Taking a slight detour on my current series on The ABCs of Compassion to share about another non-profit that has taken things global.

Sometime after we started sponsoring with Compassion, I started reading blog posts from people who had opportunities to travel with Compassion. One blogger that I have continued to follow for the past nine years is Kristen Welch who blogs over at We Are That Family. This post about one day she spent in Kenya is probably one of the most powerfully written posts about how hope can be found in the middle of unspeakable living conditions.

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know” - William Wilberforce

I believe one of the reasons I have continued to follow Kristen’s journey is that she came home completely changed and did something.

Mercy House Global was started to give hope and provide sustainable jobs to women living in poverty around the world.

Currently, I subscribe to the Fair Trade Friday monthly original box which includes 3-4 Fair Trade items each month. The items in this latest box have to be some of my favorites!

Fair Trade Friday monthly subscription box

I was able to paint this batik print with the colors provided and now have a beautiful piece of art that was created by people in Malaysia.

Over the last nine years, I have read many books and watched many documentaries that have made me really think about how life is so different and challenging outside of our country.

Want to be part of changing lives? Be sure to explore the Mercy House Global web site and learn more about this wonderful ministry.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I decided to bake up a batch of Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars to share with some friends we were going to be seeing the next day. I turned on the oven and pulled out all the ingredients to start putting this yumminess together. Once I had the bottom crust ready for the oven, I saw that the oven was only at 123 degrees.

There was no way this recipe was going to bake in an oven at that temperature!

So I sent a text to a neighbor, who thankfully was home and willing to let me use her oven. Meanwhile, my husband started checking into what could be the problem with the oven.

I was able to get my baking finished, but the conclusion was...the oven was not working!

Now you have to understand a couple of things...we are a 'if it can be fixed, fix it' type of family. We still have a dryer that is about 20 years old, because it works. We are probably the last family in the country who purchased a flat screen TV because our big, heavy one was still working until just a couple of months ago.

But the biggie right now for me...I love to bake!! And to not have an oven right before Thanksgiving...baking is how I survive the cold weather!!

{taking a deep breath}

However, I was not hosting Thanksgiving...

My neighbors were willing to let me borrow their ovens for the couple of items I was bringing to Thanksgiving at my sister's house...

I have other ways to prepare and cook food for my family...

Then I received a big surprise last week...I am one of about 400 people who have been selected to be part of the launch team for Kristen Welch's new book, Raising Grateful Kids.

If I want my children to choose to be grateful, I need them to see me embrace being grateful, whatever the circumstances.

Yes, it stinks that my oven is not working. But I have seen more joy on the faces of people who have much less than I do. And when I remember what I have been blessed to see and experience, I need to not give into my selfish tendencies and choose to live differently.