It's an exciting day for our family today. After years of driving junk cars/vans, we finally got a nice set of wheels in our driveway!
Today, we purchased a black 1999 Grand Prix from a coworker of my husband. While I wish it wasn't 9 years old, it is in very good shape for its age and it was taken good care of over the years. We are only the 2nd owner so we have all the history, etc of the car. It even got some fancy stuff we never enjoyed before like a sunroof and heated seats!
25 years of vehicles
I'm trying to remember all the vehicles we had during our 25 years of marriage. I'm not good at this so I'm going to have to get my husband involved with giving me the names. I do remember a 97 Lumina, a 92 Prism, 91 Tracer, 89 Topaz, 85 Dodge Colt, 87 Linx, a 93 Buick Century, a full size gas guzzler van, a 97 van (we still have that one) and a 1989 van (just sold that one last week). Some of the cars in our early years of marriage were leases before we wised up and realized that was not a smart purchase. Those were the only time we ever had a brand new car. We also tend to keep our vehicles until they more or less fall apart or just get too expensive to fix.
Now that we are older, its not that important to have brand new vehicles. We are more concerned now about gas mileage, condition of the vehicle and getting a good deal for our money. It's nice if the windows work too!
We are blessed. Thank you Lord for providing for our need.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
In Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day
I am still in VA and today my friend, her mother and I drove to Arlington National Cemetery to lay roses at the grave of her father/her mother's husband. This is my second time at Arlington Cemetery but my first on a national holiday.
There was a lot of traffic going in so many people had the same idea. Once we reached a certain point of the park, we turned off and it was like we were alone. My friend commented that it was so quiet she could hear the birds. Where did all that traffic go that just minutes ago we were in the middle of?
Her father's ashes are stored in an urn in the "wall" of gravestones called columbariums. I believe that is the proper term for that. There are four metal "roses" at each corner. You take a string or rubber band to create a slot to hold flowers over the niche. We each left a red rose for my friend's father. He was a career military man who served for many years in the Air Force.
Rows of white tombstones
I walked to the hill and from there could see down to the rows of white gravestones of soldiers buried there many many years ago. Each tomb had an American flag in front of it. My husband told me he heard on the news that the flags were planted by volunteers. There are instructed to place their boot against the tomb and the flag is placed behind their heel. That is how they keep them straight in rows. Military precision. Its humbling to be here on a holiday specifically for remembering the soldiers.
I took a moment of silence to express my appreciation to the soldiers for their sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you.
There was a lot of traffic going in so many people had the same idea. Once we reached a certain point of the park, we turned off and it was like we were alone. My friend commented that it was so quiet she could hear the birds. Where did all that traffic go that just minutes ago we were in the middle of?
Her father's ashes are stored in an urn in the "wall" of gravestones called columbariums. I believe that is the proper term for that. There are four metal "roses" at each corner. You take a string or rubber band to create a slot to hold flowers over the niche. We each left a red rose for my friend's father. He was a career military man who served for many years in the Air Force.
Rows of white tombstones
I walked to the hill and from there could see down to the rows of white gravestones of soldiers buried there many many years ago. Each tomb had an American flag in front of it. My husband told me he heard on the news that the flags were planted by volunteers. There are instructed to place their boot against the tomb and the flag is placed behind their heel. That is how they keep them straight in rows. Military precision. Its humbling to be here on a holiday specifically for remembering the soldiers.
I took a moment of silence to express my appreciation to the soldiers for their sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Out of Town - for Consignment Purposes
Instead of a "Greetings from Michigan", this needs to begin with "Greetings from Virginia".
I took a rare break from eBay and life in general... hopped a plane and flew to National airport and am now spending a week with a friend at her mothers house in Springfield, VA. We are in the process of cleaning the house of her father' s estate stuff. Not an easy job but someone has to do it. I was asked to help her sort through the items and determine what is eBay worthy, yard sale worthy or just worthy of going into the trashcan. It's an ideal consignment job as there are so many worthy items and collections.
eBay Heaven at this house!
Her father passed away this past fall. I only met him once so really didn't know him. He was a career Air Force general so his house is loaded with military items. He was a pack rat and kept everything. It was actually fun going through boxes as we never knew what we were going to find. Same for her grandfather who left his WW2 footlocker in the attic. Many of those items will be coming home with me and I will listing them on eBay later this summer. (I have another consignment job that needs to be completed first)
They lived in several places around the world. Thailand, Philippines, Germany, Washington state and then eventually to VA where he retired. In every place they lived, they bought items. I just sold a large collection of beer steins from Germany from this estate. I have lots of glassware too from Germany and wood statues and dancing dolls from Thailand. A vast interesting collection that was enjoyed for awhile but has become clutter since there is so much of it.
My friend's mother is not quite the pack rat and is trying to de-clutter the house of this excess stuff that she never uses and would only have to dust. I applaud her for that as this will give her some income and more space around her home.
De-clutting trip #2
This is my second trip to this house. My friend and I were already here in March for a week of the first "de-cluttering" and we took home a truck full of items for me to list on eBay. Those items are now in my backroom in my house and will be listed by the end of this summer as I know my friend's mom can use the money.
So... in reality, I guess I never did take a complete break from business after all as I'm still thinking eBay all the time as I access each item I'm given. They had a yard sale this past weekend and I was going back and forth checking to see if certain items should be out there or come home with me.
I'll be back in Michigan again on Wednesday and be fully back in business again listing, shipping, etc etc by Thursday. In some ways, its been nice taking a break from those chores. Stop by and check out my auctions soon!
I took a rare break from eBay and life in general... hopped a plane and flew to National airport and am now spending a week with a friend at her mothers house in Springfield, VA. We are in the process of cleaning the house of her father' s estate stuff. Not an easy job but someone has to do it. I was asked to help her sort through the items and determine what is eBay worthy, yard sale worthy or just worthy of going into the trashcan. It's an ideal consignment job as there are so many worthy items and collections.
eBay Heaven at this house!
Her father passed away this past fall. I only met him once so really didn't know him. He was a career Air Force general so his house is loaded with military items. He was a pack rat and kept everything. It was actually fun going through boxes as we never knew what we were going to find. Same for her grandfather who left his WW2 footlocker in the attic. Many of those items will be coming home with me and I will listing them on eBay later this summer. (I have another consignment job that needs to be completed first)
They lived in several places around the world. Thailand, Philippines, Germany, Washington state and then eventually to VA where he retired. In every place they lived, they bought items. I just sold a large collection of beer steins from Germany from this estate. I have lots of glassware too from Germany and wood statues and dancing dolls from Thailand. A vast interesting collection that was enjoyed for awhile but has become clutter since there is so much of it.
My friend's mother is not quite the pack rat and is trying to de-clutter the house of this excess stuff that she never uses and would only have to dust. I applaud her for that as this will give her some income and more space around her home.
De-clutting trip #2
This is my second trip to this house. My friend and I were already here in March for a week of the first "de-cluttering" and we took home a truck full of items for me to list on eBay. Those items are now in my backroom in my house and will be listed by the end of this summer as I know my friend's mom can use the money.
So... in reality, I guess I never did take a complete break from business after all as I'm still thinking eBay all the time as I access each item I'm given. They had a yard sale this past weekend and I was going back and forth checking to see if certain items should be out there or come home with me.
I'll be back in Michigan again on Wednesday and be fully back in business again listing, shipping, etc etc by Thursday. In some ways, its been nice taking a break from those chores. Stop by and check out my auctions soon!
Monday, May 19, 2008
A Prayer for you today
In case you didn't know, Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways, meaning she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love.
She is represented by roses. May everyone who reads this message be blessed.
Prayer is one of the best free gifts we can receive. Read the prayer below.
Saint Theresa's Prayer
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
God's blessings to each of you today! Make God Smile!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Want to get paid to Blog! Do Blog Ads!
I'm still a newbie and I'm learning as I go. Gradually you will see different posts here for different products. I get to choose the blog ads I want to talk about. I hope you will enjoy reading about them and you will click on their ads too. There is a widget along the side that will take you directly to the PayPerPost site if this is something you think you might be interested in doing. Hey, I'll get a small reward myself if you sign up and are approved! Win win for both of us!
Get paid CASH for every product you talk about! One of the nice things about this site is that PPP pays cash and we all can use some extra cash! If you like to write, why not take advantage of this idea and get paid for writing and get paid for your time! Write about things you use everyday.That's the whole idea! What do I plan to do with this extra income? Buy a new (most like used!) car! We have two vans that are more or less junkers and are limited in how far we can drive. I guess that is a good thing at the moment considering the gas costs! Thanks for stopping by and learning about PPP...PayPerPost!
Camp Songs going through my Head
I'm sure all of us at one time or another have songs that goes through our heads like an endless record player. Isn't that the most annoying thing! Once it starts, I can't seem to make it stop and once the song starts, you HAVE to finish it to the end. Has that happened to you? Two continuous songs woke me up at 4am this morning and I could not get them to stop and fall back to sleep again.
How it happened
My husband gets home from work early on Fridays so yesterday afternoon he was flipping TV channels and came across the movie "Jesus Christ Superstar". While I have never seen this movie start to end (and we found it towards the middle), I was familiar with some of the songs. When I was growing up I attended church camp for one week every summer. It was the highlight of my summer. A chance to get away from working at my father's store and it was also the only time during the summer I got new clothes as my mom made me new outfits for camp. This is something I'll have to write about in another blog!
One summer we did the musical Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. We learned some of the songs to both those movies. One of my favorite was "I don't know how to love him" which is sung by Mary Magdeline. That was one of the songs that kept repeating itself.
Then last night I did a very rare thing and actually sat down and watched a movie on TV. I was also flipping channels (we do that a lot in this house!) and came across the Turner Channel. I LOVE the old black and white movies. I think they are so much better than the trashy movies of today. This one was called "Lillies of the Field" with Sidney Poitier. In this movie, they twice sing a song that starts with
It goes through Jesus' whole life. This just happens to be another song I learned at camp!
Therefore, I had these two songs repeating themselves over and over again and just my luck, I refreshed my brain and now the cycle is starting again! Oh boy! Amen... Amen...
How it happened
My husband gets home from work early on Fridays so yesterday afternoon he was flipping TV channels and came across the movie "Jesus Christ Superstar". While I have never seen this movie start to end (and we found it towards the middle), I was familiar with some of the songs. When I was growing up I attended church camp for one week every summer. It was the highlight of my summer. A chance to get away from working at my father's store and it was also the only time during the summer I got new clothes as my mom made me new outfits for camp. This is something I'll have to write about in another blog!
One summer we did the musical Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. We learned some of the songs to both those movies. One of my favorite was "I don't know how to love him" which is sung by Mary Magdeline. That was one of the songs that kept repeating itself.
Then last night I did a very rare thing and actually sat down and watched a movie on TV. I was also flipping channels (we do that a lot in this house!) and came across the Turner Channel. I LOVE the old black and white movies. I think they are so much better than the trashy movies of today. This one was called "Lillies of the Field" with Sidney Poitier. In this movie, they twice sing a song that starts with
"See the baby
Amen
laying in the manger
Amen
on Christmas morning
Amen Amen Amen
etc etc"
It goes through Jesus' whole life. This just happens to be another song I learned at camp!
Therefore, I had these two songs repeating themselves over and over again and just my luck, I refreshed my brain and now the cycle is starting again! Oh boy! Amen... Amen...
Blog Contest!
Over the past few months since I started blogging, I made a good friend who's name is Connie. I first met her on DOUA Disabled Online Users Association. I then met her again on IOS Rockstars. She has since given up her time to help me get started with improving my blog and making it profitable. Her blog is called BrainFoggles and she is having a contest!
Enter to win a blog!
The winner will win a hosted SEO blog with professionally designed header. How cool is that! I encourage you to head over to Connie's blog now and check it out. She has some rules you have to follow (they are not difficult) to enter her contest. GOOD LUCK!!!
Enter to win a blog!
The winner will win a hosted SEO blog with professionally designed header. How cool is that! I encourage you to head over to Connie's blog now and check it out. She has some rules you have to follow (they are not difficult) to enter her contest. GOOD LUCK!!!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Deaf Cafe, Flint 4th season
Last Saturday was our final Deaf Cafe, Flint program for our 4th season. We ended it with a bang! Two special things happened. At the very top we celebrate that there is a new Christian in God's kingdom! A young lady accepted Christ as her personal Savior. YEAH! THAT is why we serve. THAT is what makes it all worth it. We want to give Jesus a smile and cause the angels to jump for joy!
Locks of Love
Second thing that happened was one of our team members, Kirstan... donated her long hair to "Locks of Love". Another team member cut Kirstan's pony tail off as part of the program! She then proceeded to style it further. For someone who doesn't cut hair as a professional, Vonnie did a wonderful job! You can check out Kirstan's blog for her story about that experience. Check out the video at the very bottom! It will touch your heart.
What a year it has been!
It was a year of ups and downs. It was a year of tears and joy. It was a year of constantly being busy and thinking of new ideas, doing research, making costumes, making props, going through first, second, third and fourth drafts of drama scripts, learning new songs, sending out emails, downloading, uploading, meetings, practices and just being creative for the Lord! wow... now we break for the summer. We need this time to catch our breath!
We will be fixing up our travel travel this summer. This holds all our props, tables, lights, etc we need for the programs we do. That will be fun to have a "work day". Some of us will paint the trailer. Some will be making a wood folding frame to be a temporary wall during the program. Some will iron the just washed costumes. There will be plenty of work for everyone involved.
We also hope to go camping as a team this summer. That is still being worked out at the moment. This is a great group of people and we enjoy being around each other. We all love the Lord and we all give of our time, our energy, our gas!!, etc to serve in this ministry.
Find a way in your community to serve others too!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Cheap Gas for Deaf?
Cheap Gas Only for Deaf?
I have no idea if this photo is for real or has been doctored but it sure has us wishing especially right now while gas is getting close to $4.00 a gallon here in Michigan! Check out the prices! I wonder if the owner of this gas station is Deaf himself! Nice to have some advantages being Deaf!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Thoughts from a Friend
Email Devotions called Thoughts
Most days during the week I get a "thought" email from a man I have never met but feel I can call him a friend. His name is Stephen Cain. He is a Senior Staff Interpreter for the Disability Support Services at Jacksonville State University in AL. I don't know him as an interpreter, I know him as a Christian and a good writer who sends out email devotions he calls his "thoughts".
I asked Stephen this morning if I could post his thoughts now and then in my blog. He said, "I do not mind at all if you post them on your blog. Whatever will help further His kingdom is what is best." I also suggested to Stephen to start his own blog so the whole world and not just a small group can read his devotions. He responded that he doesn't know how to do a blog. One of these days I or someone will have to teach him!
Here is Stephen's "thought" for today. Thank you Stephen for allowing me to share!
You know, I don't have a very in-depth "Thought" this morning to give you. It is simply this: love each other. I don't care who has done what to you. Is it really that important in the big scheme of things? Is it worth destroying your testimony over by being hateful to whomever for the rest of your life? Sure, there are people that are going to get on our nerves worse than others. I know I get on everyone's nerves. And I know that people say things and do things that hurt us or tick us off. They are still souls that are loved by God and should be loved by us. Remember the second greatest commandment, right after the greatest which is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matthew 22:39).
Most days during the week I get a "thought" email from a man I have never met but feel I can call him a friend. His name is Stephen Cain. He is a Senior Staff Interpreter for the Disability Support Services at Jacksonville State University in AL. I don't know him as an interpreter, I know him as a Christian and a good writer who sends out email devotions he calls his "thoughts".
I asked Stephen this morning if I could post his thoughts now and then in my blog. He said, "I do not mind at all if you post them on your blog. Whatever will help further His kingdom is what is best." I also suggested to Stephen to start his own blog so the whole world and not just a small group can read his devotions. He responded that he doesn't know how to do a blog. One of these days I or someone will have to teach him!
Here is Stephen's "thought" for today. Thank you Stephen for allowing me to share!
You know, I don't have a very in-depth "Thought" this morning to give you. It is simply this: love each other. I don't care who has done what to you. Is it really that important in the big scheme of things? Is it worth destroying your testimony over by being hateful to whomever for the rest of your life? Sure, there are people that are going to get on our nerves worse than others. I know I get on everyone's nerves. And I know that people say things and do things that hurt us or tick us off. They are still souls that are loved by God and should be loved by us. Remember the second greatest commandment, right after the greatest which is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matthew 22:39).
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Lesson in Faith and Patience from a Bear
A lesson in patience
A friend of mine sent me this story and photos. I think its a wonderful lesson of waiting for the Lord to take care of difficult situations.
This bridge is on the Old Donner Pass Highway. It has a spectacular view of Donner Lake and Donner Pass on Route 80 in California.
A bear was walking across Rainbow Bridge (Old Hwy 40 at Donner Summit, Truckee) when two cars also crossing the bridge scared the bear into jumping over the edge of the bridge. Somehow the bear caught the ledge and was able to pull itself to safety. Authorities decided that nothing could be done to help Saturday night so they returned Sunday morning to find the bear sound asleep on the ledge.
After securing a net under the bridge the bear was tranquilized, fell into the net, lowered, then woke up and walked out of the net.
The moral is that when confronted with a bad situation sometimes the best solution is to take a nap and let the Lord take care of the rest.
A friend of mine sent me this story and photos. I think its a wonderful lesson of waiting for the Lord to take care of difficult situations.
This bridge is on the Old Donner Pass Highway. It has a spectacular view of Donner Lake and Donner Pass on Route 80 in California.
A bear was walking across Rainbow Bridge (Old Hwy 40 at Donner Summit, Truckee) when two cars also crossing the bridge scared the bear into jumping over the edge of the bridge. Somehow the bear caught the ledge and was able to pull itself to safety. Authorities decided that nothing could be done to help Saturday night so they returned Sunday morning to find the bear sound asleep on the ledge.
After securing a net under the bridge the bear was tranquilized, fell into the net, lowered, then woke up and walked out of the net.
There is a moral to this story you know; this old bear made a wrong move and found he was hanging by his nails. Somehow he was able to pull himself up onto the ledge where he saw he was in a very bad, impossible situation and what did he do? Yep, he took a nap and sure enough the Lord took care of situation while he was asleep.
The moral is that when confronted with a bad situation sometimes the best solution is to take a nap and let the Lord take care of the rest.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Books and more books on eBay
My dining room is being swallowed by boxes of books! Let me explain.
A business cleaning out houses
I have a friend who has a business of cleaning out houses for lawyers. Maybe the owner died or went into nursing home and has no family to clean out the house and get it ready to sell, etc. This is where my friend comes in. The lawyer calls her and gives her the keys to the house and she has so many months (depending on how much is involved) to organize the contents of the house.. have an estate sale... and just basiscally empty the house so it can be sold.
Asking me to get involved
She was recently given the job of cleaning out the house of a former Deaf pastor. Because he had deaf related items in his house and because he had a HUGE library of Bible related books, Karen asked if I wanted to help her with this project. Sure.. that would be something different for me. It would also be a consignment job. I would put the books (and a few other items) on eBay and get paid commission. She gets the books out of the house and gets help cleaning and organizing it.
We have been working together three weeks now. It seems like we have hardly made a dent as this house is just packed with everything you can imagine. Every time we go over, I bring home about 10 boxes of books and gradually get them listed on eBay. My first batch ended last night. I'm praying the Lord put these books in the hands of people who need them for his work. Just sent one over to England today.
Feeling like a librarian
This past weekend I organized the books into ABC order. It helps me find multiple books written by the same author. I will then sell them together as a "lot". There are so many books by Herbert Lockyer and M.R. Dehaan. Many Bible handbooks by Wycliff and Halley's and Unger's. Many many Bibles of different translations. I only have about 1/4 of the books here at my house. I still have many more to bring home over the next few weeks. I'm running out of boxes!
Most of these books are brand new or rarely used. This pastor and his wife did not have any children so all these books were handled only by adults. Thats pretty amazing as many of these books were published back in the 60's and in new condition. My husband has already been through this library and picked out his choices as has my current pastor.
Check out all these books listed in ebay and come back often as I'm listing new books several times a week!
A business cleaning out houses
I have a friend who has a business of cleaning out houses for lawyers. Maybe the owner died or went into nursing home and has no family to clean out the house and get it ready to sell, etc. This is where my friend comes in. The lawyer calls her and gives her the keys to the house and she has so many months (depending on how much is involved) to organize the contents of the house.. have an estate sale... and just basiscally empty the house so it can be sold.
Asking me to get involved
She was recently given the job of cleaning out the house of a former Deaf pastor. Because he had deaf related items in his house and because he had a HUGE library of Bible related books, Karen asked if I wanted to help her with this project. Sure.. that would be something different for me. It would also be a consignment job. I would put the books (and a few other items) on eBay and get paid commission. She gets the books out of the house and gets help cleaning and organizing it.
We have been working together three weeks now. It seems like we have hardly made a dent as this house is just packed with everything you can imagine. Every time we go over, I bring home about 10 boxes of books and gradually get them listed on eBay. My first batch ended last night. I'm praying the Lord put these books in the hands of people who need them for his work. Just sent one over to England today.
Feeling like a librarian
This past weekend I organized the books into ABC order. It helps me find multiple books written by the same author. I will then sell them together as a "lot". There are so many books by Herbert Lockyer and M.R. Dehaan. Many Bible handbooks by Wycliff and Halley's and Unger's. Many many Bibles of different translations. I only have about 1/4 of the books here at my house. I still have many more to bring home over the next few weeks. I'm running out of boxes!
Most of these books are brand new or rarely used. This pastor and his wife did not have any children so all these books were handled only by adults. Thats pretty amazing as many of these books were published back in the 60's and in new condition. My husband has already been through this library and picked out his choices as has my current pastor.
Check out all these books listed in ebay and come back often as I'm listing new books several times a week!
Friday, May 2, 2008
You happy today is Friday?
This is for all you who LOVE Fridays... especially quitting time!
Enjoy your weekend and hope you don't drag like the bear on Monday!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Paying it Forward
I need to admit right here at the top that I stole that title from a friend's blog that I just read this morning. She was talking about friends helping friends with their needs. That reminded me of a few things that happened to me just last week that also fall into the "Pay it Forward" mentality.
It started with Jennifer
Jennifer, at OSI Rockstars, first offered to transcribe the podcast class of my choice two weeks ago. I was so thrilled and asked what I could do for her to "pay" her. She said just "pay it forward". So, that is exactly what I planned to do so I kept my eyes open for someone who had a need.
A week earlier my husband had come home from work with a story. Seems he had helped a couple at the airport make changes to their travel plans to go to Hawaii. They were so excited and said he saved their trip. As this was all part of his job, he didn't give it a second thought but the next day the man gave John a thank you card.
Valuable Gifts!
Inside the card were two gift cards... $50 Speedway gas and $25 Starbucks! Wow. Here in Michigan, gas is expensive as I'm sure it is wherever you are located. Yesterday it was $3.75. I have no idea what it is today. I don't think we have filled our van in years. We only fill it about $30 at a time. We are very blessed, however, that we do not have to drive far. My husband works at the airport about 8 mins away and I work from home and really only go to the post office (5 mins drive) every few days. The only other driving we do is local to church and shopping. But, regardless, $50 gas would take us far.
Starbucks is a different story. My husband is addicted to Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos! He has to have one at least once or twice a week. That is his treat and energy source! I personally find the mocha too sweet but I recently tried the vanilla latte and that was pretty good. I also love the white chocolate latte. Anyways, $25 at Starbucks would buy a few frappuccinos for my husband's treat.
But those cards laid on the hutch unused. For some reason my husband felt he should not use them at the moment and was just holding them for when he really needed them.
Seeing a Need
During all this time, we were aware of a family that had a brand new baby in the hospital with a damaged heart. (See post for April 16). The baby had surgery and since has been slowly improving. I am good friends with the baby's grandmother, Irene. I know her son, Matthew and his family too. This family has been driving back and forth to Ann Arbor hospital (hour drive each way) and practically living at the hospital (thanks to the Ronald McDonald house).
I was talking to my husband about their situation. My husband picked up the cards and said... here.. give them to Matthew... Matthew and his family needed those gift cards more than we do! They use all that gas driving back and forth and they need special Starbuck treats too for a burst of energy and a break from their hospital routine.
Thank you Lord for helping us see a need and being in the position to help someone else. We are happy we had the opportunity to "pay it forward". We told Matthew not to waste time writing us a thank you card. We would prefer he spend that time with his two precious daughters.
I have since shared this story with Jennifer and she was thrilled as well. It always feels good to help others. This week I also helped Irene (the baby's grandmother mentioned above) sweep her house when I went to visit her. She had fallen at church last Sunday and her shoulder was still bothering her.
Look for opportunities to "pay it forward" around you today!
It started with Jennifer
Jennifer, at OSI Rockstars, first offered to transcribe the podcast class of my choice two weeks ago. I was so thrilled and asked what I could do for her to "pay" her. She said just "pay it forward". So, that is exactly what I planned to do so I kept my eyes open for someone who had a need.
A week earlier my husband had come home from work with a story. Seems he had helped a couple at the airport make changes to their travel plans to go to Hawaii. They were so excited and said he saved their trip. As this was all part of his job, he didn't give it a second thought but the next day the man gave John a thank you card.
Valuable Gifts!
Inside the card were two gift cards... $50 Speedway gas and $25 Starbucks! Wow. Here in Michigan, gas is expensive as I'm sure it is wherever you are located. Yesterday it was $3.75. I have no idea what it is today. I don't think we have filled our van in years. We only fill it about $30 at a time. We are very blessed, however, that we do not have to drive far. My husband works at the airport about 8 mins away and I work from home and really only go to the post office (5 mins drive) every few days. The only other driving we do is local to church and shopping. But, regardless, $50 gas would take us far.
Starbucks is a different story. My husband is addicted to Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos! He has to have one at least once or twice a week. That is his treat and energy source! I personally find the mocha too sweet but I recently tried the vanilla latte and that was pretty good. I also love the white chocolate latte. Anyways, $25 at Starbucks would buy a few frappuccinos for my husband's treat.
But those cards laid on the hutch unused. For some reason my husband felt he should not use them at the moment and was just holding them for when he really needed them.
Seeing a Need
During all this time, we were aware of a family that had a brand new baby in the hospital with a damaged heart. (See post for April 16). The baby had surgery and since has been slowly improving. I am good friends with the baby's grandmother, Irene. I know her son, Matthew and his family too. This family has been driving back and forth to Ann Arbor hospital (hour drive each way) and practically living at the hospital (thanks to the Ronald McDonald house).
I was talking to my husband about their situation. My husband picked up the cards and said... here.. give them to Matthew... Matthew and his family needed those gift cards more than we do! They use all that gas driving back and forth and they need special Starbuck treats too for a burst of energy and a break from their hospital routine.
Thank you Lord for helping us see a need and being in the position to help someone else. We are happy we had the opportunity to "pay it forward". We told Matthew not to waste time writing us a thank you card. We would prefer he spend that time with his two precious daughters.
I have since shared this story with Jennifer and she was thrilled as well. It always feels good to help others. This week I also helped Irene (the baby's grandmother mentioned above) sweep her house when I went to visit her. She had fallen at church last Sunday and her shoulder was still bothering her.
Look for opportunities to "pay it forward" around you today!
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