What I'm Tithing for Starving Children.

In a previous post I mentioned my recent conviction to help those who are stuck in real poverty, especially children who are starving to death. 

As a Believer I'm called to act. To not just hear what God has to say, but to also do as He does. To do, to act, on what he says.

I believe in a God that's bigger than a church building, bigger than programs, and bible studies. A real God that can move mountains and actually reach those who are suffering.  It's not that Church buildings, programs, staff, and bible studies are bad, it's just that they are not the goal of my beliefs. The goal is Freedom, Mercy, Peace, Healing and Health, Kindness, Goodness, Grace. I believe in a God that sends his people to Free the captives, to cheer them up, and to feed the orphans and widows.

This means not just praying for change, but being willing to be an instrument of change. Action. Not just being a hearer of God's Word, but a doer of it.

Tithing might sound religious or old fashioned ideal, but it is simply this: Giving our First Fruits to the God we put our Faith in. It's a demonstration of our trust for Him. It's a remembrance that everything belongs to Him.  It's an acknowledgment that He comes first, that He is the one who provides, and that this life is not just about us.

One of the things that often gets targeted for the tithe is money. While that is a real and relevant way to tithe, it's not the only thing we have to offer... And this is where we get into what I have been motivated to tithe to God for starving children.

I'm an idea person and an entrepreneur. I've recently felt convicted to give what I think is going to be my best idea to God. To make it a non-profit and use it to provide food for the orphans and widows of the world.

My dream is to create a non profit that generates income so that it can contribute consistently in a sustainable way. To me, a lot of non-profits are cash sinks. They rely solely on the generosity of others, which often dry up, but don't produce income outside of fund raising. My idea is to create a profitable business that is healthy and grows. A business that generates income outside of fundraising so that it can continue to help those in need. For example, what if Starbucks profits went to the needy instead of share holders? (Not that i'm against for profit businesses in any way.)

The secondary part of this would be to not just drop off food, but to help create a way for families in poverty to sustain themselves through reproducible food stuffs and job skills/careers.

So here is what I'm going to do. 

I am going to start an Ice Cream Cart business. I'm going to pour my heart into growing it, making it profitable, making it a success that can grow past me, but not for me. I don't just want to feed 5 kids, because I could do that on my own. No, I want to feed 5,000 this month and 10,000 next month. I want to help parents feed their kids so they can stay together, so they can feed themselves long after the "help" is gone.

While I want to keep the best for myself, that's not the kind of man God has called me to be. I trust my God and am willing to listen to Him, to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. So that's exactly what i'm going to do!

I like to say my kids are fat, healthy, and wealthy. That's amazing! I'm so blessed! While I will always want more for me and mine, I know that there are people out there who have to watch their children die for lack of food, medicine, or clean water. I can't ignore that anymore. I won't.

I will reveal details about the Ice Cream Cart ;for starving kids as it gets closer. like March of 2013. I hope I can count on your support emotionally, and logistically as the time gets closer.

Thank you for your good wishes, prayers, luck, and support to help feed starving children!

Children Are Starving to Death

Death is everywhere.

"Why is it that a child's death amounts to a tragedy, but the death of millions is merely a statistic?" -Patrick McDonald

Out of nowhere, my mind has become preoccupied by the fact that children are dying in large amounts all over the world.
Death is everywhere, we're all flies on the windshield.
It's near and it.s far.
It's both personal and impersonal.
People die all the time for all kinds of reasons, but the children?
That's not right to me.
It was never right, but I was ignoring it.

I've spent so much of my life not doing anything to help the situation because it's just too big. I could give everything I have for the rest of my life and there would still be millions of people who would die in poverty.

Then I realized what I do. I make excuses of why not to act. I do this in so many other areas of my life, I come up with great reasons of why I shouldn't act, shouldn't do something. As far as this topic goes, here are some of my favorite excuses I've used in the past.

1. There are too many people to help. Any help I can offer would be like a drop of water in the desert.
2. There are already many organizations that are helping. They've got it.
3. I have my own kids to feed.
4. There is stuff I want. New car, big tv, nice clothes, ipad and so on... I deserve it. I can still help after I help myself...
5. Maybe I'll help when I'm in a better spot to make more of a difference.
6. I don't want my money to be wasted on administrative fees. I want it used wisely and there are just too many organizations to research.
7. I don't feel like it.

Those are just the ones that come to mind. If I'm honest with myself, I can admit that they are not logical reasons not to do something, but they are in fact excuses not to live a sacrificial life. 

The real truth here is that I am a selfish, self centered person,who is more interested in my kingdom than God's.  Ultimately, I love myself more than others.


That may be what I'm like now, but here is what God says I should like. What I want to be like.

Luke 3:11 "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry."

James 1:27  Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

Mathew 25:31-46

I'm tired of not helping, of not doing anything. I believe Conservative Christians should stop being worried about what other people are doing and not doing and feed the hungry children instead. I believe liberal Democrats should worry less about what conservatives are not paying and feed the children.

So, everyday I find myself thinking about starving children and about what I'm going to do about it. For once in my life I want to do something. I'm reminded of a parable about Starfish a friend once shared with me.

One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.

Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, "I'm saving these starfish, Sir".

The old man chuckled aloud, "Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?"

The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, "It made a difference to that one!"

And that's the way I want to be. I can't fix the problem but If I can save one life, it makes a differnce to that one. So, I am going to act, going to do something.

I have an idea, a plan, on what I can do to help feed starving children. I look forward to sharing it soon in another post.


What are your  reasons for not helping feed starving children? If you already do, what promted you to start? If you don't, do you want to change? Do you want to help me?

FYI: This is not a guilt trip on you. I have been inspired to rethink my past position and feel motivated to change. If you're not in the same place or feel that you already do plenty, thats great! I'm just sharing my heart.

"Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold." - The Wise Brad Pitt

Contentment?

Are you content with your life? What about with your job? Your spouse? Your house? Your blank?

I work at Starbucks as a batista. To be honest, I barely make above minimum wage and work just part time.

I am happy and content.

In the past, I have worried that people from high school (who I did not like) or others from my past, will bump into me one day and ask, "what are you up to?" Then I will have to bow my head in shame and tell them what I do. They will feel sorry for me because I only make half or a quarter of what they make...

But I have started to realize some profound truths in my current situation:

• I choose to work at Starbucks. (I turned down a job making a lot more money)
• Having choices in your life gives you control over you life.  I get to say No.
• I am happy doing what I'm doing. I enjoy working at Starbucks just as a barista.
• I am not stressed out and I know that truth directly impacts the time I spend with my family and others.
• I have time to spend with my family and time to work toward my dreams.
• I am happy.
• My family and I have everything we need. Not want... But need. My family is happy, healthy, fed, and thankful for what God has provided.

The above facts are enough for me. I love my life, wife, children, job, faith, and position.

We do not own a flat screen TV, (Not that I would turn one down.) We have a car with part of the bumper missing. Our house is the "scary" looking one on the block, but!!! We're happy.

Because of our lack of attachment to stuff and a lack of feeling that we're entitled to a certain standard of living, we are able to enjoy life. We are able to say no to job opportunities that pay a lot more because we don't need the money. I might not stack up financially to all my friends and acquaintances from the past, but I would not trade my inward contentment for stuff.

I believe that true contentment only comes from God. Once you have that kind of contentment that fills the whole we're all walking around with; everything else is just gravy.

Joy is not based on situational circumstances. It is something greater that you possess regardless of your current situation. Happiness is directly impacted by your feelings and immediate situational position. I have both. Joy + happiness = contentedness.

And because I look for any reason to post a Derek Sivers Video; Here's one that kinda fits with what I'm talking about. 

Where Did My Discipline Go???

I was on a roll till I hit a speed bump.

I don't know what happened but I can't seem to muster any discipline whatsoever. Why can't I do the things I want to do and why do I do the things I don't want to do?

One thing I've noticed is I tend to do well once I have established a routine but once it gets interrupted I have a real ruff time getting back into it.  I'm not sure why but, when my momentum gets broken I can't easily get it going again.

I keep trying to restart the engine but nothing seems to be happening.

What do you think? How do you get re-motivated?

As for me I think i'm going to just try something new. Tomorrow I will share 7 goals. The idea will be to do at least one thing per day that helps make progress toward at least one goal. If I think of anything else that helps to get the motivation engine going I'll be sure to let you know!

Simple Heart

Are you happy? More importantly do you have joy?

I recently got to take my daughters to Disneyland and Sea World. Genevieve and I were there for a learning community about discipleship. It was a great time full of a lot of information, training, fun and also full of God speaking to our hearts.

While a lot of things stood out to me during our time there; I was struck by two situations in particular that speak about our hearts as adults.

The first happened at Disneyland. Genevieve and I were walking past another family when they let there two kids know they could hold hands to the next ride. They then jumped up in down  in joy about the simple pleasure of being able to hold hands! "We get to hold hands!"

The seconded thing that happened was at Sea World. God was incredibly generous to us. We were given free tickets to Sea World. ($225.00) Not only were we given free tickets but the person who gave them to us allowed us to go behind the scenes. My girls got to get up and personal to Sea Lions and Dolphins. They fed, trained, and touched them. The thing that struck me though was my youngest. She was right there with a dolphin in Sea World and you know what she wanted to do? Splash in the water. She derived the most joy at Sea World from splashing in the water and later playing with leaves, sticks, and the curb.

When I reflect on how much joy children get from the simplest things; it reminds me that we should seek to be more like them. We fill our lives with so much junk that is ultimately trash. We have our minds so tied up in the busyness of adulthood we forget we can have joy now.

So I have a challenge for you. Go play in the dirt or splash around in the water for a bit. Play with your children for an hour the way they do. See if you can't recapture a little bit of that childish joy you used to have.

One last side note. While I do believe it is important to become more child like, I do have to note one thing that is extremely important. I believe that real Joy can only come through being connected to Jesus the son of God. Not from church, a political party, a movement, hobby, or any thing else outside of Christ. Not to say all those things don't allow us to have fun, but the joy that transcends temporal happiness comes from the father alone. Food for thought.

The impact of legacy

Why did Steve Jobs passing have such a huge impact? Legacy!

Steve Jobs cultivated a legacy over his years. He had an impact on every day life for a lot of people by revolutionizing gadgets. While I love the devices he created; I am sad for him, that is his legacy as a man.

While his legacy is well known it it also inpersonel. People are not praising a legacy that is truly meaningful. I'm not knocking him and I know this is a somewhat subjective issue but the point is he is not known for how much he loved. He is not known for being a man who loved his wife and children in an impacting way. (Not to say he didn't)

What is a legacy?


Definition: A legacy is anything handed down from the past.

With that definition in mind, I want to be careful of what I'm passing down to my children. As you know, things like a reputation, wealth, and stuff in general, are temporal and therefor finite. What one man builds up, his another tares down.

I don't want to pass down stuff to my children and their children's children. No, I want to pass down a legacy of truth, love, peace, sense of family, hope, and faith by God's grace. That kind of legacy is lasting and meaningful because it intimately touches people and changes them, and that's enough! When I'm dead and stand before God, I don't think he will ask me how big of an empire did I leave, but how much did I love him and do as he asked?

The great thing about life is we get to determine what kind of impact we want to make. I want to make an eternal impact. I want my children to remember me with fondness. I want them to feel that they inherited a a positive mind set that will help them. I want their little hearts to be full of the fruits of the spirit. I want them to know they had something special and lasting within our family.

There are so many times when we see success stories of someone who did the impossible and created a empire that makes billions. Often times, when we look behind the so called achievement, we see that  it had a severe cost. A decimated and broken family. Children who wanted for nothing while growing up, now have no want for anything. They remember a distant father, a wounded mother, and how they feel alone.

If you love your family and want to leave a lasting legacy, don't focus on stuff. Your son would rather play ball with you than have an Xbox. Your wife would rather spend time with you adoring her than having the nicest minivan or a diamond ring. When your family talks about you at your funeral; what would you like them to talk about? The stuff you provided that rots or of the lasting impact you made on their lives?

What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

Enough?

What is enough? When do we know we have enough of whatever it is we are trying to get?

During an interview, John D. Rockefeller was asked, "How much money is enough?" He replied, "just a little bit more."

Do you think he was ever satisfied? How often do we want "just a little bit more" in our own lives? What are some of the things you want more of?

• Money
• Time
• Energy
• Attention from our spouse
• Space
• Just a little more of...

Wanting those things and more is not bad in of itself. Wanting more of something is a compliment to its value. As human beings, especially those of us who live in Western Culture, the trap we fall into more often than not is, not defining what enough is. We will always want more of the things we like, of the things that make our lives better and of the things that have some form of value to us.

Let me use an example: My daughter loves doing fun things with me. She will constantly ask to do more with me, which I love. At first I took this as a sign I was not giving her enough of my time. Then something interesting happened. After spending a whole day together doing all kinds of fun things she asked if we could do more. The next day we did a bunch of fun things together and still she wanted to do just a little bit more. What I learned is that I could take her to Disneyland for a day or a week and she would still want just another day...

As adults we are not really all that different. Do you like it when your husband pays attention to you for an hour? Would you like another hour after that? Are you stoked when you get a two dollar raise? Do you still want another? Whatever it is, do you want just a little bit more?

While wanting more is not necessarily bad, it leads to disappointment when not put in check. Ultimately we will never have enough of what we want and we will never be satisfied with the quantity of what we have unless.... 

Unless we define what enough is. If we know we will always want more, we must then place healthy limits on enough. We must speak truth to ourselves and come up with reasonable limits for enough. If you have time, watch the video below...

So you need to have a real heart to heart with yourself about what is enough. Is $50,000 enough per year and will you make the decision to be happy with that? Is having 5 hours to yourself without family enough alone time? Is ________ enough? 

As a Christian I believe that we are not satisfied because we are really looking for more Jesus. A part of us wants to be in heaven "home" with our Maker. Nothing can fill that hole but Him. In the meantime though, we can set practical limits on the things we enjoy so we're not left with a constant unsatisfied hunger.

What's enough of X for you???


Ecclesiastes 5:10
1 Timothy 6:10

Failure and Frustration

Sometimes failure can be a good thing. Have you ever tried your best at something and your best wasn't good enough? It really sucks when you try the hardest you ever have and you still don't accomplish what you set out to do. That happened to me recently.

I had an opportunity to test with the Gallatin Sheriff Office for a job. You see, I have a pretty solid resume so I figured right there I would be good. I was then allowed to test. You have to pass each test before you can move onto the next step. So first was the written test which I passed. Then came the MPAT, a very tough obstacle course. They give you points based on how well you do. 1 point for doing it under 5.30 min. 4 points between 4.30 and 5.00 min. And 8 points if you can do it under 4.30. They made it pretty clear that the competition was fierce and if you wanted to move forward you needed to do the course under 4.30. Now, I have done the MPAT twice before. The last time I felt like I had done my best and had did it at 4.46. I was worried.

When my time came to run the course I asked God for help. I gave it my all and pushed myself more than I ever have before. By the grace of God I completed the course at 4.14. Getting 8 points, the highest you can get.

Hours latter and in much pain I limped up the stairs at the Law Center to look upon the roster of 18 candidates that would get to interview. My name was not on the list. I was really disappointed. I have a solid resume, a letter of recommendation from another police officer, I passed both tests, one of which with the most points possible and still, I did not get an interview. That sucked and I was pretty bummed for the rest of the day until I realized something really great about the situation. Well, a few something actually.

1. God is control and I am not. (Which is a good thing.)
2. If things had worked out the timing could have been awkward.
3. Even though I didn't get to move forward I have the satisfaction of knowing that not only did I try to move toward a dream, I really did my best, and I'm satisfied with that. (Not many can say as much)
4. I was disappointed.

Why is being disappointed a good thing? Because I realized it was something I really wanted. We're not upset or disappointed by things we don't care about. What I realized is that this is something I want. I care about this. Caring is a good thing. I know now more clearly and with more conviction that this is something I really want and not just on a whim. So even in failure and frustration I have joy. 

I often get the sense that Jesus is saying to me. "I want you to succeed."  Now that may not be for this or it may not look the way I want it to, but I believe it, even though I constantly forget it. So yeah, I can't give up. This set back is actually a step forward in the process of accomplishing one of my dreams and I'm thankful for that.

Have you ever tried your hardest and still didn't accomplish what you had hoped? What happened next?

Don't Forsake the Little Things.

If you have not noticed yet, there is a lot of overlap throughout my posts. One of the major themes that come up often is ME, MY, I. More specifically MY dreams. I think its fine to have goals, to talk about them, to have a plan in place and to be excited about future possibilities. This is My blog about things I am doing after all.

As I sit on the couch with my youngest daughter next to me while I write and she watches Dora the Explorer I am reminded by the great things I have in my life now. I am reminded that by God's grace I already have everything I could want and more. I don't want to diminish the small things that are truly great and fulfilling. When Kaylie grabs my finger with her little hand and giggles, that is special. When Evie tells me she loves me and can articulate the things she likes and wants to share specifically with me, that is special. When my wife does innumerable things for me and our family everyday, that is special. I am reminded everyday that I am already living the dream.

I am loved by, and derive my identity from, the Creator of the universe who has blessed me with an incredible life. While I have specific job oriented dreams I am reminded by the little things everyday that tell me I am already living the dream. We are happy, healthy, have food and clean water, and we have joy. Life is good and full of wonder.

We cannot allow ourselves to believe lies. Weather you have a family or not you have to admit that as an American we have so many things going on in our lives that is incredible. We have friends, family, opportunity, and access to resources. We cannot forget the great things we have now in the pursuit of our dreams.

What are your thankful for? What small wonders happen everyday that you take for granted? What is happening in your life now that demonstrates that in some ways you are already living the dream?

Heart of Stone

I have recently been struggling with a hard heart full of anger, bitterness, resentfulness, and basically  selfishness. This stone cold heart makes it hard to love, rely, trust, and seek help from my God, who should be my hope and refuge. It also puts a separation between me and my wife, family, and friends. Then when I act out from that heart position it only creates a sense of shame that drives me deeper into a downward spiral of self loathing and isolation. Yuck!

So what can be done about it? First and foremost as a Christian (or Christ-follower if you must) I would say prayer is the first place to start. Often times that sounds like pretty tripe advise but, its true. Though, its funny how when you need prayer the most in your life you tend to not want it. There have been so many times in my life where someone asks me if I want to pray and I just want to say "no, F off." Which, of course, is a dire sign that prayer is most definitely needed. But more so than that what do we pray? What do we lay before the Lord? More importantly are we seeking to deal with the symptoms or  the disease? A pastor of mine from the past used to say if your not dealing with your disease your transmitting it. Though he said it better, I think it even rhymed. But its true. When we sit and stew in our mess we tend to infect others with our sickness.

Anyhow I have started to see this recently in my own life. When my heart is full of dark sickness it makes it hard for me to love my wife in a warm way that is pleasing to the lord. When my wife does not feel loved by me it makes it harder for her to be patient and warm to our children. When our children don't feel loved in a warm way we start to skew and misrepresent who God is to them.

So after days of putting it off I prayed to God. But before my prayers could take root in my heart I had to ask God more than to take ways the symptoms of my heart, I needed to ask him to heal the true problem and source of my disease. Pride.

You see, I hate it when I am confronted with the fact that maybe I am not really as great as I thought I was. I am also really judgmental. So when, by God's grace I do well in certain areas of my life I start to look down on people who are not where I am at. I take credit for God's grace and generosity, boasting in myself and not in Him, and that's when I seem to get knocked on my butt. You see, God opposes the proud. I don't know about you but I do not want to be in opposition to God because personally I don't like loosing and when you go head to head with the King you're going to get knocked on your arse. The good news is He also lifts up the humble.

What got me, specifically, was that I was starting to look down on other peoples marriages, judging them because they weren't as great as mine. I felt bad for the husbands that just didn't get it like I did. And.... That's when I was confronted with the fact that I was falling short in my own marriage. Ouch!

I can sometimes be insecure and to be honest my feeling get hurt fairly easily. But why? Because I want to be a the kind of righteous man that loves God with everything that I have. I want to be a husband that loves his wife like Christ loved the Church. I want to be the father I never had, who's children will say my father loved the lord and left behind a beautiful legacy in us. In short I want to be the man God made me to be.  I ofter forgot that I can't do it by myself. I can't make myself all the things I want to be. I need God's help and if I want God to lift me up I need to do the opposite of pride, I need to be humble.

So now that I made you read a bunch of words. Here's the prescription for your disease. At least this is what has worked for me in helping my cold heart melt back to flesh.

1. Humility (The opposite of pride.)
2.  Identify the disease, not the symptom. (Clue, you need God's help and others through discussion.)
3. Confession (To God but also out loud. Their is something incredibly deep and spiritual that happens when we speak the truth out loud. When we confess where we are at it brings light where darkness lives. The chains of the enemy that binds us are suddenly broken when we open our toddler like fists and let go of what we are greedily clutching to ourselves. And yes, even when you keep negative things to yourself it is greed.)
4. Prayer (Real honest and open dialogue with God. Prayer is not a preset ritual, it is a conversation with you father in heaven who is dying to hear from you and speak healing words into your life. He is waiting to wipe away your tears!)
5. Some kind of plan, accountability, and finally action. When we open up to God and to others we often times start to get a sense that God actually wants us to do something. To change, to get up out of the mess. The greatest disservice we can do to ourselves is to not go down the path God is imploring us to go to. 

I hope if you have been in a funk or your heart feels hard right now you found some nuggets of truth that might help you. God loves you and is well pleased with you as much on your worst day as on you best day. You're loved and there is hope.

My Life

Here is where I will put general updates about my life and what I am up to along with general observations and other miscellaneous stuff.