January Giving
January - My first month proved to be easier than I thought due to the earthquake in Haiti.My husband travels frequently for business and we always said when the kids started moving out, I'd take the opportunity to go with him as often as possible. I mean hey, his travel expenses are paid for and he keeps his frequent flyer miles, which means a super cheap little trip for me! We've taken advantage of this on a few memorable occasions, such a trade-show in Orlando where I got to meet a customer of his (Chuck Chavez) and his wife (Kim Chavez). These guys are alot of fun and we had a great time together. Later that evening, my husband and I danced the night away with some of his other customers in "Pleasure Island" and it was just an all-around fun trip. Come to find out that Chuck and Kim are both fans of Sex and the City, which my husband and I also love to watch - despite what my husband tells you. He's a closet fan and will likely deny it if you ask him so just take my word for it and leave it at that. Kim totally gave away the ending of the whole series during one of our conversations but I forgive her. I kinda' saw it coming anyhow.
A few weeks ago, Jeff had the opportunity to fly out to San Diego for another trade show and this time, I decided I would go along for an extended weekend. We had recently returned from a weekend in Key West to celebrate my birthday where we were granted the opportunity to celebrate RECORD LOW temperatures for which we (and everyone else in Key West) were completely unprepared. So hey! Why not take a shot at redemption in a locale which promised better weather? We planned to purchase my airline ticket which was actually pretty cheap (less than $200) and stay an extra night at the hotel ($unknown). Other expenses would include food and beverages, which somehow always seems to cost a whole lot more than we think it will.
One night, as we sat in front of the TV watching images of Haiti and my husband was researching options for the trip, I started feeling a bit guilty and selfish. I turned to my husband and said "Maybe we should skip this trip and donate the money we were planning to spend to the relief efforts in Haiti." Yes, it's more than the $100 we had planned to budget for the project each month, but somehow it felt like the right thing to do. After only a modest display of groaning and complaining about how much FUN it would be in San Diego, we both agreed without too much reluctance that this was a far more appropriate way to use the financial blessings God has given us.
Shortly thereafter, one of my running buddies posted this message on FaceBook:
www.missionaryflights.orgI can strongly suggest MFI as a place where your donation will make a difference in Haiti. You can donate on-line. Check out their web site to see updates on what they are doing. All staff are either volunteers or missionaries who raise their own support. Your donation can be marked to go directly to the relief in Haiti… like putting fuel in the airplanes. Your donation will not be squandered, wasted, or lost to a bureaucracy. They need your donation right now. Go ahead. You can do it. J
I know Dave and if he says this is a class organization, I believe him. After some quick, unscientific, and largely speculative calculations, I settled on an estimated San Diego trip cost of $400.00 which I promptly pledged to missionaryflights.org.
Ok, so how do I feel about it? Fine, I guess. Do I feel a sense of overwhelming goodness? Not especially. It’s a cool thing, mind you, but it was more an avoidance of guilt than anything. Taking that trip anyways knowing that the money was needed badly for relief efforts would have left me feeling yucky, for lack of a better word. I suspect that future installments to the Giving Project will be more challenging to discern. I may never encounter a sense of overwhelming goodness, but the point is to go where I feel led and let God deal with the outcome.
posted by Kermit the Vixen @ 1:14 PM
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