Spending too much, who me?

Ooh, this one is tough.  Cause I actually think I'm really good about spending.  Until I actually take a look at my spending.

Jen has some questions for us to ponder, here's one I really like:

If someone looked over your checkbook/bank statement/credit card statement, what would they say your spending priorities are?  Does this assessment accurately reflect your heart?

Something from this chapter that really stood out for me was from day 20.  Jen asks if our choices really matter when we look at the big picture, then lists what we spend annually in the US on cosmetics ($8 billion), US & Europe on Pet Food ($17 billion) and US &  Europe on Perfume ($12 billion).  Then on the flip side, she lists the global totals for clean water ($9 billion), basic education ($6 billion) and basic health and nutrition for all ($13 billion).  This turns my stomach.  As a "world" how could we possibly be spending more on Pet Food, then basic health and nutrition for all people?????

She refers to a United Nations report that states 86% of total private consumption expenditures come from the top 20% of the world's people from the highest income countries.  In other words "20% at the top buying 86% of the stuff".    So if we changed our habits, which way would we go - would we spend less and save more or spend less and give more?

I'd like to close with a passage from Isaiah, translated in The Message version.  Ponder the promises He makes, if we do what He is "interested in seeing us do".

Isaiah 58:7-12

The Message (MSG)

^6-9 “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.’

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

^9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
    quit blaming victims,
    quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
    and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
    your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
    I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
    firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
    a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
    rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
    restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
    make the community livable again.

Do we have to wear tie dyes and flowers in our hair too?

Ok, maybe that's going a little too far :)  When you think about it, this month's topic is more about adopting new habits than fasting from a particular item or object.  So, if you are not ready to take up gardening, composting, recycling, conserving, buying only local/thrift store or used items, and driving only one car.... then here are some other suggestions Jen provides for you to consider:

• Eliminate 7 convenience products that contribute to landfills/deforestation or pollution (paper towels, water bottles, baggies, paper plates, fast food, plastic grocery bags and soda cans)
• Take inventory of your pantry, bathroom cabinets and cleaning supplies - assess the following 7 areas
• what items come heavily packaged with multiple layers of cardboard or plastic?
• what could you buy in bulk rather than individual packages?
• can you buy a concentrated product, add water and re-use an old spray container?
• with what products could you reduce plastic consumption?
• where can you replace paper with cloth?
• what products are unnecessary and could be eliminate altogether?
• what containers could be reused?

Something else to think about from this chapter is a quote Jen refers to from Wendell Berry "The ecological teaching of the Bible is simply inescapable:  God made the world because he He wanted it made.  He thinks the world is good, and He loves it.  It is His world; He has never relinquished title to it.  And He has never revoked the conditions, bearing on His gift to us of the use of it, that oblige us to take excellent care of it.  If God loves the world, then how might any person of faith be excused for not loving it or justified in destroying it?"

I look forward to digging in deeper with you all on the 13th when we get together again next time.

Step away from the technology...

Welcome to Chapter 4, the Media Fast.  Oh boy!  Jen did this media fast with her entire family.  I am leery of even mentioning a media fast to the entire family, they might tie me up and throw me in the closet!  I didn't think our family was too addicted to media, but then I took some inventory.  After mentally counting the iPod Touches, smartphones, lap tops, TV's, Nintendo DS, desk top computer, Wii, xbox, blah blah blah, I re-evaluated.  Not sure what the family will say, but I'm going to present them with some of the alternative fast ideas Jen gives in the leader guide.  Maybe your family will be open to trying one of these - remind that that next week is the week before Easter - a great time to fast! Here are some of Jen's ideas:

• dedicate only one hour a day to any media or technology
• let each family member pick only one screen option for the week, and only for a limited time
• choose a cut-off time in which every family member turns in phones, laptops or games each day
• make a media-alternative plan for each day/night (family game night, picnic for dinner, bike to the park, invite another family over, take a family walk, kids make dinner night, serve together, you get the idea)
• choose people to connect with IN PERSON this week instead of using media
• dedicate 7 hours a day to no screens
• declare screen free zones of the house or times of the day

A final thought for today.  Jen suggests we take a look at Proverbs 6:6-11  in relation to social media, so here it is for you:

Proverbs 6:6-11

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁶ Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.
⁷ Without having any chief,
    officer, or ruler,
⁸ she prepares her bread in summer
    and gathers her food in harvest.
⁹ How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
¹¹ and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

Then she poses this question:

Does social media activity decrease your productivity?  

Lastly, a thought from me:

Consider the amount of time you spend in social media vs the amount of time you dedicate to spending with God each day.  How could your life be different if you adjusted these amounts even a little?

How do we fast from "Possessions"?

In the chapter on possessions, Jen's family pledged to give away 7 items a day for the entire month.  That would have equalled 210 items.  They actually gave away more than 1000 items.  WOW!  Can you imagine giving away 1000 items in one month?  What I really loved about that was that they tried to be specific, and find actual recipients for the items.  It's great to donate to an organization like Goodwill, but imagine the feeling of actually handing your stuff to someone who really needs it.

Passion for Community (part of NLCC) runs a program called Spring.  Spring serves under-resourced families in the Chantilly, Centreville, Reston, and Herndon areas, by providing household items, clothing, furniture, and baby items to families in need.  If you have never had the opportunity to deliver items with the Spring delivery team, it is something you could sign up to do this month.  I volunteered for Spring for 4 years when it first started, and it completely changed my life.  The first delivery I every did was to a single mom in Reston.  She had basically nothing for her baby and wasn't getting much support from her family.  I brought her a carload of donated items that Spring had collected, and she was blown away.  She knelt down on the floor and put her head in her hands and cried.   And I cried.  I felt like God used me to love that women that day, and I knew that I wanted other people to experience that.  Spring delivers to many families each month and can use your help.

Other options suggested by Jen for this chapter are:

• each family member purge 7 items a day for a week
• give away 7 items from each room in the house
• choose 7 categories to purge (toys, clothing, kitchen good, linens, home accessories, furniture, etc)
• for big ticket items, sell them online and donate the proceeds
• this is a great month to involve your family in fasting if you haven't yet
• dont buy anything new (unless related to survival) for the next week (month?)

I'll end today's post with Matthew 6:19-21 from the Amplified Bible (you can find tons of different bible translations at www.biblegateway.com).  Think this week about how these verses apply to your life.  

Matthew 6:19-21

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁹ Do not ^[a]gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.

²⁰ But ^[b]gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal;

²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

Chapter 3: Possessions

This book is messing with me.

I am enjoying it very much, don't get me wrong.  Its just making me think, and rethink, and not want to think, about a lot of stuff.  About my stuff.  Too much stuff.  I don't even feel like I can write about it yet.  I'm still chewing on these chapters about clothing and possessions, trying to figure out what God is trying to teach me in all this.  Knowing for sure that He doesn't want me to just read it and forget it.

So I will leave you with some words from God, then some words from Jen:

Matthew 6:21  Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.  Can you think of 5 simple choices you can make that will draw you closer to the right treasures, and in doing so, help put distance between you and the wrong ones?  Pray about it.  God is so for you in this department.  He wants this for us."

What are you thinking about all of this??

Chapter 2: Clothing

To be honest, I approached this chapter thinking that fasting from clothing might not really be important for me.   I do like a cute outfit, but I am definitely not a "fashionista".  I work with preschool students, so at work I wear jeans most days, and I regularly expect that I will get paint, Play-doh or some type of runny nose goop on my clothing at least once per week.  I don't consider myself a frequent clothing shopper.  A lot of the items I see staring back at me from my closet are things other people accidentally shrunk and just passed down (one of the benefits of being short).  I figured I was doing pretty well in this area.

Then Jen said she had 327 articles of clothing (including accessories, shoes, etc) and challenged us to count our own stock.  I didn't count the pantry items during the food chapter last month, so I decided to go ahead and start counting clothing, sure that I wouldn't come near the number she had.  Then I started counting.  I was pretty surprised at how much was actually in there!  It was a good wake up call for me, and encouraged me to do two things.  The first is really consider what I NEED before I buy (instead of just what I WANT) and the second is that it is time to clean that closet out and donate some clothing to charity.  My husband is on board with that idea and plans to clean his side out too (which ironically has more than mine).

I was excited when I started reading about about Day 9 - when Jen's friend described her experience at the Austin Women's Clothing Swap.  What a great idea!  The Women's Ministry happens to be sponsoring a modified version of this at the nZone on April 27th.  We are calling it "Bring the Bling" and we hope to have a fantastic accessories swap that night, so that ladies can go home with some great "new" items for free.  It's basically recycling at its best.

So the question is,  where will this chapter take you?  What kind of fasting, if any, can you do in the area of clothing?  Do you think this is an important area for you?  What does the bible say about clothing?  Check out the Message version of Matthew 6:28-33 for some insight.  And have a great week!

Matthew 6:28-33

The Message (MSG)

^27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Leviticus anyone?

Chapter 1: Food

Week 3

Welcome to the last week for chapter 1!  Hope you have had time to think about the chapter, and to try some type of fasting from food if that was something you wanted to do this month.  

For this week's post, I've got a question for you...When was the last time you read a chapter from Leviticus?  It's been a while for me too, but Jen suggests we read Leviticus Chapter 11, so to make it easy for you, here it is.  I will add a bit of commentary from Jen at the end.

Leviticus 11

New International Version (NIV)

Clean and Unclean Food

11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: ³ You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.

⁴ “‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. ⁵ The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁶ The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁷ And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. ⁸ You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

⁹ “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. ¹⁰ But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. ¹¹ And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. ¹² Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.

¹³ “‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle,^[a] the vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴ the red kite, any kind of black kite, ¹⁵ any kind of raven, ¹⁶ the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, ¹⁹ the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

²⁰ “‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. ²¹ There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. ²² Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. ²³ But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.

²⁴ “‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. ²⁵ Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

²⁶ “‘Every animal that does not have a divided hoof or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will be unclean. ²⁷ Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. ²⁸ Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. These animals are unclean for you.

²⁹ “‘Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat,any kind of great lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. ³¹ Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. ³² When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean.³³ If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. ³⁴ Any food you are allowed to eat that has come into contact with water from any such pot is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such a pot is unclean. ³⁵ Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. ³⁶ A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. ³⁷ If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. ³⁸ But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹ “‘If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean till evening. ⁴⁰ Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

⁴¹ “‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. ⁴² You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean. ⁴³ Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. ⁴⁴ I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. ⁴⁵ I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

⁴⁶ “‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. ⁴⁷ You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.’”

Jen talks about the reasons behind these laws and shows that by giving them to us, God is protecting his entire creation.  She states that "most of the clean animals are herbivores, and the unclean are carnivores...God forbid the consumption of scavengers, predators and bottom-dwellers.  These animals are capable of ingesting and processing tremendous amounts of poison and waste in short periods of time...by abstaining from these unclean animals we do not rid the planet of its necessary clean-up crew, nor do we ingest the toxins they were created to filter."

Think about God's amazing plans for us in regard to food.  Every single detail thought out in advance, from providing all of the fabulous, nutritious and diverse plant foods we have to choose from, to adding a wonderful and complex system of creatures for us to eat, God has a plan and design for everything.  

I look forward to talking to you all about the previous month, and cant wait to read chapter 2!