And the children were nestled all snug... on their floor?

Dear Friends,

As a child, of probably eight years or so, I can remember for a Girl Scout badge we had to write down our two favorite places. To this day I remember my response was: Chuck E Cheese and my bed. I have to say, those are still my two favorite places… Just kidding.

This past week was my week sleeping on the floor instead of in a bed. Amazingly this has been the easiest week so far. Thank you exhaustion. I have always been able to sleep almost anywhere; I fall asleep on noisy planes, with screaming babies, often before we even take off. I spent a semester of my college career sleeping in a sleeping bag; A week of my life on a mission trip without beds; And other random nights on the floor but never with the intention of reflection specifically on the bed-less part of those experiences.

Even sleeping on the floor, I could not help but think how lucky I am. At my office, we receive more than 300 phone calls each day. The majority of those calls are from individuals who are sleeping on the floor. Unlike my sleeping on the floor experience, many of these people do not have a stack of blankets, an insulated house, or even heat for that matter. Even in my rental house, the heat is set at a comfy 68 degrees during normal waking hours and, thanks to one of my generous roomies, I have blankets galore. When I got home to Oregon, my floor had an additional benefit: Carpet. Most of the moms I talk to on the phone at work are more likely than not putting their children to ‘floor’ without so many blankets and potentially on hard wood or the cheap indoor/outdoor, hard-to-destroy carpet common in low-income rentals. In the past week, at A Wider Circle, we put out a request for blankets as the temperatures outside were in the teens (gosh, I missed my El Paso-desert-bike-commute on some of those mornings). It was amazing to see a table stacked with more than 20 blankets be cleared completely within a matter of hours. Again, something so simple that I often take for granted. Between my two homes, Oregon and Maryland I personally own 17 blankets, I believe. And for those of you who know how much stuff I own in general, those really are a huge part of my belongings.

I have also been thinking even about how much ‘bed’ has become a part of our lexicon. “Early to bed, early to rise…” “I’m going to bed.” “Three little monkeys jumping on the bed…” In our country, it is just something that we assume is in ever home. We even call it a bedroom in English (something that doesn’t happen in the other languages I have learned). Just some food for thought.

In seeing many of you since I have been back in Oregon, I have found I have trouble explaining the work that I am doing and what my organization really does. I feel like you have to see it to believe it, in some ways. The example that comes to mind though is in the movie Blindside (for those who have seen it). There is a scene where Leigh Ann Tuohy shows Michael his room and he asks if that bed is his and then says he has never had his own bed before. I cried at that moment. That is story of many of the more than 1,000 individuals and families currently waiting on our waiting list. As well as the 10-15 families we serve each day.

Here is my challenge for the week. At A Wider Circle, we have one key policy. Do not say anything about someone that you would not say to his/her face. This means other staff but also donors and clients. I think this is a mantra to live by in all aspects of life and can’t help but think how, if we all took this to heart, the amount of hurt in our world would greatly decrease. There are enough random bad things that happen in this world that cause us pain, why add to each other’s pain with petty gossip? That extra negative energy, I am sure, just spreads. So for this week of love in the advent season (who needs Valentine’s day? We’ve got a whole week of love :-P). My challenge is to live by that one key policy and let every action and word be one of love. It will at least make you a happier person. Instead of cursing out the driver who just cut you off, say a prayer (s)he gets to her/his destination safely. Instead of complaining about your mother-in-law’s dry turkey (which is definitely my plan), become a vegetarian. : )

Until next week, peace and love be with you! And a very Merry Christmas.

~ Karen