First a bit of a progress note on my last post: I got a couple of emails from people too afraid (or wise, depending on your view) to comment on the actual post. I think I'll share a bit from one of their emails because I think they had a good point (I will leave them anonymous though).

Quote #1: My suggestion is to not think about it in terms of being right or wrong. It is your opinion. Don’t assume you are correct. There may be more than one good answer. On biblical differences, view it as an opportunity to examine your beliefs and why you believe that way. I think a lot of times we get caught up in trying to determine what is right and what is wrong on little things (although I would not necessarily call them trivial or insignificant), but we lose sight of what is really important. You quoted it, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind; love your neighbor as yourself.” Remember this always.

Quote #2: If you read the story of Jesus telling the rich man to give away all that he has, the rich man’s response is disappointment because he loves his possessions more than he loves God. There are many places in the Bible where rich men are also praised but not because they are rich but because they are faithful and lead good lives. Take the story of Job for instance. If we all lived paycheck to paycheck because we give everything beyond what we need to live to charity, who would have money to start small businesses and provide jobs for others? I heard someone say once that you are not giving enough to charity and the church until it causes you to sacrifice something in your life. I think this is a good measure of the minimum you should be doing.

I scream an "AMEN!!!" to the first quote and have a lot of respect for the second one. I guess the only thing I would have to say is not that I disagree with the second quote but rather that it is my opinion that it is the minimum. Unfortunately, it is also my opinion that I am not interested in minimums and would prefer to focus all of those financial resources towards the first quote. I must also provide a disclaimer though, I of all people have never been all that great at handling money. I all to often let it handle me. This is part of why I take such a hard line stance with myself on the issue.


Ok, enough of that though. I should move on to other things. This past week wasn't all that amazingly interesting. I did however have one part of the week that stood out to me. On Saturday, I went to our home church and Tim, our host this week, let me in the gate. Tim asked how I was, to which I responded, "I'm doing pretty good, how are you." He said that he was doing pretty well and then proceeded to say that he doesn't recollect me ever saying that I'm not having a good day. This reminded me something about myself. I am (and always have been) a generally happy person who has worries (and frustrations)but trusts that God will take care of me and uses that as an excuse to stay positive. Somehow, I think I have slowly started losing that aspect of me in my time in Bangladesh. I especially see that in my musings over the past month or two since returning to Bangladesh. I've lived too much of my life worrying and fretting over things. Thanks to Tim though, I remembered and it made my day. It's a good thing too, because that night I got all the way home before I realized that I had forgotten my house key. I did what Phil Birkey does best in response to such things, I laughed at my stupidity and enjoyed the extra 4 miles of bike riding I had back to the office. I don't know if you've had the chance to re-find yourself but let me tell you, it is a great feeling.