Giving Back Archives

I LOVE, LOVE Christmas! It’s my favorite holiday ever – the decorations, the smells, the lights, the parties. But I will be the first to admit that I can quickly get caught up and end up in tears because I’m stressed out. I put way too much pressure on myself to make the season magical and memorable and perfect.

The reality of it is I rarely remember Christmas decorations of year’s past or the way that complicated appetizer tasted in 2014. I want THIS year to be different. I try to live my life all yearlong with a sense of generosity towards others, but my greatest struggle is with TIME. I’m so selfish with my time. You need money for your mission trip? No problem. Oh, you want to hang out with me after a long work day? Um…can we raincheck? ;p

This Christmas, my goal is to intentionally give time to others. I’m nervous, honestly. I know it is not going to be super easy, but I want to experience Christmas this year for the reason this holiday even exists. If you’re looking for some ways to give this Christmas, check out these ideas and read below to see how you can get on the #12DaysofGiving band wagon.

These are just a few ideas, outside of the “volunteer at your local shelter/soup kitchen.” And here are some links of how to do some of them –

Sponsor an orphan at SERV International’s House of Hope orphanage (see my story about visiting House of Hope & meet the kids here)
CharityMiles.org – sign up and raise money for charities each time you exercise
Send a note or care package to a soldier overseas – A Million Thanks or Operation Gratitude
Donate blood – LifeSouth or Red Cross

If you want to join me this Christmas with #12DaysofGiving, here are the details:

I’ll be sharing my experiences on social media, so if you want to follow along you can find me @HeidiRew (FB, Twitter, IG, Snapchat).

Merry Merry Christmas! Hope your holiday is full and magical!

Heidi

Do you have that thing? That skill you want to learn? Place you want to visit? Service project you want to work on? Person you want to give to? Your heart feels it, but life just gets in the way. Work and other responsibilities take priority and it keeps getting pushed aside.

That’s how I felt this time last year. My husband, Mike Stoudt, and I have supported an Atlanta organization called SERV International for years. Serv International helps bring food to remote places in Kenya, own an orphanage called the House of Hope, help establish wells, and much more. That’s just in Kenya. They’re also in the Dominican and help feed people here in Atlanta, GA.

I’ve wanted to travel to Kenya with Serv for awhile to see exactly what Serv does and help in any way I can. I also wanted to meet the kids we sponsor at the House of Hope. But all I could think was, “Can I really be gone that long away from auditions and bookings? What about raising the money? Will I be able to handle what I see? How will I deal with it emotionally?” So, I waited.

I kept feeling a tug at my heart, though. In the spring of 2016, I decided to take the leap and sign up to go with Serv on their August trip.

Wow! Was it an amazing!

There are so many stories, but hearing all of them could feel a little overwhelming. So, I decided to divide the stories up into my favorite 5 and share them via video.

Just a warning…your heart may be touched by these kids. ????

THE STORY OF LUCY

THE STORY OF WILLIAM

THE STORY OF MAMA MERCY

THE STORY OF ILLAR

THE STORY OF SERV

As you can see, the trip was life-changing. I miss the kids so much and hope to go back next year!

If you’re feeling that tug on your heart to do something, DO IT! More than likely, it will be pretty life-changing.

Here are a few photos I took of our safari after our trip. We stayed for a day and a half before we flew back to have time to process everything. It was so needed. I loved riding in silence for hours to be with my thoughts and capture some of this…

We were really lucky and got to see a bunch of lions on our safari.