{"id":1131,"date":"2016-12-16T06:50:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T11:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=1131"},"modified":"2016-12-16T19:26:17","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T00:26:17","slug":"week-118-three-weeks-to-happyness-spread-the-love-happyness-revisited-sarah-harmeyer-and-the-neighbors-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=1131","title":{"rendered":"Week #118 – Three Weeks to Happyness: SPREAD THE LOVE! (Happyness Revisited – with Neighbor’s Table)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Week #118 – Three Weeks to Happyness: SPREAD THE LOVE!
\n(Happyness Revisited – with Neighbor’s Table)<\/b><\/p>\n

Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Happy Holidays to all!<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week, I was reminded of the power of an invitation. \u00a0As a newcomer in a\u00a0big city, unable to get home for Christmas\u00a0— the holidays pose a lonely threat. \u00a0I am hard at work making sure I stay busy — so I don’t spend too much time thinking about what I’m missing.<\/p>\n

It reminded me of a my Week #66<\/a> post\u00a0last year about Sarah Harmeyer of Dallas, Texas — the fifth nomination for my\u00a0Happyness in Action<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>series —\u00a0for her creation of Neighbor\u2019s Table. \u00a0I thought I’d revisit it this week, with a simple challenge in Sarah’s own words:<\/p>\n

\u201cMake time for someone in your community. Look for ways to love those to the left and right of you.\u201d (Sarah Harmeyer)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you’ve been following for a while, you may remember that Sarah is the \u201cChief People Gatherer\u201d at Neighbor\u2019s Table<\/a> — a movement that encourages people to step outside their homes and get to know their neighbors, one table at a time! \u00a0<\/span>Sarah took a simple concept and a sweet memory — and turned it into “A Love Mission\u201d that has kept\u00a0her (and her family) busy for over five\u00a0years now (including landing\u00a0her table on HGTV\u2019s \u201cNashville Flipped!\u201d).<\/p>\n

And it all started in her own backyard!<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my interview last year, Sarah shared her story with me. \u00a0In 2012, she asked her father to build her a table big enough to seat 20 people. \u00a0The concept was simple: she wanted to\u00a0get to know her neighbors. \u00a0That year, she set a goal to serve 500 people in a series of dinner parties. \u00a0When I interviewed her last year, that original table had been host to almost 2,000 people!<\/p>\n

[Read the full story here:\u00a0Week #66 – Two Weeks to Happyness: SPREAD THE LOVE!\u00a0(Happyness in Action\u00a0– with Sarah Harmeyer)<\/a>.]<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah and her father went on to build tables for other people so they could start their own “love mission” in their communities. \u00a0 At the time of my post last year, there were Neighbor’s Tables in 10 states with a goal of having a table in every state by 2020! \u00a0And by the looks of her Facebook<\/a><\/span> page lately, they have been busy building and delivering ever since!<\/p>\n

In my interview last year, I asked Sarah what Happyness meant to her. \u00a0She said, \u201cHappiness is gathering friends and strangers alike around the table and figuring out ways the entire time on how to love them. \u00a0Happiness is cheering others to love. \u00a0Happiness is doing the thing that God has made you to do.”<\/p>\n

What about you, Happyness Tribe? \u00a0Are you ready to Spread the Love again this year?<\/p>\n

Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: SPREAD THE LOVE!<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Do you have an extra seat or two at your table this holiday season? \u00a0If so, “love someone to the left or right of you!” \u00a0Bring a NEIGHBOR\u00a0into the mix (or student, or senior, or new kid on the block)! \u00a0Ask if they have plans. \u00a0It could be just for dessert or a drink or a quick cookie exchange. \u00a0But it might be especially meaningful during the holidays — when one or more of your neighbors are alone or distanced from family (or perhaps it\u2019s you that feels alone this holiday season). \u00a0Open your doors! \u00a0Spread the Love!<\/p>\n

\u201cMake time for someone in your community. Look for ways to love those to the left and right of you.\u201d (Sarah Harmeyer)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spread Happyness — Spread the Love! \u00a0Get to know your neighbors this week — and tell us about it in the comments!<\/p>\n

12\/16\/16\u00a0by Grace Church<\/em>
\n\u00a9 Grace Church<\/em><\/p>\n

(Thanks again to Sarah Harmeyer for welcoming me to her virtual table and sharing her story with me last year! \u00a0To learn more about Sarah and Neighbor\u2019s Table, read inspiring stories, or find out how to get a custom handcrafted table for your own backyard — follow Neighbor\u2019s Table on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>, or sign up for emails or purchase at\u00a0http:\/\/neighborstable.com<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week #118 – Three Weeks to Happyness: SPREAD THE LOVE! (Happyness Revisited – with Neighbor’s Table) Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Happy Holidays to all! This week, I was reminded of the power of an invitation. \u00a0As a newcomer in a\u00a0big city, unable to get home for Christmas\u00a0— the holidays pose a lonely threat. \u00a0I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1131"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1140,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131\/revisions\/1140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}