Twice in One Day!!

The past few days I have been battling stomach pain again. I guess I ate something that didn't agree with my system on Sunday afternoon. Anyway, my mom and her husband are coming out to visit us for a week. I had been doing pretty well getting the house ready until this little bout with my tummy. So, that said.....
This morning as I was downstairs cleaning the spare/toy room. Elie and Ada were cleaning their bedroom. Elie is only 4 and has trouble sticking to the task and decided to take a little break and invent a little game. The game was to try and throw up a little plastic thing she had found and try and catch it in her mouth. She was successful! And, she swallowed the little plastic thing.
I am not too calm in emergencies. I was happy that Alex happened to be here at that moment. She was breathing fine. But, we called the doctor and they said they should check her over to be sure she didn't aspirate the thing in her lung. She checked out ok. Now we have to watch for the little plastic thing to pass.
Well, here's round 2. I was cleaning again. Elie was going potty and starting crying histerically. She had a rubber band (from a punch ball that just broke) in her mouth. And, yep you guessed it, she just swallowed it. She seems to be breathing just fine and Alex and I are trying to decide if we can get up the nerve to take her back into the doctor or if we should just watch for the rubber band to pass too. I cannot believe this!

Where are God's people?

These thoughts piggy back on the thoughts of my last post. So, if you haven't read it please read it first.

Thoughts of hungry people all over the world seem to be haunting me. Every time I eat I cannot stop thinking of how rich I am and how rich my children are because we have an abudance of food to eat. We are planning to go out to supper tomorrow night to celebrate Adalynne's 9th birthday. We live an extravagant life!

Sunday morning I was teaching the kids in our children's church. I had been meditating on the words Jesus said as he overturned the tables in the temple, "my house will be called a house of prayer for the nations." I was looking for some ways to pray for nations with our kids. I chose to incorporate prayer into our snack time. I asked the children how many of them had eaten breakfast that morning and all of the children had. (On Wednesday nights we do have children who are not fed supper at home, here in America.) I pointed out that we were about to eat a few cookies for snack. I asked the children if they knew how rich they were b/c they had already had one meal and now were having a mid-morning snack. They seemed to connect with that thought. I led the children in a discussion about hunger in Egypt. And, then we prayed. The children prayed beautiful prayers full of faith. Joseph prayed that manna would fall from the sky in Egypt. That shocked me, I hadn't thought to pray that way! I was challenged by a child's faith.

Later, I had a talk with Joe. I told him that he was absolutely right to pray a prayer so full of faith for hungry people and that he challenged me. And, I told Him God could and might answer that prayer. But, I also wanted to plant a seed in Joe. God can do miracles! And, God wants his people to live a life that is impossible for them to live in their own strength so that His Father can be glorified. God wants his people to meet the needs of others and not merely live for themselves. Jesus said, "let your light shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven." He also said they will know us (his followers) by our love. We can give more than we give.

If we run after comfort and entertainment and food and fun what makes us any different from anyone else? Everyone does that. If we spend all of our money on our dreams, our desires, and our own families what makes us any different from anyone else? Eveyone does that.

A few months ago I listened to a presentation online that Sara Groves gave to a women's group in Minnesota. In her talk she referred to a person who is giving up his life to help others in need through International Justice Ministry. She said that this man used to struggle when he looked at pain suffering in the world and would ask, "where in the world is God?" But after some time he realized that he had been asking the wrong question. Now he asks, "where in the world are God's people?"

Never Gone to Bed Hungry

Friday morning I turned on public radio as I made my way through the hub bub of the morning in my kitchen. Public radio was already in the middle of a piece about hunger in the world. They specifically mentioned Eygpt, Cuba, and Haiti. Anyway, they were talking about a place where the children never miss school. And, the reason they never miss is because the school serves a meal of rice and beans fortified with vitamins daily. For these children that simple meal will be their only meal of the day. They went on to talk about people who come to the local hospital pretending to be in need of health care on the days the hospital will hand out food.

This story really gripped me. I have been thinking it over the past fews days. I cannot imagine being a parent unable to provide a meal for their child. The pain those parents must go through! They have to want to feed their child/children but cannot. I have never been hungry a day in my life. Yet, tonight all over the world even tonight many people do the best they can to quiet their starving, sleepy children.

My children to my shame can be pretty picky eaters. Often I ask them, "what do you want for lunch?" I have wondered if they would survive if we truly hit an economic crisis and all we could feed them was beans. I have heard that if you are hungry enough you will eat anything.

Sometimes I have complained and wished that we had a little more money. And yet my pantry is full of luxurious foods like chocolate chips, oil, honey, tortilla chips, not to mention the staples of bread, rice, vegetables, meat, etc. Having access to this much food is a real privilege.

I cannot imagine my husband having to fight for our family to have bread. Can you?

We spent 15 months in the country of Sudan. If you dial 911 there, no one is coming. I did not know before moving there what luxuries 911 and health insurance really are. If you are able to get your loved one to the hospital but do not have the money to pre-pay for the health care needed you will not get it. We had a dear friend from Malawi who needed a c-section and she could not have it until the money was in hand. If you cannot get the money then you die and so does your baby. I suppose if the hospitals help one impoverished person with free health care then what will they do with the next 500, 1,000, or 10,000. You get the idea.

God, help me to be thankful for what I have. God, help me to live a more selfless life so that others can have a little more of the things they need. God, help me live a loving life in front of my children. God, help me to make a difference in this world. God, save our country from our self-centered narrow-minded lives. God, feed the hungry tonight. God, provide for the sick and the dying. Amen.

Don't Want to Miss What He's Saying

In all of life God is working and He is doing something. He doesn’t just randomly act and His purpose will be accomplished. He is doing something in me and in you. Don’t miss it!
It seems like wherever I turn these days I am reading or hearing the question, "what is God saying to you through this?". And, I am being reminded not to miss the lesson or God in his mercy will keep repeating it.
I have been struggling with stomach pain that is probably an ulcer. I say probably b/c it acts like it but I have not had a scope to confirm it. Ulcers can be brought on through stress which is probably my case. Anyway, through this I have been able to examine thoughts under the surface that are contributing to this problem. To get specific I am a major people pleaser. When I don’t have approval from others it devistates me. One thing in the midst of this I hear God saying to me is to live for his aprroval alone.
I think I may have to come back and edit this blog and continue these thoughts b/c the baby I babysit is waking up. But, it has been so long I just wanted to write something. More later.