So what did we learn??

These last 30 something days have been a great journey for Colin and myself. To bring you up to speed, we have been conducting a 30 social experiment to get a perspective on what it is like to live on less than $2.00 a day. We did this because a huge percentage of the world's population are forced to live on this amount or less everyday. We got the opportunity to try this out, where much of the world has no other option. We decided to attempt this and see if we couldn't gain some perspective and allow our eyes to be opened to what others who are less fortunate deal with everyday. We have just opened to door and allowed God to move however He sees fit in our lives and He is doing so in a big HUGE way. But that is another whole story in itself. For now I just want to finish out our $2.00 a day living.

So what did we learn? Well the first thing is we learned that we can live on much less. We have a lot of luxuries! We may not always refer to stuff as luxuries, but if we were forced to choose between going hungry or make-up or have to do without food all-together - many things that were "necessities" would soon become luxuries we could do without. We saw through this 30 days of living on less that we could in fact live on much less than we do currently. But there are many different things that factor into this. Only because we live in this country and because we are so blessed was this even an option for us. Many people don't have the choice to do this kind of social experiment, they just have to live it. Also we were at an advantage due to the type of storage we have here in this part of the world. We can put things in air tight containers to keep things fresh, we can freeze meats and veggies, and keep other products in the fridge. We can run down to the store anytime we run out of something. We can buy products in any size container. Only because of those things were even able to attempt to walk in others' shoes. Just another reason why we feel so blessed to live where we do!

Another thing we learned is that it is really hard to actually gain a perspective on what it is like to live like much of the world when we are surrounded by such abundance and excess. It was hard to actually feel what it would be like to live on $2.oo a day or less because we didn't factor in other living expenses like fuel, transportation, clean drinking water, health care needs, our home, showers, electricity, clean clothes, heating/cooling, etc. Out $2.00 a day was just food, but for a huge percentage of the world's population $2.00 a day is probably for everything.

Another area that our eyes were opened to was just how wasteful Colin and I were. I heard while driving about a study conducted by an Arizona university on household waste. During this study they discovered that the average household in America throws away 15% of the food that is brought in. Colin and I were in that 15% range or even higher. Through the last 30 days we have been made aware of our wastefullness and are doing much better about eating leftovers and using all that we have in order to stretch it as far as we can.

This might not be a big thing, but we also found that we were eating healthier foods. No junk foods, no processed food, just homemade good-for-you stuff! We had already cut out soda or cokes (whatever you want to call it) and we also cut juice out of our diet. If you want to feel better...just try that! Cut out the sugar and chemicals that are in a 12oz can of soda for a few weeks and see just how much better you feel! And if you are wondering what on earth you are going to drink, try water. Shocker, I know! We drink a lot of water, and I can't stress the A LOT enough. We realized very soon into this experiment that when living on less than $2.00 a day a lot of extras such as snack foods, bottled water, and juices have to go. In this country we have abundant clean drinking water, but in many countries clean water isn't available. Another reason to be thankful!

One of the most important things that God did for us through this was He showed us where we could cut back in our spending and opened up an area in our finances where we will have more money to give! That in itself was worth the whole thing. We we know that we are blessed so that we can bless others. God has blessed us with all of the above so that we can free up money to help those who are not as fortunate and are needing a little help. Now how cool is that! Just a few months ago you would have heard Colin or I saying that we just can't seem to find anywhere in our budget to cut back in order to free up funds, but low and behold! We let God take control and look at what He has been able to do! It may not be millions or even thousands, but "The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples." Deuteronomy 7:7 God wants to show how great He is through us! He wants to do awesome things with us to show just how wonderful and great he is!

Hopefully we were able to gain some perspective on what it is like to have to live on less than $2.00 a day. I do want to feel compassion for those less fortunate and not just sympathize but actually do something. I think God will use this experience to free up some of our finainces to allow us to give more, to open our eyes to the tremendous blessings we have received, to make us less wasteful and appreciate what we have, and maybe even prepare us for a situation where we get the opportunity to live with those who survive daily on less than what many of us spend on a cup of coffee. So in closing I am giving all the glory to God, it is only because of the blessings that He has given us that we are even able to write about our great journey with Him! What some may call radical, God calls obedience.