![\"Zambia](\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_3752-e1457467348307-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nWhen we were in Lusaka, Zambia last winter helping to build a school <\/a>for a church, the minister told us there was a woman in his congregation who needed help.\u00a0 She was divorced and a retired teacher.\u00a0 She was HIV positive, and two of her three adult children were living\u00a0 at home with her.\u00a0 One was in school (post-graduate), and the other was employed.\u00a0 The woman had been praying for a can of paint so she could paint her walls.\u00a0 She was living so close to poverty that she couldn’t even afford one can of paint.<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
\u00a0![\"House](\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_3311-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nWe decided that there were enough of us on the build that we should go check it out.\u00a0 When we arrived at her home, each of us was blown away by the conditions the family was living in.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0![\"House](\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_3304-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nOver 20 of her windows needed to be replaced, the toilet was leaking, the faucet on the tub was always running, the ceiling was caving in, and the walls were horrible.\u00a0 This lady needed a whole lot more than a can of paint.\u00a0 She needed our group’s help.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/h3>\n![\"House](\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_3305-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Mr. Right, who is the leader\/organizer of these working vacations that we do, put a few of the group on the build, and they worked all day for several days to get her house back in shape.\u00a0 The woman and her children helped every step of the way, and they were all so appreciative of what a few determined people were able to accomplish in such a short time.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0![\"House](\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_3306-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nThe woman told the group that she had been praying for help, and we were the answer to her prayers.\u00a0 That gives me chills every time I think about it.\u00a0 To think that our little group of 20 people who are of many religions and beliefs (Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Atheist, Quaker, and Jewish) and from several states and countries came together to be the answer to her prayers.<\/h3>\n\u00a0![\"House](\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_3307-e1472572721722-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nThe lady was so overwhelmed and thankful for what had happened in her home that she gave a testimonial in her church that following Sunday to tell them how her prayers had been answered.\u00a0 I don’t have any “after” shots to share with you, but her home was so much better.\u00a0 It just really gives me pause to think that we answered her prayers.\u00a0 It\u00a0 proves that small acts can make a difference, and one person or a small group can make a difference in someone’s life through God’s hands.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0![\"IMG_3309\"](\"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_3309-e1472572781239-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nI am not telling you this story so that our group will look like heroes.\u00a0 I have thought so much about her and her family since we returned home.\u00a0 We here in Blogland obsess over things like perfection and trends, and change, and seasons when there are so many people in this world and even in our communities that live in deplorable conditions.\u00a0 Keeping things in perspective is often hard to do, and but life gets crazy. I think about the people around the world that we have helped and remember how thankful they were to receive just the basics.\u00a0 Whenever your lives get crazy, try putting things in perspective, and you will feel a whole lot better.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Take care.<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are two things you are supposed to avoid discussing\u00a0 when in a group- religion and politics.\u00a0 I’m pretty sure they aren’t supposed to be discussed on a lifestyle blog, either.\u00a0 We have stayed away from both topics here, but today I want to write about something that happened to us last winter that involved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32361"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32361"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32438,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32361\/revisions\/32438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
When we were in Lusaka, Zambia last winter helping to build a school <\/a>for a church, the minister told us there was a woman in his congregation who needed help.\u00a0 She was divorced and a retired teacher.\u00a0 She was HIV positive, and two of her three adult children were living\u00a0 at home with her.\u00a0 One was in school (post-graduate), and the other was employed.\u00a0 The woman had been praying for a can of paint so she could paint her walls.\u00a0 She was living so close to poverty that she couldn’t even afford one can of paint.<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nWe decided that there were enough of us on the build that we should go check it out.\u00a0 When we arrived at her home, each of us was blown away by the conditions the family was living in.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nOver 20 of her windows needed to be replaced, the toilet was leaking, the faucet on the tub was always running, the ceiling was caving in, and the walls were horrible.\u00a0 This lady needed a whole lot more than a can of paint.\u00a0 She needed our group’s help.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Mr. Right, who is the leader\/organizer of these working vacations that we do, put a few of the group on the build, and they worked all day for several days to get her house back in shape.\u00a0 The woman and her children helped every step of the way, and they were all so appreciative of what a few determined people were able to accomplish in such a short time.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\nThe woman told the group that she had been praying for help, and we were the answer to her prayers.\u00a0 That gives me chills every time I think about it.\u00a0 To think that our little group of 20 people who are of many religions and beliefs (Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Atheist, Quaker, and Jewish) and from several states and countries came together to be the answer to her prayers.<\/h3>\n\u00a0<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nThe lady was so overwhelmed and thankful for what had happened in her home that she gave a testimonial in her church that following Sunday to tell them how her prayers had been answered.\u00a0 I don’t have any “after” shots to share with you, but her home was so much better.\u00a0 It just really gives me pause to think that we answered her prayers.\u00a0 It\u00a0 proves that small acts can make a difference, and one person or a small group can make a difference in someone’s life through God’s hands.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nI am not telling you this story so that our group will look like heroes.\u00a0 I have thought so much about her and her family since we returned home.\u00a0 We here in Blogland obsess over things like perfection and trends, and change, and seasons when there are so many people in this world and even in our communities that live in deplorable conditions.\u00a0 Keeping things in perspective is often hard to do, and but life gets crazy. I think about the people around the world that we have helped and remember how thankful they were to receive just the basics.\u00a0 Whenever your lives get crazy, try putting things in perspective, and you will feel a whole lot better.<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Take care.<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are two things you are supposed to avoid discussing\u00a0 when in a group- religion and politics.\u00a0 I’m pretty sure they aren’t supposed to be discussed on a lifestyle blog, either.\u00a0 We have stayed away from both topics here, but today I want to write about something that happened to us last winter that involved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32361"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32361"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32438,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32361\/revisions\/32438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nWe decided that there were enough of us on the build that we should go check it out.\u00a0 When we arrived at her home, each of us was blown away by the conditions the family was living in.<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nOver 20 of her windows needed to be replaced, the toilet was leaking, the faucet on the tub was always running, the ceiling was caving in, and the walls were horrible.\u00a0 This lady needed a whole lot more than a can of paint.\u00a0 She needed our group’s help.<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\nThe woman told the group that she had been praying for help, and we were the answer to her prayers.\u00a0 That gives me chills every time I think about it.\u00a0 To think that our little group of 20 people who are of many religions and beliefs (Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Atheist, Quaker, and Jewish) and from several states and countries came together to be the answer to her prayers.<\/h3>\n\u00a0<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nThe lady was so overwhelmed and thankful for what had happened in her home that she gave a testimonial in her church that following Sunday to tell them how her prayers had been answered.\u00a0 I don’t have any “after” shots to share with you, but her home was so much better.\u00a0 It just really gives me pause to think that we answered her prayers.\u00a0 It\u00a0 proves that small acts can make a difference, and one person or a small group can make a difference in someone’s life through God’s hands.<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nThe lady was so overwhelmed and thankful for what had happened in her home that she gave a testimonial in her church that following Sunday to tell them how her prayers had been answered.\u00a0 I don’t have any “after” shots to share with you, but her home was so much better.\u00a0 It just really gives me pause to think that we answered her prayers.\u00a0 It\u00a0 proves that small acts can make a difference, and one person or a small group can make a difference in someone’s life through God’s hands.<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\n