Thanksgiving Reflection

When Ben and I pray together, we always acknowledge how blessed we are with love and resources; whenever we acknowledge this, we also entreat God to sow us ways to bless others with our resources. Since Ben began working at Sierra and we moved down south, we have been able to truly see how God works in the areas of greatest need. I feel incredibly blessed that God has shown us to people who need his intercession.

How blessed we are! Each day I thank God for his presence in my life and his constant refining of my heart. Today I am thankful for my husband, he is the most amazing man I have ever known and his heart for helping others is infectious, I am thankful for my family who are always supportive and present in our lives, finally, I am thankful for our friends who have been good about lifting our spirits and supporting us.

I hope that everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving and that the spirit of thankfulness continues from this day until Thanksgiving 2010. Love you all!

Inadequate Gifts

As I continue to read There Is No Me Without You, I find myself encountering my own inadquacies.

Greene offers a story of when a man requested rocket balloons and she believed that he was going to give them to his own grandchildren so she gave him only one balloon, judging that he was taking it to children who were well loved. She says, "Later that day I learned that Haj, in his home village, ran a hole-in-the-wall orphanage like Haregewoin's. He was a surrogate grandfather to about 80 older boys. I gave that nice man one balloon." (160, Greene)

How many times have I judged a persons worthiness? Probably each and everyday. And I am sure that I have given a thousand angels just one balloon because I thought I knew better what they actually deserved. This was a conviction for me today. This was God saying, "Who are you to judge what people deserve?" and here I am knowing that I am no one, yet unsure how to break my own chains, the chains of my own selfishness.

~there is no me without you~

I have recently begun reading the book There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene and I wanted to share a few quotes that really struck a chord with me. "America wrestles with the obesity crisis to such an extent that Americans forget there are worse weight problems on earth than obesity." I believe this quote needs no explanation.

The other quote has to do with a country's reason for opening adoption of its children to foreign countries. "'Adoption is a last resort,' I would be told in November 2005 by Haddush Halefom, head of the Children's Commission under Ethiopia's Ministry of Labor, the arbiter of intercountry adoptions, 'Historically, close kinship ties in our country meant that there were very few orphans: orphaned children were raised in their extended families. The HIV/ AIDS pandemic has destroyed so many of our families that the possibility no longer exists to absorb all our Ethiopian orphans.'"

I know that this book will take me a while to read, because it is always harder to hear the truth about the world than to ignore reality.

Sseko Fashion

I am not a fashionable person and I do not like to be cold, but for these shoes I am both fashionable and cold. I love when I can do something I love (shop) and support a good cause (women in Africa attending school and changing their communities).




So check out the shoes at Sseko Designs. And watch this video, I have heard from may people that nations cannot change unless women instigate the change.

Some New Shoes

For all of you in the blog-o-sphere who love cute shoes, check out this website and support a good cause... I am currently begging my husband to let me buy some! These are great because the straps are interchangable so you can buy a lot of different colors and mix-and-match. When my husband finally cracks under the pressure and lets me get some I will post pictures of these beautiful shows on my feet!

Away

Summer is over and school and work have begun for both of us; this means that for 4 nights a week (Monday-Thursday) we see each other from 7pm until 8:30 (or whenever we decide to go to bed). Ben and I are not the kind of husband and wife who can be away from each other for long periods of time so this season is particularly difficult. It seems like there is a reason for these months (beyond the ever-distant degree) and I know that as a couple we are stronger for these times. Hopefully I will be able to wrangle us a weekend away from the city so that we can enjoy so time devoted just to each other.

In the meantime, look forward to hearing nothing but whining and complaining from this blog : ) Hopefully, God will revel something to use as we look for ways to bless others even while we are busy.

By the way, I am looking for a new job that is part-time and I could use some divine intervention in finding something to work with my schedule.

I am thinking, very sincerely, today about the gift of life. In the wake of several deaths I find myself questioning my own ability to live life well and to live life in the grasp of the King. Considering 9/11 I am amazed at how easily people forget the death of others because it is too painful or too vulnerable. One of my favorite images from the bible is the image of Jesus weeping. We live in a broken world, and Jesus wept, we refused to see our brokenness, and Jesus wept. What a poignant image that the son of the King would weep for use, so naive that we cannot even see the fate we have laid out for ourselves. Today, I will weep for the losses of so many, and for the life that comes through knowing death.