Shut the old door

We just replaced an old aluminum storm door on our house. When we bought the house, most of the interior had been remodeled but the exterior had pretty much been left alone. The house had one of those old style half moulded timber, half wavy edged window, fake iron hardware, butt banging ranch home doors that was quick to close but never really shut. The storm door was in a hurry to close but barely latched and the wind would cause a thump thump thump all day long. It's no wonder Boomer jumped whenever he was within tailshot, and we still have last fall's collection of stinkbugs in the house.

For a long time, not realizing that the latch really didn't hold the door shut, I blamed my husband for not shutting the door all the way. I kept asking him to pull the door shut.

"Can't you pull the door shut behind you?" I'd nag.

"I did." He'd say.

"Please be sure the door is shut when you go in and out." I'd quote the common courtesy book of rules. I could feel him rolling his eyes.

"The door isn't shut again, I hate that door," I'd say to no one in particular. I started noticing other homes and their storm doors and realized how far storm doors had come since the last time I needed to pay attention, which was 20 years ago when we lived in Wisconsin. Full glass storm doors seem to be in style, even my parents have had one for years. That's what I wanted.

That's what I got for Christmas, and it's installed now. I love the new door. Mostly. Sunlight streams in, there's a full view out, and, guess what? There's a full view in! No more hiding the bottom half of my pajama clad self, or the stack of stuff waiting to be carried out to the car. Now there are cat nose prints in a row on two levels, inside and outside. And, I think I noticed the door doesn't always stay latched. I've had to pull it shut sometimes.

Be careful what you wish for. The new and improved, the step up, doesn't mean there won't be problems. They're just different. They may even be as annoying and challenging as before but they'll look better because they're new.

Are you like me, wished for a new job and when you got one, it's not all that? Wished for a new place to live, and it's not all that? Wished for new people in your life and they disappoint? What's the common denominator? My finger is pointing at me.

The door, the job, the place, the people, all may change, be new and improved, but unless I change the results will likely stay the same. This is what I'm praying about, this is where my thoughts are working. There's no way I'd like to put the old door back up on the house. It's just done. It's being re purposed. The old familiar hinge positions are gone. The new door can be adjusted and so can I.

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Thanks for stopping by to read my posts. I'm going to be combining my two blogs soon. I'm not sure if my wordpress blog is moving here, or this one is moving there. One is older, the other is nicer looking...

Do more, resolved for 2012

Resolutions, or motivational words are on my mind today. Last year, besides resolutions, I decided my "word" would be "do." I actually had more success with that than the resolutions. It was easy. The bare minimum of day to day living resulted in at least a little "doing." What did I do? My best do list includes:

Got a mammogram
Got diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes
Got a new garden and planted stuff
Got my husband to go on vacation to the Homeland
Got a full time J-O-B

Plenty of doing, none of which were my resolutions. We didn't find a church, I didn't get smarter about writing, I did even less in fact, and I for sure didn't learn to knit socks! And, I might add, knitting socks is almost as important as finding a church. My feet suffer socks. Regular store bought socks don't fit my feet. The tops are too tight and pinch my swollen ankles. The heels in most socks slip downward. Some socks are too coarse and make my feet sore. I really need to learn to knit custom made socks. The same goes for finding a church in a strange way...but more about that in another post.

If I evaluate the year on what I didn't do, I'm miserable and a failure and that's just what the enemy would have me believe and focus on. I'm not having that. I did not have a failure of a year. Far from it.

So, I am sticking with those same resolutions, because I still want to accomplish those things. But, what I learned from my "do" focused New Year...do became the small voice in the back of my mind when a new decision had to be made. The two letter word was often enough to push me to action. So I'm adding a new word this year...more...more writing, more church, more health. And look how great it goes with do....

Happy Do More Year!

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Personal touch fundraising

"Unfold to see Kate's name and mini-bio. All best, Elaine Davenport, Co-Chair, BWS Fund"

The handwritten card fell out onto my lap from a very colorful brochure celebrating the 20th Anniversary Party back on October 1 for the Bess Whitehead Scott Scholarship Fund. The event had been held in Austin, Texas, exactly 1500 miles away from where we are now, and 16 years after our daughter received the honor of the scholarship at Texas A&M. Yet Ms Davenport remembered and took the time to be sure we had a copy, along with a bookmark, and information on the website and the latest fundraising efforts. It took me about 10 minutes to get to my computer, and with a couple of clicks I sent a contribution. I appreciated the effort and thought, and the fact that the scholarship made a difference. I appreciated those personal words, as if Ms Davenport was sitting next to me knowing just how much I love to see our daughter's name on slick paper.

Fundraising can be an agonizing chore. Non-profits and Churches count on fundraising for annual budgets, and for designated spending. The sad truth is, despite Malachi 3:10, in these economic times, giving is down, and the discipline of giving is becoming last on the budget list. Staff is being laid off, routine and basic maintenance is being delayed simply because the funds are not available. Mission statements of outreach and service tighten and groups find themselves struggling to do their work.

^"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." Malachi 3:10

There has been much written about raising funds. Malachi 3:10 is a directive and a promise. In my experience it makes people squeamish and so does heavy-handed fundraising tactics. Blanket and impersonal methods also fail. You can't count on people to just do the right thing, not when they very often are struggling. Ms Davenport had it exactly right, personal and low-key worked for me at this moment in 2011. Why? Because she didn't appeal to my intellect, or bang me over the head with facts and figures, she appealed to my heart. In one simple handwritten sentence.

So what are some personal touches for fundraising?
1. Put a face on the project. Recognize the people involved, tell their stories, show their pictures.
2. Use print, web, and personal messages, video and music too if you can.
3. Remember your history, use your database, keep your database updated.
4. Don't forget to use your fundraising event and materials, even after it's long over and far away! As long as you have brochures and a database, keep sending them out. Repeat if needed. (I could use more copies for the grandparents!)

Look at and adapt ideas and concepts from your own mail. Right now most organizations are sending out materials. I confess I rip most of them up. They are FAR from personal. The handwritten address caught my eye, along with the personal return address label. And personal worked!

Reminder: It's the last week in December. Get your 2011 contributions in to your favorite church or charity by Friday. And, in case you are wondering, The Bess Whitehead Scott Scholarship Fund is administered by the Austin Community Foundation - www.austincf.org/bwsfund

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It's not about the turkey...

"It's not about the turkey," she said, "it's about family." Then she added, "Please don't feel bad."

Grateful tears stung my eyes and I thanked her for about the seventh time. It was the last thing I expected to hear. I had just told her the turkey we shipped by overnight express wasn't going to make it to her house in time for Thanksgiving. Not just any turkey. A certified organic, certified humane® heritage breed turkey that the farm I am the Internet sales coordinator for, pasture-raised for the last half year. A turkey that cost as much as a week's groceries.

The call before her, didn't go as well. The man was disappointed and angry, and felt the need to pelt me with insults over the phone, not just once, three times. He called back twice to tell me "it ain't right to treat people like this" he said in his deep South accent. He was so verbally abusive, when I got off the phone the first time, I sobbed. People don't talk like that to me. I wasn't raised that way. I don't hang around people that talk that way to each other. The worst part was he wouldn't listen, and he accused me of not being truthful.

Even though we prepared to ship our orders, planned the boxing, triple checked our orders, in the end there were a few mistakes made. Just one was totally our fault. Make that, my fault. That's the one that weighed heaviest on my Sister Mary Responsibility shoulders. The one that I waited until last to call. The one I expected to be worse than the worst.

But it wasn't the worst.

It was a grace-filled conversation. Because there is four hours difference between our coast and hers, she still had time to run out for a substitute. "It won't be as fantastic as yours," she said, " but this will be our turkey adventure story for 2011." She thanked me for letting her know and and her final words washed away the hurt of the previous call, and some of the exhaustion of the last few weeks. She blessed me. I consider her a gift, and answered prayer.

Because really, it's not about the turkey, it's about family. It's about thankfulness. I'm thankful to be working. I'm grateful to be busy. I'm grateful to have problems to solve and connections to make. I'm grateful to realize what's important, and what's a distraction, that even in imperfection there are perfect lessons to learn.

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours.

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Graphic from Clip Art Etc.
Description: A male turkey, sitting in front of a barn. Source: S. G. Goodrich Animal Kingdom Illustrated Vol 2 (New York: Derby & Jackson, 1859)2:247