**Before reading this … If you find yourself beginning to have feelings of sorrow, sympathy or other negative feelings, please stop for a minute and flood your thoughts with those of gratitude and love. Negative feelings are not helpful for us or you. ** xoxo
It is time to turn the page on this chapter of my life’s journey. I choose to do this with my face turned to the sun with a heart full of happiness, gratitude and excitement.
This is taking every ounce of courage I’ve got in me. I rarely ask for help for myself. Perhaps I’ve been saving it up for a big whopper!
I’m asking now. I believe this to be a beneficent and abundant world and I am moved by something larger than my ego to do this. I am infused with a mysterious strength to put aside my own fears of alienation, self-judgment and guilt … actually, not just putting those fears aside. I have released them. They no longer serve me. Getting this out and releasing certain thought patterns has been incredibly healing. If need be, may you take this as an opportunity to release your own fears and judgments around asking for help.
This “thought” ignited as a spark in my heart this past Saturday morning as I was focusing on thoughts of a solution. It grew into a consuming and powerful flame Saturday night while watching Frank Capra’s, It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey didn’t think he was worthy of asking for and receiving help. In the end of the story, he was proved wrong as the entire town came forth to help. “No one is born to be failure. No one is poor who has friends.” …. from the movie.
May this bring you good feelings by way of deciding to help and share or, if not moved to help, by way of engulfing you with feelings of gratitude for your own life and situation. Perhaps you may want to share this with your kids, your family and loved ones to shatter the illusion that they need more ….. Indeed, to be grateful for all that they have.
I’m asking for a non-random act of kindness from at least 15,000 people.
On December 26, 2013, at 11:00 a.m., the house we live in will be sold on the Washoe County Courthouse steps. By the Grace of a higher power we’ve been able to stay in this house rent free. It is owned by a relative who chose to let the bank have the house back. Team TLC has gratefully been calling it home while the paperwork caught up with the scenario.
Honestly, I absolutely dreamed and thought I’d be in a different financial situation by this point. I currently don’t earn enough to pay a consistent rent. I have no credit and, indeed, have bad credit. Everything was in my name during my 10 year marriage which ended in 2007. After the divorce, I paid for things as long as I could, until I ran out of money and had to file bankruptcy. I still owe Sallie Mae for my ex-husband’s school loan as it was in my name.
My Mom and Step-Father are renting their house so moving in with them is not an option as there’s not enough room for another family and it wouldn’t be acceptable to their landlord. The housing authority in our area is not currently offering assistance and has closed the waiting list.
I know that I am accountable and responsible for all that I am, all that I do, and all that occurs to me and for me. I choose to stand firm in my choices and my direction. All of my decisions have been perfect as they have cleared the path for my own growth and coming home to compassion, non-judgment and love.
I made a commitment before Thomas and Lillian were born that I would be a full time Mom, that I would be with them until they entered school and I would be with them before and after school and during school breaks. I chose this path so that I could be there …. be there to answer life questions they have as they travel their own path. Questions and answers which I very often share with y’all on facebook and on my blog.
I am asking for:
- A $1.00 or $5.00 donation or
- **Hire me (see below) and
- Share this with everyone you know through facebook, twitter, pinterest, blogging, email newsletter subscribers, old fashioned mail, and word of mouth.
You can use the Paypal button or mailing address below:
[sdonations]1[/sdonations]
Mailing address is:
P.O. Box 19812
Reno, NV 89511
If we can get 15,000 people or more to donate $1.00 each, that would be a miracle indeed! Or if this blog post lands in front of the exact person that would benefit from hiring me, that would be a miracle too! The miracle of helping us to have a place to live … a home.
Mountains of blessings to everyone who is donating. My eyes are sweating and my heart overflows with love …
In just over week, your sharing and donations have come from and traveled the world. Indiana, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Illinois, Hawaii, California, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, Maryland, Utah, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Missouri, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, Wyoming, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand. I thank you from the depths of my soul and cannot wait until I have the opportunity to pay your acts of kindness forward! Thank you to my Jr High School friends, my Mississippi friends, my Chromosome 18 family, my Mississippi family, Nevada friends, facebook friends and people I don’t even know … Oceans of love and hugs to all y’all!!
I KNOW that everything is going to be okay. I KNOW that my kids and I will have the perfect home and living situation for us come January 1st.
I attempt to live my life from a place of love, compassion and non-judgment. If you are moved to help, I send you oceans of blessings and love. If this request for help angers you or brings forth negative feelings, I send you oceans of blessings and love. I don’t do drama. I don’t do confrontation. There is only love in my heart.
If you want to consider your donation as a loan, use my contact page to send me your address and you will receive the money back as I am able to pay. Browse through my blog posts and if you find something useful, perhaps you could consider it a tip for the content I provide.
**If you would like to hire me, check out my Work with Camilla page. I have a Paralegal Degree and 10 years of experience as a paralegal. I have been heavily involved in the digital world and blogging since 2007. I enjoy researching topics, creating solutions and writing about my discoveries. I’ve been involved in the special needs world since Lilian was diagnosed at age 3, back in 2004. My current passion is mindful, inspired and simple living. Perhaps you or someone you know would benefit from hiring someone to research topics and write blog posts?
I recorded a video for those who don’t know me personally …. so you can see the person behind these written words …
In addition, for those who don’t know me, I freely share my life, including my 2 children, via this blog and facebook.
I take Lillian to speech, occupational and physical therapy every Tuesday from 1:45-4:00. We lead a very simple life. We rarely eat out and when we do, it’s considered a wonderful treat! By choice we don’t own a television. We rarely attend events that have a fee. I am wearing the same clothes I’ve had before Lillian was born.
Most newer clothes I own have been gifted to me by friends or my Mom. I haven’t had a haircut in nearly 2 years. Thomas wears hand me downs from the neighbor next door. Bless them to pieces! They have two boys older than Thomas and pass along all of their clothes to us! My Mom and Step-Father help to keep Thomas and Lillian in clothes and shoes that fit them. They outgrow things so quickly!
For our entertainment we go for walks in nature, have outdoor picnics and visit parks. We don’t go on vacations. However, we do attend the yearly Chromosome 18 Conference with the help of grants or sponsorships. I make this into a vacation for us and Thomas and Lillian love it!
We do NOT feel deprived and do NOT feel as if we are missing out. We are HAPPY!
I spent last school year and the year before that working with Thomas to help him through some difficult challenges. I chose to stay focused on helping him so that we could address these challenges now rather than later. Between that and a change made at school, he is doing awesome. He loves school, loves his teacher, and loves learning.
Want to know even more about me before helping to create this miracle?
Read my blog posts here, read the blog posts on the 501(c)3 I founded with the slogan of Different iz Good, read my facebook posts (they are open to the public), visit our YouTube channel, and visit my kids’ websites, Thomas Darnell and Lillian Darnell. Lastly, visit the very first blog Lillian and I penned together titled Pink Elephant Books and our Team TLC website. We call ourselves Team TLC to correspond with the first letter of each of our names. You can also read my book. If you have an Amazon Prime account you can check it out from the Kindle library for free.
Below is an excerpt from my book:
” … Reflecting back, I now see that I do indeed have a vein of courage coursing through me. I know I can count on it to be there when I need to tap into it. In December of 2006, I made the decision to remove myself and my kids from the marriage I had been in for ten years. I was mentally exhausted! It took courage to go against my own morals and values. I believed that when I got married I should and would stay married. It took courage to remove myself and admit I had made a mistake.
The next two years took real courage to get through. It took courage to accept my decision and be at peace with being a single parent; courage to face that all assets and all debts were in my name; and courage to separate myself from my glowing credit score. I faced times when I could no longer pay the bills.
When I could no longer make my car payment, it took courage to have a going away party for our car, instead of the repossession being a somber, dreadful time. You see, when I mentioned to Lillian that someone would be coming to take our car she became upset and sad. She doesn’t like change. She likes things to stay familiar, to just be like they are supposed to be and always have been. I made the decision that we needed to turn this event into a celebration to clear the way for a new chapter. So that’s what we did. The afternoon before the “pick up,” Thomas, Lillian and I wore party hats, baked cookies, and listened to party music while cleaning out our car. We took pictures, we had fun, and all three of us accepted this event with a happy and smiling face.
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It’s what the sunflowers do.” – Helen Keller
With Mountains and Oceans of Gratitude,
Team TLC
Thomas, Lillian and Camilla
For Chris Brogan, per the message sent on 12.16.13:
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