August 20: A Parenting Gem for You



I read in this lovely Rhinestone Jesus book today that when her children are disobedient or disrespectful, she sends them out to the yard… to pull weeds.

A. Genius!

B. Why didn't I think of that? Like, back in June?!?! I'd have the nicest flowerbeds on the block at this point. And besides, I HATE weeding and yard work. So, win win. For me.

C. Note to Self: Make mental list of all the other jobs you hate doing indoors for when the winter comes and you need a similar consequence. Or for when the weeds are gone. But as you can see from the picture above, it's going to be a while.



P.S. We've only been doing the weed thing for one day, and our front flowerbed is already picked clean. They've had to pick as many weeds as their age each time. Biggest ones first.


Score!




It was too good not to share. :)

August 18: 22 Minutes of Your Time + $22 a Month = 2 Children Fed, Clothed and Educated for 1 YEAR in Mathare Valley



I don't know about you, but I'm embarrassed to say that I had never even heard of Mathare Valley, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya, until recently. I had no idea such a place even existed. Maybe you're more worldly then I am, maybe you're more up to date on global issues. But I have a feeling that many of you haven't heard of it, either.

Mathare Valley is considered by many to be the poorest area in all of the world, second only to the slums in India and the garbage dumps in Mexico. About 700,000 people live in two square miles of space, with no running water, sewage system, or garbage collection. Police do not go into the slum, so the area is rampant with crime, drugs, and prostitution.

Much of the population is orphaned children, who have lost their parents to disease as there is no medical care and as many as 1 in 3 people are HIV positive. Entire families and their animals live in 6ft x 6ft metal shacks and only make $2/day at most, and much of that goes to pay for rent for the shack.

Most people born into the slum live there and die there. The video below shows a little of what life is like in the slum and also what a difference food and education make in breaking the cycle of poverty, giving the children of Mathare Valley a hope and a future.




By partnering with Moody Radio and Feed Their Future by September 1st, you can help save the life of a child who didn't ask to be born into such a place. 

For a one time donation of $136, you can feed, clothe and educate 1 child for a year and provide their teacher with benefits. 

For as little as $22/month, you can feed, clothe and educate 2 children for a year!!

$22 a month. 

That is a drop in the bucket for most people I know, but it would make a world of difference in the life of not one but TWO children.




Don't feel like you have an extra $22 a month? Look at it this way:
  • Dinner out at Applebee's. 2 meals for $20 + water + tip = at least $22.
  • Pizza night. 2 Large Pizzas for $20 + delivery fee and tip = at least $22
  • Trip to the movie theater. 2 Tickets + popcorn and a soda = at least $22
  • Manicure/pedicure = easily $22

Or look at it on a weekly basis: $5.50 a week:
  • Eating out for lunch one day a week = at least $5.50
  • Starbucks coffee + tip once a week = easily $5.50
  • 24 pack of Soda or two 12 packs = easily $5.50
  • A cheap bottle of wine = easily $5.50

I've been convicted lately that I need to care more about the needs of others and less about my wants. About how much my wants really control and dictate my thoughts and actions.

I could change nothing else about my life for an entire year except choose to get coffee from Starbucks once instead of twice each week, and I would be providing TWO children with a way out of poverty.


That has got to be worth the trade.


Do you think you can give up something that you want each week in order to provide for the need of ONE? 


For these children, it's not a matter of choosing between food that's organic or food that's conventionally grown. They have to choose between scavenging for food, eating whatever they can find among the garbage, and starvation. 

For these children, it's not a matter of deciding between private or public school. They have to choose between an education and being able to eat during the day.

There is no free lunch program. There is no government assistance.


If you can give up a small thing, one want, in your life each week, or each month, you can change the life of at least ONE child for an entire year. 


For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11


Maybe part of God's plan is to provide a hope and a future through YOU. 

At least think about it today, friends. And if this isn't your thing, then choose another. But choose something.






Come on, Cleveland!! Please spread the word and share with your friends! Campaign ends September 1st!

August 15: #FirstWorldProblems: There's Nothing to Eat in This House + A Solution and Donation Opportunity!


I don't know about you, but sometimes in the days leading up to payday food is a little…sparse. It's not that we don't have money in the bank, it's just that the money left is often allocated for other things. I tend to blow through the food budget more quickly then I should and am usually left with a meager amount to work with the last week before payday comes around again.

So I opened up the refrigerator last night, and I panicked a little at the sight of the scanty food sitting inside. We were out of eggs, cereal, bread, oatmeal, and fruit. The bag of all-purpose flour contained an amount so insufficient as to even coat some chicken breasts.

What in the world are we going to eat for breakfast, let alone the rest of the day?? We have nothing to eat. There's no way this is going to work. We really need to run to the store.

 And I wasn't the only one who noticed the shortage of sustenance in the house--a couple of the kids had already chimed in earlier that day about a needed trip to the store.

As I was standing in front of that open refrigerator door, worrying about what to feed everyone the next 24 hours, I heard the Lord break through the cosmos and gently whisper to me: There's plenty of food in your refrigerator. It's just not what you want to eat.

 I feel like I've been learning a lot from the contents of my refrigerator lately. But that's totally and completely true. I was convicted in that moment as to how often I run out to the grocery store prematurely to satisfy mere wants instead of using what we already have in the house first and being satisfied with that. With only a day left before payday, I was convinced we needed to make it work.

So I shared my concerns with my husband, particularly about breakfast because I was at a loss, and told him about my conviction experience. He opened the pantry, saw the bag of brown rice and suggested rice pudding. We had two cups of milk left, a bag of rice, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. So he made the rice pudding that night and the kids had it for breakfast this morning. You would have thought it was Christmas morning!! They were so excited and couldn't stop talking about how good it was. It was a special treat and a fun memory of God providing in what we already had around the house.

We wouldn't have had that experience had we run out to the store for a box of cereal.


#FirstWorldProblem: I'm hungry, but not for any of the food in my house.


Oh look, there's even a meme that expresses my thoughts exactly… 


#FirstWorldSolution: Don't become a slave to your wants. Use what you already have in the house. If you're not going to use what's in your pantry, donate it to someone who will. Today.


How does it help the starving children around the world for me to eat what's already in my house instead of buying more?


That's an excellent question. I'm glad you asked.


It doesn't. Yet. 


But what this does do is put things in perspective. I can now see my pervasive desire to have more then my basic needs met. I'm living on an entirely different plane where I expect my wants to be met, as well. The result of this extends far beyond food. Sure, we have pantries full of food we never get around to eating, refrigerators full of leftovers and half-consumed jars of whatnot that eventually get tossed.

But we also have closets stuffed with clothes we don't wear and basements filled with things we don't use and garages that are so overflowing that we actually have a season in this country each year where we try to sell them. The whole garage. 

So no, it doesn't help the starving children in Africa right now. But what if we bought less food for ourselves and instead concentrated on using what we already had? What if we bought less stuff in general? That would inevitably free up money we didn't realize was there, which most definitely COULD feed at least one child. 


**If you'd like to put your money where your mouth is this month, here is a good local cause:

Feed Their Future
Feed Their Future is an opportunity for Bright Hope Allies to join with our partner in the Mathare Valley slum of Nairobi, Kenya to feed and educate 1,400 students, support their teachers, and promote sustainability initiatives. Campaign ends September 1st!!
  • A one-time gift of $136 will feed and educate one child and provide her teacher with benefits for a year!
  • For $22 a month you can help feed and educate two children and provide their teacher with benefits for an entire year!
  • 3 Ways to Feed Their Future:
    • 1. Donate Online or call 888-333-4978
    2. Pray for the students in Mathare Valley, specifically for a way out of the slum and sustainable funding for the programs that support them.
    3. Share Bright Hope’s Facebook posts on your social media sites to get others involved.

And if we all just fed one child… we could change the world, one life at a time. 

#FirstWorldSolutions
#BeTheChange
#ChooseOne




Please Share With Your Friends!

August 13: How Do We Turn #FirstWorldProblems Into #FirstWorldSolutions?



Alright y'all. I figured I should probably take a little time and explain the rant about "First World Problems" yesterday. It all started with this book I've been reading called Rhinestone Jesus. If you haven't read it, you should really check it out. My comfortable little world has been deeply challenged so far.

And then I saw this on Facebook, back to back in the newsfeed:




I just sort of sat there in shock. I can't quite wrap my mind around this dichotomy. How does one seamlessly flow from children getting beheaded, mothers raped and fathers hung to getting your roots touched up? How can there be such a discrepancy in the world in which we live??


But there is, which is why we even have such a thing as #firstworldproblems.


And then I look at my own children. They always have their needs met, a roof over their head, and three {fairly} healthy meals a day plus snacks and desserts and treats. By the time the grandparents get done with them, they don't want for anything, either. They have so many toys that they can't keep them picked up off the floor and so many clothes that they can't keep them in their dresser. How do I reconcile this with the starving, malnourished, naked children across the ocean? Or even the dirty kids down the street in the same outfit from Monday?

One of the reasons I wanted my children to grow up in the city was so that they wouldn't grow up to be entitled, selfish Americans. So that they would rub shoulders with the homeless, feed the hungry, befriend the neighborhood kids who have it rough, and be able to see that life can be hard sometimes. See that they have been incredibly blessed and want to give to others and love them well.

The mistake that I've made so far is believing that simply living here is enough. That simply seeing is enough. That simply knowing is enough. That somehow, like osmosis, being around poverty and great need would produce selfless character qualities.


I was wrong.


The whining, complaining, bragging, stinginess, and boasting that comes from the mouths of my children will tell you that real quick. And my first reaction recently has been anger.

I'm angry at their ungratefulness. For how much they take for granted. For how they want to hoard what they have for themselves.

And then I remember that they are this way because that's exactly how I've raised them to be. They are a product of my values and my parenting. That was an unintentional consequence, certainly, but a consequence nonetheless.


Ouch.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.  Romans 12:1-2


I've also been challenged by this passage lately. There are so many things in our culture that we seamlessly flow with and do just because that's the way we've done it for as long as we can remember. But some of those things are so wrong. And not even wrong like the things in and of themselves are bad--getting a bunch of toys for your birthday, for instance. Sure, we want to love on and bless our kiddos on their birthday. But it's the quantity and extravagance that I question.


How can we justify having so many toys that they are coming out of our ears when there are other children who have nothing?


How many toys does one really need for their birthday? And how can we draw the line closer to need rather then want, and use the extra (money or toys) to bless someone else?


How enormous of a house does one really need? How nice of a car? How fancy of clothes? On a more personal note, how much Starbucks coffee does one really need?



I'm not looking to change the world, at least right away. ;) But I am looking to change the life of ONE. One person, one need, one step at a time. 


CHOOSE ONE. It's practical, manageable and within reach.


Because the problem doesn't exist between the people and the knowledge. We have plenty of knowledge. We have so much knowledge that it tends to spew out of us. The problem exists between the knowledge and the action. The doing. Call it another #firstworldproblem.


I'd like to figure out how to turn #firstworldproblems into #firstworldsolutions. I'm going to see if I can practically flip some common First World Problems around for the greater good by challenging the cultural norms. To let go of some wants in order to bridge the gap between first world convenience and third world reality. To put others above ourselves and start to even the playing field.


Forget the whole I Am Second thing. We really need to be third. God, others, then ourselves.


I need to do this for myself. I need to do this for my children. And we need to do this for our family. Because there's got to be a better way to live, both here and around the world.


Stay tuned.




From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.  Luke 12:48b



August 12: The Dark Side of "First World Problems"



As I, Turn Up The Collar On My
Favourite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street,
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See
Their Needs
A Summer's Disregard,
A Broken Bottle Top
And A One Man's Soul
They Follow Each Other On
The Wind Ya' Know
'Cause They Got Nowhere
To Go
That's Why I Want You To
Know

I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change


I've Been A Victim Of A Selfish
Kind Of Love
It's Time That I Realize
That There Are Some With No
Home, Not A Nickel To Loan
Could It Be Really Me,
Pretending That They're Not
Alone?


Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson


Ok, so you can say a lot of things about Michael Jackson, but he was spot on with this one. Ever hear a song a million times and never really stop and listen to it? Really listen to the words and think about what they have to say?

Ever drive down the street and really stop to look at the homeless man on the corner? Ever see the commercials with the malnourished, orphaned children and look away? Do you really see the elderly neighbor who can't keep up with his house anymore, or the family down the road who struggles to make ends meet? Or the woman without hair, in a quiet war for her very life against disease, who can hardly manage to get out of bed every morning? Do you see them?

It's so easy to hear but not really listen and to look but not really see. It's so easy to walk on by. It's so easy to not look past the bridge of our own noses, past the comfortable American Dream, to see anyone else's need. Anyone else's pain. It's easy to live near-sighted, completely absorbed with our own stuff. 


Here are a few of the billions of results from a quick search of #firstworldproblems on Twitter:


I hate it when has first parts of real housewives reunions at one time and then the final part at an earlier one

There is currently a sign on Chipotle's door that says they are out of cheese. Seriously? What is the world coming to?

Can this lightning stop? Want to plug my laptop in, If power won't surge.

i hate sitting at the fridge waiting for my water bottle to fill up

I just finished the finale of my TV show and now I feel empty inside.

I'm tired of eating... I had too much food today

I hate not knowing how much salt I'm putting on my food

My husband just bought me a new HTC smartphone & it's causing me anxiety because I don't like change

Your phone getting below 10% has to be one of the most stressful things in life

Both sides of my pillow are warm.

Those huge ass TVs they are giving away at work makes me come home and resent my normal sized one. I need one!

My xbox controller died :( good thing I have a kinect. Lol.



"LOL"


As a culture, we think that this is funny. And we laugh. I'm sure I did at one point, too. But anymore this all just makes me sick. The only #firstworldproblems I can see here are those of gluttony, ignorance, entitlement, and greed.


If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does this one say to you?


You guys, we have no clue. No clue as to what some people in this world are going through.


What people in third world countries wouldn't give for fresh, clean water out of a faucet!! Water that they didn't have to walk 7 miles to retrieve in a yellow jug and carry back on their head. Water that isn't contaminated with human waste and parasites, yet they have no choice but to drink it. 

And too much food? Each year, 2.6 million children die as a result of hunger-related causes. That's about 1 child every 10 seconds. Think about that next time you're standing at the fridge waiting the ten seconds for your water bottle to fill up.


With everything going on in the world today, we need to wake up from this American Dream. I know that it's so easy to turn a blind eye, to look but not really see. I've done it myself for so long. The world with all it's endless needs can be so overwhelming. What could one little person do?


CHOOSE ONE.


Choose one. One person, one need, one cause. 


One life. 


And start today. Start across the street or across the globe. Start somewhere.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  Matthew 16:24-26


God didn't call you to pick up all the crosses and carry them all the way all the time. He called you to pick up ONE cross. YOUR cross, and follow Him, one step at a time. It will take you out of your comfort zone. It will be hard. It will involve sacrifice. Maybe even pain. But when you lose your very life for Him, that's when you will find it.


As it turns out, easy, comfortable obedience really isn't obedience at all. It's time we all took a good, long look at the man in the mirror.




If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change







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