Ice cream for Breakfast - 7: Possessions & Ramen Noodles

So often I under estimate the power of influence I have as a mom, as a parent.  I know the old saying "Actions are louder then words" but often my words are just loud and my actions less then par.  Between our adoption journey (saving every penny) and then this 7: experiment against excess my children have been exposed a lot to discerning what we need and what we want.  They have seen me go from despising leftovers and not caring much about food being thrown away to me crying over the waste as I scraped uneaten food into the trash.  

After I finished up my 7: eating challenge -- Aleigh came up to me and said she wanted to do the challenge as well.  I had encouraged the kids to give up something when I was doing the challenge but none of them seemed willing so I left it at that.  You can imagine my surprise when Aleigh out of the blue decided she was doing her own food challenge.  She was determined to give up sweets for 7 days.  If you know her sweet tooth you will know how big of a challenge this was.  She plunged in totally committed and yesterday was her last day of no sweets.  To celebrate her victory she had ice-cream for breakfast.  I interviewed her this morning about her thoughts on her 7: challenge.  My heart melts to see her on her journey to draw closer to God.

 What in the world does Ramen Noodles have to do with my current 7: challenge which is getting rid of possessions?!  Let me tell you, I missed it.  I missed the Divine Moment.


Ok, for this month the ultimate challenge is to get rid of seven items a day.  My motivation is that the items I am getting rid of will go into the yard sale we will be having on June 3rd.  All the money raised at the yard sale will go toward building the school at the Kaka Orphanage.  I am very excited to raise $$ for the school as this is a very personal project.  Thanks to an amazing youth group from Milton, IA and some amazing friends -- we have already raised $500.00  (Want to know more about the school?  You can watch the video here: A deeply personal project of where the school will be built and my connection to it)

If that wasn't enough motivation .. then I watched the video that Jen posted on Bibledude.net and she challenged me even further.  She challenged us to make it personal.  To really open our eyes and look for people in need.  I have been praying for that opportunity.  


I believe I missed it.  I was sitting in the van waiting for Craig to come back with needed grocery items to make our meal.  This is our system because it is so much easier for one of us to stay in the car with all the kids while the other efficiently grabs the goods.  As I sat there, I watched two Mexican guys, a father and son walk to the car parked facing us.  The only thing the father had purchased was a big package of Ramen noodles.  I am not saying if you eat Ramen noodles then you are "in need" - but hey I survived on them when I was a poor college student.  Yet even as I type this I have some stock piled in the cupboard just because they are a quick meal.  A friend pointed out that maybe it was the only thing he knew how to cook.  The reason for the purchase of the Ramen Noodles is really not the point, but I have to admit they made me notice.

The point is...

1. I noticed.  Even though I had 4 crazy loud distractions in the back... I just happened to notice these two men.  
2. I felt that pounding in my heart and my mind was racing that I needed to go over and ask them if they needed anything.
3. I felt so compelled to go talk to them I started talking myself out of it (this is just crazy 7: thoughts happening -- not really God -- just me making things up in my head, they will think I am insane, what in the world would I say to them etc..) 

Due to an extreme fear of talking to strangers -- I justified that I didn't have time to talk to them.  By the time I would unbuckle and get out of the car they would be pulling out.  I felt relieved at this logic and glance backward to check on the kids dismissing the crazy thoughts.  When I glanced forward again, to my chagrin they were still there.  Sitting in the car, talking and waiting.  I had to come up with a better excuse.  As I was still arguing with myself and trying to deal with the fear I felt in approaching complete strangers a third guy passed by the van and got into the vehicle.  I felt relieved, yet utterly disappointed as they pulled away.  


I wrestled with this scenario I had faced the rest of the afternoon.  Did I miss a moment?  Did God really want me to go over to that car and ask those men if they needed anything?  What if they would of felt insulted.  Maybe they had a plenty of $$ and I was just reading into things... The thoughts swirled like a whirlpool.  


Fast forward the story a bit.. I am reading the Bible through in a year.  Right now I am reading in Joshua.  Do you know what scripture repeats over and over in the story of Joshua?  "Be bold and courageous!"  Yep.  But it gets better.  

I have had a book on my list for awhile now called "Sun Stand Still" by Steven Furtick.  Since that passage about the sun standing still is in Joshua I decided it was time to purchase the book and read it along with my Joshua reading.  

God may as well hit me in the head with a hammer because the clarity was just that strong.  I started to read the book and then I got to the section titled: THE RAMEN NOODLE REVIVAL.  BAM! (#hammer to the heart) I am completely, 100% serious.  Steven, the author, goes on to tell about how he fed his fellow students and eventually led several to Christ because he opened a door when he met a need.  Let me share with you a small excerpt:

"God poured out his Spirit and did something remarkable on our hall that year. The experience will probably keep its place as one of my top-ten audacious faith memories for many years to come. But the transformation didn’t start with a sermon. Or a Bible study. Or dramatic signs and wonders. It started with ramen noodles and Dr Thunder. Because when you’re in college, Dr Pepper and Mountain Dew might as well be Cristal and Dom Pérignon. So you settle for Mountain Lightning. And ramen noodles are your manna." --Furtick, Steven (2010-09-21). Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 60). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.   


Lesson Learned:  When you pray audacious prayers you better be ready to be bold and courageous when God decides to provide you with the very opportunity you asked for.  


I'm not going to beat myself up too much -- what done is done and I learned a valuable lesson.  I am even more determined to keep my eyes and heart open to what God wants to show me, teach me -- or who it is he wants me to minister to.  


As for the possessions I am giving up....


So far I have three garbage bags of clothing I am getting rid of.  I already purged my closet once during my clothing challenge.  Most of the 3 bags are from the children's closets.  I haven't even got to the husbands closet yet.  I am definitely going to end up having way more items then 7 a day (especially with the clothes) so I am not really focusing on the 7 number - but more categories.  For example - Week #1 - I focused mostly on clothing.   This week I am getting rid of my scrapbook supplies.  I am going to all digital layouts.  It was hard to get rid of a lot of the stuff I have compiled over the years.  I am not selling them.  I will be giving them away to a friend who really enjoys scrap-booking but doesn't have a lot of extra income for the hobby.  I hope it will be a blessing to her.  

Also, I was challenged by Dan at Bibledude.net to read through youversion.com's 30 day reading plan: Generosity: 30 Days Toward Biblical Generosity.  I am already using youversion for my Bible reading plan so it didn't take much convincing for me to take on this addtional reading.  A few verses that stood out to me in the last few days are:

And if I hear the neighbor crying out from the cold, I'll step in-I'm compassionate.

The people are bringing more than enough for doing this work that God has commanded us to do!"
There was plenty of material for all the work to be done. Enough and more than enough.

(Message Translation) 

So at this point in the challenge -- I keep coming back this question -- "Will I step in?  Am I compassionate?"  or will I shrink back and miss a Ramen Noodle God moment?