Blessing, Katrina, tithing
My life veers from frustration to joy and back, but if you ask me any day, even the worst of days, I will tell you straight up: my life is a blessing. I'm telling you: my grandmother is alive and well due to what I can only call a miracle, and I went to see her last week. My wonderful mother has finally retired, and friends and family turned out in style to help celebrate earlier this month. My brother has an excellent girlfriend and (finally) a job, I've gotten to visit with so many friends in the last few weeks that my cup runneth over, and I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow to see my oldest friend get married. I got a preliminary call for my dream job on Monday that I thought went quite well, and I love and am loved by my family and friends. Life is good.
Life isn't so good for everyone, and don't I know that too. Photographer Clayton Cubitt's blog Operation Eden is a beautiful and heartwrenching chronicle of life after Katrina. Today he profiled Pearlington, Mississippi, a small community that received almost no government assistance, and which is being rebuilt primarily by volunteer organizations. The entry is beautiful, and the whole blog makes for thoughtful and emotionally compelling reading.
I donated a bit to Habitat for Humanity when Katrina first happened, but I was in a pretty deep depression then, and by the time I felt better, I wasn't sure what else I could do. I never did as much as I wanted to for Katrina survivors. Clayton reminds us that it's not too late - there's still need, and there are still ways to donate that reach those most affected by the disaster. He posted a link to One House At A Time, an organization building houses in Pearlington; if you look at their site, you can see the houses in progress right now, and read a little about the families they're being built for.
I just sent them a bit of money, and I was reminded of my resolution for the New Year: I'm going to tithe. Not to the church, but to various charities. In 2007, I'm going to try to push my giving up to 5% of my income. It's not as much as I'd like to be giving, and it's not the traditional 10%, but it's more than I've totalled in previous years, so it will be a start. Blessings are meant to be shared and multiplied, after all.
Life isn't so good for everyone, and don't I know that too. Photographer Clayton Cubitt's blog Operation Eden is a beautiful and heartwrenching chronicle of life after Katrina. Today he profiled Pearlington, Mississippi, a small community that received almost no government assistance, and which is being rebuilt primarily by volunteer organizations. The entry is beautiful, and the whole blog makes for thoughtful and emotionally compelling reading.
I donated a bit to Habitat for Humanity when Katrina first happened, but I was in a pretty deep depression then, and by the time I felt better, I wasn't sure what else I could do. I never did as much as I wanted to for Katrina survivors. Clayton reminds us that it's not too late - there's still need, and there are still ways to donate that reach those most affected by the disaster. He posted a link to One House At A Time, an organization building houses in Pearlington; if you look at their site, you can see the houses in progress right now, and read a little about the families they're being built for.
I just sent them a bit of money, and I was reminded of my resolution for the New Year: I'm going to tithe. Not to the church, but to various charities. In 2007, I'm going to try to push my giving up to 5% of my income. It's not as much as I'd like to be giving, and it's not the traditional 10%, but it's more than I've totalled in previous years, so it will be a start. Blessings are meant to be shared and multiplied, after all.
posted by The Stute Fish at 14:11
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