While these last 5 months of being unemployed have been hard, I’ve surprisingly been able to learn a lot of positive things. It’s just gone to show me that when God says, “ALL things work together for good,” it’s really true.

I’ve learned how to save money, take advantage of free stuff, look at the poor with not just compassion but true empathy, find things to be grateful for and miracle of miracles, I’ve almost learned how to be an ALMOST optimistic vs. pessimistic person!! Yay. When I look at that result, I can pretty much say I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.

1) I learned that I can live on a lot less money than I ever thought imaginable. I made budget cuts where I thought I had none to make ($18 a month for a Netflix subscription - gone. $50 a month for wireless internet - gone. [In November once my roommate moved out]), and I found cheap ways to eat (Ramen noodles, spaghetti, and peanut butter & jelly sandwhiches made my strict diet - yes I know, so healthy). And I actually got proud of myself for being able to live off so little in some strange way. It was like my own personal adventure on Survivor or something, and the days I wasn’t absolutely starving and could be proud of my accomplishments (there were only 3 of those), I felt like I was some super hero woman for surviving on so little.

2) God has provided. I have had small little jobs that have come in at just the right time. I had absolutely no savings when I left my job in August, and only $2,000 in the bank which all evaporated by October, and THAT only thanks to the huge tax refund Bush sent out to all singles this summer, and the rest by some other financial miracle (I normally lived paycheck to paycheck). When October came, I got a part-time (15 hours a week) job that lasted until the end of my lease and helped me not to have to borrow everything from my parents until December when my lease ended and I could move in with relatives.

3) Speaking of which…I’m thankful I have family. My parents will help me out financially so long as I am willing to humble myself and ask for help. That has been the largest hurdle. I’m really independent and like to be able to say I can make it on my own. But I’ve finally had to admit that I can’t. I also just moved in with my grandparents a week ago and now get to have free rent, utilities, and food. That takes at large part of the burden off my shoulders, though there are still massive bills to pay (car payment, student loan, credit cards), and so I still need a job, and soon. But even THERE, God provided. This month I got money from a 401k I had forgotten about, pro-rated rent for December back (since I had paid last months’ rent before I moved in), and am getting most of my damage and pet deposits back. Altogether, I should have enough now to last me until January.

4) There are a lot of things I can get for free that I used to pay for. One, I discovered that I can rent movies for free at the library. Two I discovered that even better than Starbucks (where it costs money to use wireless internet), or Panera Bread (where they expect you to buy something in exchange for free wireless internet), most public libraries offer wireless internet for free! Three, I went out on a couple of dates and got a meal and a movie for free. I’m not a gold digger, and actually, I always insist that I pay for myself. But for the first time I forced myself not to feel guilty because my financial situation didn’t allow it.

5) It could always be a lot worse. I don’t have additional mouths to feed other than my dog. And I have parents to bail me out if it really comes down to it, and grandparents to move in with. As I think of the rest of America, where its just them and their whole family relying on a paycheck, I realize I’m really fortunate. I can’t imagine how much tougher it is for everyone else. Even though I think my situation is horrible, it’s nothing compared to what it could be, and I need to remember to be grateful for that.

6) God taught me compassion AND empathy. This is the largest, most valuable lesson I learned. Before this economic crisis I used to look at people and say if they’re poor, it’s their own fault. They should work harder, try harder. I wouldn’t have any sympathy for people at all. But recently, some stranger was on the news talking about their financial hardships and I almost started to cry for them. Because I knew the job market was hard out there…people with Masters degrees & 10 years experience applying for $10 an hour jobs…my own struggles to even find retail work…my own frustration at applying to over 150 jobs in Colorado Springs alone to not even get one call for an interview…my frustration at spending days driving around to every business I saw was hiring to talk in person about a job only to have them say actually they’re on a hiring freeze until after the 1st of the year, but they had too many people as it is and might need to let people go in January, not hire more…frustrated when several jobs, having been posted for only 1 day up to a week, were filled by the time I discovered them and called about them.

I remembered the time I went to the grocery store to buy food and realized all I had was $2.00, enough to buy spaghetti sauce and nothing else. And I remembered the time I had only $3, my tank was on E, and while I was thankful the gas prices had gone down enough for 2 gallons I wondered how I would ever make it with the bills in the hundreds I had to pay in the next few days and no money for food (my parents found out and sent money). And I remembered the time that I went to the grocery store to buy packing tape and realized I only had $1.80 and the packing tape cost $4.65. And I remembered the time the credit card company called asking for their money and I had no way to pay it and my next very small paycheck had to go to pay rent or I’d be homeless too. And I remembered the feeling of realizing that for the first time in my life, I wasn’t going to be able to buy my family Christmas presents this year. That’s probably one of the worst feelings of them all. The rest are just bills, but you never want to hurt or disappoint your family.

Until you experience all that first-hand, you can never truly know what it’s like. What it’s like to feel so completely helpless to change your situation, and knowing that you need things to change instantly or something terrible will happen. Until you experience that, I don’t truly believe you can have true sympathy for others. At least, I never did. And so, I am thankful, grateful, happy even - for this experience and the way it has softened my heart torwards others. If that is the only thing I get out of all of this, it’s worth it, and I only pray that God will always keep my heart softened and never again prejudiced against people who’s hearts, stories, circumstances, and lives I have never touched.

Sometimes I get so caught up in my own little world that I forget what other people might be facing during the holidays, especially during this economy. Don’t get me wrong - my own circumstances aren’t posh. In fact, next weekend I’m moving in with my grandparents until I can find steady rather than part-time employment.

However, things can always be worse, no matter how bad I think my own life has gotten. I was reminded of that today at work. During a staff meeting, they read a letter from one of the radio stations’ listeners, a single mother of 3 who had been feeling down about having no money for Christmas gifts for her children this year until a song came on the radio that made her feel better. I’ve heard stories like this for years - this isn’t the first time parents have been in hardship - however, this is probably the first year I could truly empathize. What can I do about it? Nothing in my current financial standing. But sometimes just becoming aware of the problem helps me to remember to do something about it in the future.

The other thing I remembered to be thankful for today came after a phone call with a former co-worker in her 40s, one I used to go see musicals with. She was calling to invite me to go with her to a show in January, but I told her I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it by then. Then she asked me what my plans were for Thanksgiving, and I was able to thankfully say I had plans to spend it with my grandparents. Curious what she was doing, I asked her, and she basically told me she had already started making this huge feast, but would be eating it alone. My heart broke. I didn’t know what to say, and I wished I could be in two places at once so she wouldn’t have to spend Thanksgiving alone, staring at a huge table full of food with no one to talk to. Meals to me, are all about the conversation, especially feasts. Sometimes it’s even hard to eat just a little meal cooked for myself. Food just seems to taste better with 2, or 3, or 4 to share it with. But never have I had to experience a Thanksgiving, Easter, or Christmas meal alone. And I’m sure she’s not the only single person in town who has to experience that, year after year after year. Not to mention all the widows and elderly in nursing homes who have to go through the same thing.

I don’t as of yet know what I can do about it. But just being reminded at least that Thanksgiving and Christmas can be a hard time of the year for some people made me think I should start actively making a plan for future holidays and ways to brighten them for someone else. Trying to do it this year would probably be a bit too much as I’ll be in the process of moving and hunting for a job, but maybe I can squeeze at least one little thing in.

Anyhow, here are a few ideas I came up with, feel free to add to the list!

1. Serve dinner at a homeless shelter.
2. Invite singles over for holiday meals.
3. Visit a nursing home and pass out Christmas cards, or just free hugs.
4. Buy the less fortunate Christmas gifts. These orga nizations have great programs for doing so: Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree, Toys for Tots.

This is my letter to the Chinese Ambassador in response to the animal cruelty I discovered last night. If you can, please download a copy of this letter and mail it in. For just 42 cents, maybe together, our many small voices will become one large one to stop this.

His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
202-328-2574
202-328-2582 (fax)

November 25, 2008

Dear Ambassador Wenzhong:

Recently I became aware of the fact that in China, the boiling, hanging, drowning, electrocution, and skinning of cats and dogs while they are alive for the production of food and fur products is permissible in your country (1). These helpless animals have often lived for up to five to 10 minutes after they are skinned (2). Many of them have been pets that have been stolen to be slaughtered (3).

Hours of video footage and hundreds of photographs, some of which I have seen, are proof that the above atrocities, including the cruel methods of housing, transporting, and slaughtering them, occur in your country on a regular basis (4).

As someone who believes in the humane treatment of not only human life, but also animal life, I am appalled to learn that in this way, over 2 million dogs and cats have been killed annually in China alone (5).

Because many products that make it to our American stores are either not labeled at all or falsely labeled as “faux fur” but in actuality, are cat and dog fur, I have decided to not now nor ever purchase any fur products (6).

In conclusion, I respectfully request that you enact an animal welfare law in China that will prohibit all of the above cruel handling of dogs, cats and other animals at markets and during transportation.

Sincerely,

[INSERT YOUR NAME HERE]

Footnotes
1.  Source: http://infurmation.com/investdogcat1.php
2.  Source: http://www.peta.org/feat/ChineseFurFarms
3.  Source: http://www.furkills.org/dog_fur_horror.shtml
4.  Source: http://infurmation.com/investdogcat1.php
5.  Source: http://infurmation.com/investdogcat1.php
6. Source: http://www.hsus.org/furfree/news/fur_labeling_bill_introduced.html

WARNING: The above is a very graphic video and I only recommend watching it if you are able to handle extremely disturbing images.

Proverbs 12:10 - “The godly are concerned for the welfare of their animals.

A friend of mine forwarded me the link to this video. I had no idea what exactly I was going to be seeing, but I started to sob almost immediately. And then, I cried for a few hours after that. The next day (today), I still can’t get the images of cats and dogs being skinned, boiled, and electrocuted - ALIVE. I had no idea until now that this stuff even went on. Now I understand why some people go to crazy extremes to protest the fur trade, like sitting outside of buildings wearing very little clothing or Hollywood stars posing nude for various print materials.

While I didn’t want to go this extreme, I knew I had to do SOMETHING about what I’d seen. I couldn’t just sit and be silent, and go on with my life as if my eyes had never been opened to the cruel and harsh ways animals are being treated for the sake of fashion. But I wasn’t sure what I could do. I’m just one person.

That’s when I realized that maybe, just maybe, more people’s voices could join mine because there are at least a few things we can do about this. But they need many voices crying out in unison to be heard.

We can:

1. Join this Facebook group and pass it on to everyone we know to create awareness.
2. Sign this petition from Animal Saviors.org.
3. Write a Letter to the Chinese Ambassador. Ask him to enact an animal welfare law that will prohibit the cruel handling of dogs, cats and other animals at markets and during transportation. Here is the address:His Excellency Zhou Wenzhong
   Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China
   Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
   2300 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
   Washington, DC 20008
   202-328-2574
   202-328-2582 (fax) See my next post for a sample letter that you can also download.
4. Get more info at any of these sites:
   HumaneSociety.org
   FurKills.org
   FurisDead.com
   PETA
   InFURmation

DISCLAIMER: I know some of these organizations are offensive (to Christians) because of the ideas they stand for. Heck, I don’t believe in everything they stand for, such as not eating meat and believing in the killing of babies. However, there aren’t any Christian organizations out there that take a stand on this (I checked), and the links above provide additional, helpful resources.

Today, February 14th, 2008, the day of love across the country…in recognition of the thousands of teenagers to young adults who are suffering from depression, cutting, and suicidal ideation, I wrote love on my arm along with thousands of others from across the country with a permanent marker.

Activists were asked to write the word “Love” on their arms in the hope that someone would ask them what it was there for, and then each could go into an explanation about the importance of this stand.

Unfortunately, no one asked me…but I felt like I was making a difference anyway.

Check out To Write Love on Her Arms‘ website. Peace out from me.

Saturday afternoon, I was getting ready to turn out of the mall and noticed this guy holding up a cardboard sign. Usually, I avert my eyes and keep driving. But this time, something about his sign caught my eye: “Will WORK for food.” That really struck me.

There was a lot of traffic pulling off at the stop sign so I had a ton of time to think as I waited to make my turn. My mind raced with thought after thought. The usual ones like - “Why doesn’t he just go get a job instead of holding up a sign?” And then somewhere, God stirred up compassion within me and that was replaced by “That could be ME out there…you never know what might have happened in his life to lead him to have to beg. I wish I had some sort of work he could do for me,” followed by “No actually, I wish I had some cash on me.”

Then I suddenly felt myself being propelled to do something, and I truly believe that was the Holy Spirit, and BING, the light went off in my head to not just drive by this time. So I drove another light down and went to McDonald’s and bought him a Super-Size Value Meal for $7. I don’t know why, but for some reason I ordered him a Chicken BLT meal and Coke, oddly enough as I’d never had one of those sandwiches before and didn’t like Coke so you’d think I’d order a regular burger and some sort of drink I like. But something said that’s what I should get, so that’s what I got.

I had to turn around and drive back to where he was and I was getting super nervous that he might have left by then and I’d be stuck with way too much food to eat.

But there he was, still standing at the corner. And you just have NOOO idea how excited I was to see him!!! A big, huge gleeful laugh rose up and I literally think I must’ve started dancing and laughing at myself in my car as I pictured how surprised he’d be when I handed him that huge bag of food, hot & fresh.

I parked my car at the bank next to the corner where he was standing and handed him the bag and told him it was because God loved him that I was giving it to him. He replied with “God bless you!,” put down his sign, and got in his car - yes, apparently he had one - and drove off. For $7, I made someone’s day. $7!! That’s it!!!

And you know what ELSE is awesome - people saw me handing him the food as they drove by. What strikes me is not that I will be written up as some sort of hero by those people for doing it. But maybe, just MAYBE, I started a chain reaction, and all of those people will at least think about not just passing by the next time they see someone standing on the corner holding a sign!! NOT that I should go out and do these things in public or brag about them, because God says my reward is in Heaven. But the fact that I had the chance to be an example…that’s just awesome!

RAK idea - So the next time you see someone standing on a corner with a sign asking for food, buy them some! And tell them why you’re doing it. Hopefully you’ll be a little more eloquent than me and say more than “God loves you,” but I’m also sure that God will give you the words when the time comes!

ANOTHER IDEA - Something else I thought about is how he might be hungry again the very next day when the McDonald’s wore off, and I was sorry I hadn’t done more. And rather than give cash (which could be spent on who-knows-what-for-what-end), I was thinking, what if we went to our local grocery stores and bought grocery gift cards? Most have them. And you could keep them in your wallet so that whenever you run into someone who needs help you can hand them money for food!!? What an AWESOME impact we could have for the Kingdom!!!!

From the wall of a Facebook group I started…probably not going to do much with it anymore, but thought it’d be interesting nonetheless to see my first efforts.