recap:: the happy day project {2012}

i've been really excited about writing this post to talk about my experience participating in 

"The Happy Day Project".

before i begin, i have to provide a little disclaimer:

i didn't exactly follow the plan as it was laid out.

for those of you who know me well, i'm sure you're not all that surprised.

i guess it's just that stubborn, slightly rebellious part of me that has to do things my way sometimes.

okay, A LOT of times.

{sorry, jeannett, if you happen to read this!}

 despite this small little detail,  it did not take away from the meaning behind, nor the purpose of the experience.

we started out the week by writing notes to people.

yes, that's right i said, "writing".

remember the days of picking out a card for someone & sending a nice handwritten note?

yeah, it had been a while since i've done something like that.

 i found out later in the week that the people i chose to send notes to had a pretty stressful week.

i was so happy to know that my note offered a bit of happy for them during that time. 

tuesday we were supposed to give gift cards to the homeless, and here's where i went a little "off course".  

i know we have a homeless population in our town, however, i don't think it's quite as obvious as it might be in other places.

at the risk of offending someone, i chose to do something a little different.

the idea for this day was to provide the gift of food for people who may need a little help.

mike & i run a food pantry out of our house, so we do this on a weekly basis.

i decided to treat the people who come to our food pantry with a little dessert while they waited in line.

 i had this yummy recipe for a pumpkin crunch cake.

i also collected information from everyone to participate in an "adopt a family" program our church does through our food pantry.

next, we were to treat someone.

{i actually did this one a day late}

i was helping a friend at church, so i picked up some coffee & while i was there i paid the bill for the person behind me in the drive thru.

i don't know why, but i was really nervous doing this. 

i'm not really sure what i thought would happen....the person would get angry & flip me off because i did something kind?

another project was to put together blessing bags for the homeless.
so again, i changed it up a bit & put together a blessing box for a local church who was sending a truck load to victims in new jersey affected by hurricane sandy.

 

a first grader at our church decided he wanted to collect items for kids in haiti to send with a team that will be headed there in a couple weeks for a missions trip, so i put together a bag of items for that too.

found these adorable socks on clearance at target so i snatched a bunch up.

finally, we were given the task of recognizing those in the service.
there was a virtual component for each day & for this day it was donating to the Wounded Warrior Project.
A gal from our church was raising money through her blog, so i decided to help her out.

now, i really hope this post doesn't come across as "check me out, i'm awesome because i did all these great things this week".  

not my intention at all.

what i learned from this week was the truth in the verse:

"Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered."

Proverbs 11:25

my soul felt refreshed.

i was honored to be serving in Jesus' name.

i felt like i had this uncontainable energy this week longing to be expended through the giving of my time, talents and resources.

early in the week mike had written a note to our neighbor & i dropped it off with some dessert.

she dropped by later in the week to let us know how much she appreciated it & i sneaked this picture:

. 

i just loved her smile.

it made my heart smile knowing what this simple gesture meant to her. 

 and to top it off, on saturday, i came home to this:

 a group of kids from another local church raking my leaves!

this was a HUGE blessing!

we have 2 very large trees in our yard that produce A LOT of leaves.

it takes almost 2 hours to do just the front yard.

5 kids, 30 minutes!

then, these people show up a few hours later asking to take my leaves:

they took 2 truckloads.

blessings all around!

i know this was a really long post & if you've made it this far, thank you for persevering!

i've just been challenged by this little project to continue to look for ways to be a blessing to others & not so that i reap any type of reward but to make much of Jesus.

to be the hands & feet of Christ so that others can catch a glimpse of Him.

to share His love with a lost & broken world so that they might "taste & see that He is good"!

Psalm 34:8