Thankful Me

This week the #LightTheWorld campaign's theme is Light Your Community, and I'm happy to welcome Mimi of messymimi's meanderings as a guest blogger today. I have enjoyed reading her posts about her involvement with rEcess, and asked her if she would share a bit about that program with us. She graciously agreed. I hope that her story will inspire us to look around and see how we might be able to serve in our own communities. 

*************************************************

Several years ago, a little boy named Eliot was born, against the odds, with Trisomy 18.  (Most babies with that DNA defect don’t make it to birth.)

He lived 99 days.  His parents were left with a lot of pain at his loss, and with a desire to help parents of special needs kids the way they had been helped and touched by so many.  They founded 99 Balloons, for the number of days their son had lived, and began sponsoring rEcess.  (The capital E is for Eliot.)

Every parent knows how hard it can be to keep that …

I don't often dream, or if I do, I don't often remember my dreams. I do, however, very frequently wake up with a song running through my mind. Often the song is a new one that we are learning in church choir. Other times, it is one that is familiar but that I'm unsure of all the words. My brain just goes over and over the part I don't know, trying to figure out the words. 

1. I'm thankful for how easily song lyrics can be found, even at 4 a.m. Mele kalikimaka is not a "wise" way (that doesn't make sense) nor is is "a Hawaiian's" way (there are too many syllables for the notes), but it is "Hawaii's" way to say "Merry Christmas!"

2. I'm thankful for the rabbit hole of knowledge one can learn while just trying to change the inner play list. Did you know that (according to Wikipedia) "A mondegreen is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meanin…

Today's guest post is written by my friend, Krista. She's one of those people that just seems to have it all together. We met when we were both living in California. At that time, she had two adorable, well-behaved children, a giant, well-trained puppy, and had just moved into a beautiful house that her husband was renovating. 
After some time, we both moved away from California and lost touch, except for the occasional Facebook post. Her photos left me wanting more information. That curiosity prompted me to ask her to write a guest post, because I knew her story would be interesting for all my readers. 
I struggled to know in which week in the #LightTheWorld campaign to publish this post. The Light the World week certainly fit, but Light Your Family week also would be appropriate. Ultimately, my impatience to publish won out. 
I think you will agree that Krista is an amazing person and a great example!
**********************************************
Two years ago, my husband and I …

Monday, Nancy of Wyoming Breezes wrote a guest post and shared with us about the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Yesterday, I focused on JustServe.org, and how that is one resource to finding organizations that need volunteer helpers. Today, I'd like to report on what I found when I used JustServe.org. 

The #LightTheWorldcampaign is encouraging everyone to Light the World, Light Your Community, Light Your Family, and Light Your Faith. I had ideas for the latter three, but I wanted to do something for Light the World that was more than just donating money to a cause (though that can be helpful, too, of course.) I turned to JustServe.org to see if I could find ways to participate. A couple of projects stood out to me: tying quilts for the Paradise, CA fire victims, and gathering supplies for Rohingyarefugees who are living in Bangladesh. Stitching Hearts Worldwide was organizing quilting bees, and also was working with Lifting Hands International to round up donations of goods to send to…

What better time than Christmas to emulate the example of Jesus Christ? He spent a lifetime in service to others, and we can serve others, too. 

This year, the Light the World initiative is broken into four weekly themes: Light the World, Light Your Community, Light Your Family, and Light Your Faith. 

There are countless ways we can serve. Yesterday, Nancy of Wyoming Breezes taught us about the Quilt of Valor Foundation. There are countless organizations that could use our help, but sometimes it is hard to know what charities are out there, and exactly what help is needed. 

Enter justserve.org. With the click of a button, you can put in your zip code and find a list of organizations near you. You can also search by interest. Perhaps you want to help animals, or you want to provide disaster relief. You can search for projects that meet those interests. 

Similarly, if you are involved with a charity that is in need of more volunteers, you can list your organization on justserve.org. The sit…

Welcome to the first installment of guest posts during this #LightTheWorld season. Each week of this month the focus will be just a little bit different. We'll start with "Light the World," then "Light Your Community," "Light Your Family," and finally, "Light Your Faith." I've invited several different individuals to share their ideas with us, and I'm excited to hear from them throughout this month.

Nancy of Wyoming Breezes is a great example of serving others, and I was so delighted when she agreed to share with us a little bit about one of her favorite volunteer organizations, Quilt of Valor. 



I am thankful Kristi asked me to write a post about the Quilt of Valor Foundation that has awarded 204,509 quilts to military service members and veterans touched by war, and that number changes daily. Quilt of Valor has been a passion of mine for eight years, and I’m proud to have made 149 Quilts of Valor (QOV) during that time.



The national Qu…