Our family is very blessed. I realize it everyday when I open my fridge and see fresh meats, vegetables, fruits, and dairy products. My husband and kids like it when there are snacks in there, too. My cupboard is filled with all I need to turn the fresh ingredients into meals and snacks. I have a working stove and all the appliances I need at my fingertips.
I can run to the grocery store to pick up any item I want at anytime without worrying about its cost, freshness, or availability. Their are probably 6 grocery stores within a two mile radius of my house. If I want it, I can get it quick.
If I choose, I can run through a drive thru and pick up food for the kids or go to a Restaurant and enjoy a nice meal. Chicken Nuggets and French Fries can also be had, but not sure they fit the definition of a "nice" meal.
Sure my kitchen is not top of the line, my cookware needs to be replaced, and my kids often complain about what I'm serving them or more likely what I'm not serving them. (Often, I think they would most evenings prefer Burger King). However, we only budget so much on food and we try not to eat out much so as it make our rare evenings out more of a treat. My family has what it needs to prepare our "daily bread".
That's why I call our family blessed. We have what we need and, for the most part, we have it in abundance.
Not so for everyone. I will sometimes jokingly tell my kids that the amount of food I throw away each day would feed a starving child for a week. I tell them that the food they waste on their plates, the food that rots in our fridge, or goes past expiration in our cupboard could amount to more than some kids across town eat all week.
While we continue to try and reduce what we waste, we are also trying to show our kids a little bit more about how to impact kids around the world who don't have "all this stuff." Making it tangible can be challenging, but, in the last month, we've had two great opportunities to show our kids ways to impact their world. The first was to sponsor a child for World Vision. This is an awesome ministry and we can't wait to learn more about Shakum from Ghana. We talked about what everyone would sacrifice in order to write that simple $30 check per month.
The second was when my girls, my husband, and I had the opportunity to package food for "Kids Against Hunger" on Saturday night at our church. We helped to assemble 12,000 meals in two short hours. Food that if eaten once every three days by a starving child will stop starvation from ravishing their bodies. Eating this food once a day, gives them all the nutrition they need.
Miss A got to dump in the "soy product", Miss M got to dump in the "veggies" and I topped it off with "chicken flavoring" before our table partner added in the rice and my husband made sure the weight was exact. If the package weighs too much or too little, custom officials in Africa have been known to reject the entire shipment of food
The food is going to an orphanage in Sierra Leon. It is a place where children go when their parents realize they can not feed them and want for them to have a chance at life. These are parents who must be at their wits end wanting to give their children everything and the best they can offer is an orphanage where meals are served and starving children have a chance.
Watching my two girls package the food to help these starving children I was so grateful. Grateful that God is providing for our family and that we have all we need. Grateful that when my kids gripe and complain about the meal I place before them I should, instead of have hurt feelings or get angry, realize that I'm blessed to hear them complain. Children across the globe are crying inside for food and parents are giving them up for fear they will die. I could not imagine having to make that choice of letting them go as the only option to save them.
It was a profound evening. Leaving, M said that her hands smelled like the food we packaged. I told her that it was a reminder of what we had done that night. That that scent should remind her of all she has to be grateful for here and that it should remind her to pray for the children who will eat that food and live.
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