This morning, I had the opportunity to do a little freelancing for a charity started by a friend. My friend Amy looked at all the socks in her laundry which were missing their mates and combined that with memories of barefoot children from mission trips, and decided to put her time and talents to work making a difference for others. Click on the link and find out more about her charity, The Sock Orphanage.
I love the can-do spirit, don’t you? Someone gets an idea and RUNS with it. I think everyone comes up with great ideas, especially those of us who work in the creative arts. If we didn’t come up with big ideas, we wouldn’t have any material with which to create. But too often, we stop at the first stumbling block we hit. We shelve that idea far too easily.
Instead of just throwing them away, Amy wanted to pair up these mis-matched socks and donate them to people in economically disadvantaged places who had none. But then she hit a stumbling block. She discovered that agencies who work in this area only want new pairs of socks. But instead of quitting and saying her idea wouldn’t work, Amy expanded her vision. She’s now collecting the gently used socks AND new socks. She’s making sock puppets and other toys out of the orphans and sending the new pairs to ministries and shelters all over the community and the world.
My friend Courtney did the same thing. After multiple treatments for an aggressive form of cancer, she saw a need for patients to have something to love on during treatments. Remembering how much her own Humpty Dumpty doll meant to her as a child, Courtney began to make dolls she called “Dundy” and partnered with an organization called Lifeline Chaplaincy to donate them to cancer patients. When customers buy a Dundy of their own (my daughter LOVES hers!) or any of Courtney’s beautiful embroidered products, they help more Dundies to go straight to cancer patients. And now, Courtney’s not just giving Dundy dolls to patients in Houston. Dundy is national! She’s been able to expand her vision. Even a diagnosis of advanced-stage breast cancer at only 29 years old did not deter her from helping others. Instead, it inspired her vision.
It’s almost Easter, a time when we remember God’s expansive vision for us. Sin didn’t stop God from loving us. He expanded His vision to include Jesus Christ and our redemption. You can’t get much bigger than that.
What is God calling you to do today? Maybe it’s something as simple as inviting a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker to hear about God’s giant vision at an Easter service. Make a point to bring someone with you. And listen to that small voice of inspiration. You never know who you can touch by following your dream.
Question for You: Do you work with a charity you love? How do you show love to those in tough situations? Is there someone on your heart who needs to hear the love of God and see your own friendship and support more clearly?
