Thankful For....A Sock?

Yes, I'm thankful for a sock this Thanksgiving! It's not just any sock, however: the mystery photo from the last post is Janie's Christmas Stocking (you can read what we did with the stocking last year here). It was a thrill last year to collect, alongside so many friends and family (as well as a few total strangers!), enough money to buy a cow for a family in Rwanda through a wonderful aid organization called Food For the Hungry. We also helped several local families. I honestly wonder who got the greater blessing, the folks who received the help, or all of us who were involved with giving it. So I'm thankful.

Before last year's project was even over, many were asking if we'd do it again this year. Well, we decided with a resounding, "yes!" We've decided this year to not only help one family with one cow, but to help a whole village of people by buying them a well! Can you imagine walking four hours, waiting in line for two, getting your jerrycans of clean water, and walking home another four hours with forty pounds of water? And repeating this every three days? That is what some families have to do to obtain clean water that won't cause sicknesses from water related disease. A well right in their own village can save people from all this, and it will help not only one or two people, but a whole village of people. Plus, Food For the Hungry gives these resources in Jesus's name, which is the greater gift of course.

The goal will be

Tis The Season For Online Awesomeness

I've got something cooking that I think you're going to like....so stay tuned!

Based on the photo, can you guess what this might be about? Click the photo for a closer look and leave a comment if you think you know.

Horace Silver's "Peace"

A favorite song of mine, sung by none other than Nora Jones. I guess this recording is a little obscure...it's from Marion McPartland's Piano Jazz. I think it must be Marion on piano then. Both women are amazing, and so is Horace Silver who wrote the song way back when. Try listening late at night with very dim lights when all is quiet....mmmmm, nice.

F.A.S.T.ing and Sacrifice

Becca has (probably) started the NEXT BIG THING, and it's called, Fantastically Awkward Sweater Tuesday, or, F.A.S.T. for short. The first Tuesday of every month, she and her friends wear really hideous sweaters, like from the eighties. Not like the awesome Bill Cosby ones, either (well, actually, they are exactly like those). So far, they've had great success at thrift stores finding some very dreadful selections. When they wear these haute couture masterpieces, and are inevitably asked why they are wearing them, they can reply, "I'm F.A.S.T.ing!" And after all, hideous sweaters are the new hipster thing.

So I trotted off to the local thrift store to peruse the ladies ugly sweater aisle. Oh, yes I did peruse the ladies ugly sweater aisle.

 "Chris," you say, "why in the world would you risk your manhood and reputation by perusing the ladies sweater aisle for an ugly sweater?" Well, let me tell you about my mom.

My mom had noticed, when I was, say, six or seven years old, that

Your Suffering Does Not Just Belong To You.

This is from Tim Challies' blog. I've been around some suffering, and honestly, I had never thought of this before. I think this gives some much needed perspective, and it would help to think about these things before the trials come....


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One of God's Purposes in Suffering
by Tim Challies

The more I grow in my knowledge of the Lord (by his grace) the more I see the utter centrality of the church, the local church, in his plan for his people. The more I learn of him, the more I see what a jewel the church is—what a blessing, what an honor it is to be part of something so amazing, so other-worldly. This is something that has been brought home to me in recent years primarily by the joy and privilege of being part of a faithful local church. But it has also been emphasized through many of the books I’ve read.

A little while ago I read Ligon Duncan’s book Does Grace Grow Best in Winter?, a book that deals with suffering. There was something in there that really grabbed my attention in this context of the local church.

You may be familiar with these words from the first chapter of Colossians:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

These are words I’ve