Day 8. Giving.

I remember taking a class from my mentor and friend, Bill Cumming about 15 years ago now. It was an online phone in class that was an hour weekly for 10 or so weeks. Each week we would be given simple tasks that held a big impact. One of the tasks was to acknowledge people in your life who had given you something. You could choose to write a letter, make a phone call, or do a face to face acknowledgement. It was probably one of the more moving activities I participated in. I remember one of the phone calls I made was to a man I had recently met. He and his wife had been attending the church I was and Jim was quite a talented guitarist and he was into creating an atmosphere of authentic worship. Jim just had this way about him that was calming, endearing, and authentic. I called him and told him how he impacted me and I said "Thank you for giving to me a real experience with God. My first one, actually." It was pretty moving for both of us.

As I sit here and write I am reminded of people who have given to me all year long. I am actually moved to tears as some of them probably have no idea the depth to which they have breathed new life into me.

I think of my friend Helen. I sat on her couch in January and shared my soul. I didn't come there that day to unload. We were just having tea and these nice butter cookies. But Helen just has this way about her. There are some people you simply cannot fake it with. Helen got out of her chair and put her arms around me and let me cry. My mother heart sobbed to my friend who did not need to fix, explain, or mend. But her embrace did it all.

 My friend Aleyne. Oh my. The conversations and the changes we have both experienced this year. Evolution of the feminist kind. Glorious support, understanding, knowing. Life is so different for both of us, and its very very good.

Valval. I could not survive without Valerie. No way in Heaven or Hell I want to ever take a breath without her. I hope I go first. The godspeak, the prayers for my kids that are never far from her lips, the love of a dear friend.

Sue. The incessant obsessing. She listened to it all. A Lamaze class friendship that has stood the test of time, babies, children in our older years, moves, returns, moves again. Always a phone call away. I love you.

The family that reconnected me to my past and reminded me of who I am. Who I am meant to be....
Julie who is Joyful. Julie who laughs. Julie who is full of fun and life and goodness. So beyond thankful for these people.

My sister. There is no one in this world who knows more about me than her. And she does not blink an eye at any of my shananigans. We have shared many a good time. One night she said...."I think I may be a bad influence on you...."  "Impossible" I said. "You listened to all those horrid dates and boy stories until the wee hours of the morning when we were growing up and I would climb in bed with you and dish about every excruciating detail....I think I started the bad influence phase...LOL". I love her with every fiber of my being.

These are just a few who have given this past year. I love them all so much.

I want to be a giver as well. Sometimes I have taken, and I want to also give.

What do you have to give? Is there someone you can write to or call to say a hearty "Thank You" to? The giver of the acknowledgement is blessed, and the receiver is beyond blessed. What a beautiful gift one can give is acknowledging that the presence of a life in another's life has touched a life. I hope that my giving has blessed. I know I have been greatly filled up and made whole by the presence of all these wonderful people in my life in 2017.

I love you all.
Thank you for reading.
Love, Jewels.