A friend of mine and his wife would love to have a baby but unfortunately they are unable to have children. Since medically they cannot conceive their next best option is to adopt a child but the cost of the process is extremely high. Being a friend I wanted to help them but what can one do besides pray, encourage, and offer to be a reference? These gestures are genuine but they don’t help with the real problem which is financing.
My buddy is a hard worker. He is holding down a good full time job and then volunteering in the church as a youth pastor. He picks up extra cash here and there to help in the adoption process but it just takes time. This is where I felt the inspiration to go beyond mere words and pats on the back; I wanted to move into a place of helping in a financial way.
I grew up in a construction household and learned at a very young age how to pound a nail and safely use power tools. Admittedly I am not a professional by any means and my skill level is just above building gingerbread houses at Christmas time, but I do enjoy creating. One day I was surfing some YouTube videos when I can across a channel of a man who built wooden toys. As I dove deeper into his site I discovered that not only was he building the toys but he also sold the plans on how I could do the exact same thing. That was all that I needed, he had me hook, line, and sinker…I bought the plans and began building my first rocking horse.
I didn’t tell anyone what my intention was but inside my heart I knew that I wanted to build a few horses and sell them and then turn around and give the money to my friend and his wife to go towards the cost of adoption.
Over the course of a few months I had built ten horses, put together this website, made business cards, and promoted them on social media. All ten sold and by the time Christmas of 2016 came around, I was able to give my friend a significant financial gift that went towards the adoption process.
So what about you? What’s your story? Everyone loves to be a recipient of a gift (especially financial) but what if together we became a people who thought of others before we thought of ourselves? What if we looked into the eyes of someone else and saw their need and then discovered ways to help meet that need? What kind of place would we live in?
I encourage you to share in the comment section “your story” of how you went beyond yourself and helped someone else. Share this blog with others and who knows…maybe one more person will be inspired to go beyond their own capabilities and embrace the need of another.
My buddy is a hard worker. He is holding down a good full time job and then volunteering in the church as a youth pastor. He picks up extra cash here and there to help in the adoption process but it just takes time. This is where I felt the inspiration to go beyond mere words and pats on the back; I wanted to move into a place of helping in a financial way.
I grew up in a construction household and learned at a very young age how to pound a nail and safely use power tools. Admittedly I am not a professional by any means and my skill level is just above building gingerbread houses at Christmas time, but I do enjoy creating. One day I was surfing some YouTube videos when I can across a channel of a man who built wooden toys. As I dove deeper into his site I discovered that not only was he building the toys but he also sold the plans on how I could do the exact same thing. That was all that I needed, he had me hook, line, and sinker…I bought the plans and began building my first rocking horse.
I didn’t tell anyone what my intention was but inside my heart I knew that I wanted to build a few horses and sell them and then turn around and give the money to my friend and his wife to go towards the cost of adoption.
Over the course of a few months I had built ten horses, put together this website, made business cards, and promoted them on social media. All ten sold and by the time Christmas of 2016 came around, I was able to give my friend a significant financial gift that went towards the adoption process.
So what about you? What’s your story? Everyone loves to be a recipient of a gift (especially financial) but what if together we became a people who thought of others before we thought of ourselves? What if we looked into the eyes of someone else and saw their need and then discovered ways to help meet that need? What kind of place would we live in?
I encourage you to share in the comment section “your story” of how you went beyond yourself and helped someone else. Share this blog with others and who knows…maybe one more person will be inspired to go beyond their own capabilities and embrace the need of another.
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