Joplin Relief

My heart goes out to all who have been affected in our country this year by tornadoes and flooding. Looking at the photos of the complete devastation is overwhelming to my senses. I can’t even imagine what it is like to be one of those impacted by the destruction.

In times like this, I often feel like I’m at a loss to know how to help. I’d love to just go there and offer my physical assistance. But that’s not always appropriate or safe to do with my children. In the case of the Joplin relief efforts, they have actually been turning away volunteers because they have more than they can coordinate with.

For most of us, financial assistance is the best tangible help we can give. Yet there again I feel like I’m at a loss. There are many organizations and groups who are soliciting for financial donations to help the victims. But how can one KNOW that they can trust what is being done with their money? It is not unusual for a charity organization to use up to 40% of donations for administrative costs and fund-raising campaigns. When a disaster like this strikes, most people want ALL of the money they give to help those in need.

There is a church in Joplin, Missouri, that is a hub for helping those devastated in their community. The youth were gathered for Bible study when the tornado warning came. They prayed that their lives and their building would be spared. Although they were in the path of the tornado, it literally jumped over their building and touched back down on the other side of the highway. Joplin Family Worship Center has become a hub of outreach to their shell-shocked community. They’ve been busy distributing food, water, shelter, clothing, infant formula and hygiene items. They’re also providing lunch and dinner for community and emergency workers, as well as grief and trauma counseling.

If you visit the Joplin Family Worship Center website, you can see a list of items that are needed for distribution or things you can do if you are physically there to help. There is also a link on their website where you can donate to their relief efforts.  Check this site frequently, as they are always updating the list of items needed for donation.

While there are many legitimate organizations and agencies working in these devastated parts of our country, I appreciate an opportunity to give to people who live right there and are helping their own neighbors. These are the people that I feel will have a lasting impact in their communities because they will still be their after the dust settles.

School in a Briefcase

Uganda, Africa, has the youngest population in the world, with an average age of 15.3 years.  Uganda is also the poorest country in the world with an annual per capita income of only $300 a year.

From Litnet! website

As a result, education is severely lacking, especially in the rural areas.  The teacher turnover rate is high, and there is a severe lack of books.

My friends, David and Sharyn Curtis, have been working in Uganda for over twenty years with Litnet!, developing an educational tool called School in a Briefcase.  This curriculum has been developed for use in the rural Christian schools to promote literacy.  In addition, David and Sharyn provide training for teachers.

From Litnet! website

School in a Briefcase contains songs, stories, games, student reading books, an alphabet chart, alphabet books, writing activities, and complete lesson plans based upon Biblical character traits, Bible stories, and memory verses.

This is a simple yet important way to reach out to "the least of these".  For $30, another School in a Briefcase can be produced and distributed.  And it can be used numerous times to teach groups of children and adults to read.

Find out more about Litnet! by browsing their website.  I have known David and Sharyn for over twenty years, and I know them to have a passion for education, both here in America and in Uganda.  They are people of integrity and generosity.  If you are looking for a way to make an impact in the most needy areas of the world, this is a great way to do just that.

The Local Food Bank

Many people have a desire to do something that impacts their community, or to do something to help the needy, but they don’t know where to start.  This was certainly the case for my family.  We live in a small suburb that is referred to as a "bedroom community" (where most residents commute to the metro area to work).  We were unsure of where to begin doing something meaningful within our own community to help those who are in need.  With a little investigation, we discovered that we had a local food bank.

I encourage you to check out your local food bank.  There may be more opportunities to make a difference there than you might think.  I discovered that there were several ways my family could get involved at our food bank.  What does your food bank offer?

FOOD DONATIONS.  Find out what kind of donations they can receive.  Some are actually equipped with refrigerators and freezers, allowing them to receive more than just non-perishable foods.  Ask them if they receive donations of toiletries, too.  When shopping, think of foods that will be healthy and nourishing, rather than just filling. 

FINANCIAL DONATIONS.  Most food banks benefit from financial donations.  My local food bank works in tandem with a Samaritan’s Fund that will help families who are about to have their utilities shut off or who are about to lose their only vehicle.  The food bank writes a check directly to the utility company so that the money is not misused.  Financial donations also enable a food bank to purchase items that they are low on as well as supplies needed to run their operation.

VOLUNTEER.  Most food banks can use volunteer help.  Volunteers may help box up meal packs for families, sort donations that are received, or clean the premises.  Ask your local food bank what their volunteer needs are.

CLOTHING AND HOUSEHOLD GOODS DONATIONS.  I recently discovered that my local food bank receives the same donations that are received by places like the Goodwill.  These items are used to help those who are particularly needy, and once a month they have a sale in order to raise more funds for the food bank.

With such a variety of ways to get involved, anyone can help.  It’s a great place for your family to serve together, or for the groups you are part of (church, scouts, moms, homeschool, etc.).

“For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink… Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:35, 40)

About This Blog

I’m truly flabbergasted about the person I’ve turned out to be as an adult. If you knew anything about my childhood, you would probably think that it’s not so abnormal for me to be the way I am today. But if you knew the things I vowed to my mother as a teenager, you would surely laugh at me!

Let me help you understand.

First, there’s my dad. Born in a small town in Iowa, he moved to California as a small child, growing up as a good ole’ Caly-boy. After serving in the Vietnam War, he moved to Washington (the state) where he met and married my mom. Maybe he had redneck blood in him before moving to the Northwest, I don’t know.

And then there’s my mom. She grew up in northern Idaho on a farm way out in the country. She attended a one-room country school until she was a teenager. Her life consisted of frugality, resourcefulness, and all that was country life. In her teen years, her family moved to a small city where she had to adjust to a different way of life.

I was born and raised in said small city. Our house was situated on about one acre of land that used to be part of an old orchard. The house was built in the wee 1900s, and my dad learned DIY skills by gutting it and rebuilding it himself. It was closer to the edge of town, quiet, and surrounded by horse pasture. Our neighbors across the street were Finnish and grew a spectacular garden every year.

This little piece of property was my mom’s haven, a place where she could live out her dream of country life on a much smaller scale. Every summer she had a huge garden that required hours of weeding and watering every week. We always had a load of animals: chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats, hermit crabs, hamsters, and even goats! We even had a few old trees from the original orchard: a pear and several apple.

Although we ate our fair share of processed foods, my mom was always experimenting with health foods. The two that stand out in my mind the most as the worst ever: carob candy bars and tofu! I hated them both. And the health food store always smelled disgusting. My mom was amazing at making nearly everything from scratch, canning her abundance of summer produce, and letting us kids learn how to cook.

The summer before entering high school was a pivotal year for me. I decided one day that I hated the garden and I hated the goats! I did not want to spend one more day in that nasty, dirty garden. Mom would make me join my younger brothers in weeding, and she gained great pleasure from throwing earthworms and giant tomato worms on me in hopes of extracting a scream from me. Her attempts never failed! And when the goat escaped for the umpteenth time and collapsed the side of our above-ground pool in order to get a drink of water, I decided that I would rather eat her than ever have to look at her again!

That summer I struck up a deal with my mom. If she would allow me to stay far from the garden and the outdoor animals, I would do all of the family laundry for the entire summer break, bake homemade bread every week, and make dinner several evenings a week. This would allow me to stay indoors where I could keep my fingernails clean and I could listen to my music on cassette tape.

I was surprised when she agreed to it. I will never forget the hours I spent in the kitchen and laundry room. I made homemade bread by hand (no bread machine!!!) nearly every other day. I remember combing through the cookbooks to find something that I thought I could make without any help. I distinctly remember making Pavlov for dessert one night. I’d never heard of it before, but since we had all the ingredients for it, I decided to give it a try. I think that one surprised my mom.

And the laundry! Who knew that a family of five could generate mountains of it every day? At least it seemed like it was every day. I started making laundry rules for the rest of the family.

It was that summer that I swore to my mom that I would never live on a farm, I would never have a garden, and I would never have chickens, rabbits, goats, or any other “farm” animal.

“You just watch. You’ll end up marrying a cowboy and then your life will be full of those things,” she would tease regularly.

I hated it when she said that! I didn’t think it was funny. I did NOT want to marry a cowboy, much less live the farmish life she subjected me to! I made up my mind that I wanted to live in a big city. Not just any big city, either. I wanted to live somewhere hot because I hated the miserably cold winters.

Fast-forward to my twenties.

I did not marry a cowboy! I married a bona fide big-city boy with a rock star mullet. He was a drummer and had never worked in a garden, nor had he ever milked a goat, much less owned one. And to make the deal sweeter, he lived where it was HOT… Phoenix.

But something peculiar happened. Being a person who loves to read and research routinely, I began learning more and more about our conventional food system versus eating organic, unprocessed foods. The more I learned, the more I wanted to grow some of my own food. OUTLANDISH! How could I ever admit to my mother that I wanted to have a garden so that I could ask for advice? I spent over a year researching desert gardening because this was new territory for me. And then, to my own astonishment, I was growing tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, peas, and beets.

My city-boy husband had a growing aviary system in our backyard with exotic parrots. One pair started laying eggs, but kept breaking them before they could hatch. The solution: buy a bantam hen and have her lay on them. As soon as we got the hen, the parrots stopped laying. But I was suddenly won over by seeing the looks on my kids’ faces every morning when they would bring a chicken egg in the house. Fresh, organic chicken eggs. How cool was that? Wait, did I really say that? But one egg a day isn’t enough for a family of four. I realized that I “needed” more chickens. And by the way, where can I find someone who has a goat so I can get some nutritious milk?

Oh dear, what has happened to me? I’m turning into my mother… and then some!!! I went farther than my mom did. I gave birth to my babies at home in my own bed (with a midwife, of course). I didn’t immunize my babies. And then when they got a little older, I homeschooled those growing kiddos.

But wait! It gets even more strange. I started making my own kombucha, grinding my own wheat for bread, and… maybe I should stop before you think that I plum lost my mind.

Now that you understand where I’m coming from a little bit more, please allow me to say, “Welcome to my blog!”