People are starting to write in about their experiences about their acts of service from the first round of this project. Here are some tales:
"Hey there – So, I got an opportunity to offer my brown bag gift to someone today – his name is Bishop. I went to the gas station tonight with my youngest son. When I pulled in I saw him there with his guitar and for an instant thought to myself – oh – he’s going to ask for something. So, when I got out of the car I said hello and minded my own business. He was talking to another man. He had asked him for money and he had said “no” but Bishop said “it’s alright man, god bless you” That made me pay attention. Then he began playing his guitar. He sang and played his guitar with such joy in his heart – it was beautiful. I went up to him and asked him his name. I asked him what his favorite song was and he played me some reggae music. I felt him through his music. I went over and shook his hand and handed him the money. He hugged me and said god bless you to me as well. I told him it was beautiful to see his joy through his music. His guitar was old and tattered – held together with wires and only three strings, but the music that came from it was fluid and harmonious.
Thank you for gifting me with the honor of meeting Bishop. I don’t know if I would have stopped had the brown bag not been on my mind.
Lots of love to you for all that you are and for bringing this project forward.
Abundant Blessings,
Sabrina
Sabrina Teiger, MA
Intuitive Guide
www.sabrinateiger.com"
Karen posted this in the comments, but I thought I would post here to share it with everyone.
"I sent off my 'gift in a bag' this afternoon to a friend who is about to lose her home. I told her how much her friendship means to me and hoped that the lottery ticket (the gift in the bag) would bring some cash her way!
Thanks Jo Anna, I am inspired by this gift of service and started my own version today.
Blessings, Karen E."
And lastly, Alexa R. supported DARE with a donation and received a puzzle book she is using with her therapy clients (she got a double whammy out of her bag).
Thanks All! I can't wait to hear more.
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Jo Anna,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this wonderful lesson on giving. I have definitely had the brown bag on the mind and today a man drove up to me at the gas station and asked to borrow $15 to fix his flat tire. He is a girls basketball coach and the bus left with his money and backpack on it and he didn't have a spare tire. He had already filled the tire up a couple of times and he was in Westchester. My brown bag held $5 and originally I had wanted to contribute some of my own money to the gifting experience. So I held that as an intention and this is what the Universe brought me :) I gave him a $20 and told him not to worry about getting it back to me. He was very gracious and I like knowing he made it safely back to his home in Encino. I only wish I had told him about the brown paper bag of service so that if he wanted to pay it forward he could and I wish I gave it to him in the bag...it just makes for a good story - ya know? :) Anyway - thanks again for the initiating this experience and I look forward to another round!
Stephanie Wiltgen
My husband was given a brown bag with a movie card in it. Our friend, Ayana who gave it to him explained the rules so he came home and shared the bag with me. I have a dear friend who is a workaholic who forgets to make time for herself so I thought to pass the bag to her. I wanted the bag to be meaningful so I focused on love. I added an agate stone with a card explaining the virtues of agate for clearing one's spirit from anger and making way for love. The card also had instructions on how to cleanse the stone for one's use. I also put two jasmin tea bulbs for her to enjoy with someone and some oolong rose tea. She loved the little brown bag surprise as much as I enjoyed preparing it. However, the best part of my story concerns my 3 year old son who was so inspired by my little project that he decided decided to make his own "special bag." He selected to give a jasmine tea bulb to a woman I work with. We had seen her the day before and she was on his mind. He wanted to pick a pretty bag, so he grabbed a bright blue plastic mesh baggie, the kind that garlic bulbs are packaged in at markets, and he put a single jasmine tea bulb in it. Next he picked a ribbon and asked me to tie "pretty" around the baggie for our friend. He was really proud of his baggie and now he wants to make more to give to other people. Your brown bag project is a simple gift, but it has the potential to fill a moment, or days in our case, with wonder, creative impulse and smiles. Thank you!
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