Giving Challenge Update – Week 4

Wow! This amazing month is quickly coming to a close. Wasn’t it just summer?! It has been such a pleasure to give every day this month. We haven’t seen many “tangible” things given back to us, but (SO much more than that) our lives are changed. We are more thoughtful and less selfish. We are convinced that the giving “blessings” have not stopped, but that they will continue to encourage the lives of others. We may never know the ramifications of our giving, but God knows and that’s what matters anyway.

In case you missed them… Week 1, Week 2, or Week 3…and here’s what we did this week:

Day 23: I cleaned out my pantry stockpile and I pulled out a bunch of stuff for the food drive. Our pantry is still well stocked too! Read more about this adventure, here.

Kelly and I went Publix shopping for deals for the food drive. Pictured below: I purchased all of this for 16.00! And I used a gift card that my brother gave to me to use specifically for the food drive, so nothing out of pocket!!

Day 24: I took lunch to my friend Tabitha who very recently had a sweet baby boy! Holding her newborn made my ovaries itch just a tad, okay, (ahem) maybe a lot!

Day 25: I helped my friend April hang a mirror in her master bathroom. We chatted over a nice lunch that she fixed for us. In the afternoon, I helped Kelly and Jacob set up the nursery — furniture placement, where to hang stuff on the wall and we put up a super cute Uppercase Living expression above the crib!

Day 26: Participated in Feed It Forward through Restaurant.com

Day 27: Prince Charming cleaned out a dresser and his side of the closet. We are donating all of these gently worn clothes to the Christian Foundation. The Foundation supports the Lexi House – a shelter for women and children.

On Friday morning we went out shopping and I wore these socks. People’s reactions to my socks were hilarious! Either they looked at me like I was out of my mind–maybe I was/am or they approached me to ask where I got them! Ha!

While we were out, of course, we had to make a stop at Starbucks. The drive-thru lady just loved my socks and wanted to know where I got them. She really wanted to get a pair herself. As we drive toward our next stop — Target — which is where the socks are from, I got this crazy idea to get several pairs for the girls at Starbucks. PC loved the idea! About five people stopped me in Target asking me about my socks (so funny)! So we took 5 pairs of these socks back by Starbucks and there were resounding squeals and hugs as PC threw pairs toward the workers. It was such a f.u.n. way to give!

Day 28: This is probably very small and seemingly insignificant, but I was able to help my very pregnant sister with loading her groceries into her car and returning her buggy at Aldi. Prince Charming was able to meet with a Christian, grandma-type, older lady (who recently lost her husband and is facing losing her home) to help her with finances, budgeting and looking for work.

Day 29: Both Prince Charming and I served in our church’s music ministry.

Day 30: I made Kelly’s Christmas wreath for her while she entertained Ridley and I sent a “Thank You” card to a member of our armed forces through Xerox. You should definitely check out this opportunity here.

It has been a wonderful month! A huge thank you to Alyssa for hosting the 30 Day Giving Challenge!