Last year, Wendy & I visited Ecclesia in Houston over spring break. Our friend, Steven, is a pastor there, and we wanted to check out his church. While we were there, the senior pastor, Chris Seay, was guiding his family through a lenten journey that included eating only what their Compassion child would be able to eat. I was intrigued, especially when I overheard Chris' teenage daughter telling someone how excited she was that it was Sunday and that they would get to eat something other than beans and rice.
Chris' lenten journey found its way into print in his most recent book A Place at the Table. It is a short book that lays out the plan and then walks you through the journey. I won't rehash the book here; if you want to know more, go buy the book. Then read it.
I challenged our community here in Lubbock to consider joining with me (& Chris & others) in this 40 days of solidarity with the poor. Several of our families have joined with me, and I thought this would be a good journey to blog about for the next several weeks.
I think what I was most dreading about the diet of our Ethiopian Compassion child was the black coffee. If you know me, you know that I like my coffee horribly girly. But coffee was a non-negotiable, so I decided I would have to drink it black. I'm pretty sure that I didn't like it, but the 6 cups throughout the day kept my mind off of my hunger.
The diet in Ethiopia consists of maize, rice, potatoes, beans, & bread. Being a picky eater, that leaves me with rice, potatoes, and bread. Maybe I'll learn to tolerate beans. I probably ought to anyway, seeing as every other meal in Lubbock includes beans. I got a text from a friend/fellow-journeyer mid day saying that the purchasing of 5 pound of rice and 5 pounds of beans really made this journey a reality. I agreed.
I had a lunch appointment, so I sat down at McAlister's with a potato. No butter. No sour cream. Just a potato. As I was halfway through eating the skin of the potato, my friend asked me if I normally ate the skin of my potatoes. When I informed him that I did NOT, in fact, usually eat the skin, he asked if I was going to lick the plate after I was done. Had he not asked me that, I probably would have.
Dinner was a bowl of plain white rice. I ended up eating less than half of the calories allotted to me by my trusty iPhone app. As a matter of fact, my app warned me that if I didn't begin consuming more, I could cause some problems to my body. First world problems, I guess.
Later in the evening I got a text from another fellow-journeyer, comiserating with me about what an unenjoyable journey this was turning out to be. But then, this friend-who is a hard-core Yankees fan-told me that his family had decided to sponsor a child from the Dominican Republic. And he told me that the little boy's name was Jeter. Not gonna lie -- I teared up. Kingdom was breaking out among us on day one of the journey.
I went to bed on day one of the journey with an empty stomach, but a grateful heart. I know that it's only the beginning, but I am blessed to be journeying with godly friends. And I know that feast day is in four days. Beware, Reese's peanut butter hearts. Beware.
Though it will only be a vicarious journey for us (this time),we will enjoy following your thoughts and feelings as you venture through this sojourn of solidarity for the poor. Prayers of support & encouragement to you, Dave, and the others that have joined you!
ReplyDeletebob & rethia hawkes
Rock Star….
ReplyDeleteI have thought of you often over the last couple of days and the journey you have embarked upon.
As a family we have decided to give up going out to eat. I have found myself after long and stressful days coming home and looking my husband in the eye and saying I don’t have the energy to cook. I counted last week and we ate out more than we eat at home. The crazy part is we go to the store and buy a plethora of groceries so I can cook at home and then spend more money on food that someone else prepared. It hit me the other day that we were not being good stewards with our money. The LORD has blessed us 10 fold and I am ‘too tired’ after a long day to cook for my family.
I have decided that beans and rice will be served at meals. AnnaBell said tonight, “We have rice tonight?” I told her we are going to have rice and beans at every meal for quite some time and then we began to have a conversation about other children who only eat rice and beans for dinner every night. She then leaned over and pretended that she was talking to one of the children and whispered, “Why don’t you ask for something else to eat?” Her comment almost brought me to tears as I explained that some children did not have any other choices.
We are working on putting the money we would have spent aside for the JAR. We already have $25 and its only been 2 days.
As if giving up going out to eat wasn’t hard enough I have also given up eating candy. With the stresses of life crashing down on me I have turned to food, candy and sweets in particular, as a soothing/coping mechanism. I had a realization the other day that I was turning to the wrong thing. Wednesday was not so bad…Today was hell on wheels.
There is a basket of candy in the back of the room that I had to remove today. Almost cried…no lie.
I wanted to leave early so I could get home at a decent hour to cook this meal I planned out this morning. But Satin was fast on my heals this afternoon. I went to make some copies and the copier would NOT cooperate. I was at school 45 minutes longer than I had planned. Then as I was walking out of the door I could not find my phone. Spent another 25 minutes looking and calling from friends’ phones and NOTHING. I finally gave up b/c I needed to get to school and pick up parker before they locked the door.
I have prayed and talked to the LORD more over the last couple of days than I have over the last 18 months. Until we meet again.
Your Brothers and Sisters in Christ…The Crosson’s
Thanks for sharing. I teared up several times reading your words. I have had multiple conversations today, and I think Day 2 was harder for all of us. We are so blessed! And I am so honored to be doing life with the Crossons. Love you guys.
DeleteI would have texted this, but who knows when you'll find your phone!
Wow. Really good stuff. I hadn't read that particular Lent challenge, but it sounds really awesome. We will be praying for you, your group, and of course, your compassion child. I am blessed reading your post, as well as Carla's.
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