Posts Tagged Doing Something

Bittersweet Celebration (Graces and Mercies, Doing Something)

One year ago today, my son went to be with his Maker.

It’s not the anniversary that I would have wanted to recognize, but recognize it we will.  And celebrate.  Tonight, we will have a house full of people, but more importantly, a house filled with laughter and singing.

I sometimes wondered how we would be able to make it through this last year.  For some reason, God saw fit to keep us here, and His mercy has been ever-present.  We celebrate that, and the fact that God is using Ian’s short life to bring hope to others.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our well project.  We are getting veeeery close to our goal of having wells dug for three villages!

Everything sad continues to come untrue…

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Hilariously Generous (Graces and Mercies, Doing Something)

Wow.

When we first started our well project, setting the goal at $2,600 (the price of one well), I thought that perhaps we would hit our goal…maybe.  I was surprised when we moved our goal up to $7,700.

I should learn not to sell God short.  It was His vision, and it’s being done in His timing, so it’s receiving His provision.  Consequently, I shouldn’t be surprised when I look at our FirstGiving page and see that, with more than a month to go, we’re at 78%.  I hope & pray that we will need to move our goal again.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
– 2 Corinthians 9:7

If God loves a cheerful giver, then there are people out there who are a riot.  Thank you to everyone who has invested in the Kingdom of Heaven with us.

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Water Project Update + This Week in Pictures, Two Weeks’ Edition (Announcements, This Week in Pictures, Doing Something)

God has moved in ways that astound us.  We were hoping to be able to raise enough money by the end of February for one well.  Because of some generous giving, we’ve increased our goal from $2,600 to $7,700.  In addition to a well, God is using this dream to raise money for clean water where it is needed immediately (Haiti).  If you haven’t yet, please consider donating a gift to provide life- and hope-giving water.

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I apologize for the lack of pictures last week.  I don’t even have extras to make it up to you.  Here are some of the more interesting ones from the past two weeks…

We had the privilege of going to Feed My Starving Children a couple of week ago.

We had the privilege of going to Feed My Starving Children a couple of week ago. I wish every two hours could be as purpose-filled as this.

This is what happens when you start tearing a corner and just...can't...stop.  Note:  The @#$% safety bar is now gone.

This is what happens when you start tearing a corner of wallpaper in a bathroom and just...can't...stop. Note: The @#$% safety bar is now gone.

Eyewitnesses reported the appearance of a bright, yellow object in the sky.  Nobody could identify the object.

Eyewitnesses reported the appearance of a bright, yellow object in the sky. Nobody could identify the object.

This is my bane, every afternoon.  Who improves a highway, then puts two stoplights, right in the middle of the busiest part?

This is my bane, every afternoon. Who improves a highway, then puts two stoplights, right in the middle of the busiest part?

Last Saturday, I got to build some speaker stands for the home theater.  It started off fun, but then it was just cold.

Last Saturday, I got to build some speaker stands for the home theater. It started off fun, but then it was just cold.

We went to the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe in Burnsville.  This...thing...caught our eye.  If you go, get the kabobs and honey-glazed veggies.

We went to the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe in Burnsville. This...thing...caught our eye. If you go, get the kabobs and honey-glazed veggies.

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The Cure for Thirst (Announcements, Temporal Echoes of the Eternal, Doing Something)

February 19, 2010 marks the one year anniversary of the passing of our son, Ian, from an inoperable brain tumor (DIPG). For more information on Ian’s story, visit his Caring Bridge site.

Sometimes a child gets sick and there’s no cure this side of heaven.  Thankfully, other times sickness can be cured or better yet, prevented.

Did you know a child dies every 15 seconds due to water-related illnesses?  Our hearts break for the parents of those children.     Especially because those deaths are very preventable.  Clean water, sanitation and hygiene can cut a community’s child death rate in half.  We want to ease needless suffering caused by unsafe water supplies.  Also, we want to help prevent other parents from experiencing what we have gone through.  Would you please help us?

World Vision brings the love of Christ to children and families in nearly 100 countries to meet their basic physical & spiritual needs. With the partnership of people like you and me, they are making a real & lasting difference for millions of people.  That’s why we wholeheartedly support them.

When you donate to the Clean Water Fund, your gift will help save children from suffering or dying; you will literally change lives for generations.

Please join with us by giving a gift that will bring life-altering help, and most importantly,  hope.

In Ian’s memory, we desire to raise enough money to drill a traditional well for a needy community.  The well your gift provides will be capable of supplying more than 600 gallons of safe water a day for drinking, bathing, irrigating crops, and watering livestock for years.

The cost of a Traditional Well is $2,600, but the impact that it will have on people, people whom God loves and cherishes, will be immense.  More importantly, it will show them in a very real sense that Jesus loves them, and will provide a way for the gospel to be shared.

Thank you for joining us in this life-giving effort!  If you would like to help, here are some ways:

  • Download a brochure, print a few copies out, and hand them out to people you think would be interested in helping.  There are two pages, and they are intended to be printed double-sided.
  • Include a link to our FirstGiving page on your blog, FaceBook page or Twitter feed.
  • Most importantly: pray.  Pray that God would use this opportunity change the land of a village and heal their hearts, in his ongoing mission to bring people back into His arms.

There is a bumper sticker that I see every so often.  It says “God bless the whole world–no exceptions.”  It used to irritate me, as if I had some corner on the market of blessings.  I’ve come to realize that God does want to bless the whole world, no exceptions.  His plan is to do it through people, like you, like me.

There is no “plan B”.

Let’s start digging.

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Global Food Crisis Day (Doing Something)

During Ian’s last couple of weeks, one phrase that was always heard was “I’m hungry.” As the tumor grew into his hypothalamus, his little brain was fooled into thinking that he was never satisfied. As a parent, it was wrenching to know that I could not satisfy my child’s hunger, even it if wasn’t real.

Listening to the radio this morning, I found out that today (3/11/2009) is Global Food Crisis Day. Between the time I went to sleep last night and woke up this morning 25,000 children died simply because the food they needed to survive wasn’t near them. Their hunger is real. The food exists, we just need to get it to them.

Please go to Compassion International’s page and consider helping feed a child in the name of Jesus.

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