Why?
- Because there are lots of people in need, people with less than me, people that I encounter every day.
- Because I believe Jesus is right when he tells us we should, "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."
- Because I have committed, along with some other friends, to fast (go without) so that others may feast (have). I think this is one way I can do that, and can invite others to do the same.
- Giving something that I have (especially food and clothes) to someone else. It's that simple.
- Doing this at least once a week
- Practicing with this kindness between now and the end of 2007
- I will pray and ask God to show me those in need
- As I am out, I will intentionally look, not past or around people, but will ask God if this might be one I can give to
- I will not give anonymously or to people in the crowd. I believe God wants me to know His children. Even if this means getting to know someone as I give, I want to learn names, hear stories, and rub against the realities of others
- Though this giving will happen without fanfare, I want to use this space to share stories of what I am learning and experiencing as I give.
- I don't know! But, it seems like this can only go well...
- I hope the process will grow my own generosity
- I hope the process will help me see people better
- I hope the process will reorient my life to be more giving in general
- I know people will have who did not have before
11 comments:
i love it - pardon all lower case my kids have destroyed my [shift] keys - both of them...
so have you had a chance to give something this week - how did it go [question mark would go here] - i am not sure if i can commit to the idea today - but maybe tomorrow.
please keep putting up the posts as they will encourage me and others to possibly engage - from friendly franklin tn - mike greenberg [not the one on cnn] he would start giving today, im sure.
I'm with you on this. Please hold me accountable and remind me of this commitment by asking me my stories on a weekly basis! looking forward to hearing yours!
Thanks,
Cori
Arthur
Lovely. Brilliantly simple but potentially transformational. Thanks for the invite to engage. I will join in and invite my community to do the same.
Kellybean
I love this, not only will I do it, but I will pass it on to others. "Thoughts become things, choose the good ones."
Hi Arthur,
I love your idea and whole heartedly agree. It is very easy to give anonymously but when you actully have to bump up aginst those you are giving to it is much harder. I'm going to give it a try as well.
Aimee
I think I would like to join you. Can my first thing be to give something away to a friend? For practice:-).
Hi all!
Hopefully I can trust that this will not be misinterpreted as blowing my own horn, but a picture of God's glory and encouragement for us to not be afraid to let go...
2 weeks ago I bumped into an old friend at a drug store. In the feminine stuff isle. She immediately "fell into me" crying and telling me that her mom in Brazil has cancer and they thought she would die months ago, but now there is another surgery scheduled, etc...She also mentioned how her dying mother constantly tells her that she fasting for her to move back to the country. No pressure, right? I was immediately in tears with her especially since I know her mom and b/c my mom died of cancer. Instantly the Holy Spirit prompted me to give my airmiles away so she can go spend time with her mom. Yeah, but it took me YEARS to accumulate this many miles...enough to get me two trans-atlantic flights. Plus I was planning on taking two missional trips before the end of the year, so I had plans already of how I would use them. Thank God, my mouth opened and I offered her the miles. Just yesterday, she and her parents left me a message from Brazil, just blessing me with their words. Her mom made it through surgery and they sounded generally at peace. In the meantime I found out that I will not have been able to use those miles on my trips anyways b/c of various factors.
Sooo...may God help us in those crucial seconds of letting go of things that seem dear to us:)
Rock on ya'll!
Mon!ka
Nice, Bud!
Love to see so many taking the challenge with you, too!
Keep it up...look forward to hearing how such a project continues to grow.
Blessings...
sean
i am glad that this is resonating with others. thank you for responding with the intent to try! do please pass this on.
i will post this week's story tomorrow.
also, thanks to monika for sharing a story already.
btw, i haven't used blogger much, so i am wondering if there is a way for me to respond to individual comments, or can I only add a comment that gets sorted with all the others?
Yeah, count me in! I just gave away a special ring the other week, thinking, "I don't really need this anymore," and just felt like blessing a young girl with it in Sosh. What if I lived like that all the time? It was a very uncharacteristic act. Maybe this "commitment" will make it more commonplace in my heart. Thanks, Arthur- cool idea.
Nice blog, nice idea!
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