of sitting and writing or reading, but the truth is that my brain is usually spent and even drawing a bath seems like it would take too much brain power.

Just Give Yourself...Harness Your Power and Give

Interlude   ❦   Just Give Yourself

The reflection...

As I sat down to write today, I was reminded about this post and thought I would reprise the sentiments of the day. The bonding and connecting that comes together over tragedy is powerful. Defining moments happen, people learn about their own inner strength and we are often surprised by the empathy that stirs in us when surrounded by massive destruction.

These defining moments do just that, help establish a sort of collective character of the group that is rising from the challenge faced. While I do not wish tragedy upon anyone, I am fascinated by the strength and power of those who are resilient and rise  beyond the challenges. Those who harness the power, the inner strength and use that energy to help others.

Our community is implementing flood relief efforts which include building a wall to keep the rivers that flow through the town at bay. While I realize that this will be helpful for some, I do wonder about the impact to the people and communities that live downstream. For days the construction has shook my house as enormous trucks drive beams deep into the ground to hold tall walls firm against the rising waters. I find that I am becoming distracted thinking about the people who live down stream...and I am publishing this post so that I can be reminded that there are things I can do right now to make a difference in someone's life - right now.

The Interlude...

During the first series of 100 days of giving I have talked about the floods that devastated Austin, Minnesota and even though the magnitude is much greater in real time with Hurricane Sandy and the aftermath of the flooding and water and wind damage - the concepts of moving outside ourselves to find a way to give to those around us remain the same. I am reminded about this flooding as construction swirls around me.

For this interlude I am posting 4 of the most popular posts as a means of prompting or priming the pump in the giving world. It is so easy to get so overwhelmed and consumed with the need that we may marginalize or underestimate our capacity and impact.

So today step outside yourself and do something for someone else, smile, show friendship, lend a helping hand - it does not need to cost anything...just give yourself.
The top 4 posts - just click on the link:

Giving can create a sense of relief

Do something for someone else

When you give, you give others permission to give too

And, the one that still makes me smile every time...

Find a way to stretch yourself...

 ❦   Just Give Yourself

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. 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

All 100 Days of Giving are available as an e-book you can purchase it for $3.99 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.

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

And now available "From The Eye of The Hurricane" eBook a collection of short stories and poems that sets the stage for, and provides the back-story for "100 Days of Giving"

From The Eye of The Hurricane available at Smashwords
From The Eye of the Hurricane