No Matter How Far

Many of you know that our family loves to volunteer at the Children's Hunger Fund warehouse in Homewood, IL.  But you may not know much about the organization.

Not only do they work locally with churches to bring food and the gospel to many but they work in many countries around the world.

Here is a short video that shows some of the work that is done around the world.

You can also get more information on their website at www.chfus.org.

Do you feel trapped in the machine of excess?

Yes.

Yes.

And Yes again!

That is the question on the back cover of the book 7 - an experimental mutiny against excess by Jen Hatmaker.

Recently I saw some women on Facebook discussing this book and I had to know more about it. I was told it was a must-read, so I moved it up on my list. High above the 200 books already on my pile.

My only regret.......I requested it from the library and I really wish I had my own copy. I finished it today and it was due back today. They won't let me renew it because someone else has requested it, so I am quickly writing a blog post before I bring it back tomorrow.

I'm not really even sure where to start with this book except to say that I LOVED IT!

If you want a book that is going to challenge you.....this book will do that!

Jen writes about 7 months that she took different areas in her life and fasted. Clothes, Shopping, Food, Waste, Possessions, Media, and Stress. She is very funny and I love her honesty. But she shares Bible passages along the way and shares her spiritual growth throughout this experiment.

I will just share a few things from the book, just so you get the idea. Each month involved the number 7 - hence the name of the book. Food month - she strictly at 7 different foods. Clothing month - she only had 7 articles of clothing she could wear. Media - her whole family fasted from 7 different types of media.

I really wish I had my own copy of this book because I would be underlining, highlighting and ready to share some of my favorite parts of the book......but "NOOOO...." I wanted to save my $10.

Even though Jen wrote the book, I would like to share a little bit of what her husband wrote at the end of media month:

One of Peter's early leadership lessons from Jesus was about letting go. He said the things we hold loosley are more likely to have eternal impact than the things we bind. When we hold too tightly to things, we lose perspective as well. While Jesus was talking about the kingdom in this passage, His words certainly give us insight to our created nature.

We like our stuff. We need our things. Usually the things we think we need become the very things we need a break from.......

.....Honestly, my biggest fear going into media month was that the world might stop turning until I was done, but I discovered others didn't need me to be as wired as I though. Most of my media involvement is simply about me (blah).

All told, media month offered some pretty good perspective. Someone once said, "Think about the things you'd most hate to lose (outside your family), and you'll identify your idols." These are not only the things we treasure too much but what we've likely lost perspective on. We place this stuff on a pedestal that wasn't built for it......

The dangerous part of our social media and technologically saturated world is not it's existence but what it distracts us from.....

So, what do I do next?

Do I just say, "Wow, that was a great book but doing all that is not for me. That is too radical."

I wish I could but I can't.

Tomorrow, before I bring this book back to the library, I will write down her 7 experiments. I will make notes. Next, I will try to get my family on board, so together we can determine areas in our life that we need to fast.

I will seek out my idols and find the things that I hold onto too tightly. I hope in the end, I not only find these things but I am able to let go of them and grow closer to God in letting them go.

I will keep you posted......

If you have read this book, I would love to hear from you and discuss with you what you think. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it and would love to hear your thoughts once you have.

Fourth Of July Fun

I am slowly going through months of photos and found this one of Isaac.

We are not ones to spend money on fireworks but $2 sparklers I will do!

How We've Been Spending Some of Our Summer Days

We have been spending our Monday afternoons at the bowling alley watching Isaac bowl. He had lots of fun and can't wait to do it again next year.

Then on Tuesdays we spent an hour watching Alex and Amanda at gymnastics. They've learned a lot and also loved going!

We have also spent a lot of time making trips to and from the Library and reading like crazy to earn prizes. They have gotten Free Kids Meals at Boston's and Applebees plus free Ice Cream at Culvers and McDonalds. So now we will spend the rest of the summer going around and eating our free food.

Chore Charts + Lemonade Stand = Backpacks

Last year our family became involved with an organization called The Children's Hunger Fund. After volunteering at their warehouse just one time, we fell in love with their mission.

If you remember last year we hosted our first Lemonade Stand to raise funds for their Back to School Paks.

This year the kids made a goal to raise more money.

They had chore charts and were busy doing chores from January through June with all the money they were paid going towards the Backpacks.

In June we once again hosted a Lemonade Stand. Jim Callow from the Children's Hunger Fund came out and helped us set up and joined us for a while. We had many friends and family who came out to support the cause. Over $500 was raised from the Lemonade Stand alone.

For every $10 that is donated to CHF, One Backpack is packed with school supplies and given to a child in need.

But you can also pack your own backpacks and donate them as well. We will be donating most of the money to CHF but we also like to pack our own backpacks too. We went out and bought 20 backpacks and all the supplies to fill them. By shopping some sales we were able to pack each of those backpacks for $8.12.

After all of this, 99 backpacks have been donated to CHF!

We are so excited that 99 children in our community and in need will now receive a backpack with school supplies this year. Our prayer is that these backpacks will open the door for many families to hear the gospel and that many will come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.

We are so thankful to many of you who have so generously donated and for your prayers.

But most of all we are so thankful that God has blessed our efforts and we give Him all the glory!

My Babies

Eight years ago we brought 3 babies home and put them in a crib together.

Eight years later I walked in a room to find this. My three babies sleeping in one bed together again.

It made this mom's heart glad.

No Party Is Complete Without A.......

Pinterest idea or two.

Yep, it's another birthday post. I promise this will be the last one.

And since I'm not much of a party planner, you can be assured that you won't have to see another post about a party for a VERY long time!

Well, until next summer when Brad turns the big 4-0! So that may be a long time to you or maybe it's a short time. Anyway.......

This #8 was made by cutting the 8 out of a cardboard box. I then glued coffee filters to it. Then I folded coffee filters up and glued them in making it look more full. Then you spray paint.

I taped it to the garage door along with a bunch of Happy Birthday signs and as kids showed up this was our photo booth. Each child was able to put some funny hats, glasses, necklaces, or whatever they could find in my dress-up bin and have their picture taken with the birthday girls or boy.

I am currently waiting for these pictures to arrive on my doorstep and I will attach them to a card to send out as a Thank You. Here are a few of the pictures that I took.