Posts Tagged ‘donations’

Two weeks ago, our web designer/photographer/digital guru turned friend, and I did a photo shoot of recent Thompson Remodeling projects.  We went from project to project, we stopped for $4/cup coffee, and midday we stopped for lunch.  I had a great time connecting with clients, and found great satisfaction that our team makes old houses dramatically new.  Never once did I fear for my life.

Put that up against the experience my friends in Haiti had yesterday trying to drive across town to take one woman’s picture.  I will repost much of Mallery’s story down the left column of this post:

Yesterday morning I had an appointment with Rosemane, a woman in our Gift of Hope program. We were meeting her near Cite Soleil to take a picture of her with her children for her journals. For the past week my allergies have been making me miserable. Sore throat, congestion, coughing, headaches, the whole nine yards. I decided it was best for me to drink and rest, and sent Charly and Jean to take Rosemane’s picture.

Upon meeting Rosemane and her children out on a main road, Charly took several pictures of them trying to get all of the children looking at one time. …Always a difficult task! Especially when there are ten of them! Charly and Jean made their way back to the truck and got in. As they were turning the truck around, three men with machine guns came up to their windows. They yelled that if either of them made a move, they would shoot. They made Jean park the truck and all three climbed in our backseat. With guns to Jean and Charly’s heads, they ordered them to drive down a small corridor so no one could see. Once they were out of sight of the other traffic, they told Jean to park the truck. They pulled Jean and Charly into the street. With two guns to his head, Charly’s pockets were searched. They took everything he had on him. His wallet, money, and phone. They only gave him back his ID card.

Jean was standing on the other side of the truck with a gun to his head. The leader was yelling for all of his money. He said, “If we do not find any money on you, we will shoot you.” He emptied his pockets and the truck. They took his money, phones, necklace, and my camera. Once our truck was emptied and the boys had nothing left they yelled, “Go, go go!”

Jean and Charly jumped in the truck and got out of there as fast as they could. Neither one of them thought they would be alive to get back inside the truck again. They couldn’t call us because their phones were stolen, but they came racing back to HOPE House, still in shock.

I cannot even begin to say how thankful I am that God spared their lives yesterday. We nearly lost our driver and translator, but God intervened. They work for Him.

…

We can pray for safety and protection. Those are good things to pray for. But the best thing to pray for, is God’s will. Above all else, God’s will.

Haiti may or may not be “safe”. But if it is where God calls you to live, or visit, you are in the best place in the whole world!

Wherever you are today, are you living God’s will for your life? http://haitifoundationagainstpoverty.blogspot.com/2011/10/god-is-god-god-is-good.html

This story is an example of why I created the 1% Project.  It is to remind myself that what happens somewhere else in the  world matters to me.  I will open myself to forming relationships in difficult parts of the world.  It is also to teach my children that the world has 7 billion people that God loves as much as Reagan, Knox, and Adelyn.  I know Charly and Jean.  When I first arrived at the airport in Port-Au-Prince I found myself chasing porters who were “running away” with my 200# of supplies I brought to Haiti.  I was scared until I saw Jean, wearing a Celebration Cinemas (movie theater in Grand Rapids) polo shirt.  Instantly, I chilled out and actually felt safe when I shook his hand.  [Amazing how learning someone's name [in any situation] does so much.] To think of him and Charly at gunpoint is insanity, yet being robbed at gunpoint entered their photo day in the same amount of time it took us to stop for coffee on our photo day.

Join me in supporting HFAP.  How about $20 to get a foothold into what is happening in Haiti?  Try out your first donation here.  Then visit: www.haitipoverty.org

With $3500 more in donations we will achieve the 1% Project – raising $10,000 together to make an active difference in the lives of people I am impassioned to see receive basic, life-giving necessities.

Last Wednesday I tripped over something at the bottom of our staircase down to the basement. I needed to bring up all the Christmas decorations and what was before me felt like a sea of stuff in the basement. Emotions I dare not share welled up inside me and I went on a 5 minute power clean. I didn’t call a family meeting, I didn’t ask for help, I just started stacking and sorting.

Why I share this is because it felt so good! You, my friends, may experience the same bliss I did from spending 5 minutes on your basement. Maybe even make it your goal for the winter to totally clean out your basement. It is our goal, and now that I’ve shared this with you I will benefit from the power of your accountability, and you may benefit by joining me in your own winter de-clutter.

My favorite part of the basement is the Donate section. We have so much cool stuff that we no longer use – the weight bench, foosball table, the small steelcase desk, and the bag full of 33″ pants that I ain’t ever gonna fit in again. Happy de-cluttering.

Here is my F.A.S.T methodology for how to clean out your basement.

Fix a time limit – I am going to do this for 75 minutes.  Go for a quick win/progress

Anything not used in the last 12 months is to be gifted to the service of another

Someone else’s stuff has no place in your space – drop it off or notify them of its donation date

Trash – a large majority of items are in truth broken, missing parts, and/or unusable

Examples/Benefits:

- I just had lunch with Liz from our office and she shared that she and Doug have determined that 2011 is the year they will clean out their home as if they were going to sell it.  Why should strangers get the benefit of your home looking at its best?

- Over my holiday break I used this methodology to clean out the hanging files in my office desk.  Another tip is never fill a hanging file drawer more than 75% full or it will be difficult to retrieve a file out of it.

- Last night I gave away my last suit that doesn’t fit properly after cleaning out my entire closet.

Other Helpful Tips:

1. Take everything out of your garage when Organizing.  That way you can use a leaf blower or broom to clean it efficiently and then put things back in the correct spots by seeing what is hiding 3 layers deep.
2. Use temporary piles such as – Trash, Billy’s Stuff He Needs to P/U, Donation Pile, etc
3. Consider rolling storage racks for your basement or garage – easy to clean & you can push them all together to take up less floor space.
4. Think of your basement/garage/pantry as a department store – are there sections and is it arranged in a way that helps you get what you want quickly?  Does the inventory turn?  If not, maybe you don’t need it anymore because “it” is not useful to your life.

Don’t get me wrong, cleaning is not fun, but it’s better than clutter by far.  Trust me – the clutter weighs us down and makes us less effective.  My goal is that this FAST methodology (probably created by someone else) will help you get back to doing whatever it is that gives you joy and purpose as quickly as possible.