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Today I turn the page on another year of my life…going from 45 to 46. I’m officially in my “late” forties! Amazing. On the one hand, that fact could send me into a pit of despair, but on the other hand, I’m staring a new phase of life in the face! I’m back in my home state, my children are a year or so away from finishing college, I just celebrated 26 years with a man I’m still crazy about, and I seem to have ministry opportunities coming at me from all sides. Life at 46 is looking pretty good!

It’s the ministry thing that really has my blood pumping these days. The brokenness in our world is staggering to say the least! While every generation has been able to truthfully say this, I join them in repeating, “Has it ever been worse than it is today?” I don’t think so.

There is an enormous need in the mission field today. I’m not just talking about the mission fields of faraway lands and third-world countries. I’m also talking about our own neighborhoods, our local non-profits that are working diligently in hard economic times to reach the world with the message of Christ…the message of hope and life. We can all affect these ministries through our voice and many of us can affect them with our time. However, while we all would like to be able to change things for the better with our financial resources, these times have hit many of us just as hard. We’d love to give, but we simply can’t right now.

I have a precious aunt who is a model of generosity. Aunt Mary Ellen is a giver, and not just a giver, but a joyful giver. She always blesses those in our family with a financial gift at birthdays, and this year was no different for me. However, in the memo line of the check this year, she wrote this:

“Blessings to Produce Fruit”

I smiled when I opened it, as the Lord had been placing it on my heart to give a portion of any birthday money away. You see, I think I inherited this love for giving from my aunt. This is not meant as a “toot of my own horn” by any stretch! It’s tooting God’s horn, for that’s the way He wired me and nothing thrills my heart more (other than someone finding true freedom in Christ) than to give. So, I’m “on a mission” to give $500 to a mission organization through this blog.

Here’s how it will work:

  • If you had $500 to give away, leave a comment telling me to what organization you would give it, and why. My only stipulation for an organization is that it is a non-profit, whose purpose it is to help those in need, spread hope, life and the love of Jesus Christ.
  • I will leave the comments open until Wednesday, September 2nd, at which time they will close.
  • I will have my Aunt Mary Ellen read all the comments and determine a winner.
  • The winner will be announced on Friday, September 4th.
  • A donation of $500 will be made in the winner’s honor to their mission organization of choice.

I’m privileged to celebrate another day of life and the blessing to be able to give. Let’s partner together to make a difference…consider it a birthday gift to me!