…”It’s the Little Steps that Become the Dance and Gift of our Lives.”

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Dear Reader:

I loved this phrase (blog title) that Kate Wolfe-Jenson used in her latest message about understanding value in giving to others. I have always felt somewhat guilty if I were not involved in some big project or mission when it came to philanthropy. It has only been as I have grown older that I realize it is the individual daily acts of kindness and giving that can be one’s highest achievement, defining who we are as a person.

Kate Wolfe-Jenson:

You are enough

You are enough. Are you enough for everything? No. Are you enough for anything? No, but you were never meant to be alone. We are social creatures and we do ourselves injury when we fly for too long solo.

You do not have to do this alone. You do it best when you ask for help.  For now, know that what you have to give is a sorely needed balm for an aching world. Being all that you are out loud is the start of the recipe and will lead you to your own healing as well.

Sometimes we think “out loud” means grand gestures and huge, flashy MISSIONS THAT NO ONE CAN MISS. Well, sometimes it happens that way. More often, though, it’s the daily acts – the little steps – that become the dance and gift of your life.

 Move towards compassion

You already know all this and are already doing it. I am just here to remind and encourage you. Step by step we express our deepest souls and move towards compassion for ourselves and each other. We are throwing our hearts open wide, taking in more and more. We are moving beyond the limits we try to put on love and letting it transform us, our lives and our world.

…………………………….

I have already learned how a bottle of water and a cookie can turn someone’s life around when they are down and have nowhere to go. When I hand them the sheet with the locations of free meals each day of the week and pantries they can go to for staples….some look at Anne and me like we just gave them a million dollars.

It is getting hot sitting out in the DSS parking lot now each Wednesday afternoon…but just when we think we might start melting….the most luscious breeze begins to blow and we know we are right where God has put us.

So until tomorrow….”Step by step, row by row, look our the garden grows and God’s children with a bottle of water and a cookie.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Delight of the Day:

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About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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