Day 15: today i gave time. i offered to run a few extra errands for my husband and for my mom. i'm happy to be able to help when i can!
Day 16: today i adopted two angels from the Salvation Army Angel Tree. every year i like to pick up angels that are the same ages as my children. little babies in need of onesies with dolls on their wish lists. but this year i saw something new: senior citizen angels! i thought about my grandma and my grandpa. i thought about the old men and women in their rocking chairs on the wrap around porch of the assisted living facility i drive by every day. all they want is a bathrobe or a clock radio. i adopted an 69 year old angel and an 83 year old angel.
Day 17: today, i pray, i gave encouragement to a friend who was having a down day.
Day 18: i sent BigGirl to school today with a plate of homemade pumpkin bars to give to all of her teachers.
Day 19: today i packed up my kids' most recently outgrown clothes to give to friends with younger kids. do you know how much i love doing that? i know what a blessing it is to receive hand-me-down clothes. i know how awesome it is to open the kid's closet thinking he has outgrown everything, only to remember the box of clothes on the shelf from a friend filled with clothes in the next size up. i know! so i gladly pack up my kids' outgrown clothes, saving only the super sentimental pieces, and i pass them on. they still have good life in them!
Day 20: i dropped off our OCC shoeboxes today. at the drop-off site, i honestly almost cried when i saw the rows of boxes lining the walls, stacked as high as the ceiling. it was overwhelming for me. i can only imagine how overwhelming it is to the impoverished children who have never seen a gift box. add my 4 little boxes to the stack, i thought. and i prayed.
Day 21: today i adopted two angels from the Haiti orphanage run by our church. a 10 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. all they want is flipflops.
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wait a second.... you know this isn't about me, right? you know that i don't participate in a giving challenge to make me look good, right? this is about Jesus. today at church, i heard this:
"Giving isn't about recognition. It's about finding a need and meeting it. It's about being the hands and feet of Jesus."
i am aware of God's command: “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 others. Truly I tell you, 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." (Matt 6:2-4)
the only reason i post my gives in this 30 Day Challenge is to encourage you to also give. for you to see how simple it is to bless others every day. and also to hold me accountable to the challenge, accountable to God, and to keep my focus outward and upward. no trumpets, please. to Him be the glory!
