Days of Giving

The day has arrived. One Day to Give hosted by Kristen over at We Are THAT Family.

"But just as you excel in everything- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us- see that you also excel in this grace of giving." II Corinthians 8:7

Right now, as a family, we are involved in several Giving projects-

1) For the past several years we have kept a missions jar. We fill it with loose change or sometimes a dollar bill or two. Our jar is almost full. This time around we will be giving the money to my brother Matt and his wife Heidi. They will be leaving for Banledesh in January for a short-term mission trip (6months).

2) We are also collecting loose change for Mission India. Mission India provides dedicated Indian Christians with essential training and materials through 3 core programs: Children's Bible Clubs, Adult Literacy Programs and Church Planter Training. The money we are collecting will go to help illiterate Indian women learn to read using Bible-based materials. There are more than 2,000,000 illiterate women in India. Indian girls are not considered worth educating, they are put to work at a young age and often married before they are 18. The literacy classes benefit the whole family because the mother passes her new knowledge on to her children.

Just A Few Facts About India:

• The are 1,013,661,777 people living in India (almost 4 times the number of people living in the U.S.).
• India is about a third the size of the U.S.
• Over 820 million people earn less than $2 a day.

Please lift up the Christians in India with prayer. They are facing severe persecution at this time. Many are homeless. They are hiding in the jungles and are fearing for their lives. Please take a few moments and check out this site or read about it on my blog here. It will open your eyes and break your heart as you read about the persecution the Indian Christians are facing.

The two other areas that I am personally focusing on are- family and prayer.

• Giving isn't 50/50. It is giving 100% of yourself and not expecting anything in return. How often do I do that?

I have found I struggle with this when it comes to my relationship with my family. I do my best to give, but sometimes in the back of my mind there lurks a "what a about me". I am convicted by my attitude towards my family. I am quick to give to others in need. I am glad to lend a helping hand where needed. And I don't require compensation. But, when I am getting worn out with all the requests for help, I start to resent my role as a mom.

Giving is meant to be an offering of oneself to those who are in need. At times I fail my children and my husband. I don't always give freely of my time and myself. At times selfishness overcomes me and I just want to withdraw. I am learning though. I only need to look to Jesus for the perfect example of the ultimate giver. The Giver of love, the Giver of peace, the Giver of strength, the Giver of eternal life.

I used to see giving as an external. To my way of thinking, it required an out pouring of activity, money or material goods. But, as a young mom I learned that one of the most important aspects of giving is to lift others up in prayer. It isn't an external mode of giving, but a deeply internal one. If I truly desire to give, then I must make the first step prayer. It is quite possible that all I am supposed to do is pray. If I don't start with prayer I won't know what God desires me to do. Maybe God will want me to take a meal to a needy family or write a thank you note to a lonely widow. But, quiet possibly, it may be the Lord wants me to give through fervent prayer. Prayer is so powerful. What better way to give, then to lift those in need up to the One who loves them wholly. He, who can perfectly heal, strengthen and comfort His beloved children.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19