Fun day.  Planted mint, jumped on the trampoline with the kids (not sure this is a good idea after having 3 kids, considering I need to get off every 5 minutes to go pee), talked with neighbors, made s'mores.  I feel a bit guilty for having such a fun and simple day, knowing that there are so many who are hurting.  So many going without.  Do you think there is a balance to be found in enjoying what you have, while at the same time remembering and actively helping those who have great need?  Perhaps it's found through gratefulness and generosity.

I'm finding that I'm enjoying my kids so much more now that I am making a very intentional effort to teach them to contribute and take responsibility.  This summer they are taking turns making and serving lunch.  It's fun to see them take pride and ownership of it.  I'm hoping for some positive changes over summer break.  So far so good.

Day 1: 5:00 a.m. is really early

It's day 1 of the Summer of 7 stress/prayer challenge.  I'm officially just going to call it the "Prayer Challenge", because that's what I'm focusing on.

I was suppose to get up at 5:00 a.m. and guess what I found out... 5:00 a.m. is VERY early!  And I confess, I hit snooze and slept until 5:39.  It did feel good once I got up to sit and listen and read my Bible and enjoy quiet and sunshine and coffee and Jesus.

I decided that for this week I will pause at 7 specific times each day to pray for 7 specific things.

8:15 a.m. - Kids/Education

10:15 a.m. - Poor and oppressed

12:15 p.m. - The Fatherless

2:15 p.m. - Mothers around the world

4:15 p.m. - My marriage

6:15 p.m. - Church (my local church and the church as a whole)

8:15 p.m. - Outreach Team (A ministry I just joined)


P.S.  I was very glad this morning to put on different clothes and I was most excited to put on some big earrings.  Funny thing,  most of the clothes I'm wearing are clothes from the 7 challenge except my shirt.

Day 12... I think

I think it's Day 12 of the Summer of 7 clothes challenge, but I could be wrong.  I'm losing track.

Last week in one of my posts I said I was being moved to action.  One of my best friends asked me, "What kind of action?  What are you doing?"  I love this friend!  She is not afraid to ask me the hard questions.  She will not let me get away with just talking about action.  She will make sure that I do what I say I'm going to do.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." -Romans 12:2

This verse really speaks to the action that is happening right now.  I am working hard to be transformed by the renewing of my mind.  I am turning away from the pattern of this world.  You might be thinking, "That's lame!  She's totally avoiding real action!"  But here's the deal, I want this 7 experiment to change me... and I want to stay that way.  I don't want it to be some thing I did during the Summer of 2012, and then I went on with life as usual.  I want to be changed.  I want to be transformed.

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." -Aristotle

I don't want to just do a few acts of kindness and charity so I can feel good about myself.  I want to create new habits so I can be more useful to God and hopefully do good for other people... for the rest of my life.  

In his book "The Hole in Our Gospel" Richard Stearns writes, 

"The most common view held by Americans is that poverty is the absence of things.  If only the poor had things like nutritious food, medicines, better houses, clean water wells, adequate clothing, agricultural tools, and seeds, they would no longer be poor.  This is why we throw a dollar in the panhandler's cup, give our old clothes to Goodwill, and take short-term missions trips to other countries to dig irrigation channels, teach English, or build schools.  But this kind of charity, while it has it's place, can backfire on naive 'Good Samaritans' who discover that those who receive their gifts are soon back asking for more of them.  They saw an easy way to have their needs met and became dependent on the givers for their livelihoods.  While providing things like these in urgent situations is sometimes necessary, it neither addresses the underlying stubbornness of poverty, nor is it sustainable; it just creates a dependency.  Frankly, giving things to the poor does much more to make the giver feel good than it does to fundamentally address and improve the condition of those in need."

This is why my plan of action is to transform my mind and my habits.  Because they way he described the American giver describes me... and it makes me cringe.

 

I'm the problem

I noticed something funny today... I'm the problem.  With the laundry that is.  I usually have mountains of laundry.  I mean the dirty clothes is usually overflowing.  But I looked at my baskets today and this is what I saw:

Wait!  I want you to see an aerial view

This just isn't the norm in my house.  These 3 bins are usually full to the brim to the point of overflowing onto the floor.  And I promise I didn't hide the dirty clothes anywhere.  I haven't been doing laundry any more than I normally do, which only means one thing... I have the biggest problem with clothes in my house.  This whole Summer of 7 challenge is opening my eyes.

You know what this means?  Tomorrow I'll be posting pictures of all the clothes I'm giving away.  Clearly this needs to be a more permanent lifestyle change.  And I guess I can't pass the blame to my family anymore