GIVE…..  Paying it forward!

When the “Going gets tough”, the “Tough get going” by “paying it forward”. Decades ago, my husband and I were in a financial rut and took a course called the 3T’s. It was a 10-week course where we read, did exercises, and met with the group each week. The 3T’s were about tithing our Time, Talent and Treasures. The core of the course was to tithe at least 10% of all you receive and trust that life would give back to you probably in ways you never expected. Over the decades, we found this principal to pay off abundantly.  There is a magic in giving freely.

My first thought was “I’m broke financially, emotionally and physically”,  how can I give when I am not even treading water. This is the most important time to give. For me, it reset my thinking that there are plenty of solutions and abundance in my world to meet all my needs. This principal is so true with any economic slump or downturn.

When the market crashed in 2008, we owned a real estate company we shuttered for 7 years to volunteer. My husband Mark and I started a non-profit where we helped tens of thousands of Oregonians save their homes and dig out of debt. We figured if we were not going to make money, we could make a difference with skills few people had right then.

The people we were serving had little to no money to pay us and what little came in went to pay for the research tools we needed to do the legal work to prepare for homeowners to take to their attorneys. Thus, we volunteered not knowing how long it would be or what would be at the end of the tunnel for us.

We  lived like church mice but had no debt so were able to put 30% of what ever we had from our retiment checks aside each month. Over those 7 years we saved enough to buy an abandoned Victorian in the Historic Washburne district of Springfield, then proceeded to rebuild it into the Pony House Inn. We settled our lawsuit with US Bank Trust on our house and received a chunk of money to start the remodel. Then the magic really started happening.

We had numerous folks show up and volunteer to help us rebuild the old house. Just to name a few, a plumber, an electrician a sheet rocker and heating and air. We paid for materials and helped with the work saving us over $100,000.  Keep your eyes open, do not judge your challenges but rather look for the opportunity.  We were able to rebuild this old house into a business with no debt.  When we sold it 8 years later it was a major contributor to our retirement fund that allowed us to retire in Portugal.

I have learned in life that I cannot afford, NOT to volunteer. I do it freely without expectation of return. It is always a magical adventure with great rewards.  This website is one way I can give back to Caldas da Rainha merchantgs and all those nesting here to make it easier and more rewarding.

In the Spring, I organized and hosted the Washburne Annual Plant Exchange wherein we help collect and get planats adopted.  The exchange is currently underway 9 years later.  We averaged at least $7,000 of plants each year that were donated, then adopted by our neighbors. It was all done with volunteers.   I now have started a plant share in Caldas da Rainha for the region.  If you are a gardener, please join us at:    Caldas da Rainha plant and garden share

When life isn’t giving me what I want, I sit back and consider what I can give.     Nancie Koerber   What can you do to make your community a better place to live in?