My church family

I am grateful and feel privileged to be part of a wonderful church community, which aims to worship God and serve the local community at the same time (after all, when we serve our neighbours, do we not serve God too?) 

We provide breakfast on a Saturday morning, and everybody is welcome. A couple of homeless guys are amongst the regulars.

At the same time we are a collection point for Food Bank, a UK charity which works in conjunction with health and social services to provide food parcels to people in financial difficulties.

I feel very welcomed and accepted into my church family. Being part of the Body of Christ truly is like being part of a great family!

The more welcomed and accepted I feel, the more my desire grows to reach out and make others feel the same; be they friends or strangers.

Perhaps the love of God is best felt, when it comes from fellow human beings ...?

Just as God loves us, so we should love each other.

Just as God forgives us, so we should forgive each other.

Just as God protects us, so we should look out for and protect each other.

I thank God for having brought me this far on my faith journey! I thank him for having brought me to my church community. I pray that he will continue to nurture me and mature me in my faith, and that he will use me for the purpose he has intended for me ... and I pray that I will never lose sight of it!

Thank you, Lord.

Left-over Friday

Here is another go at using up the left-overs in the fridge before going out to buy food for the next week.

This time the recipe is Mixed Vegetable Curry.  Useful for almost any left-over vegetables.

Happy Birthday, Anna!

My daughter is 16 today ... and I feel old!

It doesn't seem like yesterday that I gave birth to our first-born.

Here she is, when she was 18 months old:

Car-free working and Walk to Work week

I work in a community team for adults with learning disabilities, and much of my work consists of visiting people in day centres and in their own homes across town.

At the moment that often means me using my car to do those home visits, but I am hoping and trying to decrease my car use and rely more and more on alternative transport, such as public transport, bicycle or my own two feet!

I am in the process of finding out whether my employer (the good old NHS) would support me in those endeavours. You might think that, being the national health service, they would encourage people to go car-free ... but the perception that the car is the only realistic and most efficient mode of transport is deeply ingrained in people's minds.

So I am slowly gathering evidence about car-free options and their benefits, and about projects and incentives in other areas. (Any suggestions and advice is welcome!!)

Walking Works is one website, which I have come across so far. Did you know that it is Walk to Work week from 26-30 April?

"Thoughts come clearly while one walks" - Thomas Mann

KIVA (Microfinancing)

I just made a loan to someone in Kyrgyzstan through KIVA - a microfinancing website.

You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.

The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I just made a loan to this group of women, named Nurjan Sabyr–kyzy's Group in Kyrgyzstan.  

It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.

Just follow this link to find out more.

Love food Hate waste

I hate wasting food!

So I was very pleased to come across this site. Full of useful tips and recipes!

Tomorrow is the day when we do our weekly food shopping, so I rummaged through the fridge and cupboard and found some left-overs to plan this evening's meal with - some potatoes, a few parsnips, half a swede and some spring onions. Eggs and flour is usually stocked.

With those ingredients I made these vegetable rostis, served with bacon and fried egg. Everybody liked them. Bonus!

 

Fairtrade fortnight

Fairtrade fortnight 2010 runs from February 22nd to March 7th.

A great reminder that we can help those who grow and provide food for us in the developing world by ensuring that they receive a fair living wage!

We can do that by swapping as many food and household items as possible for fairtrade alternatives ( fruit, coffee, tea, chocolate, wine, sugar, rice, flowers, cotton etc) . Sure, they tend to be a little more expensive - but the extra money we pay means the producer has earned a better and fairer income.

After all, we all want to be able to provide for our families.

To get to the fairtrade page, click here.