The Parable Of The Zebra

Great and short story, from Shaun Groves...

http://shaungroves.com/2010/03/the-parable-of-the-zebra/

The Parable Of The Zebra

One girl occasionally petted my head, trying to get my Pentecostal hair to lay down. The rest of the groupies peppered me with questions.

I felt like an oddity in a sideshow – Like siamese twins or the snake boy, a giant white stickman from across the ocean is quite a spectacle for the kids of the Maasai tribe.

“How many children do you have?” one asked in perfect English.

“How old are you?”

“What is your favorite meat?” they asked.

I answered all of these questions with a straight face and total lies. Thankfully, these girls have been given the gift of interpretation for my gift of sarcasm. Good job, Compassion. The ice was broken.

“I have 27 children.”

“I am 70 years old.”

“I like to eat lions. But they’re hard to catch now that I’m 70. I’m not very fast anymore.”

Then we talked about Beyonce’s music, and how to kill a cobra, and sang Lord I Lift Your Name On High with much more groove than I’m accustomed to. And one girl advised, out of nowhere, that I never eat a zebra no matter how hungry I get because they are beautiful.

Then Penini, a girl sitting on my left who’d been petting my skin the entire time, asked me, “Why are you white?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “God just made me white and made you beautiful brown.”

“I’m not beautiful,” she said with an appreciative grin. So I played along and told her again.

“You girls are all very beautiful.” And they smiled.

“Why did God make black and white people?”

“Well, that’s a great question,” I said, and I took Penini’s fingers and wove them into mine. Black. White. Black. White.

“These two colors are beautiful together don’t you think? Like a zebra.”

They seemed to like that answer. And they said I should sponsor a girl from Kenya because they are the most beautiful.

Real Life on Food Stamps

Real Life on Food Stamps

by Jennifer Wheeler 02-26-2010

I am a single mom living alone with my 3-year-old little boy in southwest Florida. I have worked most of my life and never thought I would be using food stamps to feed myself and family, but due to the events of the last two years, I am the holder of an EBT card (food stamps). To make a long story short, I was blessed to have my son, but his father turned to alcohol and drugs and I found myself standing in front of the home I owned for 17 years, holding an 11 month old baby, with utility bills, a mortgage, medical expenses, car expenses and more, alone. I had no job or babysitter, since my son’s father had wanted me to stay home to raise our son. I took a deep breath, called some friends, found a loving caregiver who was like a second mom to my son, found a job, but was drowning in debt. A third of my paycheck went to pay for daycare, and the rest was spent on the house and car expenses, not to mention formula and diapers. Our church and family rallied together to try to help, but I applied for food stamps in the state of Illinois.

After dragging my little boy to a rundown office in a seedy neighborhood and waiting in endless lines, we were awarded the food stamps. I was employed by Cub foods (a now defunct grocery store chain) so I was very aware of the rules and restrictions of the food stamp program. I sat through many customer service seminars as the pricing coordinator and customer service manager. We were told to treat every customer with respect no matter how they were paying for their purchases.

Since then, I have moved to Florida to escape a domestic violence situation with the father of my son and now receive food stamps here. It is embarrassing to use the EBT card but I want to feed my son and help him grow to a healthy adult.

Food stamps are to be used for food items only. Even though laundry detergent, diapers, toiletries and cleaning supplies are needed, they cannot be purchased with food stamps. Certain prepared foods, like rotisserie chickens, and deli sandwiches are not food stamp able. The idea behind the food stamps is to encourage recipients to prepare meals at home. I am currently a returning college student and am enrolled full time to get an education and become self sufficient again. I am very aware of nutrition and try to choose items that are healthy and fresh. I do use coupons with my stamps to stretch my benefits to get through each month. I try to purchase produce and healthy items as much as possible.

During this time of lent, I get a lot of cheese and tuna, but meats and fresh fruits and vegetable are expensive. Some people have a stereotype of food stamp recipients as lazy, and are taking advantage of taxpayers. I am not lazy and worked almost my entire life and am not looking for a handout. I am very embarrassed to have to use them. Occasionally, I purchase Diet Coke for myself or ice cream for a treat for my son. A woman behind me in line a few weeks ago noticed I was using the EBT card and rolled her eyes and said “I am a taxpayer and it angers me that you can buy stuff on my dime.” I was humiliated. She pointed out the “goodies” and told me I should be getting macaroni and cheese dinners and need to find a job.

Another trip to the grocery store caused me to turn red and want to crawl under the shopping cart. I had picked out some organic cereal bars for my son, who occasionally is a picky eater, and wanted them for him to eat on his way to daycare. The product was not tagged in the store’s computer as being food stamp able, so I could not purchase them with the card. This product was supposed to be a food item but the cashier wanted cash from me for them. I asked to talk to the manager and he told me that he couldn’t sell them to me for payment with the EBT card, and of course there were four people in line behind me. The store was in error but to avoid the stares from the other customers, I asked the cashier to take them off my bill, since I did not have enough cash to pay for them.

I hope that people think before they draw conclusions when seeing someone using food stamps. I do not want a handout, but need to use them to climb out of the situation I am in. You lose a bit of your dignity each time someone gives you a look for using them. I am grateful for the assistance my son and I get, but pray that people know that not everyone using food stamps is a cheat or bum that doesn’t want to work or pay for their groceries.

Jennifer Wheeler is a full-time student and mother living in southwest Florida.

http://blog.sojo.net/2010/02/26/real-life-on-food-stamps/

By The Numbers

When we think about laying down a life for another we usually think in terms of a singular event. But it is possible for us to lay down our lives over the course of a lifetime, minute by minute and day by day. And it is the work of the Spirit to empower us as we seek to lose ourselves in acts of lovingkindness and sacrificial living.

- Elaine Puckett, professor at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia

Haiti: One Month Later, by the Numbers

by Martha St. Jean 02-15-2010

One month later rain pours into the streets of Port-au-Prince. Some call it “fresh misery.” I think, how many more buildings will collapse, how many more people will die? But I also think, how many still have hope? How many will view this rain as a washing away of the things that hurt most?

Stories of survival are continuously recounted. I hear daring feats of escape from collapsing buildings and am saddened by the number of days family members have had to do without food, and I am disturbed over the number of people they have watched die. The story of the devastation in Haiti is at times best chronicled using numerical values.

7.0 — The magnitude of the earthquake.

21:53:10 UTC — The time the earthquake struck.

35 — The number of seconds the earthquake lasted.

230,000 — The official Haitian government death toll.

1 million — The number of my countrymen left homeless.

500,000 — The number of Haitian homeless living in camps.

380,000 — The number of Haitian orphans.

2 — The number of dollars many of the island nation’s residents lived on per day.

2, 000 — The estimated number of amputations that have taken place. (This must be much higher, as some hospitals are performing 30-100 per day.)

5,000 — The estimated number of escaped prisoners.

10 — The number of years experts say it will take to rebuild.

63 million — The tons of rubble that need to be removed before the rebuilding can take place.

3 million — The number of people who need help.

57 million — The number of dollars initially raised by the Hope for Haiti telethon.

Countless — the number of prayers lifted up, the number of tears cried, the number of hearts broken in Haiti and all over the diaspora.

Where Ingratitude Goes To Die

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Hebrews 13:5

Paul David Tripp, writing in The Journal of Biblical Counseling, recalled a scene he had witnessed more than once on his various travels to India. But this time, for some reason known only to the Holy Spirit, the Lord struck him with the gravity of it all at a deeper level than he'd ever experienced before. Passing through New Delhi, in one of the most horrible slums in the world, he stood transfixed before a three-year-old boy leaning against the cot of his ailing, perhaps dying, mother. The boy's eyes were hollow, his stomach distended, his face fly-infested -- the very picture of massive, helpless, noxious poverty.

The tears that streamed down Paul's cheeks in observing this tragedy were indeed the heartfelt evidence of his compassion. He longed to sweep this boy and his mother into his arms, away from these dreaded depths of sorry and endless need.

But it was more than mere compassion he felt. It was an awareness that neither he nor this little boy had chosen their circumstances in life. The blessings of being raised among plenty, nurtured by godly parents, educated in quality schools, and given over to Christ at a young age began to roll over him in waves, even as he did his best to comfort and console the need pair before him.

"You cannot explain the difference between that little boy and me by anything other than the Lord," he wrote. "Standing there in that slum, I felt all the complaints I had ever spoken as if they were a weight on my shoulders. I was filled with deeper gratitude than I think I have ever felt in my life."

Not long after he arrived back home, Paul was visiting with a church leader from India who had come to the States to study. In the midst of their conversation, he asked the man what he thought of Americans, to which his guest responded -- in polite Asian style -- "Do you want me to be honest?"

"Yes, I do," Paul answered. But who could really be ready for this: "You have no idea how much you have," the man said, "and yet you always complain."

We'd all have to agree, wouldn't we? At many levels, America can be rightly accused of gross ingratitude. But can the church and the Christians in American be accused of the same thing? Can you? Can I?

Now would be a good time to speak to the Lord about it.

Father, grant me a spirit and heart that is always abounding, overflowing in gratitude toward You and others. Forgive me for the many times and ways I reflect negatively on Your character and Your goodness by verbalizing discontent and murmuring to others, for being oblivious to so many expressions of Your grace, and for allowing roots of pride and ingratitude to grow up in my heart. Amen.

143 million

I stole this from you Lisa, do we owe you $5...?

*******
Before the earthquake there were 143 million orphans. That number has greatly risen in the past two weeks. Most of us, if we look around at our lives have the room and the resources for one more child. We can all fit one more. Even me. I can fit one more. I can feed, clothe, and love one more. And I already have ten.

Did you know that if only 7% of Christians took in one orphan, there would be no more orphans in the world?

Imagine a world without orphans.

People think adoption has become popular, fashionable even. That could not be further from the truth. I believe it is the product of an outcry of prayers from those of us who desire to see every orphan have a home. It is a movement in the body of Christ sparked by a spiritual awakening. It is so much more than saving a child's life. It is evangelism in it's very simplest form. Think about it. A child is taken into your home. He once lived in a place where the gospel was not preached. He lived in darkness and oppression. In your home he comes to understand salvation. Think of all of the lives that will be changed from his testimony. It is so much more than saving a life.

Supporting orphanages is not a solution. While orphanages serve a purpose, they do not solve the problem. God's best for a child is a family. A mother and a father. Not growing up in an orphanage. Most orphanages are over crowded. They turn away children because they cannot meet the need. And don't get me started on the foster care system. That is most certainly not a solution. Children need families. God's best for a child is not foster care or an orphanage. It is a family.

More now than ever before we need to come forward. We need to take action. We cannot stay silent and turn a blind eye. In the coming weeks, more and more Haitian orphans are going to need families. But, they aren't just in Haiti. They are in Russia, Africa, and right here in your city. They are all over the world. You can make room for one more. I am sure of it. If I can, you can too. This isn't about waiting until you have all of your ducks in a row. This is about taking action.

Love is an action word.

Fly Right

A reality check from 1 Peter 1:13-22
Fly right, or you are going to crash, a message from James MacDonald that uses four gauges, found in the cockpit of an airplane, to help our walk with Christ.

A good pilot, a family man, will refer to these indicators frequently.

Hope. Hope is the fuel gauge of the Christian life -- is the the equivalent to the fuel gauge in your air plane. No hope means that your plane is going to crash quickly. Hope is the confident expectation of something better for tomorrow.

5 Things that believers place their hope in, but shouldn't.
1) Health, beauty, physical fitness, nutrition
2) My situation, my setup, finances, houses, home, your lawn, stuff of this world
3) Church, the fellowships and the friendships.
4) Family, or marriage, or children.
5) Abilities, smarts, talents, hard work, being a man of action

These are all worthwhile...but the Bible says:
v.13 -- set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Holiness. Holiness means "set apart." If someone asks you a spiritual question like, "what you are you working on in your life?", Holiness, that's what you are working on. Holiness is the altimeter which tells you "where you are" when you are working within the two parameters essential for flight: 1) outerspace, and 2) the ground.
Written to mean an on-going process, you have to ask yourself what can I do differently so that I'm not conforming to this world? (Romans 12:2)
v.15 -- but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct

Fear. This is more than respect for the authority of God. Fear seeks a right relationship, a favorable outcome with the fear source. The attitude display indicator in an airplane similarly tells the pilot his position with respect to the horizon. Are your wings level? Is the nose up? Or, is the nose down?
v.17--If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

Love. As the air speed indicator tells the pilot how fast they are traveling, check how you are loving. Peter is prescribing to put some effort into it. This is more that just being a good person, for anyone can be a good person! He says to love earnestly (NET), fervently (KJV), intensely (NLT) and deeply (NIV).

v.22 -- So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

Leukemia

Matthew 14:
And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

My friend's wife will spend this Christmas in the hospital. I have tried to imagine redeeming this moment a number of ways, and have even made a suggestion or two, but I guess the truth is that her immune system will be so broken that any kind of community blessing is out of the question.

As I consider it again and again, my heart winces at the mere idea of not being at home with my family to celebrate the birth of my Jesus. I pray that her bone marrow transplant is successful, that her body does not reject it, and that her family will continue to be broken before a mighty God and awesome Healer.

Lord Jesus, let this be the gift of not just life -- but Life.