“One of the reasons people give for not giving gifts is that they can’t afford it.  Gifts don’t have to cost money, but they always cost time and effort. If you’re in a panic about money, those two things are hard to find. The reason these people believe they can’t afford it, though, is that they’ve so bought into consumer culture that they’re in debt or have monthly bills that make no sense at all.

When you cut your expenses to the bone, you have a surplus. The surplus allows you to be generous, which mysteriously turns around and makes your surplus even bigger.”

- By Seth Godin in “Linchpin”

I’m interested in this sort of grassroots fundraising ideas, but I’m not sure how open people will be to paying an extra charge on their phone bills due to the donation they made. What if the phone company setup two “bills” one for the phone services they provide and one for the extra donations, applications, ringtones and such we buy? Kind of like how on my iPhone. I have a bill from Apple for any applications I purchase or music I download, plus a bill from AT&T for the service?

Jessica successfully started the preschool at Chicago International Academy, and I was able to launch a new website for them (www.ciacademy.org).

I’ve got big dreams for this next year and I am looking forward to what God will do in and through me. I’m looking forward to the adventure!

Merry Christmas Everyone & A Happy New Year!!!

I’ve been reading the book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz. It’s been a fun read to as he examines how we make our decisions (and how badly we make them), plus why we can live in a generation with the most choices but still not be happy.

Two thoughts I’ve taken away so far from the book are this. First, the premise of the book…The paradox of choice today is that while we say we want to simplify our lives, we also want more control over the details of our life.

Second is that we get the most happiness when we have fewer choices, but more control over our lives. Doesn’t that at first glance conflict with itself? We want choices, and we’ll be happier if we have a few, but give us too many choices, and we’ll never be happy. (which actually reminds me of another book I’m working through, but that’s for another post).