Are You In?

Can  you believe we are just over 2 weeks away from the National Cupcake Kids Sale?

God has raised up a mighty sweet crowd!

We are up to 90 sales!

90!!!!!

(i wonder who the 100th sale will be?)

We still need your help, though.

Wouldn’t it be simply incredible if we really could

get a sale in all 50 states?!

Who do you know in these states that can help?

 Montana

Idaho

Nevada

Utah

Wyoming

South Dakota

Nebraska

Wisconsin

West Virginia

Maryland

Delaware

Connecticut

Rhode Island

Massachusetts

Vermont

New Hampshire

Maine

Alaska

Hawaii

Oh, and if you haven’t registered your sale yet,

please register so we can be praying for you!

Who Are They and What Did They Do?

I'm just blown away at what God is doing through SixtyFeet and through some lowly businessmen and their wives.  Simply blown away.  If you asked me a year ago where Uganda was on a map, I'd look at you like you were nuts.  Now, it seems that Uganda and the precious people of that country come into almost every conversation of mine.  


God is doing some big things and really opening up folks' eyes to how others live across the globe.  A sweet gal whose heart is being moved for these children is hosting a Cupcake Kids sale on April 16th.  (more to come about that at a later post!)  And, being the smart, think-ahead gal she is, she emailed me tonight and asked:


I have a "quick" question about SixtyFeet. Are the buildings "M" and "M2" prisons like we know of prisons in the States; meaning the children are there due to illegal actions?

I know the living conditions are horrific and quality of life needs to be changed ... I clearly get that through the blog and writings of the SixtyFeet site ... but I guess I'm just confused on "who" the children are at M and M2. 



And here's how I answered: (I hope this explains it to you, as well!)


Excellent question!  Okay - here's a little history.  "Child Remand Homes", as they are called in Uganda, were designed from the British Children's homes - think of them like Juvenile Detention Centers mixed with a bit of Vocational School.  However, due to many, many, many different variables (HIV/AIDS, poverty, government, corruption, etc), their structure started to decay and they are now not used as they were intended.  Take "M" for example: it was built to house 100 male offenders, ages 12-18.  But now on average there are 250 children of all ages and genders that are there for various reasons (only about 2%-3% are there due to crimes like stealing bread or fighting) - street beggars are rounded up off of the streets and dumped at "M" and if their parents never return to claim them, they become permanent residents; some are refugees from neighboring villages or countries that are war-torn; some are taken there by a family member because they are "stubborn" and "need to be taught a lesson" (sometimes the family member comes back for them, sometimes not); in the Ugandan culture, when a dad remarries, the step-mother wants to start the family "fresh", so she'll take the children from the first marriage and dump them...


There was a time at "M"  (as is the case at another remand home further north) that there weren't enough social workers to tend to the kids during the day (or rather they didn't get paid enough, so they just left to do other things), so they'd lock the kids up to ensure they didn't run away.  Some kids were chained to the window bars, groups locked in small, dank, urine/feces infested cells...you get the picture.  And some children are still locked up in cells today - for bad behavior (though these are some of the most polite, well behaved children I've ever met!), for trying to run away (again - there are two sides to this story...I still don't fully understand it myself), for being stubborn, etc.


So, you see each child has a story and the stories are very different.  If you look at the SixtyFeet website at past blogs, you'll see some of the children and their stories.


i would like you to meet - akim, flora, collins

anna

abdul

We now know of 6 remand homes in and around Kampala.  They vary in size and their condition.  Scott and Garry had the opportunity to visit 5 of the 6 on their trip this week.  Let's just say there is ALOT of work God is calling SixtyFeet to do!

This basically sums it up in a nutshell (a coconut shell, not a peanut shell - it's alot of info!).  There's more to it and we are learning more ourselves each day.

If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out again or send folks who might have questions to info@sixtyfeet.org.

You are precious and thanks for all you are doing to raise awareness for these precious, beautiful children.

Not So Quite Time

Quiet time rarely occurs in my house.  And I'm a tired mama who loves her sleep.  I'm not as disciplined as I should be in getting up early before the little monkeys arise to have my time with the Lord.  So, I try to get little nibbles of my Daily Bread where I can.

It's a wonderful rainy morning here in Atlanta.  The two big girls are at school, the baby is snoozing in her crib for her morning nap, only one monkey is up and around.  I'm trying to get her to zone out in front of Elmo, though she's not one to sit still.

I grab my coffee, open my daily Bible reading and WHAM!  God meets me right where I am (He always does!)  I'm finishing up the books of the Law.  I'm at the end of Deuteronomy, which happens to be one of my favorite books of the Bible.  There's such great wisdom as to how to shape our families as Believers.

I'd love to share what God said to me this morning, Deut. 30:6:

"The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."

What more do I want for my life and the life of my children than to love my precious LORD with all my heart and with all my soul?  However, I'm sinful and my heart is divided.  As much as I want to, I do not love my LORD with all my heart and with all my soul.  In fact, I can't.  And that's what He reminded me of this morning.  I NEED him to circumcise my heart and my children's hearts so that I am able to love Him the way He calls me to.

Then He continued to speak to me with verses 19 and 20...

"Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.  For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

I love that.  Choose life.  The way we live is a choice.  It's up to me to fall to my knees and ask the LORD to circumcise my heart.  He won't make me.  He wants me to, but He won't make me.  Often times He'll send circumstances in my life to help me bend my knee.  But I'm the one that has to "open the door".  (Rev. 3:20)

And then He encouraged me even more in verses 11 and 14...

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it."

Thanks, precious LORD, for that sweet reminder that your Word is very near (on my kitchen table, in fact!).  And when I read  it and meditate on it, it's hidden in my heart so that I may not sin against You.  (Psalm 119:11).  Circumcise my heart so that I may love you with all my heart and all my soul and live. Amen.

Novice!

Betty Crocker was at it again!!!  I was at my dear friend's milling my wheat this morning at 9:45!  Today's menu included Ezekiel blueberry muffins, wheat bread, ooey gooey breakfast bread, and the champion - coconut, oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies.  

Needless to say, not everything turned out like it was supposed to.  The ooey gooey breakfast bread was a bit too ooey gooey.  Still tastes good - must eat with a fork, though!

Here's one of my favorite blogs and her disasters in the kitchen.  It's laugh-out-loud worthy!

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2011/03/missionary-baking.html

And as Scarlet always said, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Just Call Me The Pilsbury Dough Boy!

What a way to spend a rainy Saturday!  At a bread baking class with dear friends!!  I just had to show off my new found skill!  Yeah!!!

Whole wheat bread

Ezekiel wheat pancake

...and don't forget the whole wheat dinner rolls!

A Time For Everything

 There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:
 a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.

...a time to blog, and a time to refrain from blogging...

It's been a while.  And it's not because I don't have anything to say (those of you who know me - there are VERY FEW times when I have nothing to say!)  I literally have so many great bloggy thoughts running through my head, but of course they come when I'm never near the computer (like in the shower, on the road, at swim practice, during piano lessons, dozing off to sleep...)

Let's just say life has been busy.  With 4 young ones who are mostly at home, a ministry that is exploding in such a good way, commitments for the kids and for myself, it leaves very little down time to sit and write.  And when I do have the chance to sit, I'm usually asleep within a few seconds.

I'm a stay-at-home mama.  I love it when folks ask me if I work.  Uh YYEEAAHHHH, I WORK!!!  I just get paid in hugs and kisses (and tears and huffs).  Fortunately, God has blessed me so that I can stay home and raise my babes.  And He has also provided my husband with a wonderful job.  All praise goes to Him who provides!  But several years ago, I felt the nudge to try and help out with the provisions.  I tried the whole stay-at-home-and-build-a-home-based-make-thousands-in-a-month kind of jobs.  Back then I only had 2 kids and *thought* I was crazy busy (HA!  What did I know back then???!!)  I poured many, many hours and hundreds of dollars into anything I could pertaining to this business.  Needless to say, it was not my calling.

But that's okay.  God apparently had a different calling for me.  And this one can make me more treasure than I ever thought!  An ever-lasting treasure.  That no one can take.  Not Uncle Sam.  Not declining stock markets.  Not the recession. No one.  These treasures I deposit in the Kingdom's bank.

SixtyFeet and The Cupcake Kids have really felt like a full-time job lately.  As I was pounding away on the computer the other night trying to organize T'shirt sales and The Cupcake Kids sales, my sweet man leaned over and asked, "Now which would you rather be doing - your old home-business job or SixtyFeet work?"  I don't think there was a doubt in either of our minds!

God has blessed the socks off of us this past year!  He has truly stretched us beyond what we ever though we could do and has totally changed our hearts so now we are doing what He wants us to do.  We have met some of the most incredible people through this ministry - folks whose paths we would never had crossed if we weren't a part of this ministry.  I really feel like Africa is in us now - it's part of our hearts, it's part of who we are.

God, thank you for guiding my path and equipping me to do your work.  You have blessed me so!  And I love you!

Are We Getting It Wrong??

Some things you just gotta vent about.  This is one of those things.  My precious husband just showed me this website with these facts:

Americans Spent $584.3 Billion This Christmas

That's a record and is up 5.5% from last year. On Christmas presents. For one another. If you do some simple math and consider that Evangelical Christians are 20% of the population and they spent proportionally to everyone else, that would have that group spending around $120 Billion. On Christmas presents. For family and friends. Almost $200 for every man, woman, and child in America (see article: http://usat.ly/gdLyed ).

All of this to celebrate the birth of the homeless Jesus.

Let that sink in.

Then, think about this: Every year, 1.6 million children under the age of 5 die from water-borne illnesses. We could solve the clean water crisis in developing nations for $10 Billion, less than 2% of what Americans spend on Christmas presents.

Americans are spending almost $600 Billion per year on Christmas presents, obesity is out of control, average home sizes are 2.5 times larger than they were half a century ago, even though the American family is smaller, and we are awash in debt, depression, and dissatisfaction.

Maybe - just maybe - we aren't getting it right. What if prosperity and abundance isn't the answer? What if there is more to life that what we have been told? What if realizing the American Dream is not what is best for us?

I think we've been sold a bill of goods and the price tag is very high. I think it is costing us our soul and we are happy to pay the price, all so we can extend the party a little longer. Hey, nothing wrong with having fun and enjoying life. But, at what cost?

There is a better way.

YES.  THERE IS A BETTER WAY.  

Now, before you go thinking I'm being judgmental....I fully realize I'm part of this problem.  I struggle with this EVERY day!  (Go ahead and ask my friends how badly I want an iPad!)  But, the good news is that I STRUGGLE WITH IT!!!  Wouldn't it be worse if I were okay with all of this?

And no, there is nothing new under the sun.  This SAME issue was discussed in Ezek. 16:49.  Here's what my sweet man had to say about it...http://sixtyfeet.org/2011/02/17/the-sin-of-sodom/

Ugh.  I almost don't know what to say!  Where are we going wrong?  How can we stop it?  Oh, my sweet Lord....show us a better way!  A way that  loves the poor, the orphan, the widow, the imprisoned....a way that glorifies you.   Please forgive us!