Strong-Willed?

I don’t think so.

You see I was just visiting Mr. FullCup for lunch when a co-worker of his (and a friend of mine) gave me a little quiz. By little I mean not overly large. But it did have 40 questions.

The quiz was on whether or not you are a strong-willed wife. I very calmly and politely took the 2 sheets of 8.5×11 paper from her, quickly scanned the title and promptly said, “No.” Not “no, I won’t be participating” but “No, I don’t need this because the answer is most definitely not.”

And Mr. FullCup smirked. Yes, he did. He smirked.

I guess the guest on Focus On The Family today was talking about this quiz and my dear friend had to find the dern thing and print off a copy for me.

For me?? Really??? Is she out of her ever-livin’ mind? Well probably but that is quite beside the point because you see, Mr.FullCup smirked about it.

I read the quiz and let me tell you, I don’t qualify.

Well, except there was the one question, “I feel exhausted because I seem to be doing everything myself.”  I mean I’m not exhausted all the time unless you count from the time I open my eyes in the morning until I close them at night as being all the time.

It seems I think I’m the only one who can really walk the girls to piano and ballet lessons. I’m the only one who can cook supper.  (But that’s only because I have Jimmy Johns on speed dial.) The only one who can really do the laundry, including hanging clothes outside. Do the dishes? Oh yeah, as long as it’s daylight, I’m the only one who can get them done. (Now when the sun goes down, I’m simply to exhausted to care if they’re done or not. ) I am the only one who can sweep the floor, vacuum, mop, water plants, homeschool, teach the fifth grader math and grammar, and spelling and history, and science.  I am the only one who can raise my children as I see fit. The only one who can teach them the things of God.

Sheesh I’m exhausted just typing all that out. No wonder I’m tired much of the time. (And no wonder I just yawned.)  But you know what? I don’t have to do it all. I don’t. I’m not called to do it all.  God has blessed me with people in my life and in my family who are more than capable and more than willing okay we’ll stick with capable to help when I ask.

And the hard things I am called to do, the things that are my responsibility, He promises to be there to help me. He promises that if I exchange my burden for His, if I take His burden in exchange for my to-do list (that I never get around to making anyway because it would scare me), He promises a lighter burden. He says, “Come to  me, all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

Friends, that is good news! We don’t have to think thoughts like, “If I don’t do it, no one will.” We don’t have to live our lives exhausted every second. We don’t have to be a slave to our schedule, or to-do list, or phone, email, facebook, etc. We don’t.  No, we are free to rest.

I think that is what I’ll be doing the rest of the day…and hopefully the rest of my life. What about you?

Still Free

About 18 months ago I embarked on a ‘poo free diet. No, not that kind of poo. I would be one hurting unit right now if that were the case. I gave up shampoo and conditioner. I don’t like not knowing what is in products I use and food I consume. I hate the use of chemicals in my house, let alone on my person.  Since I have no real idea what is in ‘poo and conditioner (and when did we stop calling it creme rinse?) I decided I could better my health and my hair by going without.

Of course this was not done without copious amounts of research. I voraciously read blogs and articles on the horrors of shampoo and conditioner.  When I read about the possibility of carcinogens in products I rubbed all over my head every day, I said “Enough!”

I have been using baking soda to wash my scalp at least every other day. I use a apple cider vinegar/vanilla/water mixture to condition my hair.  I haven’t looked back. Yes, it is easier to toss your shampoo and conditioner bottles in your overnight bag and away you go. My baggie of baking soda has been affectionately dubbed “my cocaine”.

It’s all good, but every time I see a police car on my travels I get a little scared. Not because I’m speeding. But because I have that little baggie of white powdery substance. Yes, one taste could prove my innocence, but who wants to eat raw baking soda?  I’m also concerned that they won’t taste it until after I’ve been booked and fingerprinted. Then they’ll run my prints through the computer and find out I’m an ax murderer from the 1860s.  And I’ve never even killed an ax, nor thought of killing one. I’m sure I’ve handled them in my time but kill one? Not on your life…or the life of the ax.

Yes, my mind really goes there.

Almost three weeks ago I gave up gluten. It hasn’t been easy at all. All of our go-to snacks are now off limits. We eat a plethora of fruit and nuts. The only problem with those two thing? You are what you eat.

Mr. FullCup told me the other day eating out is losing it’s appeal in his eyes. He misses the days when he just went somewhere and ordered what he wanted and ate it without a second thought.

I refrained from telling him, “Welcome to my world.” I’ve been white flour and sugar-free (for the most part) for a few years and it’s hard to eat out. It seems everything anymore either comes with bread or is breaded.

It’s not easy. But it will get easier, right?

Bueller? Bueller?

In which I write a knitting pattern.

I learned to knit a number of years ago. When I was learning I deemed it un-fun and quickly put it aside. I have recently picked it back up again. On our last knit night, yes, it’s really called that, I was having trouble reading a crochet pattern so I kindly asked if my friend had any spare needles. She promptly pulls out a crochet hook. Which is all fine and good except I didn’t need one of those. I had my whole kit and kaboodle of crochet hooks. (This really begs me to ask, just what is a kit and kaboodle?)

She didn’t have any spare needles but another lady there and she was kind enough to let me borrow them.

The picture to the left is my knitting. I’m calling it a Design Element, because well that is what I’m calling it. My friend, who offered me the crochet hook, saw the picture and asked, I’m sure rather tongue-in-cheek for the pattern. My response was “uhm….maybe.” I have thought of it for a little more than a day and I decided to oblige. Below you will find my pattern for my “Design Element.” I think that is what I’ll call the pattern.

Okay, the pattern is as follows.
Begin by casting on, only forget how many you’re casting on, determine at some point, “oh it looks okay.” Proceed directly to knitting. While knitting the first row debate with your self (in your head of course, otherwise people think you’re a bit more than a bit daft) knitting every row or actually purling. Decide to knit the next row. Then decide why not! And start purling every other row.
Put your knitting away when it’s time to go home. At home the next morning make sure you’re pretty confident which row you’re supposed to do (knit or purl) and proceed to do that on the next row. When you’re finished with that row and turn your work, ask your 12-year old the all important question, “Hey uhm. So yeah, when you’re knitting a row you should see the front of your work, right? And not the back?” Grimace as if in great pain whens she confirms your suspicions. Decide you’ll fix it by just simply knitting the next row as well. All is fine and good.
Until you see what upon first inspection looks like a hole. You know you didn’t skip or drop a stitch and you’re completely befuddled by the hole. You debate ripping the whole thing out, again in the privacy of your own head so people don’t suspect you’re a little loony.
You realize you can fix it after a few rows. On a knit row you’ll just have to reach your knitting needle down to one of the “loops” in the row with the hole. Not just the row, oh no, you’ll have to reach down to the very stitch with a hole. Knit that stitch like normal.
Finish knitting that row and purling the next.

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Our adventure

I promised a post about our recent adventure and well here goes.

Our high on Monday was 83 degrees!! 83! Completely unheard of for my part of the world the end of April. I walked my 10-year old, “Beanie”, to an orthodontist appointment and managed to get a little sunburn. Yay!!

Yes I am celebrating a sunburn because I don’t normally tan or burn. I am pasty white all year. Strange I know because I most definitely do not stay inside during the day in the summer and I don’t always wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts. I would blame it on my incredibly fair skin, but I would think I’d burn more readily. But anyway….that really has nothing to do with our adventure.

Tuesday we were put under a “winter weather advisory“, not a warning but it didn’t go into effect until 6pm. So I had the brilliant(ly stupid in hindsight) idea for the 4 of us to travel to a neighboring state to shop at Whole Foods and on the way home stop at the state we have to drive through to get to Whole Foods and shop at Sams Club. Now in the city with Whole Foods there is a Sams Club but we don’t like that particular store.  We like the store we shop at normally, it’s bigger and just feels better and cleaner. And we know where everything is.

We hit rain in spots going there but soon drove out of it. Yay! Our venture to Whole Foods was not in vain. It was Mr. FullCup’s first time being in Whole Foods so of course we had to show him everything. I had not yet purchased anything from Whole Foods except a run through their salad bar and a few Naked Juices. (Have you had those? Oh my! If not, you really should.) This time we shopped. When we left I was absolutely giddy with delight.

On our way back out of that town and towards our favorite Sams Club, we again encountered rain. Then when we crossed one state line the rain changed to a rain/snow mix. When we reached the town with Sams Club it was white with snow and the snow continued to fall. I’m not at all a fan of driving in snow and really would rather not. But Mr. FullCup was there and he is a most excellent driver but it didn’t stop me from offering to return to Sams Club another day and just driving home. He would have none of that nonsense. He truly is the hunter when it comes to shopping. He left home for two reasons, Whole Foods and Sams Club. He was not going home until he had accomplished his mission. We did decide to divide and conquer though. He took Beanie to Barnes and Noble for shopping and the 12-year old and I knocked off Sams Club.

No, not that  kind of knocked off.

We left that town and headed for home. Home that was a mere 1.5 hours away. A home we should have been at by 9:30, 10 at the very latest. Do you have any kind of an idea how long it takes you to drive 30 miles (give or take) when you’re only driving an average of 30mph?

A very long time. Okay, it takes you an hour. An hour after heading for home we had made it about 30 miles, to the first stopping place available…a rest area. As we were approaching the rest area I squeaked out, “Could we stop?” Mr. FullCup was very obliging, apparently he isn’t to fond of driving when you can’t see the road or anything else except snow coming at you. We pulled into the rest area and all heaved a big sigh of relief.

We were pretty clueless as to our next step. The rest area truly is in the middle of nowhere. We were about 15 miles from the nearest town, and we had friends there. It was tempting to call them and see if they could come lead us to them but that would mean them getting out in the nastiness too.

Soon another car pulled into the rest area and I hopped out to go see which direction they had come from. (Mr. FullCup was talking to our friends in the nearby town) The people had come from the north, the direction we were going and said it was nasty.

Back in the van I hear Mr. FullCup say he is inclined to stay there all night. And I wasn’t at all upset. Soon that was our decision. I had been texting a friend and I told her our plan. We rearrange a few things in the van inform the girls that we’re sleeping in here, right here for the night and all attempt to get some sleep.  At one point I nudged Mr. FullCup and said, “So this is what it feels like to be homeless. …It feels like you’re very thirsty and have to use the restroom. ….Please don’t lock me out.”

My friend sends me a text that another friend of hers is also out on that road and they just passed the rest area, they told her it was better and if we were going to leave we should leave now. It was currently 32 degrees but it would be colder over night and everything would freeze and it might be noon before we got out. We decided to try the roads again and see.

The snow was better, the slush was still on the road at times making us slide. (There was no ice at all.) We were again averaging 30mph.

I sang and prayed all the way home. At times praying God would calm the storm and have it snow lightly just until we got home.  I know at times He did because the snow would be lighter but then it would pick up again. And He said, “Trust Me.”

All in all the trip home should have taken us 1.5 hours actually took us over 4. (not counting the stop at the rest area) But God is ever faithful. He guided us home and brought us here safely.

Wheat, Gluten and Sugar

I’m a bit too tired to think of a funny title for today so I’ll settle for the three words that encapsulate the whole.  I will tell you at a later date why I’m incredibly tired, but today is not that day.

As I wrote yesterday I have become enthralled with the whole issue of eating and in fact being, gluten free. It all started with seeing an article someone posted on facebook about a link between headaches and gluten.  I have long suffered from headaches. More often than not I would tell people how I knew it was going to be a good day because I didn’t have a headache. I’d tried numerous avenues to rid myself of the beasts but they persisted.  We also have several allergy issues in our family. In fact, I just don’t think people in their 40s should start acquiring new allergies. It’s not right and yet that is what I have done in the past year.

I picked up at the library a book by Dr. William Davis, M.D. entitled “Wheat Belly“. It has been nothing short of fascinating. We have all heard of the Glycemic Index. The Glycemic Index (or GI) is a numerical scale that is used to indicate how high any particular food raises our blood glucose, or blood sugar. The higher the GI the greater the spike in blood sugar. And the greater the spike, the harder the crash. We all know that, right? Right.

What you may not know is that 2 slices of whole wheat bread has a higher GI than 2 tablespoons of pure sugar.

Yeah, go back and read that again to be sure you read it right.  Two slices of whole wheat bread raises your blood glucose higher than that of 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Now let’s pretend you’ve just received a diagnoses of diabetes and you go to a class on how to live with the disease.  You’ll learn to limit your sugar while maintaining a “healthy” diet of  ”healthy whole wheat and whole grains.” So you commence to do just this convinced you’ll be able to control your disease with diet. Only it’s not long and you’re on insulin injections every day.

Why? Because you’re eating “healthy whole wheat and grains.” The cure is slowly killing you. You would be better off, much better off, ditching the healthy whole grains to the curb altogether. Stay off of insulin, possibly reverse your diagnoses by avoiding gluten like the plague.

But wait! It’s not just the gluten. Oh no no no no. If you were to decide to avoid all gluten you’d probably go to the store and purchase a bag of gluten free, all-purpose flour. And think you’re doing a good thing for your body. No gluten. No blood sugar spike. No hard crash. Life is good.

Not so fast, twinkle toes. In that bag of “healthy gluten free” flour you will find potato starch, rice starch and tapioca starch. Guess what they do?

If you guessed skyrocket your blood sugar like wheat bread, you’d be absolutely right.

Now the up and down blood sugar causes, guess what? Oh alright, I’ll tell you. It causes you to eat more. Oh yeah. Your blood sugar spikes at noon, crashes at 2, by 2:15 you’re too sleepy to live so you reach for a “healthy whole grain snack” to perk you up. Which causes your blood sugar to spike and crash which causes you to eat  more.

Which adds more weight. Now where do you suppose all this extra weight likes to hang out?  If you guessed in your mid-section you’d be absolutely brilliant. Not only does it love to hang out on your mid-section (can anyone say beer belly, muffin top or love handles?) it also likes to hang out on your internal organs.

from tsgood.com

No, not like church organs. Like your liver and kidneys. Yeah, those organs. The very organs you need to…oh what is the word I’m looking for??? Oh yeah, I have it…live. You could live very well without a church organ, not so well without your kidneys and liver. Oh yeah and your heart too. You have to have that.

So before you reach for that bagel, think of your innards.  They’ll thank you!

Keen-Waaaa-t?

I have had allergies for as long as I can remember. I now have year-round allergies and honestly I think we should take a large amount of stock in Kleenex because we can’t not have them in the house, van, or within easy reach.  Due in part to my allergies and in part to my family history, I’ve also been blessed to suffer through headaches, migraines in particular.

Yeah, lucky me.

A year or so ago I went to the chiropractor in hopes of alleviating my headaches. I’m not sure it was all that beneficial though because even while I was being treated I was experiencing headaches.  I’ve honestly had quite my fill of headaches, sneezing, and a constantly drippy nose. So when I saw a link someone posted on facebook about a link between headaches and gluten I was all ears…errr eyeballs.

Now one thing you need to know about me. I eat a healthy diet already. I don’t (generally) eat white sugar and flour. I don’t buy processed foods. We just don’t eat that way. The only boxed foods we have in the house is pasta. I have made my own pasta before but I’m not generally thinking far enough ahead to get that done before we need to eat.

A few years ago we switched to all whole wheat bread and “healthy pasta” made with Jerusalem artichoke flour. I cut out ruthlessly everything with high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, sugar, beet sugar, and all the other ingredients hidden but are sugar. I did not stop eating fruit, because I would eat naturally occurring sugar the way God made it.  If I was eating something that told you how many mgs of sugar was in the food, I read the ingredients, if the sugar came from a natural source, i.e. fruit, I ate it anyway.

But seeing the article and learning how gluten can hide and mask itself in different health issues, part of which are allergies and headaches, I decided last week that my 12-year old and I would embark on a gluten free trial period of 4 weeks.  She has had a strange rash that we aren’t able to get rid of and she has allergies too. The 10-year old and Mr. FullCup would be free to eat anything their little ol’ heart desires.

Until I read further about gluten and how it can manifest itself. Allergies and asthma. Now my 10-year old has never been diagnosed with asthma but she is on an asthma medication and has been on it since she was about a year old.  So I determined she would also join the no gluten month long adventure. Mr. FullCup did not want to be left out so he joined up too.

Then I read it takes 3-4 months to rid your body of gluten. Yay. So I increased our experiment to 6 months. Our plan is to have nothing with gluten for 6 months and then eat a little bit and see what happens. I’m thinking we’ll all die.

No, just kidding.

This is now my 5th day of being gluten free and the second day in a row I did not wake up with a headache.  I’m pleased.

Our change in diet has made my cooking, that was at best mediocre (at worst un-edible), a lot more interesting.  I’ve gotten creative a little with cooking. I’ve made tortilla-less tacos. I’ve also made quinoa.

Let me tell you something about quinoa. It stinks when you cook it. And for the most part I’m afraid to eat it. I can’t bring myself to eat food I don’t like, no matter how healthy it might be. Which makes me more than a little afraid to try new foods.

A friend is about a year ahead of me on the gluten free diet convinced me that quinoa is good. The jury is mostly still out on that. She gave me a tip yesterday, “rinse the quinoa before cooking.”

So last night I rinsed the quinoa. I lost some of it through my mesh, Pampered Chef colander, but I rinsed what I managed to keep in while rinsing and then had to pry it out to put in the pan.

After doing that I was reading the back of the package a little more, when I stumbled on this gem,

“Our quinoa is pre-washed so you can simply cook and eat, no need to presoak or rinse.”

I mixed our rinsed, rinsed and cooked quinoa with 16oz salsa and cheddar cheese and really if you eat while hot it’s not too bad.

If you’re gluten-free, and have recipes or tips for us, please! Leave them in the comments.

Did you know?

I learned something last night from my 12-year old. Something I had never heard before. I’m in a real quandary as to just how I could live this long on earth, over 4 decades long, without knowing this.

Let me preface this by saying we do not live in Texas. We have never lived in Texas and have not, in fact, even visited Texas. I’ve heard about Texas but it is one of those places I’ve never been and if I were to be completely honest, I’m not sure I’d want to visit.

Anyway, back to my “did you know…”

Did you know if it’s not in Texas it must be in Africa?

Apparently that is true. At least as far as my geographically challenged 12-year old understands life.

Let me explain…maybe. Yesterday we received a letter from a friend of ours who will be traveling to El Salvador this summer on a missions trip. My 10-year old wanted to know where El Salvador was and since I’ve decided to take all the teaching moments I can, I waxed eloquent on the subject.

In short I told her to go look it up.  As she was heading for the encylopedia her sister  told her it was in Texas. I told them both it was most definitely not in Texas and I was secretly very proud she had the proper direction right. The 12-year old quickly told me “well, I’ve learned if it’s not in Texas it must be in Africa.” Apparently  the world consists of Texas and Africa.

I told her to go look it up. She discovered El Salvador is indeed in Central America. This prompted a quick geography lesson on the American continent. We started with North America. I had her point north of us  to tell me what three countries comprised North America. She pointed north (okay with a little help from me) and said, “Canada.”

Next I had her point down, meaning where we are living. She promptly did so and said proudly, “Africa!”

Sigh. I have my work cut out for me.

Desire vs. Reality

This is my desire:

from travel.yahoo.com

 

While this is my reality:

 

In the middle picture, I did just shovel the sidewalks and most of the driveway. What you can’t really see in the pictures is it’s a virtual blizzard. What is that saying about shoveling snow while it’s still snowing?

I’ve definitely had my smarter moments but I was thinking when I started shoveling. I was thinking of the load of snow I’d have to shovel when it’s done snowing and thinking I’d rather not have to shovel that! You see last week I waited and shoveled 12-18 inches of the white stuff.  It was not a barrel of fun, let me tell you.

I do enjoy shoveling…sometime. I like being outside, while I’d prefer to be outside at the beach, that just isn’t my reality.

The Poor

I’ve been reading a lot of books about helping the poor. It’s a good thing. We are commanded in Scripture to help the poor, the widows and orphans. In my reading one question keeps coming to mind repeatedly.

Who are the poor?

Now it might sound like I’m asking the same question the rich young man asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” But trust me, I’m not. I’m not looking for loopholes. I’m not looking for ways around the command. I think we first need to define the poor so we can know how to help them.

Some think the poor are only those like this:

from http://www.lancegold.blogspot.com

Black skinned and in dire need of food. Yes, they are poor, the live every day in abject poverty. They go to bed hungry, they wake up hungry. They aren’t able to go to school because they don’t have food, school supplies and might be needed to carry a heavy workload at home. To many people, this is the poor people.

But what about people like this?

from http://www.forbes.com

Could this man be poor? He obviously isn’t lacking in financial resources. He looks like he has every thing he needs. If we look only on the surface of things though.

The poor are not only those lacking in financial resources. I contend every single person alive on planet earth are in some way, shape or form poor.  With that in mind, I believe our focus on helping the poor, meaning those living in poverty, is too narrow.

If we broaden our focus to see that all men are poor and work to help them in whatever their needs are we are fulfilling the command.

It is very easy to see the poor as only those lacking financial resources because it’s easy to throw a few dollars into a collection plate or give to an organization that works to eradicate the poor. It’s a little harder to actually get our hands dirty investing in someone else’s life. It’s not easy to get involved with those who are needy.

We are all needy. We all have the cure for someone else’s need. Those of us who love and serve Jesus have exactly what someone else needs. Are we sharing it? Are we helping the poor if we leave Jesus out of the equation?

I contend that we aren’t. If we merely help the poor and ignore the needs of those who don’t look poor around us, we aren’t really doing what Jesus commanded.  If we help but don’t share the great love of Jesus, we aren’t doing enough.

I’m not at all saying we have to be “doing” all the time. I am saying when we realize the great gift we have, that Jesus alones meets all our needs, and we don’t share Him with others we aren’t helping. We’re keeping our lamp under a bushel basket.

I know there are some who are steeped in a legalistic gospel based on what we do. I’m not doing that. I’m saying our love for Jesus should extend to His people and the people of this world. Out of our love for Him should naturally outpour good works for Him. Not because it’s legislated from a pulpit, or the pages of a book or even this blog.

So how about if we start praying for eyes to see the needs in others? Even if they look “rich” in our eyes. Even if they don’t look like they need anything. Maybe what they just need is someone to notice them. To befriend them. To talk to them. To pray with them.

And yes, let’s not forget those who are starving for food. But so many are starving for something.

The Whole Gospel

I just finished Richard Stearns‘ book, The Hole In Our Gospel. Richard is the president of World Vision.  His background is in business and to say he wasn’t thrilled with the possibility of leaving a well-paying job to go to work for World Vision would be an understatement. But he listened to the call of God and did just that. Even though he, like so many of us, argued a bit with God by arguing with His people first.

I have had the book for a few years and just felt the time was right for reading it. I think really it was just God‘s timing. I don’t normally keep books for 4 years before reading them. I tend to devour books as soon as they are in my hot, grubby little hands.  I don’t yet know the reason I waited 4 years to read the book and it really doesn’t matter.

I can’t say I loved the book; I liked it but love might be a bit too strong. At times I found myself saying “YES! Exactly!” and other times I was wanting to throw it against a wall. I found myself at times agreeing and other times disagreeing. I found myself liking the book and hating the book.

Early on in my reading I told Mr. FullCup the hardest thing for me was I could not relate to the man at all. He was talking about driving a Jaguar to work, making a 6-figure salary and questioning becoming the president of a mission organization a position he did not seek out for himself. I can’t relate to that…from a financial viewpoint anyway. We have done some things for God that the world, and our fellow believers said was crazy. So I can relate that way.

Richard Stearns is very passionate about the poor of the world, especially those in developing

from http://thinkloud65.wordpress.com

countries. His passion comes through loud and clear in the book.

I think though his focus might be a bit narrow. I got the impression from the book that if one is not working to eradicate hunger, poverty, disease from developing countries, one just isn’t using the whole gospel, instead one has a “hole in the gospel”.

I live in a small, rural area of America. And in my town of a little under 20,000 we have abject poverty. We have the poor living sometimes a block from the wealthy similar to how it is described in developing countries of the world. Right here in my town, that hasn’t been hit yet with the huge economic crisis of the rest of the nation, we have abject poverty, we have homeless, we have AIDS/HIV positive(or infected) people. We don’t have the diseases other places in the world do, but we have everything else.

We also have groups of believers reaching across denominational lines to meet these needs. On any day of the week, there are those who are sacrificially making food for the hungry. Every day. Every week. Every month. All year. One group hosts a “Diaper Depot” every month. The “poor” can come and get packages of diapers for free. A group of pastors have banded together and operate a mobile food pantry the last Friday of the month. People from their congregations donate non-perishable food and also help serve those in need.  A group of knitters and crocheters have come together, both believers and non-believers, to knit for charity. They have made chemo caps for cancer victims, hats, scarves, mittens for those affected by wildfires in our area, Linus  blankets for children in need. They are contemplating making sweaters for World Vision.

from http://www.untaintedliving.com

I think it is horrific that all the “state-run” aid places in my town make you prove your need before being helped. If you don’t qualify for their help, you don’t receive anything. Even if you do qualify you often have to wait weeks if not a month to receive anything. With the people/places I mentioned above, there is no “prove your need first”. There is just “you have a need, we have a way to meet it.” Isn’t that what the church should be doing?

While reading I had a thought I had to mull over a bit, really I mauled it over in my mind; if Americans reached out to end poverty in America, our reach would stretch around the world. I might work to stamp out poverty in my town, the person I help might work to stamp out poverty in the county, the person they help might work to stamp out poverty in our state, that person might work to stamp out poverty in our country, that person might work to stamp out poverty in our world. It’s the old “if each one, reach one” mentality. It’s making a difference for one person, who makes a difference for one more and on and on it goes.

If we only focus on meeting the needs of the poor living on the continent of Africa and ignore the poor in our own neighborhoods, we have a hole in our gospel.  We cannot meet the needs of one group while ignoring the same needs in someone else. It shouldn’t matter your geographical location.  I think it is very short-sighted and wrong to say if one is not working to eradicate poverty and hunger in developing countries, one isn’t doing anything.

This book left me inspired to do more. I am sure that was Richard’s desire, to move, to motive those who can do do more, to give more. To be Jesus hands and feet wherever they are geographically.

 

(This is a book review of sorts. I purchased the book however and did not receive a free copy from the publisher for this purpose.)