LiveDifferent Challenge (2): Beans 'n Jeans

Oops–Friday got away from me without doing the LiveDifferent challenge! My clothing fast is 5 days underway now and so far so good. I’m asking God to help me with my New Year’s Resolution to not worry about money. During the past two months it seems that someone has drilled a hole in our savings account and I’m watching it trickle before my very eyes. New brakes for the car, some unexpected medical expenses, car insurance … I feel like it’s draining faster and faster! So, while the world would stress out, I’m asking God to help me LiveDifferent, to give me peace to trust Him, to take extra care to manage what He’s given us.

Speaking of money, and tightness of it, yesterday my parents came home from grocery shopping and my dad made the comment, “I really don’t know how people with low incomes can live.” This surprised me because I think of him as the type of man who would say, “If you manage your money well you can do anything.” But he was being serious as he continued explaining that in their short trip to town they had spent $50 on gas, $70 for food, and $30 for a prescription. That’s $150 and they hardly had anything to show for it! I agreed. It really is getting harder and harder for families making say 25-40K/year or less to live.

So, how can we meet this in our LiveDifferent challenge for this week? Well, for those of you who live in the Portland area, right now at Multnomah Seminary the Women’s Leadership class is doing a Beans ‘n Jeans drive. Any day this week you can drop off gently used jeans or non-perishable food (it doesn’t have to be beans) to the seminary building (right up front on Glisan). But no matter where you live, there are always food banks and places where you can drop off items. The Portland Rescue Mission has a wish list of needed items on their website (click here to see) or just look in a phone book to find a nearby charity.

And I’d challenge you with this–don’t give the nasty canned-whatever that is hiding in the back of your pantry. Find something nutritious. Something tasty. Something that might actually bring delight to whoever gets to eat it. Or, when you do your next grocery trip (for me that’s today), actually pick out some nutritious non-perishable food items and take them this week, or take the charity’s wish list with you to the store and put together a small box of items they need.

Wherever you are, the LiveDifferent challenge this week is just to give gently used clothing and non-perishable nutritious food items to a charity in your area. What you give is up to you, but ask God and let Him speak to you. Use this challenge to draw closer to God, let Him search your heart, ask Him about your attitude toward the poor, ask Him to interrupt your busy schedule to take time for this. And if you’re like me and you’re being tempted to stress about money, ask Him to give you peace, to give you grace to trust Him, to rise above the pull that tempts you to focus on your own needs, and ask God for a vision of those around you in need. LiveDifferent. Thanks for reading.