Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Small is Big.

Currently, Oprah has publicized her new reality game show, Big Give. Based on the premise of helping and giving to others, watching the promos, I have to say that's old hat for us here on Kyrie's blog. ;)

The idea of giving big is, indeed, a tremendous one: $10,000 donations, houses, cars, etc. However, I believe in how tremendous giving anything can be. Because giving small or simply giving at all is colossal in the eyes of the recipient and transformative in the soul of the giver. Just ask Alli, a long-time participant here on the blog. This is her story. Thank you, Alli!


So I know we have been looking and talking about how to make a change for the good, helping others when they need help, doing good & helping others and in the end, only getting out of it that great feeling in your heart that you have made a difference in someone’s life.

Well, here is our story.

I have a really good friend, and her name is Ginger. I met her through her son who is my age. Well, Ginger is very involved in her Church and is always helping the elderly at her church. She helps the ones who have lost all their loved ones or have no one to care for them with their day-to-day lives. It is the simple things that she does for them, like grocery shopping, taking them out to dinner on their birthdays, doctor appointments, any holiday she includes them. I have helped her with lots of little gifts for all of her adopted family.

Well, Ginger came to me needing my husbands help; James is an electrician. Loren, one of Ginger’s “pals,” lost his daughter this past summer in a plane crash overseas. She was all Loren had left. Ginger has helped him with so much, and when he decided to sell his house, she was right there. Ginger wanted James to look at the electrical and make sure it was up to code.

We met her at Loren’s house one Sunday after church. James looked at the electrical panel, and Ginger and I walked through the house. The living room was baby blue with gold and silver trim, the dinning room was baby pink and the rest of the house was the same drab color on the walls, trim and ceilings. Ginger was worried it would not sell due to the colors. The colors dated the house, and we all know in this day and age that not many want to walk into a house and see the potential. They want it move-in ready!

So I told her I would help her paint! She was ecstatic since no one in her family understood her and her “pals.” James had to do some minor electrica—so what the heck! Why not? The next day I went to Lowe’s and got all the supplies and paint. James got whatever it was he needed. So we painted and painted and painted, for a week and half. James finished his work and helped us paint. Through our hard work and long hours at Loren’s house, we were able to help an elderly man sell his house in ONE WEEK!! He no longer looked at the house as his home but a burden. So when I got the news that it sold, I had this great feeling inside. And part of me thought about Kyrie and our do good campaign! Loren took James and me out to dinner to celebrate, and I have to tell you, the man was moved to tears that two complete strangers who he had never met until after his house had sold would spend that much time and effort to help him.

So it may not have been much on a grand scale, but for a little elderly man named Loren, it changed his world!

Go, Kyrie, Go!

2 comments:

Chaney said...

How inspiring! This is such an amazing story! It's stories like this that make the rest of us realize there is ALWAYS more that we could be doing to help others, and hopefully spur us into executing such good deeds. Thank you so much for sharing this Alli! God bless you!

Melissa said...

Alli!!!!! Awesome...that's all I can say. Thank you, thank you, thank you...for helping a stranger and for inspiring many.

Your amazing!

Big Love,
Melissa