Give to Give

Hello friends and family! It’s officially December! Which means… it’s officially Christmas season!!

If there’s one thing I loveeee about Christmas time it’s that the love language that I love to give is so easy to give! That’s because I love GIVING!

This blog is gonna be short and sweet as I want to invite you in on a fun opportunity to help me give my love language of giving during this holiday season and beyond on The World Race.

One thing I have learned very quickly, is that a missionary budget does not go very far. So for all your family and friends out there who are missionaries, I invite you to first and foremost pray that the Lord would financially provide for them, and secondly pray about giving towards their ministry and their family if you feel led. Living overseas with no “income” can be quite challenging, but one of the most beautiful parts is getting to see Gods faithful hand in the provision.

Furthermore, budgeting out here in Romania is hard. Things are expensive. Between buying clothes to stay warm, going to the laundromat, getting a snack here and there to just feel the comfort of home, or a real meal on a day off (because missionary budget food = pasta and rice nonstop and sometimes you just want to eat a burger and fries or a nice bowl of salad) well, all that to say, it’s a daily challenge and I recently started a very strict budget to try to minimize finances. My plan has been to spend less than $20 a week but that often barely covers the cost of one meal on my sabbath day and some clean laundry. It’s quite an adventure.

However, my invitation to you isn’t even for myself. If you wanna throw in an extra buck for me that’s appreciated haha, but all in all, I really want to be able to love my teammates and my squad through my love language of gift giving. Some of the ways I have gotten to do this in the past is by buying someone a cup of coffee, their favorite candy, a yummy snack or treat, cozy socks, pens/colored pencils, etc. Gift giving is one of my favorite things, but when you have no money it often makes it difficult, or even impossible.

For the time being I have changed my way of giving gifts into giving words of encouragement by writing on sticky notes or cards, and while I love to do that as well, there’s still that little hole in me that would love to just give something small and meaningful for a teammate of mine. I love the joy it brings others when they receive a gift, which in return brings me great joy!

So here’s the invitation! If you would like to “partner with me” by giving financially, I would be honored to pay your gift forward and give a small gift to someone on my squad, someone in the ministry I’m partnering with, or someone out on mission! In return, I would love to share with you personally how I used that money to bring a little more joy in this season of giving, and beyond!

If you want to join me on this adventure, and give to give, Venmo @adusek. ($5 can help me bless someone!) If you don’t have Venmo but want to be a part of the journey, send me a message and I will make it possible! I am hopeful that the Lord will provide, but even if this is just a silly little idea and nothing comes through, I will rejoice in His abundance of provision, always providing me with all that I need.

Join me and Give to Give this Christmas season!

With much love,

Ashley

Venmo: @adusek