Week One.
I’ve made it through the first week. On last Wednesday (Ash Wednesday), my wife and I embarked on a NO-MEAT journey in honor of Lent. In years past, we have given up television, internet, and carbonated beverages for Lent, but I must say that this year’s journey proves to be the most difficult for me yet.
Over the last seven days, I have discovered two very important facts in life:
(1) My body (and perhaps my mind) has been way too conditioned to ALWAYS needing some kind of meat with my meals. And (2) It is extremely EXPENSIVE to eat healthy.
As I shared earlier in THIS POST, during this Lent journey I am reading through the book of Proverbs, perhaps one of the most important books in the entire Bible for us to sharpen our faith and character in Christ with. One particular passage has been forever stapled in my memory after reading it again on yesterday.
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,” when you have it with you. – Proverbs 3:27-28
It is amazing how many of us place a limitation on our generosity towards others. More often than not, we give when it is COMFORTABLE, and perhaps, even when it is FASHIONABLE, but when giving to others becomes PAINFUL, we prefer to simply pray than engage.
This week, my wife and I discovered that a young mother we both know, one that has three little boys, and is now pregnant with a fourth, is facing eviction from her apartment in just a few days. And to make matters worst, her husband and the father for all four of her children, has decided to leave. A tragic scene indeed.
I solicit your prayers for my wife and I as we reach out to this mother on today to find out what it is that we can do with the limited resources we have. Now more than ever before, I cannot afford to live life with a CLOSED FIST. When I consider God’s faithfulness towards my family over just this past year alone, my giving to others has no other alternative but to rise to a whole new level.
It is my prayer the same is true for you.
