If you didn’t read the post “Habit vs. Have It part 1” you can read it here
Another great benefit of creating a habit of giving now rather than waiting until you have ‘more’ is the discovery of your sweet spot. Finding that need and that opportunity to give in a way that reflects who you are. If you haven’t given much this might sound strange – but I think we all have within us a draw towards something that resonates within each one of us.
I can remember when I was younger getting to know a boy around my age whose parents had a real heart for, of all places, the people of Papua New Guinea. I remember becoming good friends with him and then having to say goodbye because they were moving there to live. This seemed so strange to me back then. Why move all the way around the world to live with people so far away? Years later, in my mid-twenties, I discovered the answer to that question when I flew to the one place in the world that both fascinated me and scared me. After just a few months in Namibia, Africa I knew what it was like to find a place and a people that felt like home. Ever since then I love the opportunities that I get to travel there, support projects there and help people in that country.
In the past two years I have met and had conversations with people who have clearly discovered that thing inside of them that moves them to give in a particular way and with a particular purpose. I’ve met people who like myself are drawn to supporting initiatives in Africa. I have met a lot of people who have found a particular love for serving and helping in their local communities. For some, it’s the foodbank, or kids with special needs. I met a woman several years ago who found her niche in a terminal illness ward for sick children. She shared some of the most gut-wrenching stories I have ever heard, but by the way, she told them and the way she loved those kids, you just knew she had found her place. She was giving her time where she needed to give it and she was at home.
I want Givesome to become a place where people discover what it is that connects with them.
We are going to offer hundreds of different kinds of projects for people to support. If you don’t know what that is for you just yet, that’s ok. This will be a place where you can give a little, then see the impact you have, then discover what sorts of projects and opportunities move you.
We’ll also track all of the projects you give to so you can begin to see a picture being painted not just of the direct impact you have on different places and initiatives, but also of the areas that you’re being drawn to give to. We’ll show you a wealth of good charities that are doing amazing work both locally and globally. We’ll include links to their sites to check them out, a tap feature that lets you instantly connect with them and we’ll even let you save the charities that mean the most to you so that when those charities post a project in the future your phone will buzz to alert you.
There’s something to be said about a person who hears about a need and is quickly moved to respond to it. There are urgent needs that surface almost daily that will continue to warrant our attention. But there’s also something special about finding that thing that inspires us and leads us to give of our time and our resources above and beyond a typical response.
Habitual giving will not only help us discover our niche, but it will become the best way that we can offer our support. Discover your sweet spot and see what happens when you make a point of supporting those kinds of initiatives. If you’re like the people I’ve met along this journey, then I have no doubt the reward will be worth the effort.
