This month at church we are in a series about the verse Micah 6:8 which basically asks us to do the right thing....to respond to those who are hungry, to those who are poor, to those who are oppressed. Our church has set into action many opportunities for us as a church community to do just that. As Americans many of us have the luxury of loading our grocery carts and taking seconds at every meal, yet often we don't give theses small conveniences a second thought. Half of the world's population lives on less than $2/day (per family) and 1 billion people live on less than $1/day. Some people have been lucky enough to experience a third world country first hand, and will likely be changed forever by this experience, but many of us will never have that chance. One of the things church has challenged us to do is what they are calling the "5 Day Meal Challenge". We are encouraged to get a taste of what this might be like (to see it first hand the best way we can). For 5 days we are encouraged to try eating with the ingredients that half the world has to work with. Which include:
oatmeal
rice/millet
cornmeal
beans/lentil
tortillas
bits of chicken or fish (the size of chicken nugget per day is a luxury for most)
tap water (with no ice)
Although this list seems sort of long - believe me it gets short REAL fast!
1 cup of food is a luxury and snacking is out of the question!
We decided to give it a try as a family....that's right even the kids. You know how all kids have some things that they just will not eat? Well for my kids that is rice and potatoes. They just cannot eat these two things, if you try to make them they literally gag and throw up. Obviously beans are not high on most kids list - so that doesn't leave much for them to eat. There is no way my kids could do this, maybe some other kids who eat this kind of thing, but not my kids. I was very nervous about this whole idea. I won't lie I didn't think they would make it a day. We decided that the kids would do only 3 days. We literally planned to stick to this except for Madelyn's milk before bed. So here goes!!
SUNDAY NIGHT- We sat the kids down and explained what were going to do. Ella seemed pretty uninterested, Madelyn certainly did not care; Collin on the other hand got a very sad look in his eyes and cried. He definitely did not want to do this. Me either for that matter. We talked about how we would do it together and God would help to show us how lucky we are and to remember to pray for the kids that don't have a lot of food.
DAY 1: I made a small portion of oatmeal for everyone. Collin ate his - he doesn't mind oatmeal. Ella tried it and ate one or two bites and was done. We went to Target for our weekly grocery run and our bill for the week was literally $13.67 for 5 days - that's $2.74/day for a family of 5 which is ridiculous, but still way over $2/day that many live on. ($3.64 of that was for 4 chicken breasts - one per night). When we got done shopping there were more tears when the kids didn't get their normal cookie for being good at the store. Collin was home from school for Presidents Day and for lunch we had plain white rice with some beans mixed in. The kids LITERALLY gagged it up and didn't eat any. There was sadness and quietness but no tears from them. Although I'll admit it nearly brought tears to MY eyes to watch them be so hungry. They asked for something to eat quite a bit that first day. We talked a lot about the kids who live far away in Africa that don't have a lot of food and that we are trying to see what that feels like. At some point in the afternoon I told them we would be able to have a little bit of chicken for dinner, which was met with literal cheers -- "YEAH!!" For dinner we had one chicken breast split between the five of us and a small portion of plain white rice (with a little bit of butter for the kids - I know, I caved!), and 1/2 corn muffin each. They scarfed it down practically without breathing - rice and all!
DAY 2:
We again each got a small portion of oatmeal. Collin ate his. Ella didn't want to, but did eventually eat hers as well. We had rice and beans for lunch - even Collin at school. We did tell Collin he could eat snack at school. We ate rice with a little cajun seasoning with beans and again a small portion of chicken for dinner. We gave them each a 1/2 corn muffin and Collin literally ate the crumbs off the table, and when he tried to get some of Ella's crumbs she guarded them with her life and said, "those are my crumbs!" All 3 ate lunch and dinner without complaining. Madelyn surprisingly has been almost unfazed by this whole process. By now they had already pretty much stopped asking for food, but were constantly telling me they were hungry. By the end of the 2nd day I literally felt like I was starving my kids - it was much harder than I expected. It's one thing to eat food you are not used to, but another to have such a small amount of food in a day. They would just beg for a half of a banana and I just kept telling them the kids in Africa don't get to have snacks and so we can't either until we are done with this. Personally I noticed my pants loser within days, noticed how often I grab a handful of chocolate chips, and how thankful I am for ice in my water, or butter on my bread - much less the feeling of being full.
DAY 3:
By now the kids have pretty much accepted what we are doing. No whining, crying, or complaining. Sometimes they will ask for something, but when I tell them no, they accept it and move on.
DAY 4 & 5: I think the kids did better than Matt and I. In some ways it got easier once the kids were done, I no longer had to watch them starve. But in some ways it got harder. On Thursday I cut up a kiwi for them and found myself licking my fingers for just a taste. And I caught Matt licking out the paper from his corn muffin last night!
Some questions/comments from our week.....
"Do Bill/Cyndy or Scott/Sherry have enough food?" from Ella. Probably because we had told her that people far away don't have food!! We tried to explain that a lot of people right here in MN don't have enough food, but for whatever reason the rest of the week it was referred to as the kids in Africa - so we talked a lot about Africa.
How do they get their food cold in Africa with no refrigerator. Collin thought maybe they used ice packs, but then laughed when I asked him how they would freeze the ice pack. Maybe they put it outside at night, he thought.
How do they get their food hot in Africa?
Are there dinosaurs in Africa? This one from Ella!!
Why don't they have enough food?
Can we mail them food?
How does the food that we give them get to them?
The kids made it, and I am so proud of them. They did not cheat (except a little butter here and there). They did not have a single snack. They did not ever eat more than a small portion. They did not ever complain. They did not waiver. It is amazing what you can learn from them. Their faith in us as parents is incredible. We said they could do something and so they did. Just as Jesus may lead us to do something we are not comfortable with, and often we resist. I learned so much from watching the blind faith that our kids have in us. And how I wish I had that kind of blind faith in the Lord. Think what my life might look like if I did? As I sit here writing this at the end of Day 5, I can honestly say this is one of the hardest things I have ever done. To watch my kids suffer. To divide a bit of my small portion of chicken for them , was to say the least an eye opener.
So was it all worth it?? Our goal was to help ourselves and help our kids understand what it means to have so little. Also we have just started having the kids set aside money from their allowance for giving. We wanted to help them to better understand what it means to give money to kids that don't have a lot of food. I still do not feel that I have walked in the poor's shoes so to speak, since we only experienced one element of their hardship. It was weird to be literally starving my kids while they were watching a movie and sleeping in a bed under a roof. We felt we were sacrificing so much, yet we still had SO much. However, I certainly feel a step closer to understanding their struggle and the pain of watching your child suffer. So although I may not totally understand their struggles I certainly have learned to appreciate all that we have in a way that I don't think was possible before we went on this journey together. We learned to be so thankful for all that God has trusted us with, including each other. We learned to be a team and get through it together as a family, to lean on each other and support each other when it got tough. We learned to think of those less fortunate than us more than once a year (more like 50 times a day - every time I wanted a handful of chocolate chips). We learned that "with God all things really are possible"...I literally didn't think the kids would make it a day, much less 3. I know we couldn't have made it through this journey without the prompting and nudging from God about how much we really have, and the constant reminder in my heart that we CAN do this - that so many people endure so much worse. And it definitely brings a new depth to the prayer that we say before dinner..."Jesus thank you for the food before us", a prayer that I feel for so long we have said instead of prayed with genuine gratitude. As for the kids better understanding.....Ella insists on praying for the kids in Africa before every meal. They have collected $14 each to give to an organization called Feed My Starving Children. And they talk about the kids in Africa constantly throughout the day - even now that they are done. The real clincher for me however was when Collin came home from kindergarten on Day 3 and said, "today before I ate my snack I said a prayer quietly in my head for the kids in Africa that don't get to have a snack". That brought such joy to my heart. To know that my 6 year old, in the middle of school had taken time out to pray for somebody less fortunate than him, made it all worth it! Lesson learned! I think we have all found a new spot in our heart for those who are less fortunate than us and a stronger urge to help them.
So as I sit here in the final hours I can say I am so proud of my family and SO thankful for all that we have!
