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We are 4 days into the 30 Days of Giving Challenge! How is it going for you? For me, I am having to remind myself daily to be intentional with my Giving. Giving is often easy. Taking the extra time, money, or thought to be intentional can be left behind when distractions intrude on our day. Below is a list of where I am at so far on this challenge.

Start the 30 Days of Giving Challenge by Telling Someone About It!

First, I will tell you that I told my family, all of my family. With any type of challenge or change it is important to let someone know. Because I let my family know, they are getting involved and doing challenges of their own. It is always more fun to complete a challenge with a partner or friend, than alone. Also, they are asking me throughout the day, “Did you give yet Mom”? This is truly a great help to me. I don’t want to allow something that is really important to me to slip away because of distraction. Giving is one of my core values, I want to focus on it.

30 Days of Giving

Day One

Day one included liking more than a few Instagram posts that I normally would have scrolled past. Truthfully, I liked a lot of posts. Why? Because I know it matters to people. As a blogger, I follow a lot of other bloggers on Instagram, facebook, and Twitter. I know that when I post a photo, or link to my blog, I am hoping that someone will like it, share it, or go to my blog.

It is easy to remember back to when I first started blogging. At the time I only had 10-20 followers on each social media network, I would post a photo, and then look at the link, refresh, refresh, refresh the feed, hoping that someone would like it. It really mattered to me, and still does. So, when I am scrolling, I try to find content that is meaningful to me, and like it, share it, click through to the blog. I know it matters to bloggers.

Social Media and Coffee

Then I went over to Facebook…

Then I went over to Facebook and looked for photos and posts that don’t always make it to the top of the feed. We often only see a small portion of content posted by our friends and family. If a person does not have very many facebook followers their posts can sometimes get lost. I remember years ago when I first started on facebook, I probably only followed about 20 people. At the time I would post something to the affect of, “Wow it is cold today”. Then I would excitedly wait until someone like post, and I knew that someone had connected. So, that is a really simple thought, but have you ever just wanted someone to notice you?

That is why we are on facebook. It reminds me of back in grade school where we were all waiting in line to be picked for a team. No one wants to go unnoticed and be picked last. Everyone wants to hear their name called. That is what the facebook like is. It is saying, “You are not being picked last, you are on my team, I noticed you”. Simple yes, meaningful of course. So, I spent some time on facebook. Looking for people whose posts I have not seen in a while, and liking posts, commenting, and making a connection. It did not take me very long, but I noticed people and that is a gift.

Day Two

Day Two was pretty simple. I thanked my Mom for be the Thursday shuttle bus, so that I could get my work finished by the end of the regular work day. Thursday’s are really busy days for our family. It is nice because we get most of our driving around taken care of in one day, but it also wipes one adult out of productivity for a day. My Mom is retired, and often drives my teens to appointments, picks them up from here and there, and does the last minute trips to the grocery store if need be.

Valentines Kiss

This last Thursday my Mom drove my daughter all over town, stopped at the store to pick up my list for the weekend, went to the pharmacy, and did a few other errands. It was an all day event. When I passed her in the Living Room and thanked her for doing the errands she simply said “Oh, Okay” and went on her path. But I didn’t want to let it be business as usual so I stopped her and said, “Mom, I am thanking you for doing all of the driving and errands today. I know it is tiring and I am thankful for you”. It took a moment to register, and then she said “Your Welcome”. It made me think that I often say Thank You, but don’t take enough time to really look people in the eye, thank them for their time or effort, and ensure that it registers.

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Day Three

Day Three I chose to give the gift of family time, and it was a struggle for me. Upon waking up I realized I was feeling under the weather, and we had a good amount of snow to play in. I mentioned to my son that I might have to cancel my plan to play in the snow as I was not feeling well. He asked if I would mind coming outside, sitting in a chair, and taking pictures of the fun. So I did!

Playing in the Snow!

I am so thankful that I did. First, I was able to capture some really fun photos to keep in the family album. Second, even though I was not playing in the snow, I was constantly a part of the conversation, and was blessed to be a part of the laughter! Finally, I was used as base. If any of you are Nana’s or Grandma’s you know that in any game of lava tag, water balloons, or snowball fights, Nana’s are base. No one can tag you, or throw anything at you while you are standing next to Nana. My toddler granddaughter used this to her advantage quite a bit during the snow play and I was glad to oblige. It was a great day and I am so glad that I participated, even if not fully. It was well worth giving my time, and the memories are wonderful.

Day Four

On Day four, I spent time playing one on one with my granddaughter. We have a big family and sometimes it can be hard to get a one on one moment with each other. I am always trying to carve time into any family weekend for writing, working, cleaning, cooking, etc. We had had a great weekend of playing in the snow, family art projects, good meals, church, and general play.

On Sunday afternoon my granddaughter jumped on my lap and said “Nana, will you just play with me”. I said, “I am playing with you” as a group of family members had been playing dance party for about an hour. She said, “No Nana, will you play with JUST ME”. Finally, I started to understand. She wanted play time with just Nana.

I Listened to Her Request, and Acted

I took my granddaughter into my room and laid down on the bed with a pile of books. We read,  cuddled, played family (yes, she was the mom and I was the baby), and then we talked about life. I have to say, if you have not spent time talking one on one with a three year old in a while, you should carve out time to do so. They notice a lot about life, have regrets from the past, and have hopes for the future just like the rest of us. Some of my favorite conversations are with my three year old granddaughter.

Play Time with Nana

After an hour, we had to get back to the tasks of the day. That night as I lay falling asleep I could not help but think how fortunate I was to have had the time not just to play together as a family, but to spend time, one on one, talking with a three year old. So far, the #30Daysof Giving Challenge is blessing me in so many ways, and I hope blessing others as well.

How are you choosing to give during the #30DaysofGiving Challenge? If you need ideas to get you started on the challenge, visit my original blog post here. Share your  ideas in the comments below, or use #30DaysofGiving hash tag on Social Media.