Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

"Get busy living, or get busy dying"

Andy Dufresne

Seriously, who does not love the movie Shawshank Redemption? And do we not make this choice...whether or not to fully live...in small ways each day?

I have realized that I can often fall into the following cycle: read/see/hear something that makes me angry /bitch to Jimmy/ do nothing.  A few months later I read/see/hear the same thing or something similar/I become angry/ bitch to Jimmy/ do nothing.

So in order to get busy living- I can either stop getting angry or I can do something. I'm going with option number two because I'm not sure option number one is possible for me.

The past week I have been frustrated in relation to the consumeristic nature that we in the developed world live by.  Please note the 'we'. I am in no way excluding myself from this category.

An example of something that initaties this cycle for me: the ridiculous amount of coverage on the Carnival Fantasy.

Side Bar: Our family is on a media fast, so officially I shouldn't have even known about this. But, media fasting is harder than anticipated. And for Valentine's Day Jimmy and I just wanted to relax on the couch with our wine after getting the kids to bed and check out something on TV (you call it pathetic, I call it life with three kids). Back to the point...

Please don't get me wrong. I am sure that those five days on that ship were bad. Horrible in fact.  But no one died. One dear passenger tried to give those listening some perspective,  "I always had water. My belly was full. So that was a blessing".

5000 children die each day from dehydration. Each Day. Millions don't have access to something to eat. Many children don't go to school because they walk for miles to get water for their family. Dirty water. Water that brings disease. CNN- how about covering that and getting people motivated to do something?

So we at the Eskridge house will "Get busy living" by helping others have the things we take for granted everyday- WATER and FOOD. We felt there was no better time than Lent to spend time prayerfully looking for ways we could give a little extra to others. And with the blessing of a tax refund on the way, we have some funds to do it.

“In a world filled with clutter, noise, and hustle, Lent is a good excuse to step back and rethink how we think and live. In a world of instant gratification, it’s a chance to practice delayed gratification – to fast – so that we can truly appreciate the blessings we have."

Shane Claiborne

We would love to see some others join us. Have a refund coming to you? Want to give something extra for Lent? What injustice is bothering you today? What can you do about it? Not sure? We hope to have others join us in two of the projects we will be doing during Lent:

1. Food for Orphans:
Many of you are aware of the Project Hopeful FIG Awassa program Jimmy and I are involved with. 8 of the orphans in that program are not yet sponsored. Because the orphanage no longer receives support from outside sources, they need funds to supply food for the children that are not sponsored. $100 will cover food for one child for 6 months. So our goal for the 40 days of lent: $800. Let's help all 8 kids have food for the next six months while we pray for sponsors to step forward.
The link to give: FIG Awassa Food (Put FOOD in the message line)

2. Coffee to Water
Many of us have come to depend on our morning cup (or 3) of coffee. I estimate our family spends around $25 a month on coffee. So our goal by May 19th is to ask people to donate what they would normally spend each month on coffee to Charity Water and bring clean water to those without it. $1000 will provide 10 families with clean water. Charity water gives 100% of it's publicly raised dollars to its water projects. To give to our water project, follow this link Coffee to Water.

I will update on how each project is going. Thank you for considering giving. No gift is too small.

"If you can't feed 100 people, just feed one."

Mother Teresa