"Feed My Lambs"

Day TWO: it's 11:57 pm.

I suck at 7. It's only day two and I'm already bending the rules. What the heck is wrong with me? First, I HAD to have some of that to-die-for-sauce we talked about it. My chicken at lunch was just so plain and boring without it. Ok wait, let me back up. I should have said, "my second lunch" because my first attempt at lunch was at McAlister's with Ashley and Jillian. I tried to follow 7 guidelines but it just wasn't appealing. So I hardly ate - put it in a to-go box - and hit the road. After running errands I came home to cook chicken for growth group tonight and that's when I began to get hungry. Hence, my second lunch. All I had was chicken. No sides or anything.. AND I drank water. That's progress, right? I've tried to justify condiments in my mind so many times but none of them seem okay. Although dinner at growth group was "7-worthy" I didn't eat much because, let's get real, baked chicken and steamed broccoli can only be good so many times a day. So laying in bed, trying to fall asleep so I won't realize I'm hungry ... I realized I was hungry. "Oh, what I would give for just one oreo right now.  I need a small simple snack."

The temptation got the best of me. I went downstairs to find a snack - Lance's Cream Cheese Chives crackers - and they were marvelous. Walking back to my bedroom I justified my actions by thinking that I was too hungry to sleep. And there is no way God would want me to (1) be hungry and (2) lose sleep over it.  ...................... OH, the humanity. How arrogant of me to assume I was entitled to a midnight snack simply because God doesn't want me to suffer from a little hunger pains when there are people dying every minute from hunger.

So I began to research hunger. Big mistake.

Did you know that every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger? Or that one out of every eight children under the age of 12 in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night? Half of all children under five years of age in South Asia and one third of those in sub-Saharan Africa are malnourished.

Therefore in the time it took me to write this post, 8 people have died from hunger - and obviously, I'm not one of them. I'm not even close to being one of them. I will probably never have to fight for life on account of lack of food. However there is a child somewhere in the world right now drawing his last breath as his mother looks on the scene weeping for her son. I begin to pray for these kids. These mothers. These families. Won't someone tell them about Jesus, and the hope we have in Him? 

In the midst of this, I found two neat websites where you and I can both help with world hunger. I realize that it's such a distant problem to most of us. The majority, if not all, of the people reading this are like me - and will never have to experience starvation. I know that if you could look into the eyes of a child who knows not where or when his next meal will be, it would become personal. The thing is, though, most people in America never will. You can help and here is how:

• Backpack Buddies is a local organization that provides for students in the Hattiesburg inner-city schools who suffer from a lack of food supply. There are children who, when they go home on Friday afternoon, are not able to eat until they return to school on Monday. The volunteers at BPB go to their school every Friday and stuff their backpacks with pantry items that they can eat over the weekend. (Selfishly, I'd like you to give your donations of food/money/time to BPB because it's the one I'm involved with and I know just how much help we need. But no pressure.)
• Bread for the World is an organization who urges decision maker's in our nation to help end hunger both here and in other countries. Their website is a great resource for facts on hunger. It also explains very clearly what they do and how we can help. 
• World Hunger Fund is a fund within the Southern Baptist Convention in which EVERY SINGLE DIME goes directly to end hunger. $0.20 of every dollar is spent in-house on hunger projects in the U.S. and $0.80 of every dollar are sent to the IMB (International Mission Board) for international projects. This is another great resource for facts and statistics on hunger. 

Suddenly, I'm not so hungry anymore.

Day FOUR:

I'm much more proud of myself today. I've cheated less. And by less, I mean not at all. Although I have had a headache for three days straight, this reduced eating thing might actually turn out well for my body. Look people, I don't know if you realize this but I'm getting virtually NO sugar in my blood flow and certainly no caffeine. You don't even understand what this means. Maybe it means headaches? Maybe its the cause of my un-Christ-like behavior. You just read "no caffeine" right? 

Regardless, I've decided to add a new touch to 7. Through reducing my life, I'm realizing just how easy we have it. There are certain conveniences Ashley and I are not enjoying this month. For one, we can't just go to growth group/town/dinner at a friend's house and eat whatever our hosts decide to prepare. I can't drive through Ward's on my way to work (daily) and get breakfast. Here's the point: I'm becoming much more aware of the abundant choices we have. People all over the world, including here, have almost no option to eat while our options are endless. So each month, we'll find an organization that's cause-worthy (ie Backpack Buddies) and donate to that cause. 

After all, I used to drive through Ward's everyday. That money's gotta somewhere, right? 

And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry 

   and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, 

then your light will rise in the darkness, 

   and your night will become like the noonday. 

Isaiah 58:10