A friend asked me the other day how I’m enjoying my year of giving. I said I love it! I’m really liking it more than I thought I would, and it’s really teaching me a lot about generosity as a mind-set, not just a way of life that Jesus encouraged me to embrace. Its amazing to me that the more I am able to save throughout the month so I can send funds to charities, the better I feel about myself and the direction of my life and the more secure I feel about my finances even though they are only as stable as those of a full-time graduate student can ever be.
Which is why it was hard, but bearable for me to pass up getting my favorite drink from whole foods the other day when I went to buy frozen strawberries (they’re cheaper there). I thought about how much would be taken away from the charity of the month.
My last Old Testament class of the semester was on Monday night. (I won’t really go into how sad I was to see the end of two History courses this week, lest everyone make fun of me for being a giant nerd). In the first hour, we talked about the Psalms. The kinds of Psalms, categories and the shape of the Psalter were the topics discussed. The ones I wanted to focus on were the coronation Psalms.
A coronation Psalm celebrates God as king, and as such, God gives us the job of being his monarchy in action on the earth. In Old Testament history, a king’s job was to administer justice. For me, if I’m going to claim God as my king, my response is to try to administer justice on God’s behalf. I’m really excited that I get to share my efforts to administer justice with Amanda Howard this month. She is my good friend and will be embarking on an 11-month missional journey (The World Race). My Compassion Funds this month (and last month’s too) will help her reach her funding goal so that she can be the hands and feet of Jesus to the rest of the world.
“He has shown you, o mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8
Tagged: activism, BuyWell, Cafe Feminino, generosity, The World Race
