It began like this:

I spent the weekend in Glen Rose, Texas at the Fall Leadership Conference hosted by the SWUUC . I attended the “Beyond Fundraising” track, led by Wayne B. Clark, UUA Director of Congregational Stewardship Services.

I learned many, many things that will help me in my role as a lay leader at UUCOC. I also had a very personal revelation while I was there, and I’d like to share that here.

In one of our early sessions, Wayne was talking about how we perceive money, and the value we attach to it beyond its actual function – essentially, as I understood what he was saying, money is a means to an end. Period. Or something like that. I know the phrase “Joyful giving” was in there somewhere.

It’s a brilliant essay – funny, candid, and full of themes relevant to all of us – but it was a bit too long for the blog.

You can still read it, however, because I convinced Kimberlyn to let us publish it in the web-zine I work for, All Things Girl.

Please join me in congratulating Kimberlyn on her publication, and PLEASE go read what she wrote: Joyful Giving, by Kimberlyn Crowe.