Spring 2012
- A friend of mine got pregnant and I was invited to her baby shower.
- I absolutely LOVE the Jesus Storybook Bible and like to give to new moms, so I stopped in Barnes and Noble one day.
- There, as in all bookstores and libraries, I got sucked in to reading the various titles and back covers of potential reads.
- Once I got a smart phone I began the habit of adding book recommendations to my Amazon wish list so I don't forget them. I did this in the middle of B&N next to the new releases section.
- I added The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind to my collection of "to read someday"
- I participated in a Walk for Water Africa 5k with that benefited a sweet couple from WS who felt called to go and serve in Malawi.
- My friends and I stayed in touch with the couple and helped them create "dignity kits" for new mothers in Malawi to have some sanitation in the birthing process.
- We started receiving their newsletters. I realized I'd met them at a Earth Day Fair in 2010.
- My friend, Marissa Joyce, volunteered the youth group at my church to help facilitate the next run in Summer 2013. By way of being a youth leader, I'm also helping.
- I finally read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba which is a memoir of a Malawian youth who lived through 2 famines and through self-education provided electricity to his rural home. It's a truly profound story, especially when I think of his life in contrast to mine - he's just 4 years younger than me. His upbringing was drastically different than my own. And like most good books, it changed me.
- My small group and I started reading the book 7, a mutiny against excess, by Jen Hatmaker and we are going to do her challenges to help realign our lives to the Gospel rather than simply being products of our over indulgent materialistic culture. The first one is to fast and we are adapting it to eating food similar to what is eaten in poverty-stricken countries - rice and beans.
- I instantly thought of William Kamkwamba and George and Phyllis with a Sure Foundation in Malawi and how I can purposefully sacrafice variety in my food for 7 days to further empathize with those who never get more than 7 options for their next meal.
It starts Sunday. I'm apprehensive about the whole - eating only oatmeal for breakfast (plain), rice and beans for lunch (plain) and a dinner that helps me understand what other parts of the world might eat. I resonate with the author as she struggled through 31 days of eating only 7 foods. She loves flavors and variety. This was difficult, and I anticipate that even in a week's time I will struggle through and hopefully come out a little more aware of others and less focused on myself.
