by Sandra Jones

Sometimes my inner Robert Frost speaks to me, sparking my creative side, and a poem results.

Such a situation occurred last year while hiking to Lizard Log Falls and Schoolhouse Falls, which are north of Hector, Arkansas.

Kurt and I were hiking alone in this remote, woodsy area. It was the middle of May, the temperature was mild, the numerous species of trees were showing off their various shades of green, and momma turkey and her babies were enjoying a Saturday morning stroll. Startled by our presence, she started squawking, and the chicks scattered.

I really wanted to get a shot of them, but Kurt shooed me away. He was afraid the mother would not retrieve her flock. We would forever be burdened with the knowledge that there were little orphan turkeys in the Ozarks.
So I let them be.
We reached Lizard Log Falls, pictured below.

But upon viewing and hearing Schoolhouse Falls

I was moved to write this:

The Roar of Abundance
How do you know when you have it?
When you experience it?
Feel it? Taste it?
Does it come after a struggle?
Or does it just flow?
Or is it me who fails to accept the flow, and has to struggle?
The sweat, the anger, the cursing
Seem to be par for my course.
And yet, at the end of the day,
I choose to embrace abundance.
I want to dance with joy always,
But I get in the way of myself.
Self preservation and fear rule for a moment….
And that moment is gone.
Forever impressed on those I love, including myself.
And once again I have to redirect
With the intention of accepting the adventure of life.
The roar of abundance….
It can be deafening, overpowering.
Will I crouch away and cover my ears?
Or will I accept it head on?
Will I be misled in defining abundance?
Oh Great Spirit of God,
Keep me grounded
Awake and
Unblinded to all my life has to offer.

I am a wife, mother, and co-owner/manager of Gallery B, a photo gallery in Russellville, Arkansas.  I like to write about the pictures in the gallery, my family and our adventures.
Check out my blog at http://trekkermom.wordpress.com/, or I always upload it on our business page on Facebook: Kurt Jones Photography.  Our photography website is http://www.kurtjonesphotography.com/.

by Courtney Schulist

When I want to find the popular opinion of something I often turn to the internet with a quick search to give me some clues. Recently, I wanted to find out the internet’s opinion on the generosity of others. A quick search lead me to articles with headlines like “Woman gets her dream wedding thanks to the generosity of strangers,” “Family who lost everything in house fire, overwhelmed by generosity of strangers,” and “Community joins together with generous donations during food drive”. A part of me wasn’t surprised to see that these acts of kindness were in the news. After all, when I think of generosity, I think of grand gestures like these and all of the similar stories that make the internet, and myself, explode with happy emotions.

Generosity isn’t just defined by community efforts though. Individuals themselves feel happy when they give generously, but they don’t always understand the impact it has on the families they are helping. Some may feel that because they are an individual that they will not make a big impact. I can tell you from personal experience that is not true. My family has been on the receiving end of some of these acts. I wanted to share my story and how the generosity of others has touched my family.

I may forget the time I paid for somebodies coffee in the drive-thru, or donated clothing to a family who had lost things in a fire, but I will not forget the feeling when others gave so generously to my family. 

I have a son with extensive medical needs. As he has gotten older he has outgrown many of his challenges, but there was a time when we were going through some financial struggles and the cost of a monthly medicine – five thousand dollars per month – was not covered by insurance. Our community pulled together, created fundraisers, and helped raise the money that we needed to cover the medicine for the entire season he was on it. 

Many people donated their time and talents to help our family during that time. We have kept in touch with some of those people and remain good friends to this day. Their generosity touched my family. Without their support, my son could have faced fatal consequences. A big stress was lifted off of me knowing that his medicine was covered.

Another time happened around Christmas when we received an anonymous card in the mail addressed to my son with a gift card containing enough money to purchase gifts for him and his siblings. 

Then, while eating lunch one day, we struck up a conversation with our waitress. She was in town for school, but happened to work at Disney World in her home town. It lead to us telling her about our Disney experience when we went on a Make a Wish trip. When we received the ticket with a note saying that our story touched her and our bill had been taken care of I was moved. I had never had somebody pay for my meal before, but the generosity of our waitress has stayed with me and to this day I carry the note in my wallet to remind me of that day.

And yet another occurred one day prior to my son’s birthday a few years ago. As I was putting my son in the car, a gentleman approached me with what appeared to be a receipt rolled up and asked if my son would like it. Though I thought it was strange for him to offer his receipt, I said “Sure!” and allowed my son to take it. As the man walked away my son noticed that the receipt had a dollar in it. He was so happy. Upon closer examination once we reached our next destination I noticed that it wasn’t just a dollar; the receipt contained a one hundred dollar bill. This man had no clue that it was my son’s birthday the next day, but he made his day extra special.

I know how random acts of kindness can make a family feel so I try to do my part to help spread that kindness to others and my children are learning to share generously too. My son often wants to pay for the vehicle behind us in the drive-thru. Like many of the people that have donated to my family in one way or another, I often do not ever see these people again, but I can only pray that they will pay it forward. 

Courtney is a freelance writer, and editor living in the heart of Arkansas. She blogs about her faith, homeschooling, and raising special needs children as a single mother. When she is not blogging, you can find her advocating for people with disabilities, enjoying true crime documentaries, and trying to find downtime. You can find Courtney on her blog http://lifeasaconvert.com or on twitter @LifeAsAConvert.

By Renee Birchfield

What people generally think of when they think about giving or being generous is money. I always did too, but there are many other ways. Today I am going to share with you other ways you can be generous. 

Be Generous with your Time

Time is such a precious thing and we all seem to be so busy that there just isn’t enough time. Giving someone a bit of your time, even if it is just a lunch to chat, could mean the world to them.  You will never get more hours in a day so make them count, especially with the ones you love. Here are a few ideas on how to give your time. 

• Volunteer – take an evening or a day on the weekend and volunteer with a group you support, or something you are passionate about.
• Have Fun- spend time with your kids having fun. Take them to the park, read an extra bedtime story. If there is something that can wait until tomorrow take some extra time and give it to your kiddos. Same for your husband go on a special date to show that you want to give him your time.
• Take a break- at work take a break from the crazy schedule and go to lunch or coffee with coworkers and catch up on each other’s life.

Be Generous with your Words

Talking, something you do every day. Take a second and use those words to give to someone. Actions may speak louder than words but kind words are always appreciated. 

• Share appreciation- Say thank you, share with a friend that you appreciate how she always listens to your problems. 
• Encourage- as a blogger I enjoy commenting on others blogs because I know that it is encouraging to me when I get comments, it’s nice to know someone other than Mom is reading. Be on the lookout for someone who needs some up lifting words, sometimes a “You got this.” or “You’re doing great.”, is all they need to hear.
• Advice- Be willing to listen to someone’s problems or situations and offer them advice. 

Be Generous with your Service

This is similar to giving your time which you will also be doing, but give them your service.  It is always nice to have some extra help even if you don’t want to ask for it. Be the one to offer before being asked.

• Yard work- does your neighbor house sit for you while you’re out of town? Do you know an elderly person that can’t do it all on their own? Give yourself to them for a few hours and help them with yard work.
• Run Errands- do you know someone who is always running and doesn’t have time for it all. Give them a break offer to run by the store, or grab their dry cleaning. Give up a few minutes of your time to free them up to do something that they want to do.
• Babysit- we all have one, that friend that spends all her time with the kids and catering to them, never getting a second to herself. Offer to watch the kids even if it is just for an hour, she may just take a nap, but she will appreciate it so much!

Generosity is giving of something above and beyond what is expected or necessary, it does not have to cost you a dime. Just take the time to figure out another way for you to give to those you feel need it. By giving someone a bit of your time, some kind words, or a selfless act you could bless them in ways you didn’t even think of.

How are you generous to others? 

Renee discusses her favorite parts of life over at Married and Hungry. Upon getting married and finding very few tips online on being a new wife she decided that she would share her journey. Being a self-proclaimed food nerd she shares her favorite recipes as well. Also trying to become craftier she even shares her Pinterest craft trials. You can keep up with her at @marriedanhungry over on Twitter and Married and Hungry’s Facebook page.