When Home Improvement Meets Home Cleanup

Yesterday I marched to the Container Store, all excited to buy some custom shelving for our new and improved laundry area. Before I left, I started a load of laundry, and, since I had no where to put it, placed the brand new container of HE Tide on top of the stacked machines. I came home equally excited, full of plans to eat a good lunch then install shelves. As I walked back to the laundry room, however, I was greeted by this:

That's 150 oz of Tide, contained (thank goodness) in my tiny closet space. I was at a complete loss. So naturally, I called my friend Alicia, who generously came over to help me clean up and salvage what detergent I could. We finally settled on scooping the Tide up into a dustpan and dumping it into a large tupperware. We couldn't get the Tide beneath the washing machine, so we settled on leaving it there and allowing it to dry up. What a great surprise that will be in 20 years when we move!
Here's a picture of my friend Alicia:

Giving

I'm reading a fantastic book* right now, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene by Cynthia Bourgeault, and I came across this quote this morning:
"I am one with the source insofar as I too act as a source by making everything I have received flow again." Raimon Panikkar

Reading this got me thinking. At Evergreen, one of the challenges for 2011 is to give one BIG thing away. And that's something that Dale and I were really struggling with. Reading this quote today opened my eyes to something that I think should've been obvious to me: There is a level of giving that goes beyond giving time, money, material items, and self. Yes, even beyond giving of oneself. This level of giving is not something that can be quantified. It's more than volunteering one's time in a ministry, or in serving others. It is giving beyond your ability to give - giving beyond what you have to offer. It is a quality of life, in which your self, in relation with others, is giving. You become a channel of the Holy Spirit, giving what you don't have to give. Are the other types of giving valuable? Yes. Are they necessary steps on the journey to this state? Absolutely. Am I there? Oh, NO WAY! But I have it as a goal now.

*NOTE: This book, while completely awesome, is something that many Christians will find frightening and heretical. So read with caution.