Girls need pampering now and then. Most of us include a few girly maintenance/stress-relievers in our budget: pedicures, manicures, massage, a bit of retail therapy.
I live a stressful life, in my opinion. My job puts me sitting at a computer for hours, causing stiffness. I’m raising teenagers while battling deadlines for books and freelance work. Juggling multiple projects, and facing uncertainty about how much my freelancing will earn each month. To improve my health and detox from stress, I treat myself to a massage once a month. With tip, it costs $74. For a number of reasons, I recently decided that luxury items are getting deleted from our household budget.
So I figured I could invest that $76 a month in stocks or bonds, to help fund college for my daughter. But then I felt God’s nudge to invest it in his kingdom.
My daughter with a little girl she met in South Africa
What if I put half that money away for my girl, and used the other half to offer opportunity to another girl? What if I asked myself, what do girls really need?
Then I read Just a Minute: In the heart of a child, one moment … can last forever by Wess Stafford (President of Compassion International). He tells stories (many of which brought me tears) of key moments in the life of children. And I thought—how could I change the life of a child? Especially a girl. In the developing world, girls are considered a liability and if there’s only a little food, the boys will be fed first. If a family has funds for one child to go to school, the boys will also get first dibs on those resources. Girls are sometimes vulnerable in their own homes.
A report from the World Bank, Girls’ Education in the 21st Century: Gender Equality, Empowerment, and Economic Growth, states: “Women’s economic empowerment is essential for economic development, growth, and poverty reduction—not only because of the income it generates, but also because it helps to break the vicious cycle of poverty.”
Research has also shown that when you educate boys, they tend to leave their families and rural villages, taking their educated selves to cities to find jobs. But when you educate girls, they tend to stay in their home village—often starting small businesses, improving the life of their family, even the entire village. Most experts on poverty agree that educating girls brings more “bang for the buck” when it comes to economic development.
I realized that for $38 a month, I could sponsor a little girl through Compassion. I could “reduce stress” for someone else: stress of being hungry or abused, or not having clothes to stay warm. I could send a girl to school, and in that moment, change her life.
For $76, the amount I was spending on my monthly “stress relief,” I could sponsor two girls.
When my neck gets stiff, and my reflexive thought is, “I need a massage,” I want to think about how I define “need.” God’s asking me to stare my privilege in the face and maybe slap it. By sponsoring two little girls, I can keep them from far greater discomfort than I suffer. What do they “need”? In a world where girls are more likely to be abused, uneducated, or ignored, I am trading my luxury for their survival.
What can you buy for $38? A pedicure, maybe. Or a pair of pants or blouse, on sale at LOFT. A sweatshirt and yoga pants from Target. A purse at T.J. Maxx. Two overpriced coffees a week, for a month. Which of those do you “need”?
What would happen if we redirected our resources from luxuries we don’t need to girls who really are in need? What if, in the next minute, you decided to pack your lunch instead of eating out, or decided to wear last year’s jeans instead of buying new ones? And in that moment, redirected resources that could change a girl’s life?
Great points here Keri, really well stated.
I love the picture of your daughter and her South African friend, as it gives a clear illustration of just what you’re talking about. My daughter is headed to South Africa this summer, co-leading a team of college students for Cru, and we are very excited to see what God is doing in her life and what he will do through her in the lives of those she will work with and for.
And as for a little going a long way, our son got into micro-financing a while back and funded a loan for a woman in Central America to start a home baking business. He researched it, raised the money and followed up on the loan all on his own. Again, you can imagine how excited we are about the things God is doing in our son’s life.
Thanks for giving us a glimpse into what’s happening in your family, Keri. And thanks too for the video link you posted over at Aimee Byrd’s blog. Wess Stafford’s talk about the one little girl he met raised goose bumps on me, it was so powerful and sweet all at once. (Thanks too for going over to Aimee’s website to take a look at my guest post!)
Cheers,
Tim
Tim,
I love the idea of microfinancing. We currently sponsor a little girl in Honduras through World Vision, and my daughter sponsors a boy in Mexico (also thru World Vision) that she began sponsoring when she ran for Team World Vision in the chicago marathon. but I’d like to add a child to our “family” via Compassion–and beyond that, maybe more!
compassion has a number of cool bloggers, who share their experiences as sponsors. Lots of “goosebump raising” stories.
Your daughter will love South Africa–it’s a beautiful country. My daughter came home changed by that trip. She raised all of her support by herself, went with a group from our church–and is still very close to the group of kids she went with. They currently are serving the poor every week in a neighborhood not far from our home.
My husband’s family, who are not believers, protested vehemently against her going. I’m very grateful we didn’t listen to them. When kids get a glimpse of how big the world is, they begin to realize how small it is–how interconnected we all are. That’s an important life lesson.
Kerri, I love this. That more of God’s family would come to this same realization. For the sake of a world in need.