Giving is Contagious~

This Post is from Katie Greenway.....

I have been so inspired by this giving challenge that we have been doing, the joy and excitement of it has been contagious. To see how it has grown, and how fast it's spreading is such a testament to the love of Christ.. We are challenged in the Bible to give. To give: Generously, without hesitation, without an end, and without thought to our own selves... This Challenge has been cool to see what that looks like.. we have looked forward to giving, taken excitement out of it, set aside much thought as to how, with little thought of how much. 

Giving has always been a huge part of my heart.. I was raised in a family passionate for giving.  God constantly challenges us throughout the Bible to not hold onto to anything too strongly, or to place its importance above Him.... He's called us to give it up for Him... now maybe this doesn't mean literally selling everything we have right now.... but to me; living with the mindset that nothing I have is my own, and I should not try to hold onto it if there is even the slightest chance that it's value to me could detract from my full surrender to Christ.... 

This Challenge has already been growing me so much and filled me with the excitement of getting to be apart of blessing someone I wanted to be able to share that with my friends. What a sweet opportunity to be given the opportunity to give... So I wanted to see what damage I could do... 

My goal: to inspire others to give with me, and for them to encourage others to give.

I started with my roommates.. I called a meeting, and out of my own bank account (not my giving funds) I gave each of them $30, for 30 days (I couldn't afford much more since there are 5 of them!) Their assignment was to give it all away before Christmas, and they had to encourage at least 1 other person to give. I explained to them that my family was trying to give in more ways than just money ~also in time, talent and heart... My roommates have already been a buzz about it, strategizing last night how we can serve one of our friends, how we could reach out to the neighbors, how they were going to give with the money, and how they were going to keep the chain of giving going. 

Last night at my Cell group of 9th grade girls that I lead I had the opportunity to talk about the giving with my Co-leaders. After discussing some of the needs in our cell group, they too went home inspired and said they wanted to also join in this infectious giving.. and decided next week we would challenge our junior high girls to look for ways to be giving... 

I am so excited to see how as we encourage each other to give. The light of Christ is clearly being shown to those we choose to reach out to.... 

So, Why the Blog?

James 2:15-16
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

"It is virtually impossible to remember God and forget the poor.  The point is not to stir up guilt, It's to stir up giving." From Beth Moore's James Study  

So why have the blog?  Why tell people about the 1 Timothy 6:18 Project??

When our family started talking about how to do Christmas differently this year,  I was excited to just have the 4 Greenways involved in the 30 Days of Giving.  Then one day when I was running, I felt the Lord tell me to make it bigger.  It has been fun to include our family and friends in the project.  

I was torn about doing a blog.  The verse in Matthew kept coming to my mind.
{{Matthew 6:3-4 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.}}
Please know, that our heart is not to brag on what we are doing but to brag on JESUS.

The main reason we are giving is to love people and let them know Jesus loves them.  I know it's corny, but that song "They will know we are Christians by our love" keeps playing in my head.  
We wanted the blog to create an excitement about giving and to spur others on to give and in turn show other people that Jesus loves them.  Hopefully, the results will be that Christmas will be more about Jesus and Giving and less about getting more stuff.

A few fun opportunities we had this week to give.....
Katie was working at Mama Carmen's and someone came in to buy coffee but realized they didn't have any money on their card, so she just went ahead and bought their drink.

I was blessed to get to take a meal to my sweet friend Cashay that I have watched grow up for the past 6 years.  She just had a new baby girl that is so cute!

There are opportunities all around us to give, keep your radar up and ask God to show you where He is leading you.

Change a life when you shop!!

We all need to do a little shopping for Christmas.....so why not shop at places where you can change a life by purchasing items there.  Here are a few places you can do that in NW Arkansas.

The Global Shoppe:   http://theglobalshoppe.com

The Global Shoppe was formed to use everyday commerce in Northwest Arkansas as a means of enhancing the physical and spiritual wellbeing of people in underdeveloped communities throughout the world. The Global Shoppe operates in the spirit of fair trade, seeking to make a positive difference in the lives of the artisans with whom we work by purchasing their products for a fair price and providing market access for their products in the US, as well as working with other like-minded people and organizations. Come check us out! We are nestled inside Mama Carmen’s Espresso Café, at 2850 N. College Avenue in Fayetteville, and offer products from a host of countries and cultures.

Mama Carmen's Espresso Cafe:  http://mamacarmen.com

Orphan Care through Coffee Development:  2850 N. College Ave. Fayetteville

Potter's House Thrift Store:  http://pottershousethrift.com

Potter's House Thrift provides quality, affordable clothing, furniture, home decor, and more to the Northwest Arkansas community. We are a ministry of New Heights Church in Fayetteville, AR. All of our profits go to support Potter's House - a ministry committed to providing families in Fayetteville with a hope and a future. 

Hidden Treasures

Here are a few more wonderful ways to serve in NW Arkansas.

99 Balloons:  http://www.99balloons.org/index.php
If you go to their website and click on "local"  you can find out more about serving at rEcess.
rEcess is a monthly respite program provided for children with special needs.  The program allows parents a night off so they can do whatever they want or need.

Samaritan Community Center:  http://www.samcc.org
Samaritan Community Center is a grace-driven, non-profit organization founded over 20 years ago.    Through their soup kitchens, food pantries, resale stores, health center and the Snackpacks for Kids initiative, the staff and over 500 dedicated volunteers freely give unconditional love to clients regardless of their faith.  In addition to offering a helping hand, Samaritan Community Center also believes in providing their Northwest Arkansas Neighbors with the guidance needed to navigate the path to emotional and physical healing. 

Life Source:  http://lifesourceinternational.org
LifeSource is a non-profit organization located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. LifeSource uses a holistic approach to help individuals and families in need.  Our goal is to make a difference both now and for generations to come. We help families in stress by customizing our services to meet their unique needs along with assisting them through programs and services.

Pay It Forward Adventure

Here is the next story of the 1 Timothy 6:18 Project.  
This is from my niece Jamie and her husband Bob.
Keep the stories coming!!  

Yesterday my husband had a chance to pay it forward, in a very small way, but he helped someone.
He is a police officer and got a call to the Dollar General of someone shoplifting. There was a 21 year old male that was shoplifting a 3-pack of white t-shirts. When my husband asked why he did it, the man explained that he had nothing but the shirt on his back and has a job interview on Monday that he had no clothes for. He was trying to better his life and get a job, but had nothing, no family to help him, and no other clothes than the dirty ones he had on. My husband had to arrest him for the crime, but believed that he was really trying to better his life. After he was taken to the jail, my husband asked that he not be booked in, just written a citation, and that there not be a bond that he has to pay to get out so he can make it to his interview the next day. (Although the kid was wrong by shoplifitng, my husband is a very good judge of character and would not do this for just anyone if he knew the kid was lying). After all was said and done, my husband went back to the dollar general and bought the shirts for the guy. He took them to the jail and told the other officers to make sure that the man got them and made it to his job interview the next day. Just a small start on our pay it forward adventure, but I wanted to share.

First Story ......

Here is our first story of contagious giving from the 1Timothy 6:18 Project:

On Monday, Linda was spending time with a girl from Brazil.  She was a recent college grad.  

Her car sounded horrible and she was embarrassed about it.  On Tuesday, Linda received the 1Timothy 6:18 envelope with some money in it to give it away.  This spurred her on to do what she wanted to do the day before....so the next day, she called her friend and told to take her car in and get it fixed.  Linda went to the repair shop and paid for the car repairs and asked them to tell the girl that someone just came by and paid for all the repairs.

This is first story....looking forward to many more acts of spontaneous generosity.  Send us your stories.

Opportunities to Give & Serve ~~

Opportunities to Give & Serve ~~

Some of my Favorites........our family will not be able to do all of these, but I wanted to make you aware of the opportunities. 

Potter's House Christmas / December 16 ~ go to this link to see what donations are needed and for an opportunity to serve.  http://pottershousekids.com

Cobblestone Project......so many good things. 

Go to their website and click on Initiatives to see all the wonderful things going on. 

http://www.cobblestoneproject.org

This is just a peek at things happening under the Cobblestone Project ~~

Laundry Love / December 7

3 Bags in 2 Days

Help Portrait / December 8 

Art in the Park....they are looking for an indoor location for December

Living Water ~ http://www.water.cc

What better gift....than the gift of Water?

Compassion International  ~ http://www.compassion.com

Sponsor a Child !!

This is just a few!!  If you know of others.....send them to me and I will share them so others can get involved.

1 Timothy 6:18~ 30 Days of Giving

1 Timothy 6:18~

  30 Days of Giving 

 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, 

and to be generous and willing to share.

One of the biggest problems we face as Americans is materialism.  We are bombarded with advertising, comparison with others and someone trying to sell us something.  Instead of being about the birth of our Savior, Christmas is now about stuff.

Don’t get us wrong, we love to give gifts and even receive gifts....what we don’t like is that the giving of the gifts has eclipsed the birth of our Savior.  I enjoyed my time in Canton last month with my dad and sister, but there were moments when I felt a sadness sweep over me as thousands of people pushed their way through the buildings to buy more stuff.  

Gary Harrell once said that the best antidote to materialism is GIVING.  In 1 Timothy,  Paul commands us to give generously, so that is what we are going to try and do this Christmas season.  We want to invite you to come along on this journey with us. 

We are challenging our family (Mark, Rhonda, Katie & Garrett) to give for 30 days from November 24-December 24.  As a family, we are going to intentionally give of our time, talents or money every day.  This could take many forms....some of the things on our list are:  buying someone a meal or even a cup of coffee, serving a meal at Seven Hills, visiting a nursing home, playing music for someone, visiting the hospital, helping a soldier, sending gifts to our Compassion kids, taking items to the homeless community, and more.

We have also given our family and a few friends some money to Give away over the next month too.  We've asked them to pray over the money and see where God leads them to give.  We will share their stories here on the blog.

We can’t wait to hear all the stories.

We will share some different opportunities on the blog to Give as a group or individually.

Thanks for going on this journey with us.  Remember, LOVE DOES

Giving is the only antidote to the disease of materialism

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 
 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 
 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:17-18