I turn 50 on November 1 this year!  For the last month or so family have been asking what I want to do for my birthday.  I was stumped. 
I tried to dream big......a vacation of some sort?  Nope, not interested.  Some gift that I haven't wanted to purchase for myself? Nah, I have the things that I need and couldn't imagine what to ask for.  Help in reaching a goal? I'm not sure how others could help me in learning all the languages I would love to know, I just need to use that DuoLingo app on my phone!
Then I hit upon the idea that maybe I should do something for someone else.  That would make my birthday special and memorable.  Of course, I was thinking somewhere along the lines of Oprah's, "You get a car! And you get a car! And you get a car!" So I set about writing down my 50 all time favorite things and adding up the cost of 50 of each of those things.  You don't want to know how much that cost.  
So, I talked to a couple friends and they helped me whittle my idea to a manageable level.  What I'm left with is my favorite idea which is this:
I was involved with Awana at my church when I was a child.  As a teenager I became a leader for a few years.  As a young mom I was able to take my child to Awana and help her memorize verses from the Bible.  And now, at almost 50 years old, my dream would be to buy 50 Awana handbooks for 50 young kids that are starting on their journey of Bible memorization, Awana Olympics, and Scholarship Camp.
Each book is around $18.00 and there would also be some shipping costs involved.  This puts us right at $20 per book which makes the grand total of $1,000.  I would love nothing more than to be able to visit my childhood Awana club and let them know that the next 50 kids that need to buy a handbook are paid for.  If somehow my $1,000 goal was exceeded there are other things that the kids need each year.  There are club shirts, prizes, pins, buttons, pens, and more that I could gift them with as well.
If you'd like to help me celebrate my 50th birthday by donating and allowing me to help 50 kids this next school year, please consider donating.  Thanks in advance!