#Sunday Thought Week 4

Straight up – simple thought for Sunday!

Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. –Teddy Roosevelt

#Guest Blogger A view of afar

Hey MDY3ers,

This week has been crazy personally for me and for those who do everything and the kitchen sink, you understand. The week started with best intentions and somewhere by Sunday afternoon, it went into crisis mode and stayed there.

And for doing everything for MDY3 from my kitchen table to the virtual world to MDY3 staffers’ kitchen tables, well, the pile only got higher and deeper – and the rest of the world stuff was on top of it…. so very early this morning (Saturday) I started attacking the piles and that leads us here…

Our guest bloggers for this week are Sonja and Mike. They live in Venezuela and they are some of the kindest people I know. They did what many can only dream of, they made caring their life work. By walking away from the legal and construction fields to start a lifetime of caring for kids in a different country. They learned more of a new language & made family and financial sacrifices all in the pursuit to care a bit deep and to love stronger – to give forward.

Please read and enjoy and then do something….. 🙂

 

Create Ripples.  I Double-Dog Dare You!

If there is anyone more renowned than Mother Teresa for their personal sacrifice to help others, their name escapes me.  She once said “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”  The “Missionaries of Charity” began with a small band of 12 nuns in 1950 and grew to over 4, 500 operating orphanages in 133 countries around the world.  There’s no way to count (or at least no public record) of the number of volunteers who are working diligently on a daily basis or those who might visit for shorter periods of time.  But I think it’s safe to say, there are literally millions of people involved with this organization.

Okay, so maybe living a life of avowed poverty on the dirty streets of Calcutta isn’t for everyone.  I get that.  We have lives.  Families.  Hobbies.  You don’t have to have a passport to make a difference.  But you do have to a purpose–a reason, a resolve and an intention. 

When my step-son was in middle school and then high school, he was required to complete several hours of community service in order to graduate.  Now, as any good parent would do, we asked Jon where he’d like to volunteer his time.  His top two choices were the Humane Society and Habit for Humanity.  Excellent.  But both of those organizations required–you guessed it–parental supervision!

Kitty Kuddlers and Dog Walkers unite!

With school, homework, sports, our jobs, lots of family and myriad of other activities it was difficult to find the time.  But we made it work, and we had fun doing it.  When the hours were completed, we tried other things.  Like volunteering to serve Thanksgiving dinners at a local rescue mission or helping a single-moms ministry.  There were lots of opportunities to help others in the community.

Eventually, my husband got to go on a short term missions trip to Prague.  A team member couldn’t go at the last minute, and Mike was asked to replace him.  It was a great experience and one that he enjoyed so much, when the next trip was announced to El Salvador, he didn’t hesitate to sign up!  After he returned, he encouraged me to join a medical team that was going to the same area.  That started our love affair with missions that landed us in Venezuela full time working at a children’s home called Samuel’s House!

Some of the kids here come from atrocious circumstances.  One boy’s head was essentially used as a “dart board”, only they were sharpened pencils thrown at him.  Others were permitted to be raped in exchange for drugs or other things.  But this stuff is not limited to Venezuela or other developing countries. 

The US Department of State estimates between 14,500-17,500 people (mainly women and children) are trafficked to the US.  There are over 100,000 children in the foster care system waiting to be adopted and every year, more than 20,000 “age out” of the system.  One-forth of our nations children grow up without learning to read.  And this directly relates to high juvenile crime, welfare, and teen-age pregnancy rates.

Hunger.  Juvenile delinquency.  Teen pregnancy.  Eating disorders.  Alcohol abuse and binge drinking.  Texting while driving.  Environmental issues.  Animal rights.  For just about every problem, there is a “cause” purporting to have the solution.  “The greatness of a society is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”  I believe people were not intended to live in isolation.  We were meant to live in community.  To me, this implies shared responsibility.  Responsibility not only for the mess we’re in, but also responsibility to clean up after ourselves. 

 

You can’t do it all, but you can do something.  Pick up a stone and wing it.  Cause some ripples.  You could start at your local library.  Or maybe a nearby senior center.  We are an aging society and many of our elderly are left without friends and family.  Feeding centers or food banks; a local rescue mission; a nearby school.  Make an investment of your time, your expertise.  You can reap great rewards.

Happy long weekend? #MDY3

Hey MDY3ers!

Since MDY3 is an international thing, it is hard to wish a Happy Fourth of July to the world, but if you aren’t in America, then you might be taking the special long summer escape or watching the World Cup from your desk…. so with this in mind, the MDY3 headquarters voted to just wish everybody no matter where in the world they are a great weekend…. nice huh?

So have a great  weekend!

Be safe, do good and love life a bit more!

And keep reporting those lovely hours – it is so wonderful to read all the good happening in the world because of people like you….

 

Thanks from everybody at MDY3!!!

 

Thanks!!

 

 

 

A view from a different brain #Guest Blogger

Hello MDY3ers!!!

Thank you for all the wonderful emails and the amazing amount of hours that you ALL are putting in!!

We have another Guest Blogger!! This week’s guest blogger is the talented Theresa of Tess & Co.. And we are very lucky to have her as her talents keep her super-duper busy!!! So read her guest blog on what giving is all about to Ms. Theresa….

P.S. you can follow her on twitter or check out her website!!

Take it away Ms. Theresa!!!

 

Hi! It’s the Fourth of July – and one of my favorite holidays! There’s just so much to celebrate: happiness, good food, family, fireworks, brass bands, bunting, honor, sacrifice and strength. It is a wonderful gift to be a part of the greatest nation on earth. It’s a nation that generations of people have spent or given their lives to build – and now it’s our turn, our privilege.

 

It is exciting to think that we have a chance to take our turn at service. And there is so much to do! That might make you think of grand, big things like non-profit organizations and benefits and children’s hospitals. But I think the first thing, and greatest thing, is to change the way you think.

 

You are a force for change in this world. Why not make it a positive one?

 

When 9/11 happened, my choice was to join the US Air Force and do what I could to make that change happen. I’ve served in deployments around the world, taken enemy mortar fire, planned troop operations to stop those that kill, and I’ve hugged little girls with tears in their eyes because they held a book in their hands for the first time.

 

I think every moment is made of active choices. The choice to smile instead of frown, to give instead of take. And it’s your choice. That’s a freedom you have. I heard someone once say that they wanted to live their life in such a way as to get a good obituary at the end of it. How much better to build yourself  a ‘living obituary’? I mean, what if you lived each day in the manner in which you want to be remembered?

 

A smile for a smile, enjoyed between you right now, not after you’re gone.

 

Or, a smile for a frown, which turns to a smile tomorrow – and you were there to see it.

 

Let’s enjoy each day we’ve been given – no matter what it looks like! One of the greatest freedoms we have is our mental choice to make it a great day – a positive day. Life is so much more than ‘just get through it’.

 

I’ve seen so many deployments come and go – for others and for me. You usually start with ‘just get through it’ and get back home. Those are always the hardest to bear. Every day is painful, every day feels longer than the last. The odd thing is that you enjoy, you live, you truly grow in a deployment if you make it about each moment. And the more you live this way, the more people you collect around you that think the same.

 

In my deployment to Afghanistan, I saw my small effort of a few children’s blankets in my off-duty hours turn into 6 tons of supplies shipped in from all over the world. We came up with so much to give, that it took a joint military & Afghan government operation to deliver our pallets of positive change.

 

One change in how you think can create a new kind of world. Do it!

(Photographs courtesy of Tess and Co., all rights reserved.)

 

A View from the Mind- #Guest Blogger

Here at MDY3, we are attempting to do something different. We are asking people to be guest bloggers and tell the world what MDY3 means to them – the everybody everyday people of the world. Just the words of a person, no pictures, photos or other distractions. A view from mind to you.
Today’s guest blogger is from Carrie W. of Texas and besides being a great friend & all round funny person, she is, as you will read, extremely kind.
Enjoy!

 

Experience A Moving Difference
By: Carrie W.

 

Whether by design or by happenstance, I am an extreme introvert. At first glance, it seems to be difficult to make a difference in people’s lives with that kind of hard wiring, especially when it appears the only viable way to serve is through big, organized service projects, which of course hold little or no appeal to me. I have found, however, there are many other ways to touch the lives of those I come in contact with as I go through the daily grind of life.
I like to think of it as making a moving difference. As I move through the minutes and hours of each day I notice people—co-workers and clients at work, folks in the grocery store or mall, or a solitary man standing on the corner at a traffic light holding a sign asking for help. What I’ve learned to do is go beyond noticing into the realm of actually seeing them. I’m not talking about seeing them with judging eyes; it’s seeing them as real people living their lives as best they can in that moment. It’s realizing there is a reason for every one of their actions or lack thereof.
As an example, let’s say I stop at the grocery store on a Friday evening after work. I need to pick up some fresh vegetables for supper. I’m tired, ready for the weekend. Blocking the tomatoes is a frazzled woman with three children, one of whom is having a meltdown; the other two are slugging each other in the back of the cart. I notice.
In order to actually see, I must realize that woman is at least as tired as I am, especially if she’s worked all day, picked up tired children at daycare, and after shopping must go home and cook, do dishes, and give baths before she sits down to relax. How I choose to respond in that moment can make a difference in that woman’s life.

 
I could show impatience and reach over her. I could ask her to move her cart so I can get some tomatoes. Or I can make eye contact and smile at her. If I smile, will I know I’ve made a difference? No, though I know a kind patient smile from a stranger has changed many a day’s trajectory in my life. As a person who makes a moving difference, I choose to smile at the woman.
Sometimes seeing involves hearing, and speaking. For example, oftentimes cashiers at the convenience store strike up a conversation. Usually it’s about my purchase, but sometimes, they pull back a curtain and let me see into their life. They might say something about being tired, or that their little boy is home sick and they wish they were home with him. What a difference a kind word offered to them can make. Not only have they been seen, they’ve also been heard. Cashiers, trash collectors, those who deliver the mail, meter readers, and so many others are often invisible and silent to us. We don’t think about them, especially if they are working on a holiday. It costs me next to nothing to thank them for working on Thanksgiving or Christmas, stick a thank you note in the mailbox, or set out ice cold bottled water at the curb on trash days during the summer, but when I see their faces light up and they flash me a big smile, I know I’ve just made a difference.

 
More obvious ways to make a tangible difference is to purposely plan to do so. I plan to give food to the homeless by keeping a bag of canned goods, personal hygiene items, and such in my car. That way, when I stop at a traffic light where a homeless person is standing, I can hand them something through the window. I don’t know whether that person needs food or a toothbrush, but I give them something. I see them. I care. I try to help.

 
Most of the time, though, my acts of kindness are not so purposeful, except that I purpose to smile at the people I see. I purpose to offer a kind word of encouragement instead of harsh or impatient ones. I purpose to be gracious, to say thank you (and mean it). I purpose to see people as individuals who need encouragement as much as I do rather than imposing a societal label on them, like handicapped or homeless.

 
Of course, most of the time I never know if the little things I do actually make much of a difference in someone’s life. That’s not the point. That I do it is the point. Everyone I meet deals with some type of stress—that’s life. Every one has a full plate, a to-do list that never ends, illness, or financial problems. Living a life of service means I respond, person to person, often not doing anything but sharing a smile, a word, or a helpful act. Service of this sort costs little to no money, and only small moments of my time.
The next time you’re out and about, purpose to smile more, complain less, open your eyes and really see, and be a moving difference—what a wonderful way to embrace your day.

Welcome to Tuesday night /Wednesday early morning

My, my – it has been busy – and there has been some technical humps too!

So the desktop’s wifi crashed officially on Saturday, and with that meant everything that was anything on the computer was being done on my phone – yep – the small screen blues – but hey all is well that ends well – Sunday was spent in part buying a new wifi card and the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to install it…. and then install the software and drivers…. ah… life is a challenge…

Got the wifi back on Sunday evening to help out the MDY3 staff with over 145k of emails that had come in over the last three days…

Then Monday – it rained and that meant the power decided to quit for the afternoon and be sketchy the rest of the evening so back to the small screen blues and tons of phone interviews instead of Skype calls. But we patch it thru and we do what we got to do with what we have at the time….. and that leads us to right now…..

It is 1:25am and I am still going thru all your report emails and it is awesome. Sure, the wifi is working and sure, the power is on, but it is all of the cool stories and all of you that rocks right now….

We estimate that we are over 100,000 hours for the first weekend on MDY3, we will know better come Saturday as we are doing a weekly report of the hours….. yet 100k in hours is awesome….. and we got the rest of the summer to enjoy and do this amazing project….no matter what life throws at us….

I keep thinking one thing in my mind – when life gets all strange and crazy…. it is this song HERE

See you tomorrow….. and remember it’s all right.

 

After Midnight – The start of the MDY3

At midnight sharp begins MDY3

And if you have not started – well start!!!

 

To kick things off, listen to the very talented Scottish Rocker Maggie Bell singing After Midnight….

And with reason, I will actually be up at midnight my time and talking over the airwaves in Scotland – Edinburgh to be exact…. (I will post the link to the radio station on Twitter!)

See Moving Difference is over there as well, there are a bunch of people (last number was 2000+) that are kicking off Moving Difference by an entire day of volunteering for various charities….

and I hear that they have a pile of questions, laughs and stories to tell me and everybody listening…. it should be a great time….

 

What is happening after that you ask, well, depending on the time, I am going for a little 8 mile walk and then the MDY3 staff takes over and everybody is out and about in several different states helping at a food bank, pet shelter, homeless youth safe place and a children’s hospital – until roughly 5pm and then we are going to drop in on some people that inspire us too with some cookies and cards- either nursing home or veterans homes or the hospital before going home to see all the emails about what you lovely people did on the first day of MDY3!!

 

 

It is only fitting that the first day of MDY3 is a 24 hour day for me, I wouldn’t have it any other way…. 🙂

 

Until the clock strikes, midnight, – be good to yourself….