Welcome!

As we learned in our lesson today, the stake Relief Society has asked each ward Relief Society to participate in a "Summer of Service." For our ward's Summer of Service, our Relief Society presidency is inviting each sister to participate in a 29 Days of Giving Challenge.

The Inspiration for the Challenge

The 29 Days of Giving Challenge is based on the book 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life by Cami Walker. The author was a successful business woman, who when she was newly married found out that she had Multiple Sclerosis. She was deteriorating quickly, becoming addicted to prescription drugs, and was barely able to get out of bed. She was MISERABLE and overwhelmed by self-pity. At rock bottom, Cami spoke to a woman who was a sort of spiritual leader to her, who gave her a prescription for healing: to give away 29 gifts in 29 days and to write about her giving experiences in her journal.

Cami reluctantly took up the challenge. As she made the effort to willingly give of herself in whatever small ways she could each day, she started to regain her health and vitality. Her gifts of her time, means, and talents were simple, spontaneous gestures-- a donation to a homeless person, giving away flowers to strangers on the street, helping her husband with chores around the house, taking the time to listen to a friend in need--but they transformed her life by improving her outlook. Instead of focusing inward on her pain and inability to do all of the things she used to do before MS took hold, Cami learned to focus outside of herself and find ways to offer gifts to those people who crossed her path every day. She also learned to recognize and give gratitude daily for all of the gifts she was receiving from others.

While in her book Cami Walker looks at her giving experiences through the lens of a non-Christian Eastern philosophy, essentially what she is chronicling is how she developed charity through her giving. As she cultivates a habit of reaching out to others and learns to give out of love, rather than out of obligation, and with no expectation of reward, she is learning to obey the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves and is realizing the Relief Society motto: "Charity Never Faileth.”

Our Challenge

Thousands of people have participated in the 29 Days of Giving Challenge since Cami started a website based upon her experiences. Every sister in the Glendale 1st Ward is invited to participate in the challenge as well, starting today. The idea behind this challenge is not to suggest that we are not all already trying to give every day. The real challenge here is to start being more mindful of your giving--to record what you give and what you receive every day so that you become more aware of your growth, of all that you have to offer, and of all you have to be grateful for. Thinking and writing about what you give and receive every day will increase your ability to give as you recognize the impact you are making and get beyond the day's problems.

In sum, here is what we will do:

1. Give a gift every day when the opportunity arises as we go about our ordinary day to day tasks.
   

2. Strive to give with love, without the expectation of return. The intention of the gift matters, not the size.

3. Open yourself up to receiving and welcoming gifts from others.

4. Write about your gifts in order to better internalize how the giving affects/transforms you. You can do so by posting to this blog, writing in your journal, or just listing your gifts on a calendar, like the one handed out in Relief Society.
   

I will be posting to the blog daily. Please return here to read about other sisters' experiences and to share your own!