We have a winner!!!

Gana chose from the all the "gives" without knowing the givers. I kept that secret so he could be totally objective!

He chose.......

***drum roll***

Dagii, who submitted the following "give":

I taught some "special ed" students a couple of French words. They never could take a foreign language because of their disabilities so they were so ecstatic to learn French.

So, Dagii, you have won a $20 donation to the church, charity or worthy individual of your choice! Please email us at mrsgombojav@yahoo.com with three possible destinations.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

AND if anyone has any cool testimonies from the 10-Day Give, please leave us a comment and let us know! Revelation 12:11: They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their TESTIMONY!!!

BLESS YOU!!!

Don't forget to enter the 10-Day Give Giveaway!

I don't know about you, but we've been having a GREAT time with the 10-Day Give! Today we combined what we've been teaching the kids in daily worship with our giving. We've been going through Jennifer Toledo's book, Eyes That See, Ears That Hear. The chapters take your children through various exercises learning to hear God for friendship, hear God for direction, hear God for Inner Healing, etc. Right now we are learning to hear God for direction.

So, after we worshipped this morning, we asked the Lord who we should bless today. I left the kids to their listening. Meg, Israel, and Luc came to me a little while later and said they saw a red SUV. As we don't have one and don't know anyone who has one, we had to be on the look-out! While running errands today the kids spotted the car they had seen in prayer. So, we left a note on the windshield that said, "We hope you have a good day. God bless you." along with $5.

As we were pulling out of our parking space we saw the people coming to their car with their groceries. So, we decided to watch. A woman and a little girl put their bags in and then got into the car. Then the woman got out to get the thing off her windshield. She read it, looked around and then made a couple laps around her car. Then she got in and drove off.

The kids were hilarious! They were cracking up and high-fiving each other. It's so fun to bless people! They were giddy after that and ready to do it again. Unfortunately, Mommy was out of $5's.

How have you creatively blessed someone during the 10-Day Give? Don't forget to enter all your "gives" (up to ten) on THIS POST. You have until 11:59pm on Saturday to enter! The prize is $20 to the recipient of your choice! Gana will judge all entries for creativity!

If you haven't participated in the 10-Day Give, it's not too late! Ready, Set, Give!

10 Day Give GIVEAWAY!!!!

We know that many of our readers and Facebook Friends have joined the revolution and are doing the 10-Day Give! It's exciting, isn't it?! So fun to wake up each day and ask the kids, "What are we giving today?!" LOVE IT!

We'd like to inspire your creativity in giving. So, we are having a contest!

Here's how it works:

1. Leave a comment on THIS post letting us know what you've given. You may enter as many "gives" as you've done, up to 10.

2. I will have Gana judge the ideas anonymously (that way I'm not accused of nepotism if I choose my sister!).

3. The prize is that we will donate $20 to the charity, cause or person of the winner's choice. (The winner must submit three choices for destinations. This is on the off-chance that the winner would choose a cause or charity to which I couldn't give with a clear conscience. LOL!)

SOOOOOO.....GET CREATIVE! Remember you may give time, money, energy, gifts, or just things you've cleared out of your own closet! You may give to your church, your neighbors, the guy standing on the corner, a charitable organization, a friend, etc.

Get your creative juices flowing! (Last year's posts are a great place to start if you need ideas!)

And leave us some comments!

Follow-Up on the 10-Day Give!

Did y'all have fun giving? We did!

Before we share one of our testimonies, let's see what some of you did!

~ Thank-U-Grams to Tree of Life Crisis Pregnancy Center and our landlords
~ Gave brand new book to a friend
~ Candy to ballet students and their families
~ Sent encouraging email to a friend for no reason
~ Placed anonymous happiness note on stranger's car
~ Paid for the order of the car behind us in drive-thru at Jack In the Box
~ Put $5 and a "God Bless! " note on stranger's car
~ Paid for a little kid's chips at the deli for lunch
~ Gave Carbonite as a gift
~Took a couple from church to lunch
~ Sent donation to Advocates for Faith and Freedom (at least two people did this!)
~Bought and gave food to Loaves and Fishes (a local food bank)
~ Bought cat figurine for an elderly lady who loves cats and collects cat knick-knacks
~ Gift card to Chili's for boss's day
~ Monetary gift to friend who helps out with motorcycle's mechanical problems (not in payment)
~ Bought vintage mirror for daughter
~Gave Amish Friendship Bread
~Shared a picnic with ladies from church

Here's a testimony from The Tribe. It's about the blessings being turned back to us!

About a year ago there was this young lady sitting in front of us at church. We were getting into small groups praying for the sick. Luc prayed for a stomach problem she had.

This past weekend out of the blue she stopped by our house saying that God told her to go to Costco for us. She brought diapers, wipes, cereal, oatmeal, laundry soap, bread, tea, kleenex, shampoo, spaghetti sauce, pasta, toilet paper, and on and on. Seriously, that's not even half of it.

It's taking up a huge corner of the dining room. It's so much stuff! And it's stuff we actually use! How often does someone who has never been to your home and doesn't really know you buy you exactly the right thing? Like high efficiency (he) environmentally friendly laundry detergent!




This girl obviously heard from the Lord and followed His leading in shopping for us!

Ladies, this is just so special. If you remember from this post, I had been whining to the Lord about being on his back burner and on His D-list. Well, I think we broke something in the spirit by choosing to "come in the opposite spirit."

I'm not a second-class Christian. I'm on the forefront of God's mind. He spoke to this lady to bring me a stock-pile of things that we need and want. He wants to give us the things we want, too. One example: A couple days ago the kids were sitting around the table eating and they said, "Mom, we want chapstick." I said, "I have some. You can use it." They said, "No, remember a long time ago you gave us each our own chapstick?" (I think it was in their Christmas stocking, but I can't really remember.) "Well, we want our own--each of us our own kind."

I didn't take it too seriously. Not that chapstick is so costly, but it's not exactly on the top of my list of priorities to run to the store for five kinds of chapstick.

Well, as this sweet lady was bringing stuff up our stairs, she handed Meg a package of chapstick with six different kinds of chapstick, each in one of the children's favorite colors. They all got their OWN CHAPSTICK IN THEIR FAVORITE COLOR!

God doesn't just look out for our basic needs. Like a loving Father He likes to bless us with the desires of our hearts, too!

Keep giving! It's the key to everything! Give away! Give up! Give in! For-give! Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and RUNNING OVER!

Give it up for 10 Day Give Givers!

Here's what some In Other Words readers did today to kick off the big give:

"So we took a bag of good clothes to a new charity in our town that helps underprivileged families."

"So far I have mailed a "love poem" of sorts to express appreciation for one of my dearest friends, and I included a little cash, as a perk blessing....I think we'll be baking some treats for our local fire station, too."

"Made an online donation to Polaris Project (polarisproject.org)-- to fight Human/Sex Trafficking."

"We gave Spanish music CD's to a local Spanish pastor."

Here's what The Tribe did on Friday: While doing some preparation for our Saturday and Sunday gives we saw some great folks from the local Catholic church holding Choose Life signs and a 40 Days For Life banner up on the sidewalk outside Planned Parenthood. So, we ran into the closest market and bought cold drinks for them all. The kids had a blast handing out bottles of water and juice and saying "God bless you!" and "Thanks for what you do!" to people! It blessed this mama's heart!

The following story is from my friend Leona's blog. It's so childlike and precious. It reminded how we often overthink things and make things so complicated. But it's the simple pleasures that stick with us the most. So, in your giving, just remember to enjoy it. Sometimes the littlest things can mean the most!

We were at "Cold Stone" ice-cream the other day, Little Paul saw a sign on the wall that said "Make a wish foundation",

Little Paul: What does that sign mean Mom, "make a wish" why?

Mom: Well lets see, its hard to explain Paul, maybe later.

Little Paul: NO now mom, I want to know what that means?!

Mom: Okay Paul, lets see hmmmm; lets say YOU were really sick and you were going to die and you knew it and so did I and I told you.... what would YOU WANT to do, ANYTHING you would want....?

Little Paul: OH I get it, of course! I WOULD want to PRAY:)

Mom: LOL NO but that is good! BUT say you could GO ANYWHERE you want, where would you go?! FUN FUN!

(a VERY serious) Little Paul: Well OF course HEAVEN!

Mom: LOL Oh Paul, Yes that's good, BUT say you could go ANYWHERE on earth really really fun, ANYWHERE you wanted to go, cause remember you are going to die and your sick?

Little Paul: OH NOW I get it, well of course, COSTCO, we would get ALL the samples and spend LOTS of money!!

Mom: Paul!!!!!!! YOU ARE SO FUNNY!

On Your Mark. Get Set. GIVE!

Today begins the 10-Day Give!

Ready?



Still need ideas? Click here.



Visit Christian Personal Finance and click on 10-Day Give for more information and ideas and to add your name to the list of participants!

If you are a reader of this blog and are participating, can I ask a favor? Send me pictures of you participating, stories or lists of what you are doing, testimonies, etc. I know, I know....you don't want to seem like you're bragging. Well, you're not. I'm asking for them. And I think it would be a great encouragement and inspiration to others who have taken the challenge! And we all could use a little inspiration from time-to-time, especially during these tight economic times! To keep it from seeming like you're boasting (I really think you're in the clear, 'cause I'm the one begging you to tell me!) I don't have to use your name or link to you if you don't want. Just let me know! (Leave a comment or email me: mrsgombojav@Yahoo.com)

Blessings on your giving!

HAVE FUN!

And here's a little inspiration from Christian Personal Finance:

Everyone understands that the laws of gravity will cause a baseball thrown into the air to return to earth. The same creator of gravity says that when you give it will be given back to you. This law applies to everyone and is just as true as the laws of gravity.

Just as you can be certain of hitting the ground after jumping from a rooftop, you can be confident that when you give, it will come back to you. Obviously, that shouldn’t be the motivation behind giving, but it is a law that we can choose to either fight against or benefit from it.

Interestingly, God so strongly desires that we understand this law, that the only context in which testing God was condoned in the Bible was in the area of giving. He really wants people to understand the power in giving. I can tell you from personal experience that every time I have given more than I wanted to or felt like I could, surprising and unexpected increase always followed it. Sometimes in the form of an unexpected raise at work, sometimes money given to me by others, or sometimes just a discovery that leads to huge savings. But since I have been watching to see the law in action, it has been always been proved true.

(That website is just full of helpful and useful information on managing your money, God and the Bible, giving, budgeting, simplifying, etc. It's a great resource! And no, I don't work for them.)

Countdown to the 10-Day Give

Are you participating in the 10 Day Give?

WHY NOT?!

It's easy and fun! You just need to give something away everyday--time, money, food, a card--for ten days! (You can read more about it here.)

Maybe because of the tough (scary?) economic times you feel like you just cannot give. We say, "Come in the opposite spirit!"

To help you in the 10 Day challenge here's a list of giving ideas:

1. Everyday that I go out I pass at least a half a dozen homeless people. Do you? Make them some sandwiches.

(Photo from Mike Merritt)

2. Send thank-you notes to people you've never thanked (or never thought to thank).

examples:
Your landlord
Your favorite teller at the bank
The crossing guard
The sound tech at church
The bus driver
The librarian

3. Take extra clothes to the thrift store. I know for sure we have more clothes than we actually need.

4. Send a card to a full-time college student. Tuck a five dollar bill in it or a Starbucks gift card. Trust us--they'll be eternally grateful!

5. Send a check to a ministry you admire, but have never financially supported. (Need ideas for this one? We have plenty!)

6. Being that it's election season--give a donation to your favorite candidate!

7. Feed someone's parking meter. (Just don't let the meter-maid see you!)

8. Is there a college student near you who could use a home cooked meal? Maybe invite them to leave the dorm and spend the weekend at your house!

(From the Gomboblog.)

9. Is there a mother living near you with lots of kids? (*wink, wink*) chances are she could use a few minutes of solitude. Offer to babysit for free (trust us! Families with lots of kids can't always afford to hire a sitter!) while she gets a cup of coffee, goes for a walk or even just takes a nap.

10. Invite a family or two over for dinner, coffee, breakfast, dessert, or game night!

11. Send Bibles to persecuted Christians in closed countries. Visit Bibles Unbound to learn how.

12. Give a chunk of your bloggy space and time to an important cause. (We blog for the Persecuted Church.)

13. Give your kids a day without chores.

14. Take coffee and homemade goodies to your church or school office.

15. Rake your neighbors leaves or mow their lawn.

16. Give some time to an elderly person. Just ask them something about their childhood. Listen while they rattle on.

17. Send a care package to some missionaries or to our troops overseas.

18. Sponsor a child through Compassion. We do. His name is Gama and he lives in Indonesia. There's a link on the sidebar to Compassion's website.

There's still time to join the 10 Day Give! It starts October 10--in just three days! Click on the Give button above to sign up!

10 Day Give

If the media had their way we'd all be running scared about the economic "crisis" and start hiding money under our mattresses and in old socks!

But, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind! We happen to believe that the key to everything is giving.

Our pastor often encourages us to "Come in the opposite spirit." Meaning, if the devil wants you to fear, do something radical out of faith. If the enemy is stirring up strife and division, do something on purpose in a Spirit of Unity. If you recognize what the enemy is doing, you'll probably be able to discern exactly what the Holy Spirit wants to do!

Christian Personal Finance is hosting a 10-day give! The idea is to give something away every day for 10 days. Give your time, your money, food, clothes, whatever. Just give!

From their website: "Starting on October 10th, 2008 we are going to give something to a different person, each day until October 19th, 2008. It doesn’t matter what the gift is, how much it costs, who it is given to, or how it is given. The point is to just to give - on purpose. We hope you decide to join us."

We're doing it!

Luke 6:38, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."