Last Saturday I received an invitation from the mother of one of my son's kindergarten classmates to come have hot cocoa and support her daughters who were raising money for children in need. Well, of course we attended... armed with smile cards to purchase cocoa for others behind us in line. This event turned out to be so much more. The mother, Savira, is a kindred spirit and was thrilled to learn about smile cards, Ssp, kindspring, etc. She also sent a note out this morning that over $300 was raised and that in addition to her daughters purchasing art supplies for children at the family shelter, her young daughters will give them an art lesson so they have the opportunity to create masterpieces. I love that she is moving her family beyond 'charitable giving' to compassionate service that is empowering to all participants in the experience and may result in a deeper impact. Sweet!

On another note, Thursday's maiden Awakin voyage in San Jose was lovely. We even had one gentleman come who regularly attends Wednesdays in Santa Clara. What I noticed in preparing to co-host the event was that I was incredibly relaxed about all the details. I knew that if the soup burned, we'd just laugh and enjoy the bread and fruit even more. I just didn't sweat the details because the irony of indulging in that was too much for my ego to handle :-). May I learn to translate this joy and ease more broadly in my life. My favorite part of the evening continues to be walking around after everyone is seated with food and offering them more food with a happy tenderness that has been modeled for me by a few spectacular women who have touched me forever by their loving service on Wednesday evenings. xoxo