Did you think I was dead? It’s been a handful of days (five I think) since I last posted. I left last Thursday to embark on an epic journey with Girl Ninja to Princeton, B.C. in Canada. We were not alone on this trip, however, we loaded up a charter bus with 30 freshmen from our local high school to spend a week at a Young Life camp there.
If you recall a few weeks back, I posted about clever ways to help these kids raise money to cover part of their camp costs. We did a lot of flocking, they sold bags of coffee, Jamba Juice partnered with us and gave us some coupons they could sell, we were hired to tear out the carpet and paint a the walls of a basement, we built fences, and we even received $1,500 from a PDITF reader who asked to help support these kids.
How insane is that? A reader I’ve never met decided to hit me up and offer to pay for three camp spots in full in hopes of allowing kids that come from less privileged families the opportunity to have a week at camp with their friends. I’m blown away by this reader’s generosity not because of the amount given (although that is pretty incredible), but more so by the fact that she reached out to me unsolicited. I didn’t ask my readers to support these kids to camp, but she took it upon herself to do so anyways.
That my friends is why I am dedicated to being financially responsible and a diligent saver. I want to be able to bless people not only when they ask for it, but when they DON’T. I want to give unconditionally, to someone I’ll never meet, in hopes that their lives are better because of it, without expecting or wanting anything in return. Financial stability allows one to give without hesitation.
It was one heck of a week and Man Oh Man am I exhausted. I’ll definitely be spending my Fourth of July reflecting on all the crazy games we played, the deep/emotional talks I had, and the happiness I saw in our kids’ eyes as they felt the love of the Lord pour out all over them.
If I had to choose one picture, from the 800+ I took, to sum up this happiness it would be this one…
You took your kids to the triple Blue Man Show :)))? It’s a great thing you did. God bless you!
What a wonderful gift from your reader! Also, that picture is great, it looks like you had a wonderful time. Are you one of the Blue Men??
Thank you Jennifer. I’ve been fortunate this year to be able to help and this group of kids seemed like a wonderful place to start.
That is fantastic that you were able to help the kids build funds to support this trip. It was also a good way to show them how to be entrepreneurial and make money from nothing. Funding dreams is my thing and for what it is worth you get a A+ rating for helping these kids fund theirs!
That’s as good a reason as any to take a mini PDITF vacation. Although I was kind of hoping you were gone because you were busy selling Manteresting for some 7 or 8 figure sum.
awesome
Have you seen Secret Millionaire? I would love to be able to bless people like that as well.
Glad you all had such a great time in Canada; B.C. is stunning and on our bucket list of places to visit. Glad you’re not dead!!
Wow that’s awesome! And very awesome about the person who donated $1,500! What a good person.
Thanks Michelle. I have to admit my email started out with the idea of sponsoring one kid…then we chatted and I figured I have 3 children myself, how great would it be to send 3 kids. It was really a fun process;)
All the late nights driving Freshman kids home from your weekly meetings paid off last week. All the time and effort you and girl ninja put into these kids, is going to change these kids lives. 20 years from now they will come back and thank you for being there for them.
Awesome! Glad to hear you had a great time at camp and that someone from PDIT donated to a great cause!
Thanks Jenna, it really hit home for me. Kids, faith, camp…what could be better cause right?
Very impressive. Couldn’t agree more. We’d all like to give more but there’s no point helping others until you’ve helped yourself…is that right? Sounds kinda selfish but you get what I mean…I hope.
Yay! This was such a sweet post! I am so glad that you had a wonderful time and I am grateful to you for opening my heart to giving. I’m thrilled that I was able to help and from just that one picture, it looks like the kids all had a blast. Thank you for thanking me, but again, thank you for plugging away at this blog. I’ve been reading now for over 2 years and because you chose to share your story you have helped others…me included, get our butts and our bank accounts in gear. My family has been personally hit by the economy and at the same time blessed with good health and success with my husband’s career. It was because of J Money that I even thought of having a side gig and because of you that I had the idea to donate all of my earnings this year. It has been so fun to have an entire income just to give away. Also the opportunity to ask someone if they would like money or support for a cause they are passionate about it seriously fun. I’m looking forward to reaching out to more people in the coming months!