I love to give and there is nothing that I love to give more than gifts that empower the recipients and give them the means to create MORE from the gift. There is nothing that does that better for a family than a gift that nourishes and also generates income for the family to support themselves. It's the gift of pure empowerment, self esteem and sustainability.
My favorite way to give this empowerment and sustainability is to give
livestock to a family unable to afford food or provide for it's
members. For years I've given chickens. I LOVE to give chickens, it
feels SO WONDERFUL! I celebrate after each chicken donation. But for
as long as I've given chickens, I've always longed to give a goat.
I've rationalized the chickens were a better investment, reasoning that
4 or 6 chickens produce a lot of eggs which can be eaten by the family
and also sold to raise money for other supplies for the family. Add a
rooster and chicks can be raised multiplying the gift. Powerfully
reasoning right? Yes, it felt mighty good to give chickens.
But every time I gave them, I looked longingly at that adorable goat
feeling I'd really like to give a goat. Each and every time I chose
the chickens feeling they offered more options.
Well the other day I received a card in the mail and what was it
about? The amazing blessing that giving the gift of a goat was to a
family in need! I felt this joyful energy build inside of me as I read
it and I declared out loud, "I'm going to give a goat!!"
I raced to the
computer and went to the giving website, paused for a moment as the
chickens stared me in the face and my mind kicked in with the
rationalizations, but I pushed through, resolving to give the goat.
And I did! I gave a goat! ... and something amazing happened... the
joy I felt rushing through me was indescribable! I mean
happy-tears-of-celebration type joy! No chicken gift EVER felt anywhere
this delicious. The joy of giving a goat was off the charts
wonderful! I danced around in joy, bursting with happiness, moved to
tears by the sheer joy of having given a goat. WOW!
Had I known that the
feeling of giving a goat was 100 times more powerful than the feeling
of giving the chickens, I would have given a goat long ago. I
received a powerful teaching that day in the giving of the goat. It
was, listen to your heart, it always knows the way to your highest
joy. My mind had been the one choosing the chickens and I followed
it's logic, overriding the heart's desire to give the gift of the
goat. In doing so, I was robbing myself of an amazing experience.
May
you always choose to listen to your heart, because knowing the path to
your highest joy, it feels 100 times more incredible than listening to
your mind!
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Amy Flynn, All rights reserved. For reprint permission, please
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Hi Brooklyn! I am so sorry for the huge delay in finding your comment!
I think it felt so amazing to finally give the goat because I had wanted to give a goat for so long, but always chose chickens thinking they were more practical and beneficial for the families. I've since learned that giving a goat provides a wonderful, friendly and easy to keep source of nutrition for the families. Plus goats make great pets as a bonus!
A goat is wonderful because it provides a lot of wonderful healthy goat milk for the life of the goat. Goats live much longer than chickens. The milk produced by the goat can be used by the family and also made into cheese and yogurt and other healthy products which the family can use as food and also sell for income. Goat milk provides a lot of vitamins as well as protein and is more well tolerated by humans than cow milk. Goats can also be bred and baby goats raised and sold for income.
I also love giving chickens, giving chickens also makes me feel wonderful! Chickens do not live as long as a goat, but provide wonderful nutritious eggs for about 2-3 years (their laying years). Chicken eggs can also be sold for income for the family. Keeping many chickens requires more attention than keeping one or two goats. When paired with a rooster, families can raise lots of chickens which can be used for themselves and also sold for income.
Giving the animals provides the families with both food and a means of income. It allows the families to become self sufficient and provide for themselves which is a wonderful gift to give!
Posted by: Amy Flynn | 2019.01.18 at 10:24 PM
So, the chickens + roster can produce eggs and food, but you never said WHY giving a goat made you feel better than giving a chicken. Am I missing something here in this article, or is it implied that i should have known why or is it your article lacking in a better explanation as to why you like giving a goat more?
Posted by: Brooklyn | 2018.06.14 at 02:41 AM