"But Godliness actually is a means of great gain,
when accompanied with contentment.
For we have brought nothing into the world,
so we cannot take anything out of it either.
And if we have food and covering,
with these we shall be content."
1 Timothy 6:6-8
On Saturday Mara and I headed off, picking up SuSan on the way, to a food packing event sponsered by a local Bible College. There we met up with some others from our church as well as many others from the community.
When we got there we had to fill out a little form, don some lovely "shower" caps and sanitize our hands. Then we sat down to recieve instruction and watch a little video the showed who the food was going to. We were packing small packets of rice mixed with seasoning, soy protien and dried veggies. 
Mara had fun helping with the scooping and I got to help seal them up. It was a fun Saturday noon activity to take a little bit of our time to help just a tiny bit those who have nothing.
I wanted to share with you a couple of the videos we saw while we were there. It made me cry to see how people live in other places. They don't begin to have what they need. It also made me realize yet again how very, very blessed we are!
When I see videos like this, when we recieve newsletters from Sudan African Mission that tell about babies being born out under trees in the dirt because there is no other place available and when we read stories of the true accounts of missionaries like the Morses in "Exodus to a Hidden Valley" (Which we are reading aloud at our house right now) we are all realizing over and over again just how blessed we are, that we need to be thankful and not complain and that we need to do all that we can to share with others.
I am feeling a profound sense of gratitude today. I am abundantly blessed. Here are just a small sampling of the things that God has given to me and I am thanking Him for:
491. Never ever having to go hungry because there wasn't enough to eat.
492. An abundance of food and clothing.
493. Fresh, clean and good tasting water.
494. Health.
495. The country in which I live.
496. Knowing God's love my whole life.
498. My Dad's 60th year! I am so glad to have such a wonderful Father who made it easy to love and trust my heavenly Father.
500. The fun of reading a book in one sitting on a lazy Saturday afternoon. (I don't think I have done that since Mara was a baby!)
505. Family
506. Salvation.
What do you have to be thankful for?
"Oh give thanks to the Lord,
call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him,
sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders."
Psalm 105: 1 & 2
8 comments:
Thank you for sharing this!! This brought tears to my eyes. How sad that people are made to live this way!! What an awesome ministry that is that you participated in!! My daughter (Abbi 9yrs old) was very alarmed that these kids eat rocks!! How sad :( What an awesome post, thank you for sharing this and opening my eyes.
Your sister in Christ, :) Shelley
Thanks, Abbi, for putting up the videos. I hadn't been able to find them. We do have soooo very much to be thankful for. mom
Thanks for sharing Abbi! Those videos are really touching. I have been reading "Choosing Gratitude, a journey to joy" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and it has really been opening my eyes to how much we complain every day and aren't thankful for what we have. We are blessed beyond measure and we as Americans simply take it all for granted. I am trying to change my attitude and I hope I can influence other people by my example as well.
Thank you for the reminder :)
Thanks so much for sharing, Abbi. I always love reading your lists. The family picture turned out great!!
Thank you for sharing. Its hard to be focused on the right thing. Even reading, sometimes I felt a little like "I wish I had that, she does"...its such a part of life to complain! Something I am really working on. Last night while walking with my family the hymn came to mind "grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all my sin" (sorry don't know the title) and it was amazing to me to think that God's grace covers ALL my sin. I am so thankful for that, since if you think about it, that is a lot of coverage! :)And then thankful that he doesn't stop there but also sanctifies us.
I LOVE the family picture!!! Probably one of my favorites of your family! Keren did a great job!! I love catching up on your blog. I always look forward to it after being away from the internet for a while.
Your family picture is great!!
Was that Feed My Starving Children at Oak Hills? It looks and sounds very similar, but I didn't realize they set up portable packing stations. It is a neat work.
THanks everybody! I did find the videos very touching, I am glad that you were touched by them too.
THanks for the comments on the family picture, I like it too but it isn't quite my favorite one. THere was another I liked even better that I think I will make into a poster and probably send out next Christmas. I hope to do a post with a bunch of the pictures Keren took too. Though there are a lot of them, you might just want to skim through! :-)
Anna, THe group was Feed My Starving Children. They use mobile sites sometimes.
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