Hello everyone! Hope you had an enjoyable New Year's, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween...yes, it's been that long since I've written. Though I've just about given up the blogging part of this challenge, I have kept up with the important part: it's been 9 months without a drop of Coke, coffee or a taste of chocolate! And a special thank you to all the supporters who have kept on donating to Compassion these past months on behalf of me.
Hardly a day has passed where I don't miss the 3c's! But just taking a moment to look around at the world reminds me that it is a small sacrifice. The people of Haiti were struggling before the earthquake hit; what must it be like now? (You can donate to help Haiti via Compassion below). Ucaya, the little girl we're sponsoring in Uganda, lives in a nation where 85% of the people live on less than $1 per day. If you earn at least $3,256 a year ($271 a month), you are among the top 15% of the wealthiest people on the planet. This is a harsh world.
On a personal level, we have been working our tails off so hopefully one day more of our "top 15% of the world" income can go to helping people in need, and not so much to bills/debts/etc. Actually, Lee has been working two jobs, and pregnant me lounges around the house all day with our 4 and 1 year old (if you are a parent, or have even just seen children in action, you get my sarcasm!). Lord willing, baby will be here around the beginning of February, so I will have a legitimate reason to give up blogging for a good couple of months...but of course, not quite a legitimate reason to give up the One Year Without quest. So please keep me in your prayers as I weather a newborn and NO COFFEE!!! At the very least, I'll see you in April, when I hopefully announce that I made it an entire year!
God bless you all! - Jenny :)
Welcome
Do you have a certain food that you "can't live without"? For me, it's Coca-Cola. And coffee. And chocolate. Caffeinated, brown goodness. Are you like me? If not, bet you know someone who is!
To make a long story short, for the sake of sponsoring needy children through the Christian charity Compassion International, I'm giving up all three for one year.
Here's why:
1. I'm asking people like YOU to pledge $1/week to Compassion International for each week I stick with it.
2. I’ll be able to use the cash normally spent on my fave 3 to sponsor a child.
3. I’ll be reminded daily to pray for those in poverty, and to ask God 'why have I received much?' [a dangerous question]
Join the $1/week pledge list by emailing me through the link at the left, and tell others who also might be interested to visit this blog. And on the days when I'm not curled up on the floor, crying for a cup of coffee, I'll write you something that's either informative or just funny. Thank you!!!
To make a long story short, for the sake of sponsoring needy children through the Christian charity Compassion International, I'm giving up all three for one year.
Here's why:
1. I'm asking people like YOU to pledge $1/week to Compassion International for each week I stick with it.
2. I’ll be able to use the cash normally spent on my fave 3 to sponsor a child.
3. I’ll be reminded daily to pray for those in poverty, and to ask God 'why have I received much?' [a dangerous question]
Join the $1/week pledge list by emailing me through the link at the left, and tell others who also might be interested to visit this blog. And on the days when I'm not curled up on the floor, crying for a cup of coffee, I'll write you something that's either informative or just funny. Thank you!!!
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How this began:
Few days have passed in the last 20 years where I haven't had Coke, coffee or chocolate (the first 10 were healthier - thanks Mom). On good days it was a can of Coke at dinner; on bad days there was a steady caffeine drip rushing through my veins. Why bother with Sprite, juice, or vanilla-flavored stuff when I could have my brown-caffeinated favorites?
My die-hard allegiance was challenged, however, when I heard a radio interview with Wes Stafford of Compassion International describing mothers in Haiti who, right now, are feeding their kids something else brown: dirt. I’ve been complaining the past 12 months about our rising grocery bill…but what if I had less than $1 a day for food AND everything else???
After the interview, little thoughts began sprouting in my mind: I gave up chocolate for Lent, but would I give it up for a year? How about coffee? For the “least of these”, would I spend a year without, big gulp, Coke? (yes, that was a pun.)
Then came the logistics: should I just wander around town with a shoebox each week? To sponsor 100 kids at $32 each divided by $4 per month donations equals 80 people, right? And Google Friend Connect is so fun and easy for anyone to use, isn't it???
Getting this idea to actually work has been, so far, a bit messy. Go ahead and look at the carnage in the earlier posts; I obviously didn't have a fine-tuned plan in the beginning. But, thanks to helpful friends and my close buddy Failure, I think I finally have a decent plan to make this work.
My die-hard allegiance was challenged, however, when I heard a radio interview with Wes Stafford of Compassion International describing mothers in Haiti who, right now, are feeding their kids something else brown: dirt. I’ve been complaining the past 12 months about our rising grocery bill…but what if I had less than $1 a day for food AND everything else???
After the interview, little thoughts began sprouting in my mind: I gave up chocolate for Lent, but would I give it up for a year? How about coffee? For the “least of these”, would I spend a year without, big gulp, Coke? (yes, that was a pun.)
Then came the logistics: should I just wander around town with a shoebox each week? To sponsor 100 kids at $32 each divided by $4 per month donations equals 80 people, right? And Google Friend Connect is so fun and easy for anyone to use, isn't it???
Getting this idea to actually work has been, so far, a bit messy. Go ahead and look at the carnage in the earlier posts; I obviously didn't have a fine-tuned plan in the beginning. But, thanks to helpful friends and my close buddy Failure, I think I finally have a decent plan to make this work.
1 comments:
Way to go, Jenny. Because of your blogging keeping Compassion in my mind (and now I am on Facebook with them), I took them on as my Marketing class project this college quarter (online class). I am already learning so much about the organization and continue to be impressed as I learn of their inner workings. I hope my college work inspires my teacher and classmates to get involved as they read my reports.
Blessings to you!
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