Tag Archives: giving

Do we hold back what was never ours to keep?

Posted on
6

When was the last time someone just gave you something, because they had it to give and they wanted you to have it? It could’ve been your kid’s cookie, soggy but still sweet. It could’ve been tickets to a concert. Or a work of art.

When was the last time you gave something to someone out of the goodness of your heart and the overflow of your life?

I’m not a giver. Well, not in the traditional sense. I give time, although I am rather greedy with mine. I budget it carefully. And it goes out, in various stages, to various people and places. But I want to give more. I want to give out of other areas of my life as well.

So I’m asking myself what I have to give. And I’m trying to be really really honest.

One thing that has recently resurfaced is “my story”–in a few surprising forms. But people are poking around in my life in search of answers in their own lives. I may not have all the answers, but I do have my own experience. So I am giving that.

But what else? What else have I been given in surplus so I can give it to someone else? That is the question I have devoted to today. But not just for me. For you too.

What do you have to give? Be honest. Be real. Toss “humility” out the window, because that’s not what this is about. This is about locating the things of value in your life that are there for the sake of someone else. What’s there? What do you have to give?

Aaaaaannnnddd the winner is!

Posted on
17

Wow, somewhere between when I ate dinner and when I woke, y’all did some serious hustling to get people to this blog. The #s went crazy. People from all corners of the world awake at all hours of the night.

Y’all. Are. Crazy.

This has been WAY more fun than I ever would’ve imagined. WAYYYY.

And y’all are hyper-creative, that’s for sure.

But nobody really cares about that, do they? Y’all just wanna know who won?

@angie — a long time reader and missionary — pulled in the most votes and BAM the $10 is hers! Let’s make some dreams come true at the House of Dreams!!

Now, cousin (I don’t know how that ended up being her reader nick-name, but she was around when I was handing them out and that’s what she got) tell me where on the internet to *insert credit card here* and I’ll make it happen!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Any volunteers wanna send $10 to one or two of our runners up? Just let me know. There are some worthy endeavors on that list. And we can make some more dreams come true today.

Thanks for playing. Y’all have made my dimmish week much brighter… And it only cost me ten bucks. ;)

Stuff

Posted on
22

Stuff… Do we really need it?

At least once a year, Drew and I review our budget and finances. We want to be good stewards of what we have, and want to make it last.  Consequently, we are more carefully considering our costs. We ask ourselves if we really need something before purchasing it.

Like new headphones for my iPod, when the old ones work fine but are just uncomfortable.

Or like eating out, when I can create a similar meal at home.

Or like renting a movie, when we can check one out of the library.

Or like foregoing the local coffee shop when we can make a mean mocha at home.

Little things like that change our perspective – shift our focus on stuff.

Just yesterday he said to me: “I think we need to cut back on eating out again. I’ll help you with dinner more often, so when you don’t want to cook we won’t just eat out.”

(ahhhh… I love that man.)

We fight the “I NEED I NEED I NEED” monster one day at a time. One cost at a time. One savings at a time.

What are you doing, to fight the “I NEED” monster?