I missed posting last week. It was a hectic week. My husband returned from his business trip to the Philippines and we celebrated his belated birthday. Then my sweet Jude turned 6 and we celebrated his birthday 2 days later. And 2 days after that was Halloween. Makes for a busy week for the mother who puts it all together! But a good time was had by all. Lots of candy consumed, silly games played at Chuckie Cheese by the cousins, siblings, and friend of the birthday boy, and a TON of gum chewed. 6 is a big deal around our home. It is the legal age for chewing gum. And Jude has had a piece in his mouth ever since he woke up on his birthday morning. Literally. You can see it in the Chuckie Cheese photo. He is enjoying smacking it and we are desperately trying to get him to chew with his mouth closed. I can't wait until the newness wears off. :)
I finally finished my circle socks. You know the ones that my sister received for her birthday in July still attached to the needles? :) Here she is modeling them with her cute feet. She loves them. And they fit which I was excited about because they seemed a little big. I am not pleased with the pooling on the feet. I broke the yarn and reattached it in a different place on the ball thinking that might help but nope, still pooling. At that point in the knitting I wasn't sure what I else I could do so I just went with it. But I am steering clear of variegated sock yarns for awhile. At least for socks.
Okay here is the important part of my post! My book this week. I Like Giving by Brad Formsma is literally a life changer. Or could be if read in the right spirit. I randomly picked it up at the library. It was on display close to the check out desk and looked intriguing. I thought I'd just take it home and flip through it. That is why I love libraries. You can take a book home not knowing if it will be terrible or not without it costing you a dime. Well if you return it on time... :)
Anyway I flipped through it at home and didn't put it down for 2 days. Read the whole thing cover to cover. Then went to the website and read there too. There are some pretty remarkable stories about generosity in both the book and the website. From giving the shirt off your back to a complete stranger to buying your child's bus driver a vacation to Florida to recover from cancer treatments. It inspires you to want to be generous too. An interesting question is asked after explaining that being generous make you happier. It is "What if money can buy us happiness if we spend it in a different way?" Research confirms that spending money on ourselves doesn't improve our happiness all that much but spending money on others does.
I like this quote from the book,
"Every time I take a step in the direction of generosity, I know that I am moving from fear to love."
-Henri Nouwen
The author suggests that when we feel moved to be generous that we don't think about it too much but just do it. Days before reading that I had felt prompted to send my friend that I roomed with on our cruise one of the new Mary Kay cosmetic bags I had in my inventory. She had expressed liking the one I used on the cruise. So I packaged it up, adding a skein of yarn from my stash for her daughter who is learning to knit, and mailed it to Alaska. And felt really happy about it afterwards. Thinking about how fun it would be for her to open the package. The author says that after finding a giving opportunity you should share it, not to brag but to encourage and inspire others. I don't think giving opportunities should always be shared as sometimes it is best to keep it anonymous. But I also see the value in share it to inspire others. I was certainly inspired by the giving stories shared in this book! I hope you'll check out the website and read the book and be inspired too!
Labels: Children, Finished Objects, socks
