freecycle<\/a>, then you really must.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 You can list things you’d like to be rid of, or even ask for things you’d like that maybe someone else has laying around.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve given away a couch, a fridge, a table, clothes, shoes, a ceiling fan, a waterbed, an old treadmill, and lots of little things.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Things that may not mean a lot to us anymore, but to someone else, it might be just what they needed. And you usually don’t have to do anything more than just leave it out on your porch and someone comes and picks it up!\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 So you are giving things away to people who may need them, AND you are getting rid of a bit of clutter.<\/p>\nSo I’ve decided that I will give something away EVERY day until Christmas.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 On Saturday a woman from freecycle was looking for a pair of cowboy boots for her daughter’s birthday.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Well, we have some boots that may not fit Jenna anymore, so I pulled them down from the closet, had her try them on (nope, don’t fit!), then emailed that lady and told her I had boots for her if she still needed them. \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Yesterday I gave away tickets to my upcoming bell concert to people in my ward.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 It doesn’t cost me anything, yet these people were quite excited to get tickets.<\/p>\n
This morning I met a lady at Curves who was looking for one ticket to Thursday night’s Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Just one.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 She’s a dancer in the program and she was given only two tickets, and her husband can’t decide which of their twins to take to see mommy in the concert.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 I have one or two extra tickets for Thursday night, I could give her one of mine.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 I took her phone number, and won’t she be happy when I call her up and tell her that I DO have a ticket for her so that both of her twins can come to the concert.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 I think I was there at Curves this morning (earlier than I usually go, in fact) so that I could be of service to her.<\/p>\n
If you look for opportunities to serve, help people, and give things away, your eyes will be opened to a specific need that maybe only you can fill.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 And at this Christmas season, isn’t that what we want to be doing?<\/p>\n
So take a minute to see what you have that is “extra” at your house.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe your son just grew out of his Sunday pants and shoes and you can offer them to someone who has a younger son (that’s what I will be listing on freecycle today).\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe you have a couple of perfumes or lotions that someone gave to you that just aren’t your style.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 They might be just the right pick-me-up for someone else.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe you have a gift card or a coupon that came in the mail that you won’t be using.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 You could offer it to someone else, and it might save them a little bit of their hard earned cash.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Or those shoes that your youngest just grew out of?\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 I’m sure somebody is looking for some in just that size.<\/p>\n
Your neighbor would still love it if you dropped off a fresh plate of cookies, but maybe a nice batch of soup and some rolls would be even better to help, if they have been sick.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 So, go ahead.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Do something nice for someone you don’t even know.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 I challenge you.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 And you might surprise yourself by uncluttering whole closets full of stuff from your house in the process. See if you can give of yourself just a little bit more this December.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 Try a little harder to be a little nicer, and embrace the spirit of giving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As we get into the Christmas spirit, we hopefully focus more on giving.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve found that anonymous gifts are so much fun and really get me in the right frame of mind.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 And even though I’m as fond of the “drop off cookies to the neighbors” or “secret santas” as the next person, I’ve found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paige.ericksonfamily.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}