While contemplating how to increase the big give two dollars Mike and I received, I noticed a craft set of “Give Thanks” blocks sitting on our counter that I had made several years back when I was a MOPS mom.  I knew at the time that the craft cost approximately $2 per person, so I thought it would be a good seasonal craft to reproduce and sell.  After throwing the idea past Mike, I naively sent out an email to friends and family featuring the above block sets selling them for $5 each.  As I began to receive a few orders, I went down to Lowes and priced 2x2x8 boards and they were about $2 each, so I invested in one with our $2 big give and a few more, along with some paint, letter stamps, and headed home to start my project. However, to my surprise I quickly received 90+ orders!  This would not have been such a challenge except that 90 orders equated to over 1,000 individual blocks and we were also in the midst of restoring our home from 35K worth of damage from Hurricane Ike.  But the challenge of giving also felt good in the midst of our storm recovery, as so many people had been giving to us.  After a few more trips to Lowes for additional boards, Mike ended up (electric) sawing about 1,000 blocks and I painted and belt sanded each of them by the grace of God.  In addition, my sweet Bible study friends came over one morning and stamped letter after letter after letter.  God truly took what little energy, supplies, and time that we had and multiplied them greatly.  Minus expenses, so far we’ve made approx. $360 off of our $2 big give gift.
 
In my heart I’ve been calling these blocks “Building Blocks for Orphans”.  If I could designate the monies to the Ugandan orphanage, my heart would be thrilled!  Thanks for the challenge to give, as it truly has blessed me!

Ellen Humphries