It's Day 6 of our 31 Days of (Almost) No Spending. I have to say we have done very well. Especially considering it hasn't been a week yet. :) I have faith that we won't have to buy much until the last week. We shall see. (Seriously, I am amazed that more opportunities to spend haven't arisen.)
Soooo...we have decided to also spend this January doing something else unique.
We are not only halting our personal spending, but fasting in another way. It's not what you traditionally hear about. According to the Bible, Isaiah 58:6-9, fasting is much more than not eating food. From what I read here, it's about helping and loving one another. It's about encouraging someone. It's about giving to charities, monetarily and physically. It's about working on peace and healthy relationships in your family. Here, let me put some of the actual words on here. They are very interesting.
"This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'
Wow. Wow. Sounds like the answer to the problems I hear about on the news. We have a hand in, or actually a RESPONSIBILITY to do these things. You want to see our communities change? It does on to say, "You'll be known as those who can fix anything...make the community livable again." Wow. I'm in awe. Who knew that random acts of kindness was the answer to our world's problems. Oh, it may seem too simplistic to you. But I believe it with all of my heart.
Our whole life should consist of acts of kindness to others. We lift burdens off of people when we reach out to help them. Whether it's with a kind word, or paying for their McDonald's order. And I think the exciting part is when you get to do something like that, and they don't even know who did it!
I don't know if you've heard of The Birthday Project, but it was started by Robyn Bomar. I don't know a whole lot about her organization, but she decided to spend her 38th birthday doing 38 individual acts of kindness. That has started a widespread movement of people reaching out in kindness to one another. Of course, you don't have to wait for your birthday to help other people. Open your imagination. Go to her website and you will find all kinds of wonderful stories and information. Talk about inspiring!
Sherry
P.S. On a side note - Today I found the "post title" box that has been there all the time. I was trying to finagle a way to get a title on here manually. Now I am going back and editing my other posts and fixing them the "right" way. Oh, well.
Call me crazy.
No comments:
Post a Comment