From my little corner lot, I typically blog early in the morning. Two kids off to school, one still sleeping... a cup of coffee and my computer in my lap and I'm off to explore worlds otherwise unknown to me. I click on thumbnails and observe. I read and I learn. I sit at the feet of those wiser than I and glean. There is community in this Body of Christ across the miles.
Somewhere in that gratitude community, I found Kelly... or maybe Kelly found me. I'm not sure. I just know that my heart smiles when I see her pictures and read her words posted on Hand in Hand with the Hallahans, from Uganda, East Africa. I see her life, her struggles, her victories and her defeats. I can read and I can pray for her, simply because we are part of the same Body... His Body.
Monday, I read Kelly's ongoing list...
I read and I laugh because I know that just two days before my man came home with "some chocolate chips for baking." Some?!? Like a dozen bags? Yes, we were baking for a bake sale but it takes a lot of baking to go through a dozen bags of chocolate chips. So, I stowed them in the freezer and forgot about them for a few hours, until Kelly's gratitude list prompted the memory of the frozen chips.
What do you do with "some chocolate chips for baking" when you read of a friend in East Africa who sees chocolate chips as a luxury? You thank God for your husband's foresight and you thaw some chips and box them right up. Then you and your not-so-little-one giggle as you wonder what shape the chocolate chips will be in when they reach their destination.
You know, though, that whatever they look like when they arrive, they will be appreciated because you've sent them with love.
And, you pray and thank God for your new international penpals and the privilege it is to be part of a gratitude community world wide.
*** I so had high hopes of this post. I was going to post beautiful pictures of Ellen packing a box full of chocolate chips. I was going to take a picture of her taping the box closed and a picture of her at the post office. Yep... I surely was.... until we got home from the post office and I realized that a box was on its way to Uganda and I completely forgot to document it with photographs. Oh well... imagine with me, won't you?!
You have such a beautiful heart Heidi. I'm sure that the chocolate chips will be well received no matter what condition they arrive in. :-)
ReplyDeleteActually, it reminds me of my recent trip to haiti. I had emailed the missionaires in advance to see what supplies we needed to bring and if there was anything that they desired that they couldn't get in Haiti. Out of all of the things they asked for, they wanted cheddar cheese. I wasn't sure how six pounds of cheddar cheese was going to make it through baggage claim and customs and teh Haitian heat, but even with all the mold attached, they loved and cherished that toasted cheddar cheese sandwich that they ate the week we were there. :-)
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