Cupcakes and Cans some of the little things!
Who would have thought that cupcakes could help build homes for orahans in South Africa or that recyling cans could build water wells for villages in Africa.
The little things really do make a difference!
I am friends with two amazing guys who are making a difference by using the little things in their hands to help children in Africa. One I have already written about and he is Ty, my nephew. Since Nov. of last year we have collected cans from ditches, parking lots, trash cans, work, and friends. He has made about $165.00 and has sent it to The Mission: Water for Life a James Robinson ministry. They are building water wells and there is a company matching all funds sent for this project. It is about four or five thousand dollars to build one well.
"The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them." (Isaiah 41:17)
4500 children die each day form unsafe water and a lack of sanitation facilities. This should not be!! Please don't waste water!
The other guy is someone I work for. He is giving ten cents off of every cupcake we sale to an organization call Ten Thousand Homes in South Africa. Just ten cents can make a difference. In about six weeks time we sold just about enough cupcakes to build one home. We are also collecting change, because we believe our change and change someones world. It can actually build a home for a family, cause all the little things add up!
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27)
The question is: What are the little things you can be doing to make a difference in someones life?
Think about it and ask God to show you the little things in your hands!! Then, take action!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Little Things!
"There are many of us willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things." -D.L. Moody
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
- Mother Teresa
Little Things (a song by JJ Heller)
There are not enough minutes in the day
I am crippled by the thought of wasting time
I don't have enough money to heal the poor
So I don't want to try
But it's the little things that make a difference
It's the little things that show love
It's the little things
A simple cup of water that can change the world
That can save our sons and daughters
I'll be praying for the widow all alone
Sewing clothes for a loaf of bread
It is not my fault that she is hungry
It's my joy to make sure she's fed
We are all related children of the King
We may not have much, but what we have we bring.
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
- Mother Teresa
Little Things (a song by JJ Heller)
There are not enough minutes in the day
I am crippled by the thought of wasting time
I don't have enough money to heal the poor
So I don't want to try
But it's the little things that make a difference
It's the little things that show love
It's the little things
A simple cup of water that can change the world
That can save our sons and daughters
I'll be praying for the widow all alone
Sewing clothes for a loaf of bread
It is not my fault that she is hungry
It's my joy to make sure she's fed
We are all related children of the King
We may not have much, but what we have we bring.
The Glory of God
The Glory of God
MAN
Fully Alive
Kathyrn
pure
All God's
The power of a creative life
live to tell your story
FREE TO BE ME
Writing for the soul
daughter
A life that says
WELCOME
My Story
life outreach
living
photography
grab coffee
prayer
justice
Relationship with God
life today
THE TRUTH: God Loves
me.
In the Beginning
IN THE BEGINNING
GOD
The Giver of Life
in love
With No Regrets
Straight From The Heart
Has made everything beautiful in it's time
By Grace
Changing the World
One Life
At A Time
LOVE!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Does it make a difference?
Poverty and hunger have a face and a name for me. I have seen it in the eyes of people I have had the honor to meet in Africa and India and Mexico and the projects of New Orleans and the homeless of New York City.
I don't like to waste food, because of my time spent in other countries and these cities.
I was recently challenged, by a statement that said it won't make a difference if you eat that or not to a someone starving in another country. I have wrestled with that a bit and bounced it off a few people.
I don't waste cause I think if we all just took what was just enough, then maybe we might have enough to feed the world.
Maybe if we were not so wasteful and we were good stewards of what God gave us, then we could see not only relief, but development for those who are dying do to starvation.
How much food is wasted each day? How much is over consumed each day here in our super size it have it your way western world?
**Please Note, this is a work in progress and I will add more as I continue to process this out and pray. I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Here is some of the more. I found this article this morning and wanted to share some of it.
"Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. (Psalm 41:1)"
"According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes. That's one person every three and a half seconds. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often. There are and estimated 1.o8 billion poor people in developing countries who live on $1 a day or less (Global Poverty Monitoring, World Bank). Of these, an estimated 798 million suffer from chronic hunger. (http://www.worldhunger.org/)"
"We are told throughout the Bible to care for the poor and to provide food for the hungry. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus made it clear that when we care for the poor, we are caring for Him. In helping the poor and the hungry, we are spending our time and resources on things that are close to the heart of God."
"During my prayer time, I asked the Lord to show me what He wanted me to do to help the hungry people around the world. I knew that with the money we could save by not wasting so much food we could help others who were in desperate need. And I knew we could give even more that that." (take from Journey magazine)
**Still praying about this. Maybe I need to give up my Starbucks and super sized eating habits and fast and pray and see where I could send the extra money to help the poor. Even if it is only for a day that someone gets a meal. A meal that I might take for granted for myself. I think in God's economy it would be worth it.
I don't like to waste food, because of my time spent in other countries and these cities.
I was recently challenged, by a statement that said it won't make a difference if you eat that or not to a someone starving in another country. I have wrestled with that a bit and bounced it off a few people.
I don't waste cause I think if we all just took what was just enough, then maybe we might have enough to feed the world.
Maybe if we were not so wasteful and we were good stewards of what God gave us, then we could see not only relief, but development for those who are dying do to starvation.
How much food is wasted each day? How much is over consumed each day here in our super size it have it your way western world?
**Please Note, this is a work in progress and I will add more as I continue to process this out and pray. I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Here is some of the more. I found this article this morning and wanted to share some of it.
"Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. (Psalm 41:1)"
"According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes. That's one person every three and a half seconds. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often. There are and estimated 1.o8 billion poor people in developing countries who live on $1 a day or less (Global Poverty Monitoring, World Bank). Of these, an estimated 798 million suffer from chronic hunger. (http://www.worldhunger.org/)"
"We are told throughout the Bible to care for the poor and to provide food for the hungry. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus made it clear that when we care for the poor, we are caring for Him. In helping the poor and the hungry, we are spending our time and resources on things that are close to the heart of God."
"During my prayer time, I asked the Lord to show me what He wanted me to do to help the hungry people around the world. I knew that with the money we could save by not wasting so much food we could help others who were in desperate need. And I knew we could give even more that that." (take from Journey magazine)
**Still praying about this. Maybe I need to give up my Starbucks and super sized eating habits and fast and pray and see where I could send the extra money to help the poor. Even if it is only for a day that someone gets a meal. A meal that I might take for granted for myself. I think in God's economy it would be worth it.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Live Your Best Life
Live your
Best Life
End to End
to look at yourself with an awareness of
how the challenges of your life can
be the fuel that will enable you to swim
against the stream
against the cultural currents
The essential guide to plan your next journey
People Do Not Decide
To Become Extraordinary
They Decide to Accomplish
EXTRAORDINARY THINGS
The Ultimate Adventure
help your Superhero save the planet
SAVE LIVES
Go from street to summit
The view is endless
Live Your Best Life
words i cut out of a magazine put together for a friend in transit
Saturday, February 23, 2008
the Father's Hand
Let the Father's hand land heavy on me as I go through this season to shape me. Let His hands in the messiness of my life - in the brokenness - to make the wholeness of a vessel to be poured out for Him.
This was something I wrote after watching a teacher throw a clay pot and tell the story of the Potter's Process. I cried the whole time, cause I saw myself as that lump of clay.
The past few months of been intense for me and I have had to let the Father into the messiness and brokenness of my past and present. It has been a time of truly forgiving others, the easy part and a time of forgiving myself, the hard part. It has been a time of healing and wholeness. A time of freedom. He is not done yet and at times i feel as though He is still trying to center me so He can began the task of shaping me into the beautiful vessel He wants me to be.
All because He loves me.
the Potter's Process
1. He has a plan and He alone knows what He will give you the capacity to hold.
God's plan.
2. He prepares the clay by working out all the air pockets. If He does not work them all out you will explode in the heat of the firing.
God's grace.
3. He puts the lump of clay on the wheel and has to center it. His hands on the clay holding on applying pressure to center it.
God's presence.
4. He begins to open the clay.
God's emptying.
5. Once the clay is open He can start to form and shape it into a new vessel.
God's forming.
6. The first firing and most important, cause if there is still junk in it it will explode.
God's testing.
7. The second firing and the hottest firing where the process is completed. Now it can be used.
God's glory.
A beautiful mosaic?
"The Spirit said, "All the broken pieces of your life are nothing more than the beautiful mosaic of your future."
So, I shared my simile of our lives as clay tablets; works of art that we're improving upon daily. We each paint our own tablet. While some of our tablets are bright and beautiful, full of color and life, others are drab, with only beige and brown paint signifying an unfilled life. More important though is what happens once your precious clay tablet slips from your fingers one day and falls to pieces at your feet. No matter the color of your tablet, once it's shattered you will bow your knee to inspect the damage. Bowing down to the broken pieces of your life is an automatic reaction. One person bows down and picks up the pieces. Then, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he redesigns his picture, pasting the pieces to create a new mosaic. Because, "all the broken pieces of your life are nothing more than the beautiful mosaic of your future." Another person knells down among his destruction. He too collects the pieces, but then he sits in it - defeated. It cuts him and he bleeds. Every time you pass by, you see him still sitting there among the fragments of his life, bleeding. He cherishes his pain and bitterness flows from it. --Retha Mc Pherson a message from God
Something to think about!
So, I shared my simile of our lives as clay tablets; works of art that we're improving upon daily. We each paint our own tablet. While some of our tablets are bright and beautiful, full of color and life, others are drab, with only beige and brown paint signifying an unfilled life. More important though is what happens once your precious clay tablet slips from your fingers one day and falls to pieces at your feet. No matter the color of your tablet, once it's shattered you will bow your knee to inspect the damage. Bowing down to the broken pieces of your life is an automatic reaction. One person bows down and picks up the pieces. Then, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he redesigns his picture, pasting the pieces to create a new mosaic. Because, "all the broken pieces of your life are nothing more than the beautiful mosaic of your future." Another person knells down among his destruction. He too collects the pieces, but then he sits in it - defeated. It cuts him and he bleeds. Every time you pass by, you see him still sitting there among the fragments of his life, bleeding. He cherishes his pain and bitterness flows from it. --Retha Mc Pherson a message from God
Something to think about!
Psalm 143
A Psalm of David.
Hear my prayer, O LORD,
Give ear to my supplications!
Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your
righteousness!
And do not enter into judgement with
Your servant,
For in Your sight no man living is
righteous.
For the enemy has persecuted my
soul;
He has crushed my life to the ground;
He has mad me dwell in dark places,
like those who have long been dead.
Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed
within me;
I remember the day of old;
I meditate on the work of Your Hands.
I stretch out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You, as a parched
land.
Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit
fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go
down to the pit.
Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the
morning;
Teach me the way in which I should
walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.
Deliver me, O LORD, form my
enemies;
I take refuge in You.
Teach me to do Your will,
For you are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level
ground.
For the sake of Your name, O LORD,
revive me.
In Your righteousness bring my soul out
of trouble.
And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my
enemies
And destroy all those who afflict my
soul,
For I am Your servant.
This has been a Psalm that I have prayed for the last few months. It has been the prayer I have cried out to God with and I have found peace and comfort in it.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Every Can Counts!
Every Can Counts!
My nephew, Ty, watched a program about orphans in Africa. He decided to start collecting cans and recycle them to help feed the orphans.
He told me about his plan and I decided to help him. One day we put on our rubber gloves and took off on the quad with black trash bag in hand to collect cans. Our first stop was my cousin's house that is being built. We collected quiet a few cans and then took off for the ditches. Ty was ditch hopping and i was driving the quad. He would throw the cans up and I would empty them and smash them and put them in the bag. Team work!! He grabbed a real muddy dirty nasty can and I told him not to get that one. He told me with all seriousness, "NO, Aunt Kathy, Every can counts!" Man o man did that ever hit me hard. So, because he was right we collected a bucket full of muddy dirty nasty cans along with a half bag of other cans not so dirty. Mostly beer cans. I love that. I thought a lot about what he said. I even had a conversation with a dear friend about "every can counts".
What if we really lived each day like every can counted? Really think about that question!
Could we end poverty?
I think we could end poverty if we lived each day like every can counted. I think no person would ever go hungry.
I know we will always have the poor with us, cause Jesus tell us we will, but they do not have to go hungry.
I can not pass a can with out picking it up. I have even done some trash can diving and ditch diving. The enemy tried to stop me by speaking to my pride and saying what will people think of you, but I remember why and who I am picking up the cans. I pushed my pride aside and continued to dig in the trash, cause "Every Can Counts Aunt Kathy!"
What else might end if we lived like every can counted?
Think about it and let me know.
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