Well, my friends, it is a new day. It is one I have spent with a gurgling stomach and slight hunger pains. This may, possibly, be due to the fact that I have not eaten all day. Because I have not had the time to eat breakfast, the cash to go out to lunch, or the wheels to get me to the grocery store now. Despite these slightly gut-wrenching circumstances, I find myself not only content and contemplative, but also slightly disappointed. In myself, that is. You see, earlier when I said I hadn't eaten anything, I lied a little bit. I have eaten today. Nothing I have paid for, but still, a donut and a jolly rancher count. Honestly, I didn't even notice the donut sliding down my throat. My mission wasn't on the forefront. I wasn't dwelling on it. I didn't even notice I had eaten it until after school. Then, whaddya know, I get home, walk straight to the jar of jolly ranchers. Reach in, not thinking in the least, and pop a nice, red, sweet, entirely-unavailable-to-the-poverty-stricken, cherry candy into my mouth. Then I realized, felt guilty, and spit it out.

Honestly, that's where I'm at. I feel guilty. Like I didn't even care enough to remember that those things are off limits until June. Luckily, I really do care and decided to do a little quiet time. So I grabbed my reading material, lit the incense, and this is what I have found:


"When things don't go as you would like, accept it immediately. If you indulge in feelings of regret, they can easily spill over the line into resentment. Remember that I am sovereign over your circumstances, and humble yourself under My mighty hand. Rejoice in what I am doing in your life, even though it is beyond your understanding." -Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young

In response to Matthew 26:6-13 and Deuteronomy 15:1-11
Why is the Bible so seemingly contradictory? In Matthew Jesus says that we need to attend to his worship. I'm all for this. But THEN, he also says thatwe should hard core take care of the poor so that there will be no poor people left. Then, he continues to confuse me by saying that there will always be poor people. So we're supposed to help them so there will be no more left...but at the same time we're supposed to do this with the knowledge that it's a sort of futile mission? These two viewpoints first argue that the world should strive to defeat poverty and then claim that no matter what, our mission can never be accomplished. Sounds like Mission Impossible to me...

I know it's the right thing to do to help the poor. Even if it is a futile mission. So in obedience to God, we have to just try our best anyway. This is DEFINITELY against human nature. I don't know about all y'all, but I'm not a big fan of throwing away my time, energy, and money. I guess it's just one of the parts about following Jesus that we don't have to understand, just follow through with.

The Mutunga Challenge

Hey there everyone. Recently I have decided to take a 10-day challenge to sort of put myself in the shoes of those living in poverty around the world. Since the average person in this type of situation lives on only $2 each day or less, that's what I'll be doing. My formal commitment is further down the page. So if I see you any time from May 22-June 1, please don't offer to make me some lunch or buy me dinner. I am taking this seriously because it's very serious for those who live like this all the time. If they don't take everything seriously, they die of starvation. I have decided to also include driving in my little escapade. The only time I will be driving is on my communte to and from school. The way I see it, if you can't afford to eat, then you definitely can't afford to drive. I'll be posting blogs daily full of my thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc. Hopefully this can at least make you think a little bit about life in places and situations less fortunate than your own. I know it will certainly force me to. Also, the site I was referenced to is www.msainfo.org. That's the main site which explains the "Mutunga Challenge" (which is the formal, original name, ps). Check it out if you feel so inspired.

I, Lorraine Fast, commit to spending only $2 per day on food for a ten-day span of time. In addition, I will not drive my car, or anyone else’s, unless it is absolutely necessary. This entails only driving to and from school each day. I am basing these decisions on the grounds that people living in poverty around the world live on even smaller daily budgets, commonly don’t drive at all, and have no way to remove themselves from these situations.