$32 a Month or Five Loaves and 2 Fish

I have always thought of the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand being a story about how God can provide. I have thought this to be the main point...God can provide abundantly all that we need, if we trust Him.

I attended a benefit concert this past weekend where I got a slightly new look at it. A very encouraging one I might add. God provided all that was needed out of the offering of two fish and five loaves of bread.

When I look at the world in need, it seems overwhelming. The Global Food Crisis, the natural disasters, the suffering environment. It is so easy to get discouraged and think that I can't help, that sponsoring just a few children is really not doing much, that the check I tossed in the basket Saturday night will barely buy a meal for the suffering in Myanmar.

The truth is that God can provide abundantly all that we need, if we trust Him.

But you know what? Jesus made that miracle but first someone had to offer up their own lunch. And from that sacrifice, little in comparison to the need that faced them (in fact, offering such a little bit of food must have seemed ridiculous), but huge to the one who gave it--all were fed.

So if perhaps, you are feeling discouraged today about sponsoring your child, that is doesn't feel like enough, remember that the whole family is blessed through sponsorship, and in turn, the whole community. :) Your gift faithfully given in love will in turn bless more than is possible through your own means, but by giving it to Jesus, He can make it go around.

Call to Fast for Myanmar

The situation in Myanmar is really unsettling. Not only has the natural disaster taken its toll, but the military/government is not helping people get the aid they need. It's not enough to give money at this point (who knows where it will go?), we have to pray.

I read headlines like..."spoiled food delivered to survivors" and feel sick.

I spend a fair bit of time blogging each day...between writing my own posts and trying to respond to comments, and reading other blogs.

I'm proposing a day of fasting tomorrow. Not just from eating but from blogging as well. Taking the time I would to do those things and instead praying for the victims in Myanmar.

Obviously, I'm not fasting in secret, because I'm hoping against hope that some of you will join me. Let's take the time to pray for Myanmar. Let's ask the True Provider and Only One who can intervene to do just that. Feel free to let me know you joined me in comments (it will be encouraging, I think) or simply don't blog tomorrow, it's up to you. I hope you will join in.

I am still blogging Idol tonight and then I'll see you back here Thursday. (hopefully)

Food Crisis in Bangladesh

Many of you have heard about the food crisis in Haiti, but it is also hitting Bangladesh in a severe way. I have a sponsored child in Bangladesh and was really saddened to read the post this morning on the Compassion blog.

To read a little bit more, go to this blog post. It will absolutely break your heart as you read the stories about these children.

Today I am asking you as your bloggy friend, to please pray for the families in Bangladesh when you thank God for your own food. If you are interested in giving some money, you can of course visit the Compassion website and designate funds to the food crisis in Bangladesh. (if they don't have a specific category for it, write a note. I did this after the last cyclone and it showed up on my contributions statement as Bangladesh cyclone relief)

Help Me Save Lives on World Malaria Day and get 25 dollars

You've probably heard of World Malaria Day, which is today.

Every thirty seconds someone dies of malaria.

For a mere ten dollars, you can provide a mosquito net that will help save lives.

I have another option for you.

When paypal first came about, they offered people who signed up ten dollars as a bonus and also ten dollars for referring someone. I was in college and had a friend who came up with the clever idea of using that money to support our summer missions.

Now there are other groups trying to compete with paypal and one of them is Revolution Money Exchange. If you sign up with their service, they'll give you 25 dollars for free. And if you go through the link I have posted here, they'll give me ten dollars.

And if you sign up and I get ten dollars, I'll give that ten dollars to Compassion International's Malaria Fund. So by taking a few minutes and signing up for this money exchange service, you can get 25 dollars of your own and help save a life.

Now this is money and financial stuff we're talking about, so please read the terms of service when you sign up. I read a lot in the blogosphere about it before I signed up and some people had some reservations about the privacy policy. I want you to feel ok about this. But most of the reviews I read were incredibly positive.

Feel free to send your friends over, we can earn up to 500 dollars in referral money! I hope you'll join in.

February Non-Fiction Read: Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne Part One

I know February has been over for awhile now, but I haven’t been able to think about what I wanted to write about this book. It’s a small book, but it packs quite a bit of punch. Many people have claimed their lives were forever changed by reading it. I did find it both inspirational and challenging.

I plan to write a few posts on things I thought about while reading this book. It wasn’t the first book with these sorts of themes I’ve read and I read a lot of blogs that talk about some of these ideas. Therefore, I don’t think some of the basic ideas were as new to me or made as much of an impact as they would have if I was coming from a place of not caring about social justice or the Kingdom. But I would like to talk about both the positive and negative things I thought about as best as I can remember.

One little thing that stood out to me, more than perhaps than it would to others, is what he wrote about being single. I have long been troubled by what I see as family worship in our churches. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely believe that God gave us our families, that we are meant to love them, and that it’s important to talk about families and family relationships in church. But, quite honestly, I also think the church is supposed to reach out to the lonely, the orphans, the widows, and the singles. In fact, some of those are supposed to be priorities. I think those priorities have been shoved aside, though not completely ignored, in favor of attracting young families to churches. Additionally, I’ve seen quite a few families who have thrown all their weight about to keep their kids from going to the mission field. Or even going to Bible college out of state. I consider that to be family worship…family has trumped God in this case.

So when he mentions in this book that he was taught in church that it’s sort of the ultimate goal to get married, I really identified with that. I mean honestly, it’s hard not to feel like a bit of a failure when you’re not married by 22. But more than that, what challenged me is that while I am pretty comfortable with being single, I don’t necessarily use it as the gift it’s meant to be. The gift of being single lies in the ability to have just one priority. Just one focus. God. His Kingdom. When you have a family, naturally your attentions are divided, but in being single you can devote yourself wholeheartedly. So I was challenged to figure out what that means for me. How am I using this gift?

Feel free to let me know if you read this book in comments. Please note I plan at least one more post on this book.

Books with a Social Justice, etc. Theme

So I've recently discovered that I like fiction books with a social justice, environmental, animal rights, etc. theme. Something about wrapping these important themes in a story works for me. I know that not everyone operates this way but boy do I.

Some that I've read, enjoyed, learned from or been changed by, are:

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson
My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay
The Debt by Angela Hunt
Betrayed by J.M. Windle
Dark Justice by William Bernhardt
Unspoken by Angela Hunt

I need your help. I want to discover more. If you know of a book that sort of fits in with this style or theme I'd love to hear about it. I'm not looking for preachy books but rather books that are able to tell a great story, educate, and explore all the moral issues involved with whatever the subject matter is. So please recommend away! And tell your bookish friends to come by and leave their recommendations as well. Thank you so much!

Review: Betrayed by J.M. Windle

Read the book synopsis.

When I was in fifth grade, I remember learning about World War II and the US involvement in it. I have this really distinct memory of reading about Pearl Harbor and this line from the text: "The United States had entered World War II." I got little chills and felt a surge of patriotic pride well up within me.

Fast forward to high school. I took two years of History of the Americas and learned about the history of Latin and South America. I wondered exactly where that patriotic pride went as I learned about how the best hopes for these countries were often crushed by our government's influence. They seemed trapped in a continual cycle of despair and we certainly were not helping.

I love the way Jeanette Windle handles these issues in this book. She doesn't paint a clear picture of blame, but rather one of individual responsibility. She depicts what seems to be overwhelming despair and sorrow, but makes this the clear theme of the book: "Do what is right. Do not give way to fear." I love that so much I'm thinking of making little signs to put around me to remind me to live in exactly that way.

This book is certainly very educational in regards to United States/Latin American relations. It's also a mystery and thriller so you get history, get to grapple with the problem of pain and the question of evil, all while being delightfully entertained! There's even a tiny bit of romance! And most importantly there is hope.

Thematically, Betrayed is rich, layered, and consistent.

I highly recommend this book. I really enjoyed it, but even more so I was challenged by it. What more can you ask of any book?

The old hymn, "This is my Father's World" runs throughout the book and no other song could have been so appropriate. I dug up this Fernando Ortega version from youtube for your enjoyment. I got goosebumps listening to it after just finishing the book. What a beautiful song!