This year I will explore Homelessness and what home means to me, and take some compassionate actions to help those with no home. I'll do a little study, prayer, journaling, artwork, or action each day... I don't know how this will evolve, but it will be revealed to me, week by week!
- February 18, Ash Wednesday- Set my intentions for fasting this Lenten period
I will do without heat in my home for the entire period of Lent.
Note: Lest you think I am taking fasting too far, you should know that it has been a balmy February here; in the 50's every day. Still, I am often temped to turn the heater on in the mornings while I cuddle up with my first cup of coffee. This month I will cuddle up with a quilt instead.
- February 19, Chinese New Year- Say a prayer
- February 20- Make a Home Bank to save money
Supplies: Empty cardboard milk carton- any size, knife, heavy paper in white and a couple pretty colors, white craft glue, wire, bead, pens1. Cut a hole for the door and bend it open. Cover the door with heavy paper, inside and out, using white craft glue.
Draw a window on white paper and glue in place.
3. Hammer a nail through the door to make a hole for the door knob. String a bead onto a piece of wire, fold the wire in half, poke the end through the hole, and open the ends on the inside. (If you turn the bead knob, the wire will slide around to hold the door closed.)
4. Draw roof shingles on paper, fold the roof in half, and glue in place.
- February 21- Donate winter clothing
- February 22- Journal and Pray
What insights have I had?
Spend an hour in prayer; pray for all those people who have no home today. Reach deep for compassion and new understanding.
- February 23- Learn a little more about homelessness
Fact 1: Over half a million people are homeless. On any given night, there are over 600,000 homeless people in the U.S., according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Most people are spending the night either in homeless shelters or in some sort of short-term transitional housing. Slightly more than a third are living in cars or under bridges or are in some other way living unsheltered.
- February 24- Recycling day
- February 25- Read the book “Sam and the Lucky Money” to my Chinese New Year class
- February 26- Take a short 3-minute shower today instead of a long bath
- February 27- Read this article about Utah’s solution to homelessness
I love this quote from psychologist Sam Tsemberis of Housing First:
"Why not treat chronically homeless people as human beings and members of our community who have a basic right to housing and health care?"
- February 28- Work party!
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| We fit 19 of us inside this hut when it was finished! |
Sometime soon, this hut will house a person who is currently without a home.
- March 1- Journal and Pray
What has my experience of fasting been so far this Lenten season?
What insights have I had?
Spend an hour in prayer; pray for all those people who have no home today. Reach deep for compassion and new understanding.
Spend an hour in prayer; pray for all those people who have no home today. Reach deep for compassion and new understanding.
- March 2- Research my city's policies and plans for the homeless
- March 3, Hina Matsuri- Prepare for the spring planting
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| Onion bed, ready for planting! |
Today is Hina Matsuri, a Shinto ceremony meant to purify and prepare myself for the spring planting season. After the ceremony, I also need to get outside to prepare the garden beds, and dig in some fresh compost.
- March 4- Watch this video
- March 5- Paint walls in the bathroom
- March 6, World Day of Prayer- Explore radical love
The theme this year is radical love. Following Jesus' example of washing his disciple's feet, we are asked to continue the gesture of love in our own communities. That is how the spiral of informed prayer and prayerful action moves around the globe.
- March 7- Take the Hunger IQ Test
For every person who takes this short hunger quiz, a child will receive a warm meal thanks to an anonymous donor to WFP. Test your hunger IQ, then challenge your friends!
- March 8- Journal and Pray
What has my experience of fasting been so far this Lenten season?
What insights have I had?
Spend an hour in prayer; pray for all those people who have no home today. Reach deep for compassion and new understanding.
Spend an hour in prayer; pray for all those people who have no home today. Reach deep for compassion and new understanding.
- March 9- Study issues of homelessness for women
- March 10- Start spring cleaning
- March 11- Read this eye-opening article.
- March 12- Donate cans to Food for Lane County
- March 13- Paint walls in the kitchen
It is always a struggle for me to find time and money to properly maintain the home I own. This Lenten season has shown me how much I have to be grateful for, and the responsibility that comes with that. Today I will finally finish re-painting the walls in our kitchen.
- March 14- Make pretzels
Pretzels are an acceptable Lenten treat invented by an Italian monk as a reward to children who learned their prayers. The strips of baked dough are folded to resemble arms crossing the chest. The monks called called the breads "little arms" (bracellae). From this Latin word, the Germanic people later coined the term "pretzel."
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg. yeast
- 3 c. flour
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 c. very warm water (130ºF)
- 6 c. water
- 4 Tbsp. baking soda
- coarse salt
Yield: 12 pretzels-
1- Combine the yeast, flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 c. very warm water (130ºF) and mix well.
2- Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth. Cover with a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.
3- Divide the dough into 12 pieces, and form each into a long rope. Twist into a crossed arm shape, and place on a small piece of waxed paper. Let the pretzels rise 20 minutes.
4- Meanwhile, oil 2 baking sheets, preheat the oven to 400ºF, and stir in the baking soda into a 6 c. water in a large pot. Heat the soda bath to boiling. 5- Carefully tip one pretzel off the waxed paper into the soda bath. Boil for 15 seconds, then lift out with a slotted spoon, drain, and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the pretzels.
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Pretzels ready to bake.
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6- Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt. Bake 20 minutes, until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
- March 15- Journal and Pray
What has my experience of fasting been so far this Lenten season?
What insights have I had?
Spend an hour in prayer; pray for all those people who have no home today. Reach deep for compassion and new understanding.
- March 16- Study issues of homelessness
- March 17, St. Patrick's Day- Plant potatoes
In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is the traditional day to plant peas and potatoes (or so some people say). I've got the potatoes, so I'm going to plant them today, and I'll put in another row of peas, too.
I must say, my garden is looking good for so early in the season. My onions are in and our first planting of peas is up. It doesn't hurt that we had such a mild winter.
- March 18, Red Wednesday- Bonfire
Today is a prelude to Nowruz, the Persian New Year. To prepare, Iranians clean their houses, mend anything that is broken, take baths, and buy new clothes. They also collect trash from the neighborhood and have a bonfire. Today we will gather some rotten boards from the yard and have a small fire.
- March 19- Finish my baby quilt
Back in February I started a crib quilt to donate to Bags of Love, and it's almost finished. Today I'll get some help from my art class kids to tie the layers together.
- March 20, Spring Equinox- Spring Cleaning
On the first day of spring I will bless my home with a thorough cleaning of the living area.
- March 21, Navratri-
- March 29, Palm Sunday- Journal and Pray
What has my experience of fasting been so far this Lenten season?
What insights have I had?
Spend an hour in prayer; pray for all those people who have no home today. Reach deep for compassion and new understanding.
- March 30- Study issues of homelessness for children
This week I'm going to learn more about how homelessness affects children. Not surprisingly, homeless children are sick four times as often as middle class children and have high rates of acute and chronic illnesses. In addition, they suffer from emotional or behavioral problems that interfere with learning at almost three times the rate of other children. Read more here.
- March 31- Finish my baby quilt
Back in February I started a crib quilt to donate to Bags of Love, and I still haven't quite finished it. Today I'll make a push to get it done so I can donate it before Easter.
- April 1- Plant carrots and radishes
- April 2, Maundy Thursday- Clean the bathtub
It became a custom in the Middle Ages (when baths were not too common) for Christian folk to bathe on Maundy Thursday, washing thoroughly and shaving, in preparation for Easter. Today I will clean the bathtub and take a bubble bath!
- April 3, Good Friday- Deliver my quilt to Bags for Love
- April 4, Holy Saturday- Send my check to First Place Family Center
I've been saving $1 a day, and $2 on Sundays since the start of Lent, and I now have $52 saved. Today I will write my check and put it in the mail, to help support a center where homeless families get support, meals, and a safe playground for their kids.
Those are good ideas! I used to be homeless when I was young. One time in the town where I was staying, there was this huge college that had a homeless awareness night for students. What they did was have a sort of homeless simulation.. some people were shelter workers, some were police officers, etc, and everyone else was homeless. You had to stand in line to get into the shelter, and if you didn't get in you had to find somewhere else to sleep outside, and every hour the "police" would wake you up and make you move on. They even had a pretend jail! I was in a youth shelter at the time but I had some friends who went to college there and they invited me to come to it. I've always wanted to find something like that again!
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