Best. Birthday. Ever. Part 1 - The Prep

When I had the crazy thought to do 35 RAKs in ONE day on my 35th birthday, I never imagined what the day would turn out like.  RAKs are often unpredictable.  -Sometimes you never meet or even see the person you are "RAK'ing", other times you directly interact with the person.  But nothing, NOTHING, could have prepared me for this birthday full of RAKs.

Donnie left Friday, with the three littles in tow, headed for my brother-in-law's (DJ - the sis' hubs).  Yes, those two amazing men decided to combine forces to watch five little ones for two days and two nights - AND they made it look easy - so us women folk could have the house to ourselves to prep (and giggle).

My two accomplices came up later that evening.  After a delightful dinner, we headed to complete some last minute errands and then back to my house to prep for the following day.

Here they are assembling blessing bags for me:




The Mother - working hard for me

The Sis - making it look easy

And I baked and baked and baked.  Let's just say, I made roughly 25 dozen cookies and 5 dozen scones to deliver the next day and wasn't in bed until 2 am!

 



Some of the goodies

Blessing Bags

I've heard of several different versions of "Blessing Bags" - to benefit all ages in various need brackets - but the bags for the less fortunate/homeless seem to really pull at my heart strings. 

I, like probably a lot of you, have heard it over and over again to try to avoid giving money to those looking for some help.  The husband and I have, since the beginning of our marriage, purchased food for those are asking for some help whenever we see and need and can help.  And now the kids have come to expect it if we see someone in need.  But, let's be honest, running through a drive-thru isn't always possible with various schedules and appointments, and often times I feel like I want to offer more than a fast food place can offer. 

Enter the Blessing Bag. 

These are awesome to make up ahead of time and keep in your car - ready to hand out at any moment.  I have seen several lists but here is what my bags include:

• A pocket-size Bible
• Fresh socks
• Lip balm
• A comb
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Mouthwash
• Baby powder
• Shampoo/Conditioner
• Deodorant (gender appropriate)
• Travel sized toilet paper or wipes
• Antibacterial wipes
• Feminine products for the women's bags
• A first aid kit
• Bags Peanuts
• Clif Bars
• Beef Jerky or Slim Jims
• Trail Mix
• Peanut Butter to go
• Tuna or Chicken salad with crackers
• Gum and mints (put into a baggie to help the mint taste not spread)
• Bar of soap (I put this into a baggie but leave it on the side - only to be added last minute so the soap doesn't affect the taste of the food - it can travel through the bag)

You can easily double up on toiletries, food, or the socks, I simply prefer to cram as much of a variety as I can into that gallon bag - just include what you think is best for your area and budget. 

I also try to keep a bottle of water on the side (takes up too much room in the bag) to hand out with the bag. 

Finished product:

 

 

In winter, I will add gloves, a beanie, double up on the socks, and some hot apple cider or hot chocolate packs (gas stations here will usually give out free hot water and many less-fortunate will hold on to coffee cups they have received in the past for that exact reason).  The main point is giving out what the area most demands for that season.  :)

I'm 29...and 71 months.

I've been thinking a lot about my upcoming birthday.  Not because I'm dreading it or am anxious about it, just because it's a "milestone" birthday.  I’m turning the big 3-5.  (gasp)  I know, I know I just admitted to the world that I will soon be 35.   No longer am I in the 25-34 age bracket, I'm in the 35-44 - or better yet 35-64 age bracket I saw yesterday. Yep, in a little over a month I'll be practically 64.

But back to the pondering…. This got me thinking: What can I do to represent such a birthday?  I don't need anything.  We already have a trip planned this summer (shout out to my little brother who's getting married in July!) plus I don't need a trip.

And then it came to me: RAKs!!  Random Acts of Kindness.  A Christina fav!  Nothing sounds more perfect to ring in my 35th year than 35 random acts of kindness crammed into one day.  Yes, ONE day.  Whew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it!  (And a little relieved I didn't think of this on my 50th birthday.)  I realized the kids (my usual helpers) wouldn't survive an inevitably long day but I knew I would need help to get the RAKs completed and to help keep me motivated. 

Introducing:

 

Accomplice #1 - The Sis
Standing at 5'4" she's a high-energy, adventurous, army-wife and mom of two.
She loves hiking, coffee, Tina's madness, and long walks on the
beach with her hubs (hard to do in Colorado).
Meet: Brittany!

 

Accomplice #2 - The Mother
Also standing at 5'4" she's a fun-loving, dedicated pastor's wife,

mother of three and grandmother of five!  She enjoys cooking, family get-togethers,

and playing any game that allows her to win against her hubs.

Meet: Paula!

So I have the ambition, I have the recruits, now I need the ideas.  I have some, but not enough.  And that's where you come in. 

Your mission: to help me come up with a list of 35 thoughtful and fun RAKs.  They don't need to be big and extravagant - actually, considering I have 35 to pay for and cram into one day, I'm hoping they're not big and extravagant - just fun and encouraging to those that find them. 

 

Bring on the ideas!

 

It wasn't a failure, it was a refocusing

We did not finish the complete challenge.  The attitude, conservative spending and consciously looking for ways to help others--yes. The poverty food challenge--no. 

For weeks I felt guilty but then I realized we didn't quit because we got busy or lazy or didn't appreciate the concept; we stopped because we hit a family crisis....

While Donnie was in Guatemala, something began manifesting in one of the small one's life.  It snowballed so quickly and so dramatically that it slammed into our little world before I even, really, saw it coming.  I refused to let Donnie know what was going on back home so that he could focus on his work there.  I told a select few, only to ask for prayers and wisdom; and then told Donnie everything the morning after he returned (welcome home!). 

He returned two days before the middle one's birthday and our focus was temporarily turned to that and then our friends' visit the day after that.  When we set up the challenge's schedule, we had planned to take a week off to cover both the birthday and the visitors, but we had not planned on being hit with this family crisis.  Perhaps others would have trudged through--splitting their focus between their child's issue and the poverty challenge--but we decided to skip the last ten days of the challenge and focus on our family. 

There are some days I wish we would have trudged through--stopping ten days before the end sounds like a failure.  But then I remember the fear and anger and array of emotions I had to deal with alone at first and then later with Donnie and I'm thankful we were willing to quit and turn 100% of our attention to her.  She was worth it.  She IS worth it.


Because we didn't finish, I feel it's incomplete--like I can't give a summary quite yet.  Maybe one day, one day soon, we will complete it.  Or come up with a new extended and broader challenge... Oh the possibilities!

Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater

Guatemala focus, Day seven.

Wow.  Poverty awareness month (PAM) is hard.  I miss my variety of veggies.  I miss my fruits.  I really miss my salads.  The kids' Halloween candy screams at me every day....

 

Sigh.

I could sit here and write about everything we're learning--we are learning a lot--but instead I'm going to confess.  --There has not been one day of PAM that I have not cheated.  Yep.  There you have it--I suck at sticking to poverty foods. In my defense, I didn't want the lettuce to go to waste on day four (okay, and I have a salad almost everyday and was going through serious withdrawals).  Also I figured, I can call it an "ensalada" and I'm golden.  :/

If it were just the salad, I probably wouldn't feel the need to confess.  But it's the yogurt, cup of tea, Reese's PB cup in a pumpkin shape (the shapes are the best), peanut butter with my banana.... Everyday it's an internal struggle and every day I fail at least once. 

In all honesty, it doesn't help that Donnie is sending us pictures of his Guatemalan fare and it looks nothing like our meal packs (which one week into a daily pack and I have taken to bribery--finish your portion without complaint and you get a piece of your Halloween candy)! 

They call it "mamón chino" but it's called a Rambutan in the States.

He said it had the consistency of a peeled grape and was quite tasty.

The waiter gave two options when ordering steak: with or without fat. (I might not be too jealous of that!)

OK, this one I'm not jealous of at all, but I had to share the picture!

Moral of the story: while I'm constantly cheating and unable to stick with my own rules for some reason, doing this challenge has opened my eyes and amazed me by the countless blessings in my life, my family member's lives, and my friends lives.  I am so grateful that I am able to "cheat" by having a salad or a yogurt or a cup of tea--or allowing my kids to have a piece-of-candy bribe.  I know that I am jokingly complaining about stumbling through this month, but I still wouldn't change it and won't quit now.

It's in the bag

Guatemala Day Two.

Wow, I was so focused on getting through October that I didn't take time to really think through November. It makes sense that it is harder--instead of forcing yourself to live off of the items you've already purchased, you have to live off foods that you only eat if you cannot afford anything else. 

We're doing normal breakfasts--at least for now--so no complaining there.  And then lunch came around.  Today I made our first meal bag:

 

and it did not go as well as I was hoping.  It actually smelled good as it was cooking so I wasn't sure why the small ones were so nervous.  The kids kept popping in and out of the kitchen asking to see what it looked like, so they were all there when I started to dish it up.  The cooking directions said 6-10 cups of water so I elected to go with eight which was apparently too much because as I turned the cup over the bowl it made an ever so unappetizing slopping sound.  HA!  I could not stop laughing at the looks on the girls' faces. 

Our one cup serving sizes all dished up.  Yes, I used a kids bowl too.

We started with a prayer--which included asking for the kids to have wisdom beyond their years to understand the poverty issues we are studying and that they remember that food is meant to be fuel, not always a favorite taste.  I then told them about some of the research I had found and these meals are a way for people to help send food to families who have nothing to eat--or sometimes nothing more than tortillas like in Guatemala. 

 

To be honest, it wasn't bad at all.  I added a little salt and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor (I didn't necessarily have high hopes).  The kids started off eating without complaint so I took a second to snap a picture of each:

 

You can tell by the fake A-Okay sign in the bottom corner that the complaints were coming.  Actually, she was fairly sweet about it saying "It's not my favorite but I am grateful I have food and I will eat it."  (Sweetie)  Then the middle one piped in with "I would be grateful for only tortillas!"  (cue eye-roll)  The youngest had a problem getting it to stay on his spoon for some reason, but finally ate eat his entire serving.  As did the oldest.  The middle one sat there for an hour and ate 1/4-1/3 of her serving.  I finally released her explaining that if she wasn't hungry enough to eat this, she wasn't hungry enough for anything until dinner.  About three hours later, we were walking around the grocery store and she was holding her stomach, whimpering and asking how much longer until we went home. Ahhh, hunger pains. 

 

Dinner of mashed pinto beans and tortillas went over very well.  Absolutely no complaints.  I think we'll stick with the meal bag at lunch so they have satisfied tummies at bedtime.  I understand that many kids go to bed hungry, so I may change my mind so we get an extra dose of empathy, but--selfishly--I really want them to sleep, so I can.

 



Guatemala in a tortilla shell

1/1/32.  No, I'm not thinking it's New Years day in the future.  It means: Day One of Poverty Awareness/Day One of Guatemala Focus/Day Thirty-Two of challenge.

I woke up today realizing that it's no longer $0 month and my first instinct was "I can shop!!!" and then I realized--other than rice, beans, and some veggies--there is nothing I need.  What an amazing feeling.  I need nothing.  So blessed!

Guatemala.

I'll confess, when I first started researching Guatemala with Donnie I wasn't 100% sure how to spell it.  (Don't judge, all things English class related were never my forte--which I'm assuming has become crystal clear by now.)   Now I can not only spell "Guatemala" I know quite a bit about the country's poverty issues. 

Quick Facts:

• 50% of all children have chronic malnutrition; in some areas the rate is as high as 90%
• Guatemala has the highest percentage of malnourished children in all of Latin America
• 42% of Guatemalan citizens do NOT have access to clean water
• 75% of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line (defined as an income that is insufficient to purchase a basic basket of goods and services)
• 58% of the population have incomes below the extreme poverty line 
• 45% of the population over the age of 15 is illiterate
• The infant mortality rate is 55 per 1,000 live births
• The maternal mortality rate is 110 per 100,000 live births
• 16% of infants suffer from low birth weight
• Whenever there is a financial crisis within Guatemala, the government cuts education and social sector expenditures (food subsidies, housing allowances, healthcare, etc.) first; showing a lack of willingness to invest in their citizens

Poverty Foods:

• Tortillas (mostly corn but some flour)
• Beans
• Rice
• Corn
• Eggs
• Bananas
• Coffee (often times one of the first liquids given to infants there!)

Foods that are available to purchase but often not affordable:

• Squash
• Tomatoes
• Chilies
• Tropical fruits
• Cocoa
• Chicken
• Some beef
• Diary products (milks and cheeses)
• Breads

What I found stated over and over again in my research is that for most of the underprivileged it's not that they don't eat, it's that they don't eat well.  Some families live solely on tortillas.  Others are "lucky" enough to add rice and/or beans to their meals.  (I tend to think of malnourished people not eating, not that they can fill tummies with nothing but starchy foods--essentially eating but yet starving their bodies.)   Regardless, the poor are severely lacking in proteins and vitamins. 

I'm not entirely sure what I plan to make and eat during these next nine days.   I know that I will keep my kids healthy and thriving because I am blessed enough to be able to provide the luxurious poverty foods.  An oxymoron--luxurious poverty.  What I haven't decided is if I will be sneaky with how I give them proteins, fruits and veggies (so that they think they're eating as the Guatemalans do) or if I will simply explain _____ items are normal Guatemalan fare and ______ are blessings we have to keep us healthy. 

In an effort to put my money where my mouth is, I will be preparing the family one package a day of a protein meal sent to various places--now including Guatemala.

This pouch offers a remarkable amount of vitamins and protein.  And SIX servings for $1.25!
Thank you Katie for your willingness to send us some!

I do know one thing, with each passing day of this family challenge I have never felt more blessed by my surroundings and possessions, nor have I felt more blessed to be an American.    



A startling video from World Focus on the poverty conditions in Guatemala.