Monday, August 8, 2011

Okay, it's time for me to get my act together


I've been deficient in my blogging lately. I can't even blame it on being especially busy, or having a time of illness, or having electricity/internet problems. Well, I've had a bit of all of those, but not enough to really keep me from the computer very much. I've just been uninspired. I assume others of you go through times like that, occasionally, in whatever kind of work you do.

However, I now have no choice but to motivate myself and get back to blogging, as it's time (and past time) to start the Gifts for Gracias program rolling for 2011. And, to be honest, I'm a bit worried about this.

First of all, we've had a steady decline in donations over the past few years. We've also received fewer and fewer pre-packaged gift boxes. Several dedicated workers in Maryland, who were especially good at collecting used clothing and small gift items, are not available to help with the project this year.

For several years now we've been blessed by the donation of hundreds of gift boxes from a single ministry in North Carolina. This ministry will not be able to participate this year, as they have committed to helping certain ministries directly related to their church instead. This loss, in addition to everything else, is going to make it really tough for us to fill an entire container.

The state of the US economy is such that I know many people won't be able to participate to the level they have in the past. This means that, to make up the difference, we're going to need more participants than ever before.

What am I doing about this?

I have updated the information about how you can be a part of the Gifts for Gracias project on our website, here.

I am planning my first ever give-away on my blog, and it will be tied to participation in the Gifts for Gracias project. More info on that will be forthcoming within the next week or so.

I'm committing myself to blogging regularly, and nagging (oops, that should be reminding) everyone about this project.

And what, you may ask, does the picture of the scruffy sleeping puppy have to do with any of this? Well, I've been working on learning how to use our new camera, as I need to be able to take pictures for the blog, and that's just a random picture I took while practicing using the zoom. That's Boo's lapdog, Buffalo, in the picture. Isn't she a cutie?

3 comments:

Hannah said...

How would "locals" (in Tegus) go about making gift box donations to Gifts for Gracias?

Trish said...

Hannah, thanks for asking! We have a good friend who lives in Tegus, and we could arrange for him to meet with you to pick up anything you might want to donate. (His daughter lives in Gracias, so he travels back and forth frequently.) When you're ready, send me an email - trish @ sowers4pastors.com - with your phone number, and we'll call you to set things up.

Thanks so much for wanting to help with this! You've made my day!

Beth said...

Dear Trish
I am praying for the word to get out and for creative ways to do that. Don't know yet if our group will participate but I will let you know as soon as possible. Got to go through official channels you know!
We love you all and Buffalo is adorable.