30 days to the 30 hours: Days 3 & 4

This has been tough so far to say the least. Through the Grace of God though we have been able to make it though the last week. We have had some difficult time were we failed miserably to meet the goal we set for that day. So let us get started and over the course of the next couple of days I will attempt to catch you up from where we last left off.

Day 3-No relationships.
Throughout the course of our 30 days so far(and I know that we are still early on in it) this has been the most difficult challenge so far. As of right now there 15 million children around the world who have lost one or both parents from AIDS. Imagine life without those you love most. We had to each pick a person to avoid interacting with for day 3. Annie chose each other. We both failed miserably. The girls picked each other. They both failed miserably. I cannot imagine life without Annie or my children, I have no desire to do so. I could not even go an hour after I woke up that morning before I spoke to her. Family is so precious of a gift. This day I learned I should never take my family for granted. None of us should. We may wake up one day to find we have lost them.

The number of children missing at least one parent from just AIDS throughout the world is staggering. 15 million! Take some time and think about these children as you read the rest of this. I know it does not seem like we can do a lot. I like to read about the Old Testament prophet Elijah when I feel that way. The story of when he faced the prophets of Baal. He was just one man but had God in his corner and was able to accomplish much. There are many men and women through the Scriptures who were alone except for our Lord God and through him were able perform many amazing acts. Read about them when you get the feeling that the task is to big to overcome. Look at what God can do through just one person of faith. Can you imagine the works that he would perform if just 10, 20, 50, or 100 of us would just stand together united with one voice for a cause such as this. I know that it would be amazing.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Phillipians 4:13 (NASB)

Day 4-No Facebook & Twitter

Every day, over 400 million users access facebook, which has around 800 million members. This represents a lot of influence and power. This day was setup so you could take the day off and consider how you use the facebook and twitter outlets. So the question you really have to ask is what do you do with your time spent facebooking, is it connecting with family and friends? Is it to play games? Is it to spread a meaningful message? Is it to sit around and gripe, cry, and whine about the small petty things that have upset you that day? It is for you to decide what you do with your facebook account. I'm just trying to encourage you to make it something worthwhile.

This day was very easy to get through for Annie and I. It did not really apply to the kids as only one of them has a facebook and she is not aloud to access it often.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this. Please pray for my family and I as we continue for the rest of the 30 days. If you feel lead to help out the hungry and poverty stricken, but do not know a good place to start please feel free to contact me or Annie. We would be glad to give you some suggestions to get you started.

Thank you & God Bless

30 days to the 30 hours Days 1 and 2

 First I would like to give an explanation of what the 30 days to 30 hours is. An organization called World Vision, a group that helps to fight poverty and hunger throughout the world, has an annual event called 30 hour famine. This is an event for youth groups to put on at their local churches to help raise awareness of hunger. I have attended this event the past 3 years. It has been a great experience for me. I however have decided though that I cannot be happy only giving 30 hours a year of my time to fight for this cause. Knowledge of this plight must be shared. My family and I have taken this as our first step. Over the course of the next 30 days we will give up something each day that people in poverty stricken areas normally go without everyday. Which we will end on the last day with a 30 hour famine of our own here at home. I will write as often as I can, so that you will be able to follow along with us. At anytime if you feel the need to help with poverty and hunger please contact Annie or I and we can give you some great suggestions for ways to contribute.

Day 1, No shoes. Many poor people in the world go everyday without anything to wear on their feet. They have to go barefoot, walking many miles over rough and rocky terrain to go to work or collect water as they do not have plumbing. Many children do not get to attend school because they cannot afford shoes and the schools won't allow them in without them. We went the whole day on Sunday with no shoes ourselves. After talking with Annie and the kids we could all agree on one thing walking to church that morning was very painful. The rocks and dry grass made for a very unpleasant experience. Annie and I also agreed that it gives you a prisoner feeling, not being able to enter into many places, because of the no shoes, no shirt, no service rule. We did like that it was an effective way to get people to notice us and ask why we had no shoes. Then we could explain what we were doing. Any chance to raise awareness of the fact that many poor people do life with bare feet everyday is good.

Trust me, I have no illusion that no shoes or socks for one day in central Illinois is anywhere near the plight suffered in places like Haiti. I thank God for the blessings he has given us and I continue to pray for God to attend to the needs of those  who don't have.

Day 2, No electricity. So if I gave you any indication that no shoes was tough it did not even compare to this. First, it turned out that it was impossible for me to go the whole day without electricity. We have become to dependent on the convenience of just flipping a switch for light or pressing a button for entertainment. Which was an area we all agreed that was very difficult after a long hard day of work, everyone really wanted to kick back and watch some TV and we could not. This however was no comparison to not being able to run the AC for the day when the high reached 93 degrees. Everyone here at the house was miserable. Once again no real comparison to many of the children in places like Uganda.

After the first 2 days of our 30 days, I can safely say that I have taken many aspects of my life for granted. I pray that the Lord keeps opening my eyes to this.