Day 30: Well, I have not posted about giving every day this month, but this challenge has made me more mindful of what I am doing for others. The challenge shows me again that most of my giving is simply in how I spend my time. What are my priorities?
This past week I gave time, money, and thought into planning and preparing for Thanksgiving and now we have treasured memories of time spent together with family while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, playing games, cooking in Mom's kitchen together, the boys shooting targets outside, and praying before our Thanksgiving meal. Two weeks ago there was conflict about when and where to hold our celebration and someone had to "give" so my husband thought up a new Thanksgiving Day schedule with my whole family enjoying breakfast at our house and watching the parade, then the part of the family that had to go somewhere else for lunch could go, while the rest of us traveled to Mom's for more cooking and we all ate supper together later. I am thankful for my creative husband and how we worked it all out and had a great time!
Another thing that I realized this month is that I spend loads of time preparing for, tutoring, teaching, and directing several different groups of people. These are responsibilities and "work", but for most of these activities I am volunteering to use my time and talents to bless others and I enjoy it myself. I have been busy this fall and I don't have time to do "extra" giving most days, but the choices that I have already made for this season were focused on giving to others, so I think that kind of giving counts, too.
I am thankful for the 30-Day Giving Challenge because it inspires me to think of new or spontaneous ways to give and it prepares me for Advent and Christmas. May God bless you with the great gift of His Son, Jesus, whom we celebrate at Christmas! Happy giving!
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