Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
A little over a month ago, we received a dvd in the mail. It wasn't actually intended for us, but I honestly didn't even look at the actual address written on it before I threw away the outer envelope. I just assumed it was for whoever lived here before us. After reading the synopsis, I stuck it in the dvd player while Trey and I played in the living room. I watched about half an hour of it, realizing as I teared up as a mother in Africa described how her children often go to bed crying because they're hungry that I needed to wait and watch it at a time when Steve and I could watch it together without getting distracted.
A few weeks ago, we finally sat down and put it in the dvd player. It was definitely not lighthearted entertainment. Many parts made me cry, and the rest left me feeling very unsettled. My initial response after it was over was, "Let's watch something that will make me feel better!" but I knew that was exactly the opposite of what I needed to do. We didn't talk a whole lot as we watched it because we didn't want to miss anything, but after it was over, we had one of the best discussions we've had in a long time. In the video, Wes Stafford from Compassion International discusses how much of Scripture addresses the poor, the needy, the suffering. Jesus talks about them over and over. Wes said something along the lines of it doesn't matter what we think about the poor, what bothers us about their situation...what matters is what we DO.
That's the part that bothered me. Made me uncomfortable. Do I think that Christians have to take a vow of poverty or feel guilty about every dollar we spend? No. But do I think we are accountable for how we live? Yes. Even after giving up my income, I know we can be more generous than we are. Steve and I had a really good discussion about how this needs to look for our family and came up with some things we could start to do immediately.
Fast forward a few weeks to yesterday. While I was back putting Trey down for a nap, I got a phone call. I didn't recognize the number, but I just sent it to voicemail anyway since Trey was almost asleep. I googled the number while I finished feeding him, and it was the phone number for Compassion International. When I put Trey down and listened to the voicemail, it was a message about the little boy we sponsor, Ronald. Apparently, his mother is concerned about the gang activity in the area where the Compassion center is, so she has pulled him out of the program. So all of a sudden, we've lost the little boy we sponsor, just as I was getting better about writing regularly. When Steve got home, I told him about the phone call and later in the evening, we sat down at the computer and started browsing the Compassion website for a new child to sponsor. We prayed for guidance in selecting our child, but I still don't know how you can look at picture after picture of those kids and pick just one.
The sweet man that I married asked if we were just going to sponsor one child or two. We decided to cut out one of our bills and put that toward sponsoring a second child. So, we are now waiting for our packets for a little boy from Rwanda and a little girl from India. I am so excited. We're going to write our final letter to Ronald this week, which is sad, but I am glad that God used that to bless us with an additional child to sponsor. We still have a lot of areas to improve on in our budgeting and financial discipline, but I don't think we should cut our generosity. There are lots of other areas we can cut and should cut! I am excited to see how God helps us grow in our discipline so that we can be more generous with what He has given us. I'll post pictures of our new kiddos as soon as we get them in the mail. :-)
