Day 6 of Giving: You Win Some...

And sometimes you have to reconsider your plan.  Life is an adventure I always say.
I set out with the best of intentions this Saturday. I was going downtown to spend an evening with my sister and all I could think about were the people in the street in this wintery weather, cold and hungry. So my plan was to make a few bag lunches and stop by the Goodwill on my way downtown to grab some warm blankets.  
Here is my lovely sister with all of our goods to hand out.
The first person we ran into was in the "L" station. To make a long story short, he wanted a couple of bucks for a sandwich, or so he claimed. I perked right up and was excited to inform him that I happened to have a whole lunch for him. He looked at me in disgust and said "I don't want no lunch!" I had to work hard not to bust out laughing but I kept my composure and went along my merry way. 
We walked miles and only found one man to give a lunch to and he wasn't interested in my blankets. Since the bags were rather heavy and I didn't want the sandwiches to get warm in the restaurant we were going to, I insisted that my poor little sister walk with me until we find something good to do with our gifts. I had no idea where we were headed I just knew we'd find a place if we kept looking. We only walked a couple of blocks and Linds looked up and said "We're at the YMCA". We walked in and left the bags at the front desk and the ladies there were very happy to have them. I wasn't sure that they would want the lunches since they feed their guests but the lovely woman insisted heartily that they would. 
So it was successful in the end, it just didn't look as I had imagined. I am totally OK with that though. Part of life is learning to go with the flow and when you give with an open heart, it doesn't matter what it looks like. It only matters that the gifts are used.
And for day 6, I am making a donations to the Kate McRae fund. I remember walking past the PICU at the girls' hospital and seeing the sick children. I cannot imagine have one of my children diagnosed with a critical illness. My heart breaks for the McRae family and my prayers are with them for sure. The least I can do is send a little money in hopes that all of the monetary gifts will ease bit of their unimaginable stress.