Back when the husband and I were first married, I was fulfilling my new-bride task of writing thank you notes for all the generous gifts we had been given. (Random funny story: Someone gave us an electric teakettle which we promptly returned because we're LDS and don't drink tea - and also we lived in a 500 sq ft studio apartment and counter space consisted of our two-person table. The store gave me a whopping 75$ for it which thrilled me to no end. Who knew they were so pricey? But then two weeks later we got a call saying that what was in the box was not an electric teakettle but rather a cut-glass Easter basket. We had to go back to the store and give them $75 to buy back our tchotchke. But hey, that's what every newlywed couple needs - a 10-lb glass bowl that you can either use to gather Fabrege eggs OR slit your wrists!) Anyhow, every manners book said it wasn't enough to just write "Dear Mr. & Mrs. Johnson, Thank you for the set of towels." No, you are supposed to tell them how beautiful they are and what you are using them for. Well, a lot of people gave us money and so in the spirit of erring on the side of too much honesty I wrote on all those thank-you cards "Thanks for your generous gift. We are saving up to buy a bed so we don't have to sleep on the floor anymore. Love, Charlotte."
About a month later we found a money order from Grand Junction Colorado, a place where we know nary a soul, in our mailbox. It was for $250 with a post-it note that said "Buy a bed."
I was floored. The husband was floored. Never in our lives had we been the recipients of such charity. And there wasn't even a return address to send a thank-you card to! After admiring the large sum of money for a while we decided to follow our anonymous benefactors instructions and buy a bed. It's the same queen bed we sleep on to this day, 10 years later. Every time I make it I am reminded of what a gift we received. Every night before I crawl into it I say a prayer asking God to help me find a way to pay it forward (and also, if He's not too busy, to help my children learn to vomit during the daytime instead of the middle of the night. And in the toilet. Thank you). I've been blessed to find ways both small and large to anonymously help a sister (or brother!) out and today we all get another chance to do something small to help out another.
This is one of those miracles though that starts out small but if we all do it, it will be huge! What do you have to do? Just leave a comment on MizFit's site any time between now and midnight on the 23rd and she and her husband will donate (out of their not-fantastically-wealthy-but-oh-so-good-hearted pockets) a set amount per comment to an Austin area homeless shelter. And all you have to do is head over to her site and leave a comment!
So, while you're here, leave me a comment and tell me about an act of service that someone did for you that was particularly meaningful and then head over there and help her help the homeless! (Or if you are on a comment budget today, just forego the commenting here and go directly to her site.)
One more piece of information that I know will greatly excite some of you: Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple is thisclose to premiering his book The Primal Blueprint. Go check out the chapter descriptions and the table of contents for a sneak peak at what the Guru of all things Primal has to say!
Have a great weekend!
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