Less Gives More Initiative

Good morning to you all, I was reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words from Ephesians 6:12 this morning. He wrote, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…”. My first thought is: Paul was never a middle aged woman! He went on to say that in the spiritual area of our life, we can put on the armor of God which encourages faith and peace. I’m thinking that faith and peace goes a long way in combating the battle of weight gain. I know I eat more when I'm over stimulated with work or life in general. Be sure and take the time to read Ephesians 6 and share your feedback and comments of how this passage speaks to you. Thanks for your expressed interest in being part of the “less gives more” initiative. This initiative was stimulated from a group discussions based on a book by Jen Hatmaker, 7: An experimental mutiny against excess. The rules in our "less gives more” initiative are simple: we eat less and give more. We've decided to make our focus mission on giving to women in developing countries who can start micro-businesses, supporting themselves and their families. Through non-profit agencies such as Kiva.com, we will loan them our funds collected from the “less gives more” initiative and they'll manage the loans to women in developing countries desiring to start micro-businesses. Statistics show that women who start a micro-business can and do support up to 5 other people. There is over a 90 percent chance that they will repay the loan and then the funds are loaned to another woman. Here is how we do it: (1) We must weigh in on Sunday every week. If you are on the church site, the healthy living center is open. E-mail your weight number to me, dawnvagle@beechwoodchurch.org. I will keep a faithful and confidential register of our progress. Four of us started this initiative on June 30 and as of July 7, we have lost 5 pounds. Never too late to get on the band wagon. We hope to share inspiration with each other on recipes and serve as an accountability source for each other. Maybe in the fall, we can have a regular scheduled meeting. (2) Each week, we contribute $5.00 or whatever you can to our general "Less Gives More” pot (we already have 60 dollars in the fund) and try to do it weekly. When we get enough, we can make our first loan. You can send the monies to me or put them in an envelope marked “Less Gives More” and put in the wooden box by the front office. Laura, our financial guru, has started a designated fund for this ministry initiative and will keep track. (3) We suggest that you join: myfitnesspal.com. On this web site you can keep track of the calories you put in your body each day. You can request to be friends with members of the group on the web site and it is another accountability source. So here we go. We are in this together. Please pray for members of the group as we practice this spiritual discipline of eating less and giving more. You that are doing this via e-mail, send me your weigh-in scores now and then on Sundays from now on…….. Pastor Dawn E. Vagle Beechwood Church 895 Ottawa Beach Rd. Holland, MI 49424