I have teenage boys. They are always hungry. I often hear, "Mom, there is nothing to eat." The truth is there is plenty to eat but it requires preparation. I've taught them how to make simple things like eggs, mac-n-cheese, soup, they even know how to cook chicken and fish but by the time they think about food they want it now.
I do stock up on snacks, frozen microwavable items, easy things they can grab but I buy a limited amount per week and once it is gone, preparation is required. I've been wrestling these past few years as a mom, trying to balance doing things for them and letting them fend for themselves. It's crazy to think that in five years my oldest two could be gone and living elsewhere. I want to make sure they are prepared.
I've also been wrestling with other things besides my role as a mom. I wrestle with the fact that my refrigerator is never empty despite the fact that my kids think it is. We always have food and have never gone without.
Five years ago today I was riding through the countryside of Ethiopia for the first time. Since I was eighteen years old I had immersed myself in issues of poverty in the United States. My focus had been first and foremost loving my neighbor and sharing Jesus but also hoping to see people rise closer to a middle class American standard of living. That is what we focus on here in America when fighting poverty.
It's been a struggle to shift that focus toward thinking about widows having livestock and small scale farms. Also, thinking about shortening the walk women make with their 40 lb. water cans and ensuring a child actually goes to school. Seeing a developing country for the first time messed with my head and I am still trying to straighten my thoughts and perspective out.
It's so hard to explain. I sit here with a full refrigerator, we never go without food. Yet millions of people, children, go without. I know I am doing something about it. I have a non-profit, I fund raise, the funds are helping almost 200 children receive a daily meal but it doesn't feel like enough. I am in the midst of year-end fundraising and it is so hard to get donations even with matching funds. I just want to cry. I am so thankful for the donations that have come in. It's this crazy balancing act of being thankful for what we have received, letting donors know they are helping, yet knowing how much more needs to be raised. The truth is my partner in Ethiopia, FOVC, has future plans for seven project sites, schools, development projects, helping over 1500 children, and hundreds of widows. I could seriously use $1,000,000 a year in funding. I want to help so much, I want to be an obedient follower of Jesus caring for orphans and widows in their distress. I constantly struggle to know if what I am doing is God's plan or mine.
I am so thankful for my full refrigerator. I hope you, dear reader, are to. Don't ever take food, water, education, medical care, or housing for granted. It's so easy in this American culture of abundance to not remember what a blessings those things are.
I do stock up on snacks, frozen microwavable items, easy things they can grab but I buy a limited amount per week and once it is gone, preparation is required. I've been wrestling these past few years as a mom, trying to balance doing things for them and letting them fend for themselves. It's crazy to think that in five years my oldest two could be gone and living elsewhere. I want to make sure they are prepared.
I've also been wrestling with other things besides my role as a mom. I wrestle with the fact that my refrigerator is never empty despite the fact that my kids think it is. We always have food and have never gone without.
Five years ago today I was riding through the countryside of Ethiopia for the first time. Since I was eighteen years old I had immersed myself in issues of poverty in the United States. My focus had been first and foremost loving my neighbor and sharing Jesus but also hoping to see people rise closer to a middle class American standard of living. That is what we focus on here in America when fighting poverty.
It's been a struggle to shift that focus toward thinking about widows having livestock and small scale farms. Also, thinking about shortening the walk women make with their 40 lb. water cans and ensuring a child actually goes to school. Seeing a developing country for the first time messed with my head and I am still trying to straighten my thoughts and perspective out.
It's so hard to explain. I sit here with a full refrigerator, we never go without food. Yet millions of people, children, go without. I know I am doing something about it. I have a non-profit, I fund raise, the funds are helping almost 200 children receive a daily meal but it doesn't feel like enough. I am in the midst of year-end fundraising and it is so hard to get donations even with matching funds. I just want to cry. I am so thankful for the donations that have come in. It's this crazy balancing act of being thankful for what we have received, letting donors know they are helping, yet knowing how much more needs to be raised. The truth is my partner in Ethiopia, FOVC, has future plans for seven project sites, schools, development projects, helping over 1500 children, and hundreds of widows. I could seriously use $1,000,000 a year in funding. I want to help so much, I want to be an obedient follower of Jesus caring for orphans and widows in their distress. I constantly struggle to know if what I am doing is God's plan or mine.
I am so thankful for my full refrigerator. I hope you, dear reader, are to. Don't ever take food, water, education, medical care, or housing for granted. It's so easy in this American culture of abundance to not remember what a blessings those things are.
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