tonyandkirsten.org

I heard about a great concept called FreeCycle this weekend. Basically, the idea is this: bring people who have stuff to get rid of together with people who need stuff…but have it all be a free exchange! The main rule is that everything must be absolutely free — no sales, exchanges or bartering allowed.

Here’s how it works: FreeCycle groups are formed in various localities, and a mailing list is started for each group. There are currently over 2800 FreeCycle groups and over 1.4 million members! List members post a message when they have one or more things to give away, then list recipients email the person offering the item if they would like to take it, and finally the person taking the item arranges a time to pick it up from the giver. It’s less work than taking things to the thrift store, and seems like a great way to get rid of things you don’t want to take time to sell, or don’t want to keep until the next garage sale.

And, of course you can get stuff other people are getting rid of! I joined the Story County FreeCycle list on Sunday night, and picked up my first items last night! A woman who is planning to move out of state posted a long list of items she wants to get rid of. I emailed her and let her know I was interested in the waffle maker, some hanging file folders, and the filing box. As it turned out she only lived about four blocks from our house, so we just took Madeline for a walk in the stroller and went to grab the items after dinner.

Such an easy, wonderful way to put into action the principle that “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”!

On the off chance you were wondering what we were up to while our blog sat silent for almost two weeks, here is a run-down of our activities:

We returned Sunday night from a week of travel that included a trip to the Great Commission Pastors’ and Leaders’ Conference and a few days in Atlantic with Tony’s family. The conference was great, but I can’t say I have lots of great insights right at the moment. Since I was trying to keep Madeline playing quietly during most of the teachings I attended, I couldn’t take notes, and that makes it hard to remember the points the speakers made. We ordered the CD with MP3s of all the teachings, so I am really looking forward to listening to them again (or for the first time, in the case of teachings I missed while Madeline was sleeping). Besides the teachings, the conference included many other good times like taking Madeline swimming for the first time, and lots of great conversations.

We celebrated the 4th of July here in Ames by eating (going to a free pancake breakfast downtown, picknicking at Emma McCarthy Lee park with a few friends for lunch, then BBQing at the Heerema’s for dinner) and watching fireworks from the Heerema’s front lawn. Yesterday I finished another issue of Daylights and caught up on email and errands while Tony went back to the office to resume a normal work schedule.

Now it is back to a normal schedule, if you can ever describe our life that way!