44 Sheep and Counting

I have been making wool pins for a couple of years now and I donate all the profits to World Vision to buy sheep for poor families. This has truly been a labor of love, I started making these pins at a really low point in my life, and it helped to give me a sense of purpose when I was feeling kind of lost. (Read how I got started here.)

I just finished totalling up all my numbers after the last Quilt Show, and I am thrilled to announce that since I started doing this in December 2005, The Noble Wife has purchased 44 Sheep! That's 44 families who now have a chance at a better life because they have a way to start a business which will sustain their family. A heartfelt Thank You to everyone who has supported me and this endeavor!!!!!

I think, no, I know, we all want to feel that there is some higher purpose to our lives. I think we all want to know that our lives have meant something, and let's face it, especially for those of us who are moms, we sometimes wonder if it really matters if our floors are spotless and the laundry is caught up (for the record, mine is not.) We wonder if what we do day in and day out really matters (and by the way- it really does.)

And I think it is really easy to get discouraged, because the problems seem so big. And it makes us feel so small, so helpless, so inconsequential. As a kid, I had a big heart. I wanted to help all of those poor little starving children on the TV commercials, but I was repeatedly told, You can't save the world, Jack (that's what they still call me!). But one day, when God got through to my hardened heart and cut through my cynicism, I realized- Maybe I can't save the world, but for the one person I might be able to help, it would mean the world to them. I found World Vision (and there are lots of really good, reputable, responsible organizations out there) and I found out that the cost of a pizza ($20) could prevent deadly malaria for a whole family. Or for the cost of my family of 4 going out to dinner 1 time ($60), a family could receive 10 fruit trees to provide food, income at market, and shade. So I really couldn't tell myself anymore that there was nothing I could do.

World Vision has a catalog where you can find these directed donation ideas, and many more. This is a great way to get kids involved in giving, too. I guarantee you will get back much more than you can ever give, and you will never be sorry.