Celebration of Generosity Reflections

Wow, it was an amazing three days at the Celebration of Generosity Conference. I got home around midnight last night, exhausted, fulfilled, and content. It was my first time attending this event, and I had no idea what to expect. Between the wonderful talks, the powerful testimonies, and the discussions I shared with fellow attendees, I was deeply moved. I’ve spent a lot of time processing what I experienced. Knowing me, there’s a high likelihood that I could quickly get swept back into life in the hours or days to come. I don’t want to let this opportunity pass me by. Therefore, I’m going to share with you my top 10 takeaways and next steps for myself. Partly for accountability, but partly to give you something to ponder about your own generosity journey. Whenever I refer to “our/we”, that’s me referring to Sarah and me.

1. Despite our margin already being somewhat tight, we need to challenge ourselves to increase our monthly giving. We’re already giving sacrificially and joyfully, but there’s more sacrifice to be had.

2. There are a few organizations in our life that need to get a lump-sum gift, ASAP.

3. I’m more convinced now than ever that we need to set up a DAF (donor-advised fund). This has been on my to-do list for years, but I just haven’t followed through. Some of the discussions I had on the trip reminded me of how much good this will bring into our life (probably something to discuss in a future blog post). We started this process with NCF a while back, and plan to close the loop on this ASAP.

4. I need to do a better job at bringing others along for the journey with me, Sarah included. In my efforts to remain anonymous in our giving, we do it in a bit of a silo and lose out on an opportunity to rally others.

5. I need to double down on creating more content (written, audio, and video) about generosity. We haven’t even scratched the surface yet.

6. We need to ramp up the intentionality and frequency of Sarah and me having generosity meetings. We’ve gotten lax over the past few years. We have a giving plan in place, but it’s largely set to auto-pilot and we rarely discuss it intentionally.

7. As Christians, we’re already weird (i.e. counter-cultural). If that’s true, why not lean in and ramp up the weirdness when it comes to radical generosity?

8. Though we have intentionality with our kids when it comes to money and giving, we need to double down on our efforts to model generosity. Not in what we say, but by inviting them into the doing with us. This trip spurred many ideas I’m excited to explore.

9. As a Christian, I have a high level of faith and trust that God will provide. I feel like I followed the call in who I serve and how I serve them in my business. Though the trust and faith remain intact, I think I’ve tried to take back control over the years. It’s time to reverse that approach.

10. I’m more convicted now than ever that we made the right choices with our generosity journey and my career transition. There’s a purpose to all this. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

There you have it! Those are my top 10 takeaways. Unfortunately, Sarah will probably learn about them from the blog before she and I have a chance to discuss in person. Sarah, I’m sorry and you’re welcome!

Did anything I said above trigger any thoughts, ideas, or questions? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Hit reply or leave a comment. Have an awesome day!