Lenten Laments

It's over.  I made it through lent and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty.

I didn't quit, mind you.  I just didn't get as much out of it as last time and I don't know why but it was just different.

Even for my family... we just didn't get into this time. 

But, we did it.  We practiced self discipline and that is important, right?

I felt about as blurry as this picture is.  Life moved on and we made it from one day to the next but it wasn't a "God-Rocking" moment.  I guess I wanted it to mean as much as it did last November. 

So, I lament. 

On the bright side, I did enjoy spending those early morning hours doing my Bible Study with Jesus before the kids woke.  I also felt better somehow by only spending 30 minutes a day on face book.  Jesus the One and Only Bible Study by Beth Moore was very special and had extra meaning for me doing it in the days leading up to Easter.  I definitely got a blessing out of it! 

My take away this time is...

Don't expect each fast to be better (or as good as) than the last.  They are different. 

Keep the positive and let go of the stuff dragging me down. 

The brightest note...

He is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

 



#lent
#itsnotaboutme and yet somehow it seems like it should be...

Fasting Changes Us - Not God

Fasting does not change God. Fasting changes us. Our Sunday School class and others in our church family are participating in, “A Place at the Table: 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor.”  We did this last fall and it was such a rewarding experience that they wanted to do it again leading up to Easter. As individuals, we are fasting from a variety of things: a meal a day, second servings, facebook, music, variety of food, sleep, laziness, sweets, creamer, and more. As a church family, we are encouraging each other and providing a level of accountability to help us on the hard days when the physical world seems to close in on us.
Like chocolate. I rarely “crave” chocolate but as soon as my mind thinks I’m not supposed to have any, it starts calling my name! I’ve even had to say out loud for the chocolate to “get behind me!” Does fasting from chocolate draw me closer to God? Not necessarily. For me, I must deny self and allow my heart, soul, and mind to become more sensitive to hear God’s voice. Opening myself up to the things that are very important to God so that they become important to me and seeing God’s will for my life. Oppression and starvation were all over the world last year and last month, but today, I see them everywhere I look; in the things I read.

After our fast last fall, my own family followed our children’s lead, and by eating simply for two weeks of the month we were able to sponsor two more children through Compassion International. I don’t say this to brag but as encouragement to others that children understand the concept of doing things in order to feel what “poor people feel.” I have learned so much by simply following my children’s and youth’s lead to fast in order to have compassion for another; that is, to “feel sympathy and sorrow for another, followed by the strong desire to alleviate the suffering”—the definition of compassion.

I just spent a week in Ecuador with Compassion International. I saw first hand how content one can be when they have Jesus. It made me stop and think about how discontent I can quickly become over trivial things and honestly, I am embarrassed. Now, when the devil starts whispering, I call on Jesus to show me again how, “On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it” (1 Corinthians 11:23b-24).

Gratitude goes hand in hand with fasting. I am grateful for the physical pains that remind me God sees hurting people all over the world, and he desires for me to be grateful for what I have and share it with others.

#lent
#itsnotaboutme

Quaker Girl's Journey to Lent

I have struggled with Lent.  I have treated this time as something Catholic/Lutheran/Episcopalian family "did."  Around this time each year I hear, "I gave up coffee for Lent."  or "I gave up chocolate for Lent."  Honestly, it did nothing for me.  I couldn't grasp the significance of what Lent had to offer me.  Until recently.  Last fall recently.  When we fasted for 40 days.  During that time, God showed me in many ways how important this time can be and both DH and I were speaking of Lent before our fast was even over.

I began researching Lent from an Evangelical point of view.  What if....  What if what I gave up was more than something physical but something that brought me closer to God? 

More research.   One of the best blog posts I found is by Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts.  What Lent Really Means.  She has FREE printable devotions for us, speaks of her journey, offers suggestions, lists devotional books that she and her family have found helpful...meaningful. 

 

     “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

       to loose the chains of injustice

       and untie the cords of the yoke,

       to set the oppressed free

      and break every yoke?

      Is it not to share your food with the hungry
      and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
      when you see the naked, to clothe him,
      and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

      Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
      and your healing will quickly appear;
      then your righteousness will go before you,
      and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

      ~Isa. 58:3-8

 

Holy Week at the Pipers' was good for me to see that what works one year may not work another year for a variety of reasons and the flexibility in working with where we are in our lives was much appreciated by me.  Nicole Piper shares with us her FREE devotional readings to prepare for Easter: Lenten Lights; as well. 

 

Come With Christ: From the Cradle to the Cross... The Way of Light Wreath is something I really, really want.  (The following pictures were taken by Ann Voskamp.)

 

I'm into things that fit more than one occasion and this wreath is adjustable for three occasions: Advent, Lent, Ascension!  Until then, I will use what we have and know that Jesus doesn't care what we use to spend time with - it matters that we SPEND time with Him.

 

Before I sign off, I want to leave you with a post I have recently read that really spoke to me.  I got the book Wonderstruck: Live Astounded by God! for Christmas and love Margaret Feinberg's words here.  The Wonder of Lent.  It's a short, very meaningful blog post.  "How will you lay hold of the wonders of Lent?" she asks.

 

As my family begins our 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor, I wonder... who will join me this Lenten Season to do something different - fast, pray, seek His amazing wonder?  We'll be using the book we used last fall as one of our sources from Chris Seay.  As well as the addition of something else, something wonderful.  Something that shouts sacrifice and redemption.  I'll let you know.

#Giving Tuesday!

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals….Wouldn’t it be great to have a day for giving back?

"Giving Tuesday is intended to open the holiday season on a philanthropic note and put heart back into the holidays," says Sarah Renusch, World Vision's Gift Catalog Director.  I have shared my favorite links with you for gifts that make a difference.  If you haven't, today is the perfect day to look at my Friends and my Compassion choices for giving. 

Big Ideas for Families
From Beth Teitelman, 92Y’s Director of Scholarship Services, and Fretta Reitzes, Director of 92Y’s Wonderplay Initiative and Goldman Center for Youth & Family. Beth and Fretta are the co-authors of Wonderplay and Wonderplay, Too!


**Comments in bold italics are from yours truly!**

• Honor the people in your community who keep everyone safe and healthy. Prepare a meal and deliver it to their place of work. Keep it simple, healthy and tasty. Include hand made cards, place mats, and thank you notes so that everyone in the family gets to contributes something. Deliver the meal together as a family. It is especially meaningful to share this moment together.

We have a fire house just down the road - this is something we can totally do! 

• Have a family conversation about your favorite foods and the healthy foods you having been trying to eat. Take some of those foods from your cabinets (non perishable) and bring them to your local food pantry.

YES!  Always!

• As a family, empty your pockets and your piggy banks once every month! Collect 10% (or whatever percent you decide) of the money, and decide together where you want that money to go in your community.

Nice idea!

• Home Treasure Hunt! Look in your closets at home …kitchen tools, dishes, towels and sheets, toys, books, school supplies. Collect what is not being used, what hasn’t been used in a long time, and the extras you have, and donate to a program that sets up families in new homes.

Love this idea!

• Keep your family’s commitment to giving alive throughout the year! As a family, take out a calendar and mark four days on the calendar (one in each season works well) that are not connected to traditional holidays. Donate food to your local food pantry on those days. Most places are flooded with donations of gifts and food around the holidays. It’s the other times in the year that are more challenging.

Help is needed all year long, I try to remember this but like the idea of picking specific days to donate so it doesn't slip through the cracks. 

• “Change of Season” – At the beginning of each new season, think of one specific item that is needed. For instance, gloves and hats for winter, socks for fall, T-shirts for summer, etc. Do a collection in your neighborhood, building, or school for just that one item and donate. The younger children enjoy counting up the number of items that have been collected.

My son's 3rd grade class is doing this for winter and their goal is 300 items of hats, scarves, gloves and socks.  What a neat idea!

• Give up a meal as a family and donate the money you would have spent to your favorite charity.

Every family can do this for one meal!  We did it for 40 days!  and now we are continuing a different style of eating as a result of that fast and making a difference in some sweet children's lives; as well as our own.   

• Hold a neighborhood yard or bake sale and donate proceeds to an organization in need.

• Talk as a family about causes that are important to you, perhaps one that has had an impact on your family. Research to find a walk, bike ride, or run supporting that cause and join in as a team. Get your family, friends, and neighbors to support you. Set a goal and raise it for your cause.

Kids don't always know that $1,000 is a lot of money and so they don't have our low expectations on raising funds.  Encourage your children to fund raise through an activity and don't let your own low expectations of what is possible influence them.

• For an entire week or two, everyone in the family skips the “extras” Take the money you would have spent on after school treats, a special ice cream, or coffees from your favorite vendor, and collect it all in a jar. Watch it mount and donate to your local food pantry to help others get the essentials foods they need.

Very similar to what we did with A Place at the Table on a very realistic "do-able" level!

• Matching Funds- two variations! For the weeks between Thanksgiving and the holidays, save a selection of the end of the year contribution requests arriving in the mail. Each person in the family chooses one cause that is important to them, and the other members make a joint contribution to that cause as a holiday gift. Another way to do this is to have each child chooses a cause, designate a personal contribution from allowance or birthday money, and parents and extended family match the child’s contribution. Lots of important thinking and talking involved in choosing both causes from the many solicitations that arrive, deciding how much to contribute, and learning how the non profit world functions.

If you don't already do something where you decide as a whole family, this is very meaningful.  We do something similar each December and it has become one of the most meaningful important times of our December celebration.

Live It!

I have just completed Beth Moore's Bible Study, James Mercy Triumphs.  I cried.  I am not ready for it to be over.  I like being challenged and called on my stuff that needs to change in the way that God has been speaking through James. 

So much has changed through this study and through A Place at the Table.  I feel like my life has turned upside down over the past two months and I'm not sure I want it upright again.  I don't want to go on living like I was. 

I want to live it.  That is, as Beth says, the bottom line of the entire book of James.  LIVE IT! 

I'm reading all the blogs of the Compassion bloggers who are in Peru right now.  You won't be sorry if you take a look.  Here is Shaun showing us how making a paper airplane can make all the difference. 

Will you pray about sponsoring a child from Peru as a Christmas gift for your family?  Just pray about it and check out these sweet faces waiting for you to choose them.

Talk about spiritual warfare and being open to God's leading! 

"Boys will be boys, but who will usher them into manhood?"

Today as you read this, 5,000 children in Peru wait to be sponsored.

If actions speak louder than words, what are we waiting for?  Join me, please!

Showers

You can read my post here today as I blog once a month for Peace with Justice.

Compassion Family

You know Roosbell.  He is 12 1/2 and lives in Ecuador.  I am praying that we get to meet next year.  Here's a post that I remember writing last year.   

We have introduced you to Javier, who is almost 6 and lives in Mexico:

Now, we need to introduce you to two more kiddos!  Paco and Sky have asked for their own Compassion Brother/Sister and are willing to "go without" some things in order to make this happen.  We are very excited for you to meet two fantastic children, both from Mexico:

Mirian is 13 and Sky is very excited to be her Compassion sister.

 
And Hamlet is Paco's new Compassion brother!  Paco is so excited, he has already wrote him a letter.  (Sky would have to, if I could help two kids at one time on one computer!)  Hamlet is 8 years old. 

We are anxiously awaiting our Compassion packets in the mail with new pictures and all sorts of cool information about where they live so we can get to know them better. 

This week, a team of bloggers is in Peru, blogging live.  You don't want to miss their experiences.  Being part of such a team is a grandiose dream of mine that I am asking God to remove selfish and proud desires from my heart.  He's doing a good job.  If God is tugging on your heart to sponsor a child, though, click HERE.   

A Place at the Table

We're on the final week of our 40 day fast.  It's been challenging, exciting, boring (food wise) and hard.  Yes, I know challenging and hard mean basically the same thing but it deserves to be listed twice.  Oh, throw in frustrating.  Here I am at the beginning of this journey.  I wrote a guest post for another site and discussed my journey as it relates to my Sunday School class that is on this same journey with me. 

My hubby and I fasted by eating what our sponsored children might eat... so we had a lot of soup.  We cut out all sweets, yummy coffee drinks, Dr. Pepper, chocolate (again, separate listing than lumped in with sweets) and anything else that would make our mouths water. 

Our 15 year old daughter fasted from her iPod/CD player/radio and sweets.

The boys (8 and 5) fasted from their remote controlled cars that were "new" to them when we started this journey.

My budget for food is $400/month.  We spent $150 total and that included a few meals out where we stuck to the foods we could eat; namely potatoes, rice or some sort of veggie soup on the menu.  If we only count the food budget line, we will donate $250 to Compassion International for their Water for Life.  That buys 3 filters.  Three families who will soon have access to clean and safe drinking water.  They'll receive education for improving hygiene and sanitation and they know to share their water filter with their neighbors so more people are impacted.  Best of all, they know that it is Jesus who is providing the water. 

The hardest thing for me during this fast has been eating the same things for lunch and dinner day in-day out.  I saved a lot of money making a large pot of soup and then we ate on it for several days.  This was good because it saved money but it made it especially hard for me since I was the only one home during the day who ate it for lunch; as well. 

One of the most rewarding thing has been whenever I started to get a spirit of discontentment, the Lord reminded me of Roosbell in Ecuador and Javier in Mexico and just that quick, it put things in perspective. 

The other rewarding times have been watching our children "get it."  To hear our 5 year old say, "Roosbell and Javier don't have that." in response to an off-hand statement, "Everyone has one of those."  As well as our 15 year old daughter asking if we could eat "like this" two weeks of the month and how many more children could we sponsor with the money saved.  W O W.

There have been a few times during this fast that one of the kids has said something that I am just blown away with.  The daily devotion time that has brought us together as a family has been a major bonus. 

I look forward to doing this again come spring, leading up to the Crucifixion of my Lord.  If you are looking for something to change a perspective (yours, children, both) this is a humbling way to journey together.  A Place at the Table by Chris Seay is available for sale many places.  I highly recommend it. 

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Ebay

Change the World?!

I sang this song in church this past Sunday.  While I'm no Carrie Underwood, I know God used me as a way to reach others with this song.  Change, by Carrie Underwood.   

Again, this goes right along with the ways God is talking to me in SO many areas!!!  Sermons, songs, verses, homework, conversations, blog posts by others, e-mails, texts, etc. everywhere! 

"Don't listen to them when they say, "You're just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world."

Why Me?

Why did God chose me to be born into the family I was?

Why has God blessed us to be in every single category mentioned in the above picture? 

What is God wanting us to do with all of the blessings He is giving us? 

Lord, What an exciting and scary time we are in with You!  Grant us wisdom to know what to do and when to do it.  Give us clarity of minds and peaceful hearts.  Thank You for continually guiding and directing our paths.  We praise Your name and give You all the glory.  Amen.

Caldo de pollo

We're seeing how much money we can save this month on our food/grocery bill so soups are on the menu!  Last week, I made Locro de papas, a recipe from Ecuador and we ate it Wed, Thu & Sat nights.  Friday my parents had us over for delicious ham & beans.  This week we are having a simple caldo.  Caldo, in my experience, can be made with whichever meat you want so the title would be "caldo de pollo" if using chicken, "caldo de rez" if using beef.  One major difference in this soup is whole pieces of chicken are used; i.e. "bone-in."  Here is what I used and my costs:

In my 24 QUART stock pot (yes, it is HUGE) I added:

~ 5 lbs of "whole" chicken quarters (the thigh and leg are still connected).  Cost: $2.50
~ 5 lbs potatoes quartered (organic) Cost: $2.50
~ 2 lbs carrots chopped large (organic) $1.25
1 bunch celery, chopped large (organic) Cost: $.25
2 whole onions, chopped Cost: Free from gleaning onion field near-by.
2 orange tomatoes, chopped large Cost: Free garden produce, donated plants so time only
Filled pot with water
Added dash of salt, some black pepper and 3 cloves garlic

Total cost: $6.50
Fed ~ 35-40 people; which makes the cost per person: 35 people = $.19/person and 40 people = .16/person. 

An option for those who don't want to eat it every day for a week would be to freeze it for future meals "on-the-go."  We are eating it often for specific purposes I will share with you later.