i'm really hoping to make a few changes this year. i mean more than taking off a little more weight or not eating 12 pieces of pie at christmas dinner...
i'm talking change...the inside kinda change.
and i think, honestly, we could all use a little "inside change". at the christmas season, we hustle and bustle and make lists and buy buy buy. and so much of it is for nothing...
i was thinking about this..i asked my girls what they got for christmas for last year. they remember only 2 gifts {and you know with grandparents and parents and gift exchanges they got way more than that}.so did the gifts really matter?
i bet if i gifted water to a village that had no well, that would be memorable for them...and maybe for my kids too.
so this year, i am taking the money we would normally spend on "gifts" for teachers and friends and giving them a note {attached to a bag of fresh baked goodies} and telling them their gift is clean drinking water in kenya...
i hope no one is offended...and honestly, i really don't care f they are. i'm not trying to be mean, so please don't misunderstand me. i am trying to just be realistic.with an understanding that there are so many who have soooo little and my family needs to help even more than we already do.
one flush of a western toilet uses as much water as the average person in the developing world uses for a whole day’s washing, drinking, cleaning and cooking....staggering.
a child dies every 8 seconds due to unclean water illnesses...unbelievable.
i want my giving and my heart to be pure...not just done through auto withdrawls and checks every month without prayer...i am guilty of that. don't get me wrong, we give to many things...weekly, monthly, etc...but i want that giving to be a from the inside give...i want some inside change.i want to change. i want to feel the give...from deep down. i want to remember to pray every time i give for the honor of giving, for the ministries and persons we are giving to...my money is fine, but it's nothing without sincere love and prayer.
i want inside change.
"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12
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My life is richer just by knowing you....
My church is doing the Advent Conspiracy too. I just received a newsletter from them and in it it said that last year over $17,000 was raised and half of it went to provide wells for 2 villages and half went to our local mission for updating / upgrading the women's shelter {adding more beds}. They're planning on doing the same / similar thing this year.