Pay it Forward!

The concept of "Pay it Forward" is commonly recognized from the movie that was made with the same title, which was based off a book by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Dad's doctor's office is doing a movement which they encourage patients to "Pay it Forward." Some or all of the fee that the office would normally charge for uninsured services is waived and patients are instructed to use the money that would normally pay and give it to someone who needs it more, who you can bless.

Some thoughts behind the “Pay it Forward” are:

• It is the random act of kindness and not the amount that speaks to the heart and makes a difference. You don't need much to brighten up someone’s day and encourage them.
• Small things done by many can make a big difference. All the patients who do small acts of kindness amounts to a lot of people who can have a big effect.
• It might be more fun to find ways to do it anonymously. The concept of "Pay it Forward" is that the person you do it for is not supposed to pay it back, but instead bless another person. Doing acts of kindness anonymously is really enjoyable.

Some ideas given by the office of ways to "Pay it Forward" is to support our family's missions trip, pay for the order behind you at the coffee drive through, buy flowers to encourage someone or whatever idea you can come up with to bless another person.

People have submitted their some of their stories to share the ways they have payed it forward and blessed others. I look forward to compiling them all and reading all the stories.

We have been very blessed through this project and look forward to passing it on to the people we will impact on our trip. We would encourage you to bless others in a random act of kindness and encourage them to "Pay it Forward" and pass it on.

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Dad's office has been a huge encouragement and support during our adventure. Because it was Dad’s last day they had a good-bye party at lunch. They have raised money, participated in “Pay it Forward” and lifted us up in prayer. Coming home from work Dad would share the excitement of all those who were supporting our trip at the office. It is wonderful to have so many people excited about our adventure! Without such an awesome office we wouldn’t be able to be gone for the extent we wanted.

Having people to support you is essential in a trip like this and we have been so blessed by the many people who have gathered around us to send us off!

Homeless

For a few days last week I spent some time in the downtown of a nearby major city where there is a large population of homeless people. There were 3 other people from my church youth group in addition to myself and 2 awesome leaders who joined a bunch of other youth ministering in the downtown east side.

Location in downtown where we stayed part of the time.

Many times I have driven through the area and noticed many homeless on the sidewalk and alleys but mostly ignored them. During our time on the streets I was able to discover some of the great people I would normally just quickly glance at. As I stepped out of my comfort zone and started conversations, sat down and played games, listened to their cool stories, my perspective shifted. Rather than seeing a "homeless person" I can identify with them on a personal level instead of a generic label. "There is the awesome guy I played backgammon with!" "That is a really neat guy who loves cereal" "He has a great musical talent"

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to minister locally where I am living now, and participate in missionary work that is not isolated to in other countries or areas. There are so many opportunities we have to step out of our comfort zone and bless others and minister to them in our everyday life. It can be harder to reach out to others in your own city, but it is very worth it.

Skype

It is difficult to keep in touch from far away especially by phone from Africa.

Fortunately there is Skype which allows people to talk to each other using Skype for free from anywhere in the world, even Kenya. I am not sure how good our connection will be, but we hope to be able to use it frequently and connect with people. For those who know us and would like to stay in contact, if you have downloaded Skype and have an account, send us your Skype account name to grandfamilyadventures@gmail.com, and we will add you to our contact list!

Looking forward to connecting!

Em

Missions Teams

The past 2 days I had the privilage of being involved in experiencing Orientation and the commissioning of missions teams from my school going around the world to Tailand, Ukraine, Cambodia, Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico during Spring Break.

The excitement was high as teams look forward to their departure, some having already left this morning (Friday), and the last team to be leaving on Sunday. Excitment can be contagious and has me counting down the days with even more anticipation. As Big Bro was commenting this evening, "In only 18 days we will be sitting at the airport."

Our rapidly approaching departure is beginning to sink in, details are coming together, we are accumualating a collection of items to bring, lots of shopping is getting done, and although there is still a lot to do we are getting closer each day!

March is Here

It is already into the first week of March...we are leaving this month!!!

Things are coming up fast and we are keeping busy, busy, busy! Lots more shopping trips and appointments and packing which we haven't even started. This month is full of birthdays, adventures, packing and good-byes...

The count down is on as their is currently 27 days and counting untill departure, when we will embark on a two day travel journey to our destination in Kenya!