More and more lately I have been reminded of how blessed I am. I may not be rich by Australian standards but I am rich compared to many people in the world.
"Three billion people live on less than $2 per day while 1.3 billion get by on less than $1 per day. Seventy percent of those living on less than $1 per day are women."
www.homelessissues.com.au
I have days where I worry because I haven't sold anything from the store and I haven't made any money but the Lord gently reminds me that I am rich, I still can go and buy coffee and cake and spend $15 on this luxury without thinking twice.
There are days I look at other peoples houses and I wish I had a bigger house with a double garage and an office and more storage and a bigger bathroom and again I am reminded that I have a roof over my head and not only does it keep the weather out I have heating and cooling to make my home comfortable and cosy.
Think about this:
- The water walk. Women in developing countries travel an average of almost four miles each day to collect water.
- The poor pay more. People living in the poorest slums can pay as much as ten times more for water than those in high-income areas of their own cities.
- Gender disparity. According to the U.N., the majority of people in poverty are women, who globally earn roughly half as much as men.
- Daily bread. Food prices have risen 83 percent since 2005, disproportionately affecting those in poverty who spend a higher percentage of their income on food.
- No school for you. In 2005, a conservative estimate stated that 72 million children around the world of elementary school age were not enrolled in school.
- The global wealth gap. The richest 20 percent of the world's population receives 75 percent of the world's income, while the poorest 40 percent receive only 5 percent of the world's income.
Statistics are from the World Bank and the ONE Campaign.
So what am I going to do to share my riches?
As a family we have our own commitments to organisations such as Compassion Australia, Homes of Hope International, RSPCA etc, but I just feel so thankful, everyday I give praise for the ability to be able to start my own business and do what I love on a daily basis. I am so blessed to have this opportunity and I want to share that blessing to others.
Every month I am going to choose a not for profit organisation that I believe works to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than I and I will be donating 10% of all sales from my online store to this organisation.
At the beginning of the month I will feature the organisation and share with you all a little of what they do.
In theory this sounds good but when I don't sell anything 10% of nothing is nothing! Not very helpful at all, so at a minimum $100 each month will be given to the chosen organisation, hopefully for me and the organisation this will be more and more as my business grows :-)
This months organisation is
TEAR Australia
I will be back later today to share more about TEAR Australia with you all.
I would love to hear what you think.
xx
