My child has round cheeks and roly-poly arms.
Their children are starving to death and cry from hunger.

I sleep in a soft bed and nearly perfectly climate-controlled environment.
They sleep in the streets with cinder blocks around them so cars won’t run over them and their children.

We throw much of our leftover food in the trash.
They would eat food out of the trash if there was any food.

I will not complain that my life is hard today.

They have such devastating needs and there are so many of them. They desperately need a stable, helpful government, infrastructure, and commerce. Their immediate needs are food, clean water, medical care, and shelter. Their longer term needs are (paved) roads, sewers, stable structures, etc. And to not have any natural disasters for a while. Their economy is about 60% agriculture, and hopefully regardless of this recent disaster, they can still harvest and export their crops to us (the US buys 70% of their exports). They need engineers to rebuild their city soundly and companies to build manufacturing plants there (they have a labor force 3.5mm strong, but mostly unskilled as the country only has a 53% literacy rate).

But mostly they need the gospel. They need Jesus. They need him because the gospel of Christ isn’t just about eternity or Sunday mornings, it has the power to change daily life. In Christ there is hope; without him, there is none. Especially if you can’t feed your children.

81-year-old finds love online: What’s really interesting is that the parents of the bride disapproved

Buffy Leads Women Away From Churches: This is an older article that I saved a link to because I thought it was interesting

Go Outside and Play: This is a really sobering article and I think a good example of when a healthy practice gets taken to the extreme. 

 Here are some interesting excerpts:

Can a piece of paper save a marriage? One suburban Boston couple figured it was worth trying so they entered into a legal agreement to manage a major source of tension in their relationship – money.

and:

Postnups, while much less common than prenuptial agreements, are gaining in popularity. Nearly 50 percent of attorneys polled by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers reported an increase in the number of postnups from 2002 to 2007.

 and:

Postnups might be used to determine who owns assets, set a budget for household expenses or remove a business from the table in the event of a divorce. Couples also have used them to decide such things as how often the mother-in-law gets to visit or how many boys-only weekends the husband gets to take.

Flying Trampoline Ok, this story isn’t actually that weird, but it reminds me of my own experience of a box-spring smashing into my car while I was driving to work one day.  Only by popular demand (leave comments!) will I give details.

Sour Grapes Why do people think they can win these things?  As John Mark would say: RidONculous!

That’s a Bad Marriage This is so messed up.  I guess the alcohol had a lot to do with it, but still.  I’m so grateful that I’m married to a sweet loving husband. 

2 Tim 2:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.