Christmas is Coming!

It is Black Friday. Why black?  Because each retail store here in the US desires to end its year in the 'black' not in debt.  I am all for being out of debt no complaints here!   I am not at all about greed and acquiring stuff.  I am about giving, for me there is no greater joy. 

Children in America will create their list(s) and parents will scramble for the hottest toy around.  These lists are created in the midst of last years toys that are piled or stored in closets forgotten in the search for new. Black Friday millions of American shoppers will stand in line to be the first into a store to get that ultimate deal of the season. Let the games begin.

I could find no toys in Mongu!  I have two grand daughters who truly are blessed beyond description in all aspects of life.  When I travel I generally bring them back a 'present'.  That is code for 'toy'.   For when you are 4 and 6 years of age, 'toys' are the best gifts of all. :)  I told them that would bring them home a 'present'.  So you can be certain I was on the look out.

I regret missing one photo.  It was a toy....a ball made of rags.  In the pictures that follow I captured pictures of the few toys I found.    The push toy is 'hand made'.  Note too, the age of the 'child' pushing his toy.  He loved that we were interested in seeing it.  I am guessing it was his creation.

The soccer game photo below is being played with a very old, deflated ball.

At each of the villages that we visited we saw lots of children, beautiful children that delighted in just being acknowledged.   I peaked when appropriate into the many huts surrounding our visits.  Minimal is an understatement to describe the material goods of a given family.  These huts were protection from the night and the elements, they housed a few cooking utensils and little else.  Toys, a luxury beyond description.

We found this push toy when visiting a family that had a 'hammer mill' business. (Another story for another blog.)  The children were shy so they allowed Susan and Eloise 'play'.  Note what this toy was made out of.  (click on photo to enlarge). 

 

As I shop this year for my family and for those I love, my desire is to also share with those outside of the US who truly are in need.  You can't ship your toys over seas but you can contribute to a better life.  Water and food are gifts that sustain, give hope and life.  For each child you buy a gift for, consider buying a gift for a Zambian child.   http://www.handsofhopeonline.org/giftcards.asp this is one gift that won't be discarded after opening, stuffed in a closet or put in a garage sale this spring.  It is life giving.   Why don't you share this opportunity with your family and friends?  Let me know if you are 'in'!!!!!

"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 (Bible)

What Makes you Thankful?

What makes you Thankful?  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States.  It is a legal holiday set aside for us to reflect upon the things that we hold near and dear to our hearts.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  I love the traditions that we celebrate.  I love the intentional focus of this day!  I am so blessed and God has shown such favor on my life, that I am humbled beyond words.  If everything that I have were removed from me tomorrow I still remain a very fortunate human being.  I deserve nothing that I have and to say that I am grateful seems trite.

As an American the privileges and the blessings dictate that we bless others.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, He mandated that I  'Owe no one anything except to love one another,..'.  (Bible, Romans 13:8a).   Love is not just a verb, it is an adjective and a noun.  It requires action and involvement apart from feeling.  It is a duty with great rewards. Someone benefits, always, by another's love. 

What I am discovering about me, that I am not liking so much, is that there are too many things of late, I do not like or want to do. Why is this a problem?  The problem lies in the fact that my dislikes come from the abundant blessings that have been bestowed upon me.  Stop for a minute and think about your lists of discontent.  Is it a job, laundry, cleaning your home, grocery shopping, going to a doctor, doing daily chores?  Each of these things are abundant blessings most of the world cannot experience.  I have the luxury of choice!  

As I reflect upon the state of the world, the poverty, the lack of medicine and clean water,  the wars, the abuse of people, etc.  I could become discouraged.  What can just one individual do to make a difference?  However, I have learned that one person can make a huge and wonderful difference! 

One smile can give encouragement, one random act of kindness can give hope, one selfless deed can soften a hardened heart, one financial donation can open a door for a better life.   None of these suggestions require a lot of money or even effort.  It requires thinking about someone beside yourself and acting upon it.  

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.  
Albert Einstein

 I weary of those whose wish list is to obtain 'more' of something.  When John D. Rockefeller was asked “how much would be enough?” he answered “just a little bit more.”   "Just a little bit more..." means we are never satisfied.  In this entry my desire is to encourage you to stop long enough and think about what you have.  Can you be content?  Do you need more to make you happy?  Will you really be happy?  I am here to tell you 'stuff' and 'wealth' do not make a happy content person.  Giving back to others is where true happiness is found.

The happiest and most content people I know are those who give to others and do for others.  They do not focus on what they can get out of the arrangement but what they can do next to make another persons life better.    As you look at the photos below the pictures represent housing, health needs, shopping, indulgences such as toys, and jobs.  Do you still wish to pine and complain?

Are you stuck on how to give, how to help, how to change your focus?  Let me know :)  When we realize that life is not about us we then we soon become content.

These are very nice huts.  4 walls made of mud, the roof it thatched and the cooking is done outside over a fire pit.  The floor of the huts are sand. 

This young mother and her baby have AIDS.  Though smiling she will not see the end of 2013.

This is 'it' for a toy.  It was hand made, he was content and he was very proud to show us what he made.

This a mother shopping.  These clothes are our castoffs.  Castoffs from Good Will, Salvation Army and such.

 

After harvesting his crop, he must sell it to earn his wage.