Monday, September 10, 2007

Everyone needs an Oasis


Everyone needs a place of refuge; a haven of rest...well I finally found mine. I previously posted a picture of where I am currently living - a beautiful farm-style home on a 26 acre piece of land. It's been a great 'transition spot', but I happened upon a great little find just down the road from it. It's a tiny little 3 bdrm house located on a 300 acre cattle ranch. It needs a bit of work, but the surrounding area is absolutely gorgeous! All that surrounds me is trees, hills, valleys, cows, an occasional coyote and fox, not to mention all the fun little creatures that come with 'woodsy' living. The cool thing is that I am only 5 min. from the grocery store and 10 min. from work! Since taking this picture, I've painted the living room, and my bedroom. I'm in the midst of waiting (I seem to be doing that a LOT lately) for furniture to arrive which I recently ordered, as well as waiting for my items in storage (from Texas) to arrive sometime in the next month (hopefully!). I've done a lot of weeding, cutting back trees, and putting in outdoor solar lighting. Still a lot more to do, but it's nice putting effort into a place I know I'm going to be for awhile. To the left of the house, you'll see a tiny little shed. Looks like the previous occupants used it for a schoolroom - it will be perfect for a craft room! I think I'll save that project for when my sister comes to visit :-) .... I have a guest room, so please come visit! Here's a view of part of my yard...

Thursday, September 06, 2007

What's In Your Container?

A container holds lots of things...this particular one holds tents, cots, blankets, clothes and food (see the list below)...

These physical items are really representational of something much bigger...community, compassion, selflessness, sacrifice, unconditional love, time, energy, financial gifts, hope...

It took many people giving of their time, talent, efforts, money, etc. to fill this container in 7 short days (with additional tents sent down) for the country of Peru who just experienced an 8.0 earthquake, killing over 500 people and leaving thousands homeless.

As I started to think about these physical items and what they represented...I also wondered as individuals, if we gave of ourselves a portion of each othe representational items listed above, how big of a container would we each fill?

How often do we give of ourselves by participating in a community effort? How much compassion and selflessness are we willing to extend to others in need? Are we willing to sacrifice our time and money for the benefit of others and yet not expect anything in return?

It was great to watch our team come together and in a short amount of time and with the efforts of others from the community do something for others that required all of these wonderful gifts. If the opportunity arises, I encourage each of you to go for it...it's so rewarding!

For those of you that are interested - here's what's really in the container:

511 Tents; 4 cots; 12 air mattresses; 1079 blankets; 7 tarps; 313 towels; 39 sheets; 2009 pieces of clothing; 900 pairs of shoes; 19 lanterns and flashlights; 10 packages of batteries, 392 various food items; 23 bottles of detergent; and 8 sleeping bags!