Almost

Orphans and orphan care has been on my heart for as long as I can remember.  When I was 16 I almost went to Hong Kong for a summer to help at an orphanage.  Almost.  

Foreign missions has always been a big part of my life and something I feel called to do at some point.  When I was a young adult I almost joined Mercy Ships (the Christian relief organization my parents joined when I was 13 and they served with for many years).  Almost.  There have been many great things I have almost done with my life.  

I'm fairly certain that when I stand before God when my time on this earth is through, He isn't going to say to me "look at the wonderful things you almost did and all the people you almost helped in My name.  Well done my good and faithful servant". I believe He puts causes on our minds and passions in our hearts for a reason.  He has put on my heart missions and orphan care.  What has He put on your heart?

As I raise my three children, I know this is not the time in my life where I can become a full time foreign missionary.  But there are many ways I can support missionaries and directly impact lives across the world.  We are not in a position where we currently feel led to adopt.  But there are many ways I can support orphan care and support families who are in the process of adopting.  I am done almost helping.  I am helping.  Now.  For me, this is being a Noonday Ambassador.  It is helping families raise money for their own adoptions while supporting artisans in foreign countries.  I'm helping orphans.  In a way, I am a missionary helping provide for the basic needs of families in Uganda.  In Ecuador.  In India.  In Ethiopia.  In Peru.  

The following passage in Matthew 25 speaks to me on the difference in serving and almost serving.  And I know which group I want to be in. 

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

   ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

   ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ (NIV)

...Your Night Will Become Like the Noonday...

A little over a year ago I celebrated another birthday.  My birthday happens to be on Christmas day and my anniversary 10 days before Christmas, so the amount of gifts I receive in the month of December is always overwhelming.  As I sat with my lovely gifts I felt a huge sense of sadness.  I couldn't get my mind off the images I have seen firsthand in the world - hunger, poverty like the average American can't even imagine, disease, those without hope or a future.  My mind kept going back to faces of women and children I had seen in Africa during my teenage years when I was a Missionary kid.  Images of dirty lakes and ponds with kids bathing in them while women collected drinking water for their families just feet away.  Children with torn clothes and no shoes running through trash piles.  And the one that haunts me the most: a child dying in the arms of a friend sitting beside as we helped out in a medical clinic.  The young child died of an illness that could have been so easily prevented if they had received proper medical care in time.  I will never forget the sounds of the mother wailing at the loss of her child.  Never.  How could I sit there with my ridiculously large pile of gifts while this what I have seen in the world is the reality for so many?  

That day I promised myself and my family that for my following birthday I wanted to help others instead of receiving gifts.  We all know that when you tell a child you are going to do something, there is no turning back.  As my 8 year old son always says, "A promise is a promise."  I knew if I told them what I was planning on doing then they wouldn't let me forget or back out.  For most of the year I tried to find something I could invite my friends to for my December birthday that would get them involved.  Nothing I could find helped the people I wanted so desperately to help.  And then I found Noonday.

A friend with similar convictions had found about Noonday and had signed up to become an Ambassador.  As I researched the company, I realized they were doing exactly what I had felt the urge to do a year before.  Women who also had the burning desire to help women and children across the globe were telling their friends how they could have a super fun trunk show in their own homes and share the stories of the artisans that created the one of a kind pieces of jewelry, accessories, gorgeous home decor and more.  Each gorgeous item sold puts food on the table of a family that might other wise go without food.  It enables children to go to school.  It lets mothers to be able to put shoes on their children's feet.  It allows them to afford medical care they would otherwise never receive.  I was so excited that I immediately booked a trunk show in my home for my birthday and encouraged my friends to come to my birthday party, but instead of buying me another gift I didn't need, purchase one of the lovely fair trade items and made a real difference in the world and give it to someone else or keep it for themselves. 

Before I even had my birthday party, I knew just a party wasn't enough for me.  I agreed with the mission and purpose of Noonday so much that I signed up to become an Ambassador.  Personally, it lets me keep helping those across the globe that I wouldn't be able to otherwise while still raising my three children.  It allows me to meet amazing people that are answering the call they feel to adopt children both domestically and internationally and provide them with forever homes while using Noonday as a fundraiser to bring their children home.  It lets me give other like-minded women a fun experience with their friends of hosting a trunk show and spreading the mission of Noonday while buying gorgeous jewelry and other fair trade handcrafted items. It gives our family an opportunity to give more to causes we are passionate about (we are committed to giving 100% of our Noonday profits back to orphan care and other charities we believe in).  And mostly it just feels so good to find an answer to the "what can I do?" question that was weighing so heavily on my heart.  That heaviness is lifted and it is filled with an excitement and a passion knowing that I am really helping those I had such a desire to help but couldn't figure out how. 

I encourage you to go to my website and read some of the stories of the artists who are creating these amazing items and whose lives are being changed by each and every purchase made.   Why Work Matters: and Coral's Story are both very touching to me and give you a glimpse of why Noonday means so much to me.  I hope the stories inspire you, too.

www.KristinHarvey.NoondayCollection.com

"...when you satisfy the needs of the oppressed, your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10

Do Less

A big part of our "Do More" challenge is doing more with our time.  When you sit down and look at how much time you spend on a daily basis doing absolutely nothing, or at least nothing that matters, it becomes pretty scary.  My challenge this week was to look at the things I spend my time doing and see if I could streamline them some.  Things I tackled in this challenge:

• Just Say No - I sat down and looked at my list of commitments and got rid of a few.  They were all worthwhile things, but some of the items on my responsibility list just didn't fit well into our current family goals.  Just because something is good and worthwhile doesn't mean I have to do it.  When I'm asked to be on a committee or help with a project, I always say yes.  I'm learning to say no.  This opens up my schedule to help with things that fit into our current priority list.   For me this week that meant I was able to volunteer at a local charity that has monthly missions sales and donates all the profits to orphan care.  More about this exciting group soon!
• Cleaning - I updated my cleaning chart and printed off a new, clean copy to put on my refrigerator.  Every day I have a few things I do to keep the house clean and organized without feeling overwhelmed.  It is amazing how much time that frees up and how less stressful it becomes!
• Cooking - I spend so much time each week trying to figure out what I am going to make for breakfast, what to pack in school lunches, and what to make for dinner.  It leaves me stressed and leaves hurried, thrown together meals for my family.  Not to mention all those trips to the grocery store because I didn't take out anything to thaw.  This week I finished a project I have been working on for an embarrassing length of time.  I now have updated my 12 weeks of full menus (breakfast, lunch and dinner).  I switch out the menu each week so each recipe only comes around once every 12 weeks.  When it is time to make my grocery list, I simply pull out the menu for the upcoming week, turn to each recipe (all recipes are numbered in a 2" binder, and each menu lists the page numbers of the recipe ), and write down my ingredients.  It takes just a few minutes to make the grocery list and since I'm planning ahead, only one trip to the store each week.  I cannot even tell you what a huge time saver and reduction of stress this is!
• Getting the kids organized - the kids all have cleaning and responsibility charts as well.  They are pretty, colorful and placed where they can see them on the refrigerator.  Each day they look at their chart and make sure they have done all their jobs around the house.  Not having to verbally go over the list (over and over and over again!) saves time and stress!  They know exactly what has to be done before they can go play outside.  

We have made other changes as well, but these few simple things have opened up our schedules to be able to volunteer more and do more that matters.  And I can't tell you how good that feels.  

The Giving Fund

The purpose of the Do More Challenge is very simple - find small, simple ways to make a difference in the world around you.  As my husband and I raise our three children ages 8-10, we found that it is very hard to teach selflessness when you aren't living it in your own life.  Of course they act like greedy little selfish creatures when we show them how.  Instead of telling them what kind of adults we wanted them to grow up to be, we decided to try to become those adults ourselves.

The first family challenge we made with our kids was not to buy them anything they wanted, only what they needed.  They will get a couple things they want for their birthday, but anything else they want throughout the year they will have to earn by doing select jobs around the house, in addition to the chores they do simply because they live here.  Of the money they earn, some goes to savings, some goes to tithe, some goes to a separate giving fund (more about this in a minute) and the rest goes to something they want that they are saving for.  This teaches them the value of money and helps them learn the difference between a want and a need.  My 8 year old son found the last part of that particularly challenging this week as we went to the craft store for a Cub Scout project and he found item after item he "needed".  Sticking to my guns, we left the store with only the items we came for (but trust me, I was stretched with my need vs. want list at my favorite craft store, too!).

The giving fund is the most exciting part of this new need vs. want earning plan for the kids.  This past Christmas we donated gifts for families supported by our local domestic violence shelter.  A friend and I went shopping and filled up the back of my minivan with amazing gifts for both mothers and children who left domestic violence situations.  As I dropped the gifts off at the shelter I was so full of happiness and excitement thinking of those who would be receiving these gifts.  I came home and told my children about the joy I felt.  I realized this wasn't something you can just tell others about.  The giving fund they are raising money for will grow throughout the year.  Next Christmas I will take my kids on their own shopping spree where they can pick out the gifts for children at the domestic violence shelter (and other organizations we decide to add to the list throughout the year).  While I'm certain there will be mixed emotions as they part with the gifts they purchase with their own money, I can't wait to see the joy in their faces as they see how they made a difference in the life of someone else.  They are already planning a lemonade sale to raise more money for their giving fund. 

One final comment... this is not a brag board or a "look at the awesome things we are doing" site.  This is a place where I hope you will freely share your giving ideas and find encouragement in others who share your convictions to do more.

Acts 20:35 (NIV)  "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”