The Birth

December 1, 2011 By 1 Comment

The Birth is a stunning drama that literally has one simple focus…. The Birth of Christ.

 

I had the privilege of a sneak preview via the Producer Nathan Rouse and found it nothing short of amazing.

 

With obvious love for what they do and the message they are presenting, the cast pours their heart into each of their roles as they focus on the one thing that is so often overlooked during the Christmas Season, The Birth.

 

As you listen to the actors, hear the music and see the performance, your mind will resonate with the characters as you consider their words. Me, personally – I was struck by the Inn Keeper.  He saw them from a distance and knew what they wanted and the MILLION things he had going on instantly told him he didn’t have time for them.  I wonder how many of us get so busy during the Christmas Season that we are just like the Inn Keeper and don’t have room for the very One we are celebrating.

This production is a refreshing reminder to focus on The Birth of Christ.  It is done in a fashion that anyone, even those that are not active in a church, can enjoy.

If you are available to see The Birth, I hope that you will.  Go with a group or with a special someone, regardless, you are in for a treat!

If you look at the materials on the website and decided you’d like to have the crew do a performance in your Church, please Contact them, you’ll be glad you did.

 

Thank you Nathan for inviting me! It was an honor and pleasure to meet you! I’m excited to see where The Birth will be headed in years to come!

 

To Purchase your Tickets -- Click Here

 

THE BIRTH 2011: AT A GLANCE

  • Starving Artist Productions’ SIXTH YEAR staging The Birth.
  • Performing eight shows (or more if needed) over 7 days at the Duke Energy Theatre at Spirit Square in uptown Charlotte.
  • Shows run December 12 – 19, 2011
  • Show times, tickets and more information can be found at www.thebirth.net
  • Show has been twice-nominated (2009 & 2010) for Creative Loafing’s “Theatre Event of the Year”
  • “The Birth” is available for a limited number of private engagements for the holiday season
  • The Birth will host its annual Celebration Event with show and concert on Saturday, 12/17.
  • Check out previous reviews and stories about “The Birth” from Creative Loafing and the Charlotte Observer at www.thebirth.net/press/
  • The show features both original and traditional holiday music and is based on the writings of Pulitzer Prize nominated author and theologian, Frederick Buechner.
  • Source material for the monologues is from The Magnificent Defeat by Buechner.

Here’s a video of the Cast performing Shepherd’s Song

Shepherd Song -- The Birth -- thebirth.net from Starving Artist Productions on Vimeo.

 

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Collections

September 13, 2011 By 2 Comments

Rocks on My Desk

I think collections are pretty cool.  We all have them and they’ve changed as we change.  When I was younger, my room was full of stuffed animals, bells and unicorns.

I loved the feel of the soft plush babies and animals! Everyday I would arrange them randomly on my bed.  My unicorns and bells were on my shelves and counters.

I still have ONE unicorn from my original collection, a Christmas Ornament that I hang on my tree each year.

I hang an ornament like this every single year!

When I married, I couldn’t take them all with me, so I started giving them away to the children that I worked with each week. With the exception of  a monkey that I got when I was 11, I packed up all of my stuffed animals, hoping to “save” them and I don’t recall what became of my bells.  Odd.

Fast forward to today.  I collect spoons from the various places I travel and without realizing it, I collect rocks.  The top shelf on my desk has about 50ish rocks there.  Each rock was carefully selected by a precious little princess and brought in with a gleaming smile.  After receiving a huge thank you hug, the adorable princess, Megan, would  scamper off with her heart soaring because she gave me a treasure.  The unique thing about this collection is that I never once told Megan that I collected rocks.  I don’t.  BUT…I truly do love rocks.  All shapes and sizes.  Don’t ask why, as I haven’t got a clue.

It started when I was younger.  We’d travel to the mountains and I’d see smooth stones, flat rocks or sparkly rocks and would admire them.  Even now when I go on hikes or nature walks, I’m draw to huge rocks, especially if they are near a river, creek or even ocean side.  Nothing like sitting on a HUGE rock near a body of water.  I could sit and gaze for hours.

Here are some collections that I’ve run across:

Largest collection of Hair

Toilet Seats

Sugar packets – who knew?

Condiment Packets

Toast Portraits 

 

Do you collect anything without realizing that you do? Look around, you may be surprised.

Let me take a peek into what brings you joy…. tell me – What do you collect?

Is that different than what you collected as a child?

 

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Favorite Twitter Helps

September 5, 2011 By 4 Comments

My Favorite Twitter Helps....for you

Anyone that truly knows me, knows I love twitter.  I love the reach it has given me, I love the friends that I’ve made (yes, I said friends and yes…I do love them) and I love the encouragement that I receive there daily.  I love it.

I am on all the other Social Networks and you can use those buttons over on the sidebar to hit me up there, but if you really want to interact with me online, it will be better via twitter.   If you Tweet me, I’ll always reply….at some point.

So, what does a Non-Techy gal use to get the most from Twitter?  I’m glad you asked. :) I’ll share with you my favorite Twitter Helps.  These are in random order with the exception of the first one!

By the way, when you are experimenting with various Twitter helps, may I suggest that you try them for a few weeks and not just for a few days.  Tweet out questions about what you are using if you are just not getting the hang of it.  There are many people that will help you by answering your questions.

By Far the best thing for Twitter

  • TweetDeck – This is a Twitter must! You can have your @’s your dm’s and several columns all on ONE screen.  No flipping back and forth! When you are starting out, this is an easy way to categorize people into groups that appeal to you.  You can shorten links right from this page, send pictures, videos and even send posts Facebook, LinkedIn and others.

You can RT and even see the RT’s done from the web.  I hope that one day Twitter will fix that…but for now, TweetDeck allows me to tell those people that RT from the web thank you.  If I were to only use the web, I would never know they Re-Tweeted one of my posts.

You need to check out the various things TweetDeck can do.  I have it on my itouch and I also use it on Google Chrome.  The real time update is amazing (no refreshing screens) when I’m participating in various Twitter chats or my absolute favorite… the Online LIVE Worship Service on Twitter… #Tworship.  (Click the link to see how to participate with us each week night.) I love the automation feature – I can schedule the songs and Invite people to JOYn us. You can setup your lists to be individual columns and move them around as you see fit. The larger your twitter account gets, you’ll appreciate this easy way to keep up with your friends.

The only negative thing for me with TweetDeck is that the larger my following gets, the more it will slow things down as it pulls the tweets for my columns.  It is actually better than it use to be, so I can tell improvements are being made.  If I were limited to one way to participate on Twitter only…it would be with TweetDeck. Also, I can’t seem to get it to schedule to my facebook, but will keep working at that.  Problem solved! It seems to be working. One of my favorite IT Heroes says “You have a PICNIC problem – Problem In Chair, Not In Computer” and usually, he is correct.  Tweetdeck is the way to go.

  • UberSocial – I have a Blackberry and this is the best app I’ve seen.  This makes Tweeting on the go super easy peasy.  I need that.  I love that I can follow people, block people, RT and add in my own comments.  I can DM and even Reply All if I’m tweeted in a group.  I love the Uberbar! I have several people that are “Tabs” at the top that I can easily pull up their Tweets for the day and RT out what I love. There are so many more functions to UberSocial! Check it out for yourself! I’m glad to see there is an UberSocial for the iPhone and Droid!
  • HootSuite – I love that I can schedule my #nuggetsofJOY to my Twitter account as well as my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.  It has a shortner and is very easy to use.
  • SocialOomph – Many features that I love like scheduling, replying and you can tie your blog here.  I don’t, but you can.  It is very user friendly.
  • iTwitter – I don’t know if that is the proper name or not, but I love using this one on my iTouch.  It’s from iTunes, easy to navigate, reply, RT.  Love all the features.
Everything that I’ve mentioned so far is FREE for you to download and try.

 

Many have asked me how I’ve grown my Twitter account.  I’ll tell you. Every day, I would spend about 15 minutes following the people that I was on lists with.  If you listed me on a list, I would assume that the others you listed were in some way “like” me, so it made sense to follow them too.  People would follow back.  I did this for 2 years!  Saturday mornings, when I had more time, I’d spend a little more time and grew my account up to 19,000 followers.   I never would have imagined that I could be spreading joy to a thousand people, much less 19k.  This year, a wonderful friend of mine that just loves super squishy hugs, gave me an awesome gift.
 Tweet Adder.  Many people are skeptical of purchasing this but I have to tell you, it is worth the one time fee of $55.00 for One Profile. You can have up to 5 Profiles for $74.00, 10 Profiles for $110.00 and Unlimited Profiles for $188.00. (Many businesses use the multiple profiles.) This has been the best gift ever.
Tweet Adder will let you follow those that follow a certain person, or by lists, or hashtags or even key words in their profile.  If  you wanted to follow all of the coffee lovers in the world, you can do so. If you want to follow everyone in your city, you can do that too.  If people decided not to follow me back, I simply have my tweet adder scheduled to unfollow in 3 days.  Easy Peasy. I can spend my time chatting, instead of spending my time following the lists I was added to & unfollowing those that don’t want to follow back.  It does so much more than this! I want my followers to see certain articles so, I use the RSS Feed to Tweet their articles.  I just copied & pasted their RSS URL and now their new blog posts will tweet automatically.
Use the link I provided and check them out. If you decide to purchase this, Spreading Joy is an affiliate and they will give us back 50% of whichever package you purchase.  You’ll be easily making a difference by doing so.  You may also like being an affiliate for them because once you get 2 others to sign up, you’ll have gotten tweet adder for free.  Only being able to give back to others when people give to us….I know that every little bit makes a HUGE difference!   Using Tweet Adder, I can focus on doing what I do best – and that is Spreading Joy and encouraging those that need it.

 

May I caution you though?

 

If you simply “grow” your account using Tweet Adder but never interact with those that you follow, you’ll miss out on some amazing friendships, wonderful laughs and some good times.  Think about it.  People like Oprah and others “stars” that only follow 20 people are missing out on some pretty cool friendships from all over the world.  I noticed that early on and wrote an article about it a few years back.  Even though it is a few years old, it still holds true today.   Click here to Read about the friendships I made early on.

 

Lastly, here are some other Twitter Apps You may Enjoy!  All Free!
  • Seesmic - Much Like TweetDeck
  • Twello – yellow pages of Twitter
  • Twitter Counter – lets you see your growth at a glance & some cool buttons
  • Nutshell Mail – Cool way to track groups, lists & is delivered to your inbox on your schedule
  • TweetReach – To see the impact of your tweet OR if you use the web, see who has RT’d you and say thank you
  • paper.li – This is an amazing app that collects “links” through the day and puts in a News Paper Format.  I have 3 of them and I subscribe to them all so that I can go back and read at my leisure each night.  The Spreading Joy Daily, The Praying Peeps Daily and the Praying Peeps2 Daily.  The SJ daily collects links from those I follow and usually has about 200 articles or ore.  The PP daily collects links from ONLY those on my 2 lists.  Awesome stuff!!

This is just a drop in the bucket compared to the things that you can find on Google or Goodsearch.  Remember, when you Goodsearch – good search for spreading joy and they will make a donation to us!

To save you some time, here are a few links to a few pages that have hundreds of Twitter helps.

Here is the best introduction to twitter that I’ve seen in a while! - Intro to Twitter  Thanks @partyaficionado

Over 275 items here - http://www.squidoo.com/twitterapps

99 items here - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/03/17/99-essential-twitter-tools-and-applications/

Here are some CUTE & FREE Twitter “Follow Me”  Icon Buttons

Also – Do you know Twitter has limits? Yes, they do.  Check them out here.

I do have an extra account on twitter, just incase anything were to happen – feel free to follow over there too.  @jailedJOY  I don’t use it much – but sometimes it’s necessary and sometimes, I just “play” there.

One last thing and probably the most important of all!!!

HAVE FUN…plain and simple.  

What do you think? 

What are your favorite Twitter Apps?  

Talk to me….I want to know!

***I’m hoping for an iPhone for Christmas and would love to know what your favorite twitter app is***

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More than Supplies

August 17, 2011 By 9 Comments

More than supplies fill these bags!

Back to School 2011 was a huge success thanks to YOU!  In addition to JOY and HOPE -- There were 310 backpacks full of supplies given out this year.  We were excited to be able to place the following items in the bags.

  • 3 spiral notebooks
  • A pack of 10 ink pens
  • A pack of 10 pencils
  • A pack of loose leaf paper
  • A box of 24 crayons
  • A box of 12 colored pencils
  • 2 pocket folder portfolios
  • A bottle of glue
  • A glue stick
  • A pack of Lance Peanut butter Crackers
  • A pack of gummy snacks
  • A pack of Reese Cups

Big Smiles

We invited 300 people to the event.  We went and picked up many of the families that didn’t have a way to get there.  Hotdogs were prepared and served along with chips, drinks and cake for desert.  They enjoyed a free meal and then were invited to receive their backpacks filled with some of the necessary supplies for a successful school year.

I loved hearing the oooo’s and aaahhhh’s of the kids as they looked at the rows of backpacks that would soon be given to them.  The workers and I completely enjoyed the shrieks of happiness as the kids opened their backpacks and pulled out the Reese Cups.  This thrilled my heart to NO end!

I was thrilled to see several of the kids from my own neighborhood there.  One of the parents told me thank you and expressed how helpful this was as the expenses of going back to school were growing each year.  Even though he works all the time, it’s still hard to make ends meet.

One lady was telling my sister that she couldn’t believe she forgot to invite her neighbor and wondered if there would be enough left so that she could take some to her children.  As they were having this conversation, the neighbor actually walked through the door and I hugged her, not knowing what was being discussed by the others.  I had “met” the neighbor as I was shopping the night before.  I had a buggy full of hotdogs, buns, chips and other things and had invited her to come, bring her kids and enjoy a meal & a free bag.  This was very cool that the need was met in this fashion.

Thank YOU for the gift of giving!

Many people expressed an interest in doing this with their church & members.  I told them that I’d be happy to come and help them with organizing this.  I have lots of ideas and when you have an entire church behind you, the possibilities are limitless.  I can already see great things for the kids in those churches for next year!

If you are in NC, SC, VA, GA or TN – I can easily make a day trip out to help with ideas for this.  Fundraising, organizing and other things can be discussed.  We can also discuss other ways of encouraging your group to do more, remove their focus off of what you can’t do, don’t have and move the focus on the amazing opportunities that await you. I can help with finding joy!

I want to say a huge thank you to those who supported this event financially.  Without your gifts, we would not have been able to give out bags of hope and joy.  You are a unique kind of hero!  One that steps up and helps, doing what you can with what you have.  I’m honored that you’d choose to help Spreading Joy give back in such a huge way.

Thank you to those that wanted to give financially but couldn’t so you chose to use your voice, tell others and helped in that way!  Never discount the power of your voice!

I also want to say a huge thank you to those that came and helped with packing the bags.  This was done in a matter of a few hours with the assembly process we had.  Amazing!

Thank you to those that came and worked on the actual day we handed out the bags and meals.  There is no way this could have been done without you.

Thank you to my sister in law who made the cool shirts for us to wear.  I love them.

Thank you to Pastor Taylor and the members of New Grace for allowing me to use your wonderful facility and to those who volunteer your time to make this happen.  I’m honored that you’d help and support our back to school efforts.

A special thanks to my Mom, Stepdad, Angie & her family and my bestest friend and her husband for always supporting, helping, praying and assisting in any way possible.  I love you and you make my world a much brighter place!

THANK YOU!!!

And a HUGE thank you to my precious family -- Steve, Todd and Megan.  For allowing me to ignore household duties, for running errands for me, making deposits, picking up things, unloading 2 carloads of supplies in the blazing heat, loading them BACK a few days later and tolerating me getting up at 4:30am (I’m not the quietest in the world) to be at walmart by 5am to do shopping among the many other things, including but not limited to endless excited chattering, tired whinyness and the bratty little girl that poked her head out every once in a while --  that you endured for back to school.  Without your love and support I wouldn’t be spreading much joy at all.  I’m thankful for such love from you guys.

I’m honored to be used to help others, encourage others and to able to be Spreading JOY and giving back.  I know that there is no way it can be done alone and am thankful for your heart for spreading joy!

Thank YOU!!

If you were involved in this event, I invite you to leave your comments below.  If you received a backpack and want to say thank you, I hope that you will.  Thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts below! 

{{{HUGS}}} yall

photos: courtesy of mary whisonant 

 

I received this thank you in my email box and wanted to share it with YOU: 

 

MY GRANDSONS AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THE BACK PACKS AND SCHOOL SUPPLIES.

ALL THE CHILDREN WERE DELIGHTED. SOME EVEN SAID THEY WERE EAGER TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL.

MY 5YR OLD GRANDSON STARTS KINDERGARTEN AND WAS PLEASED TO RECEIVE HIS RED BACK PACK.

HE SAID, ” NOW I AM READY TO GO! THANK YOU JESUS!”

GOD BLESS YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELPING KINDNESS.

A HANDS ON GRANDMA AND SISTER IN CHRIST,

KATHERINE 

 

The Assembly of the Back Packs!

 

The Day of the Big Event!

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Think Again!

March 22, 2011 By 13 Comments

Think you’re too small to make a difference? Think again!

  • Put a tiny rock in your shoe and walk a mile
  • Give a simple sucker to a toddler & watch their world light up
  • Try ignoring that fly buzzing about your meal
  • Leave that piece of dust under your contact
  • Smile widely with a tiny piece of black pepper stuck to your tooth
  • Watch what the ants will do with your slice of pie
  • Remember the grain of sand that became a gorgeous pearl
  • Think about the one smooth stone that took out a giant
  • Notice how one spark can consume an entire forest
  • One flicker of light pierces the darkest night
  • 1 person “going” for it, gives courage to the fearful
  • A reassuring smile brings hope
  • Gaze at the GIANT oak that was once a tiny seed
  • One single tear can soften the hardest heart
  • The difference of one second…. That allowed you to miss that accident or plane crash
  • Ignore that nail in your tire
  • Leave that splinter in your finger

These are just a few that I quickly jotted down!

I’d love to hear YOURS! Please leave them below!

If you are on twitter, please leave your @ name as well.

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30 Day Challenge Jan 2011

December 27, 2010 By 18 Comments

I love spreading joy to others, but more than that, I love how easy it is to get into the habit of spreading joy.  A new year is upon us and it is my goal to help you see just how easy it is to get into the habit of spreading JOY.

The 30 Day Challenge - ONE thing a day for someone else, on purpose.  That’s all it takes. It can be for family, friends or random people.  Your mind will be looking, thinking and preparing for ways of spreading joy in no time.  This can be anything to help make a difference.  It can be a smile, it can be an encouraging email or text message.

The sky is the limit here and it is NOT hard to do this. By the end of the month you’ll have gotten yourself into the habit of spreading joy and it will be a natural thing for you to do as you meander through your day. Being aware of opportunities is key and this challenge is designed to get you thinking and looking for ways to make a difference each day.

Here is the challenge.

Will you publicly join me in developing this habit of spreading joy?  If so, please let me know.  I’d like to add your name here to a list – so that I won’t forget who is joining me, but so that I can encourage you  too. If you are on twitter, please include your twitter name, cause I’m old and forgetful like that!

Together we can journal our daily acts of joy.  I will write in my journal each day about what was done and then every 3 days or so, come back here and update things in the comment section.  I would encourage you to do so as well.  This will encourage everyone that is participating.

I’ve done this challenge publicly before and here is a link to how it turned out.

I would love to hear how this challenge affected your daily outlook, if you had any troubles and just over all, how it made your heart feel, to think, plan and then execute this challenge.

Ideas to get you going:

  • Give away reesecups and Little Debbie Cakes randomly
  • Have a NO chore day for family
  • Leave the closer parking space for someone else
  • Purchase a book of stamps and mail to Spreading Joy
  • Recycle, recycle, recycle
  • Have a “Eat dessert first” night with your family.
  • Make a financial donation to Spreading Joy, see if your company matches charitable giving – 2 acts in one
  • Meet someone for coffee and purchase it for them.  Enjoy the chat.
  • Sign up for this challenge and invite others to do so as well!

There are some ideas to get you going. If you need more, don’t forget that there are a total of 100 ways of making a difference WITHOUT spending one single penny listed here and here on this web site.

Are you ready to take the challenge?  Are you ready to develop the habit of spreading joy?

Those taking the 30 day challenge:

@spreadingJOY

@smooth_stone

@GodsWordisTruth

@10thamendment

@LifeVerse

@sharritiner

@sweetshel

IF we all do just 1 act of JOY a day – so far we are up to 217 #actsofJOY for the month!! wow.  I’m so excited to be making a difference this way!! Thanks for JOYning me!!

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Christmas JOY – The Celebration

December 22, 2010 By 10 Comments

It started like any other morning before a Spreading Joy event.  A million things running through my mind and this time, it’s a little different because I’m planning and handling much of the Christmas JOY event for the ladies at the Battered Womens Shelter & children from my hotel room in Virginia.  Then it hits me.  SNOW!! It was supposed to snow over night. I hurry to the huge window in my room and sure enough, IT’S SNOWING!!!! The little girl in me is so very excited! I can immediately see that there are several inches on the ground already.  I’m supposed to work a half day and then head home to Charlotte NC and start picking up toys for Friday nights Christmas JOY event!  I quickly get ready and head to work.

Much like a child that can’t wait to get out in the snow, I find a window and look out.  It is pouring snow!  Buckets! My heart is filled with worry at this point.  How am I going to make it home? I call my sister.  Tell her what I’m seeing.  She tries to comfort me saying, things will be a little stressful but it will be ok.  I quickly tell her that “you are NOT seeing what I’m seeing!”  We chat about the possibilities of me not making it back.  Two of the greatest things I love are both now tugging at my heart, snow and Spreading Joy.  I head back to work thinking ok, it will work out no matter if I get home or not.  I’m just going to enjoy my gift of snow! I finish out my half day of work, head back to my hotel and preparations start.  The phone calls to my mom, sister and friends asking for help.  The planning of who will do what, just in case I can’t make it back into town.  These ladies deserve a wonderful meal, a time of fun and laughter and these toys for their kids.  I’m determined to make it happen and with friends and family that have huge hearts, it goes off without a hitch!

The phone calls come in, “you won’t believe what Clark Nexsen collected for this event!” My friends Dave and Dale from Iron Mountain assure me it will be fine for them to bring the toys to me! Wow! Not only did they collect toys, but made things easier for me by bringing them to me, knowing that I was short on time! Amazing!

We get to the church, start setting up, sorting toys, picking up food, decorating and having fun.  Later that evening I hop aboard a bus with my brother in law and we had to pick up the ladies and children.  We are enjoying a trip back and I tease the ladies that we are having MY favorite meal – HOT DOGS! I giggle and tell them that Olive Garden has graciously given pasta, salad and bread sticks.  We are all excited.

Everyone gets settled, and is eating, laughing, relaxing and having fun.  There are enough workers so that the ladies that need help with their small children can eat their meals without worry for their tiny ones.  I love the view, the children laughing and slurping up spaghetti, the moms smiling and chatting with one another.  Peace, happiness and pure JOY surround me!  My heart is soaring beyond belief!

The children stay in the fellowship hall and I take the ladies with me next door so that they can “shop” for their children.  I thank them for coming and being such a wonderful part of my Christmas!  I have been thinking about them all week and take a few minutes to tell them the wonderful attributes I see in them.  I give them instructions as to where to find the toys, the gift wrapping stations and such.  I wander through the halls as the ladies “shop”, listening to the giggling, listening to the oooohhhhh and ahhhh’s, listening to the thrill in their hearts as they pick out toys for their children.  There are Easy Bake Ovens, dolls, Barbie dolls, stuff animals, play dough sets, Tonka Trucks, footballs, basket balls, games and so much more!  There are literally 4 rooms full of toys for these wonderful ladies to choose from!

The ladies finish wrapping and start heading to get their children and load back on the bus and van.  Several people volunteer to follow behind to “haul” presents as there’s no way all the people and the gifts are going to fit.  I love each and every single HUG that I am receiving! The sparkly eyes, bright smiles and huge warm HUGS are priceless.  Everyone leaves and I look around and the Spreading JOY heroes have already started cleaning up! Wow!! Amazing!

The night is perfect.  Chaos, silliness, fun, Christmas music, laughter, toys, food, drinks, hugs and the mile wide smiles make it memorable!

But, the giving is not over with yet! Sunday, more toys are given out.  To a local church and some for a teacher who has some homeless children in her class.  Thursday NIGHT – MORE toys will be given away!! A week of Christmas JOY, my heart can hardly stand it! It is flooded with happiness and JOY!

We were able to distribute 545 toys and books this year.  This is no small feat as we normally have 8 or 10 companies collecting toys and this year, we didn’t have that many.

Thank you seems so small in the light of what YOU did to make Christmas JOY 2010 possible.

Thank you to the director of Amy’s House, Vicky, for the wonderful work you do to help these ladies! It is my honor to make a difference for them, to encourage them and to remind them just how very special they are!

Thank you to Olive Garden for providing the meal for us! There was plenty of delicious food for everyone to enjoy! Thank you to Jim Taylor and Marvin McAllister for picking up food for us.  Thank you Dave Finley for meeting me with toys and saving me so much time.  Thank you Momma, Angie and Meg for picking up toys on Thursday for me while I enjoyed my gift of snow and stayed safely at the hotel.  Thank you Dale and Jeanne Strickland for being available at a phone calls notice to pick up toys for me and for helping out the night of the event.

Thank you to Pastor Jerry Taylor and Mrs. Taylor of New Grace Baptist Church for the use of your wonderful facilities and being available “just in case” I was snowed in!  Thank you to the wonderful members of New Grace for volunteering to help serve, sort, clean, wrap, entertain and for the great JOY you brought my way!  I could not have made it without your help!

Thank you to Patterson Pope for giving us employees paid Community Service time to make a difference in our world!

Thank you to my family for supporting Spreading JOY the way you do, helping and allowing me to make a difference right where I am.  Thank you Tripp and Bob for driving the vehicles to bring the ladies to the church.

Thank you Quiznos, Iron Mountain, Clark Nexsen, Arthur Squad, Stone Pump and Trench and Linden ARP church for collecting toys.

Thank you my precious twitterverse for your online donations, the interviews to spread the word and for using your voice to reach people that I couldn’t reach without your help! You were instrumental in making Christmas JOY 2010 a huge success!

YOU are all HEROES and I hope as you watch the video, read and recount this week of Spreading JOY that your heart is flooded with warmth, love and pure delight for the part that YOU played for Christmas

Thank you!!

{{HUGS}} yall

Sharing this IS spreading joy

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