Good news and things to think about
There's good news today. My son's MRSA infection (the scarier staph infection that is resistant to some medications) no longer exists and he is only fighting the milder staph version---so Chuck can go back to sleeping at night instead of reviewing all the sad MRSA stories he has heard from friends and acquaintances. I don't want to make light of MRSA. I do want to celebrate that we are no longer fighting it. Yeah!
AND....drum roll please....my daughter's sonogram yesterday revealed that the placenta has moved away from the cervix and a normal birth is again a possibility.
NEXT....my son passed his driving test and now has an official license that does not require me to be present next to him every time he needs to go somewhere. He has also finished all his community service hours and is ready to begin a great full time job on Monday.
FINALLY....I did some Christmas shopping today and was somewhat successful without (hopefully) going overboard.
* * * * * * * * * *
OK, enough of that. On to things I'm thinking about.
God Grew Tired of Us. This is a documentary about the lost boys of Sudan. It is sobering. 27,000 boys left Sudan because they'd lost their families and would certainly be killed themselves if they stayed. After walking 1000 miles across desert there were 17,000 boys left, barely alive. Ten year olds were the heads of their families, caring for several younger siblings on this horrifying trek, first to Ethiopia, and then to Kenya. The film shows footage of young boys so thin that it seems impossible that they could even walk. Yet they are holding the hand of a younger child while carrying a third on their backs. The refugee camp in Kenya is where they have lived on the subsidies provided by relief agencies for more than 10 years. About three years before this movie was finished, the United States helped 1,000 of these boys to immigrate. Three of them are featured in the documentary.
Beyond the obvious (the danger, violence, starvation, etc.) that catches my attention is their reaction to Christmas in the United States. Incredulity. They try to understand how the things we do have anything to do with the birth of Christ.
The other thing that the three of them share is an unshakable commitment to making things better for those they left behind at the refugee camp. They refuse to forget their suffering, or the suffering of others.
Which brings me to an article I read in Mennonite Weekly Review this evening.
Advent Conspiracy catches on. I can't put in a link to the article because it is only in the print version, but the story is that of a pastor who gave a sermon last year encouraging his mega church to give gifts as God does---relational gifts with a heart for the poor. In concrete terms, he challenged his church to spend less on Christmas, give relational gifts, and donate the money saved to the poor. Other churches joined the effort. Three churches collected $430,000. This year there are 491 churches from 10 countries joining the conspiracy. The article is worth reading.
AND....drum roll please....my daughter's sonogram yesterday revealed that the placenta has moved away from the cervix and a normal birth is again a possibility.
NEXT....my son passed his driving test and now has an official license that does not require me to be present next to him every time he needs to go somewhere. He has also finished all his community service hours and is ready to begin a great full time job on Monday.
FINALLY....I did some Christmas shopping today and was somewhat successful without (hopefully) going overboard.
* * * * * * * * * *
OK, enough of that. On to things I'm thinking about.
God Grew Tired of Us. This is a documentary about the lost boys of Sudan. It is sobering. 27,000 boys left Sudan because they'd lost their families and would certainly be killed themselves if they stayed. After walking 1000 miles across desert there were 17,000 boys left, barely alive. Ten year olds were the heads of their families, caring for several younger siblings on this horrifying trek, first to Ethiopia, and then to Kenya. The film shows footage of young boys so thin that it seems impossible that they could even walk. Yet they are holding the hand of a younger child while carrying a third on their backs. The refugee camp in Kenya is where they have lived on the subsidies provided by relief agencies for more than 10 years. About three years before this movie was finished, the United States helped 1,000 of these boys to immigrate. Three of them are featured in the documentary.
Beyond the obvious (the danger, violence, starvation, etc.) that catches my attention is their reaction to Christmas in the United States. Incredulity. They try to understand how the things we do have anything to do with the birth of Christ.
The other thing that the three of them share is an unshakable commitment to making things better for those they left behind at the refugee camp. They refuse to forget their suffering, or the suffering of others.
Which brings me to an article I read in Mennonite Weekly Review this evening.
Advent Conspiracy catches on. I can't put in a link to the article because it is only in the print version, but the story is that of a pastor who gave a sermon last year encouraging his mega church to give gifts as God does---relational gifts with a heart for the poor. In concrete terms, he challenged his church to spend less on Christmas, give relational gifts, and donate the money saved to the poor. Other churches joined the effort. Three churches collected $430,000. This year there are 491 churches from 10 countries joining the conspiracy. The article is worth reading.
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- Becca