♥ Tomorrow is Compassion Sunday. ♥

Compassion International (http://www.compassion.com/default.htm) has made it possible this year to share your story online, so mine is up! I absolutely love this organization and know they do great work all over the world, so I’d like to invite you to read my story and consider sponsoring a child of your own. It costs so little and is so incredibly blessing - both to you and your child.

You can view my personal sponsor page at http://my.compassionsunday.com/story-of-sponsor-kids-by-chris-mudi.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you,

Chris

I’ve got a little time before I’m meeting up with a friend of mine, so I decided to post. It seems a lot of people have been going through a difficult time lately. Some people I know are going through difficult life circumstances. Nick has been having a rough time at sea. And someone I serve with (Gia) at church just lost everything in a fire. :( So I guess this is a good time to remember and be thankful for the good things in our lives. And if you can help in any way, please do. I’m putting a link here to the news story about the fire. If you’d like to help please contact Gia’s parents or her sister-in-law.

Robert and Carol Bellanti - Call 518-708-7919 or email lighthouse156@juno.com (Caro’s email).

Meredith Mertzlufft - Call or text 518-429-8203 or contact her on Facebook.

Please pray for their family and the others that were affected by this fire.

Here’s the news link: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcapitalregion.ynn.com%2Fcontent%2Ftop_stories%2F579871%2Fsunday-morning-fires-in-saratoga-county%2F&h=gAQHIyaiAAQGoDE8zds1v7kWP0p-5Bobck_bieASxUKsZTQ&enc=AZMoA7Vv6_suEz7wjzZ8Iozs8Mbs9h5OltnlkhCjyx4lgo6s4BrSJcDSLSGYMqnB7R6GZxw1XNV3OkKp4joZdv3V

I found out recently that a child whom I know of from the town I grew up in died. Things like that really make you stop and think. While we’re going about our daily lives there are so many events going on around us. Many of them good. And many of them bad. I wanted to write a post encouraging you to love others. It was said to be the 2nd most important commandment by Jesus. It makes a lot of sense to me. Imagine if everyone truly did love others the way we should. This world would be a much better place.

I also saw a video earlier that I wanted to post here to increase awareness of Lyme Disease. A teenager I know has it. If you know someone with Lyme Disease, let them know you care. They are having a really rough time and could use love right now. And remember the two greatest commandments: Love God. Love Others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7FqJR2HHH8&feature=share

The last year and three months of my life have been a wintertime of life for me. Just like natural seasons we all have life seasons we go through. Some are bright and summery like weddings and babies and all that fun stuff. Then there are winter times where everything seems dull, dreary and deadening. And sometimes when you go through these times it’s very difficult to get out of them. I’m fortunate that I grew up in a christian atmosphere and have had a relationship with God for many years now. And even though I’m Christian there were many, many days where I felt empty and I had no idea how to change that. I’m doing much better now than before. However, I feel as though I’m moving in slow motion. It’s been a long road and I’m learning to see myself differently and growing as a person. For that I’m thankful. My two favorite parts of this whole experience are:

1) Learning to see myself the way God does

2) Meeting the love of my life. I’m very thankful that God placed Nick in my life when he did. He’s been so supportive of and patient with me. He’s deployed to sea currently and I miss him terribly. I’m so glad God chose to use Nick to show his love to me. 

For these two reasons I wouldn’t change anything that happened last year. As difficult as it has been, this frozen winter is slowing starting to melt. So I’ve been trying to appreciate the beauty of this winter like I do the beauty of nature’s winter. I’ve loved the magnificence that is winter for a long time now and I am trying to have the same type of appreciation for winters of life.

So far, and so slow, but so good.

If you are going through a rough time in your life, please try and find help in which ever way you can. If you need a friend, I am here. Feel free to contact me.

Hope you’re appreciating whatever season life’s brought your way!

Chris Mudi

I read this book by Shauna Niequist last year and absolutely loved it. I picked it up at the 2010 Global Leadership Summit (awesome yearly leadership conference if you want to attend next year). It wasn’t what I expected it to be since I bought it at a leadership conference but it was very, very good and gave me a new way of looking at life.

Bittersweet features a lot of the authors experiences in life. What I gleaned from it is that sometimes the difficult moments in life are those that launch you into a better person. There is a chapter in it called 25 which I like very much. It speaks of how your twenties are the time when you learn about who you are and grow as a person. Fitting enough, I turned 25 last December. It’s been quite the year of transition to say the least.

On some days I have no idea how I’m going to make it. I worry about many things and it feels like I’m weighed down by so much that I have no idea how to lift it all.

This year has been the most difficult of my life. It has also been wonderful because I’ve had some amazing people who have stood by me through it all. All the tears. All the frustration. All of the heartache.

Bittersweet indeed.

So today was all about finances for me. Since I am between jobs at the moment, I have been helping out at church a couple days a week while I look for a new job. I spent half a work day at church, came home, ate and had our family budget meeting. Then worked on some other finance stuff. All in all it’s been a good day. I have two more days this week at church and then Friday I am to meet with my investment advisor. This will be a good week. Exhausting, but it’ll be a good week. :)

Also, I am currently reading the book Better for Life (Turning Financial Hardship into Your Finest Hour) by Daniel J. Jones. I am loving it! It’s definitely recommended if you’re Christian even if you’re financially well off. http://betterforlifebook.com/Home.html

Monday night a friend of mine came over and spent time with our family. It was a great night of food, fellowship and prayer. This morning (technically yesterday) as I made myself (and ate) breakfast, I couldn’t help but think of how much of a luxury having food to eat is. If you know me well, you know that I love food. And because of that I tend to think of food quite often; especially in terms of how it relates to relationships.

I’ve been fortunate in many ways to have spent my childhood in India. This is because living there afforded me the opportunity to learn and see things that I most likely would not have in the United States. Many things I’ve learned about involve how difficult life really is.

One of the things I learned is how much of a luxury having food enough to eat is. In India, rich and poor live in the same cities. The rich can have it all and the poor are some of the poorest in the world. I have seen with my own eyes people begging for food. Literally begging. I’ve heard and seen people cry out “Madam/Sir, I am hungry. Could you give me some rice/food?” as they walk up and down streets. This breaks my heart.

When was the last time you had to beg for food? It is a luxury.

We think our cars and our nice homes and our spas are luxurious. And they are. But to be considered a luxury something needs only to satisfy this: be something you don’t have to suffer to achieve.

So I encourage you to think of how blessed you are the next time you eat. And say a prayer for those who are not. And if you’re able, do something about it. Think about it. If each person in this world gave just a dollar, the total would come to $6 billion dollars. Imaging how many people can be fed with that. We would literally change the world.

As a side note, this is why tithing is important. I believe most people don’t realize the potential for good there is by tithing. The bible says love God and love others are the two greatest commandments. One way in which you can love others is by giving. Now imagine if every Christian tithed? What would that do? It has the power to eradicate world hunger. This is not an issue that is too big for us. We simply have to care enough. Love God and love others. It’s as simple as that.

Nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry every day. - http://www.worldbank.org/foodcrisis/

For more information about the world food crisis, visit the above website and the following:

http://www.compassion.com/global-food-crisis/

http://www.wfp.org/content/%E2%80%8Eglobal-food-crisis-tipped-worsen-year

I know this is a difficult post to read, but I thank you that you’ve read it. I hope it makes you more aware of how blessed you are and helps you consider those not as fortunate. Always remember to thank God for what he’s given you and ask how you can help heal others.

Many mistakenly ask “If there is a good God, why is there so much suffering in this world? Why doesn’t he do something?” I’d like to let you know that God is asking “Why aren’t you doing something to stop this injustice? I’ve given you all the tools you need. What are you waiting for? Do YOU not care?”

Long time + no post = lazy Chris. :( I’m sorry. I will try to be better about this.

Tonight I went to a healing service with my wonderful friend Ashley. :) It was really good. Father Nigel Mumford was the guest speaker at Victory Christian Church in Colonie, New York (great church by the way! - They are located at 1312 Central Avenue, Albany, NY).

I must say I am now a fan of Father Nigel. He is really awesome! He is very nice and has an amazing testimony and has a cool accent because he is from England. Also, he served in the British Marines as an officer (I forget what his title was). He has had 14 near death experiences and is simply awesome. On a side note, I’ve been wanting to visit different denominations lately (so I can learn more about the characteristics of each) so it was nice to be exposed to something new (Father Nigel is from the Episcopal Church).

Father Nigel prayed (in front of everyone present) for a lady named Chris (Kris?) who was diagnosed with lung cancer three weeks ago. The cancer has spread into other parts of her body. We also prayed for a child that has come to Victory Christian Church from Haiti and some others. Please pray for them if you remember. He then prayed for everyone present as we held each others hands / laid hands on each other. It was a really great night and I am so glad I went (and that Ashley made me go! :)). Gotta love good friends! She also had Father Nigel pray for me at the end. He anointed me with oil and made crosses all around my head so that was neat. “A Crown of Crosses” he called it - LOVE that! :)

The reason I wanted to go was because I have been having a difficult time for several months now. There has been a lot of change going on that has affected me quite a bit. So I am glad that VCC had a healing service. And I’m glad Father Nigel was there. I’m believing for my healing from this craziness. Often I get scared and it’s hard for me to have faith, but I know God is greater and His ways are far higher than mine. <3 Thank you, Lord. And a special thanks to all of my family and friends who have stood by me during these difficult months. You guys mean so much to me! I love you!

One of my favorite joys in life is food. I just got home and am eating a fish my mom made. It is so flaky, juicy and teeming with delicious oils and simply delectable.

When I was younger, I was quite picky about foods. I didn’t like chappathis (an Indian pita type bread). I didn’t like different textures to be mixed together. But today is so different. I LOVE seeing food and smelling it and tasting it and just enjoying every little bit of deliciousness. :)

So in honor of all the good things of life, I encourage you to go eat something. And love every minute of it!

Oh, and whenever you eat, always remember those who do not have as much as you do. Share a meal with someone who’s having a bad day, donate to a food pantry or say a simple prayer. The little things in life really do make a big difference. <3