Non-monetary donations

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There I was, staring at my eyeball three inches from the magnifying mirror applying mascara (as is my practice, since I have 20/400 vision uncorrected) when an idea hit me. Thankfully, I didn’t jab myself in the eye with the mascara wand!

What if the solution to virtual currency philanthropic contributions is to consider them non-monetary donations, like giving a bag of clothes to Goodwill or canned veggies to a food pantry?

Although I contest that virtual currency is, in fact, monetary in nature just like traditional paper-and-coin currency, the non-monetary/in-kind tax option could be just the ticket to deal with this emerging technological issue. With other in-kind contributions like clothes, etc., the onus is on the donor to determine the value of the gift and to maintain their own financial records when a receipt is not provided.

Likewise, if the donor of virtual currency was responsible for calculating the value of the contribution, then that would alleviate a complicated reporting burden from nonprofit organizations. It would also reinforce privacy by making the donor responsible for record-keeping, rather than the recipient organization.

Hmm … this gives me much to ponder.

The Also-Ran (Prayer Devotional for the week of June 24, 2012)

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The book of 2 Chronicles begins with the story of how King Solomon gained abundant wisdom, and it boils down to the fact that he demonstrated humility before the Lord. After Solomon inherited the throne from his father David, God offered him anything he wanted, and he modestly asked for wisdom and knowledge to rule his people.

Solomon was so wise that 1 Kings 4 says that he was second to none. “Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt” (v. 30, NIV). He penned more than 1,000 songs and 3,000 proverbs (v. 32). He was an expert in biology and botany (v. 33). Rulers from all over the world flocked to him to glean his insight (v. 34).

The author of 1 Kings described Solomon’s wisdom as being even greater than that of Ethan the Ezrahite. Who was this Ethan the Also-Ran? He must have been pretty amazing to come in second place to the wisest man in history! Flip over to the book of Psalms and check out the author for No. 89: yep, same guy. Ethan was a man who obviously loved the Lord and was not lacking in wisdom, in his own right. He ended up not being as famous as Solomon, by any stretch, but he still made an impact on the world.

I hate to break it to you, but we can’t all be President of the United States, walk the red carpet, play professional sports or fly space missions. A very, very select few have the privilege to work in those roles. The rest of us – let’s face it – are Also-Rans like Ethan. Does that mean we should give up on our dreams? Of course not! Does it mean that our life’s work is invalid? Of course not! Consider what Ethan wrote in Psalm 89:14-16:

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord. They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness” (NIV).

What better achievement could we aim for in life than to walk in the light of the Lord’s presence? When we seek him first above all else, his favor becomes our glory and strength (v. 17).

Foodie Friday: Taco Caps

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Source: flickr.com via Robin on Pinterest

A recipe that we’ve nicknamed “Taco Cups” that I found on Pinterest was such a big hit with the boys that we’ve had it for dinner twice in the past couple of weeks!

The boys loved the easy-to-pick-up-and-shove-in-their-mouths wonton cups, but I found some awesome stuffable-size mushrooms at the grocery store, so I thought I would try to alter the recipe to make it a little less carby for me to enjoy.

Oh, man, were they scrumptious! It’s the same filling that I used for the taco cups, but I just stuffed mushroom caps, instead.

They are so easy, too! I used ground chicken (which is on sale in my grocer’s freezer for much less than ground beef right now, so I stock up on several pounds at a time!), which I seasoned with cumin, dried minced garlic, chili powder, salt & pepper and a dash each of cayenne pepper and Cholula sauce (aka, the way to win Mom’s heart via her tastebuds). Or, you can just use taco seasoning — as you prefer.

After the meat was almost done browning, I added a can of diced tomatoes (drained) and let the whole brew simmer for a few more minutes. (If I had used ground beef, I would have drained the meat before adding the tomatoes, but the chicken wasn’t too greasy.)

Taco Caps

While the meaty-tomatoey goodness simmered, I washed & cored the mushrooms and set aside the stems in a zip baggie to use in salads or another mushroomy recipe. Then, I filled each cap with a spoonful or two of meaty-tomatoey goodness and arranged them on a cookie sheet. I didn’t have any shredded cheese on hand, so I quartered regular slices of cheese and placed a square atop each mushroom.

(I happen to like mushrooms raw, and I really just wanted to melt the cheese, so I only baked them at 250 for about 4-5 minutes. If you want to cook the mushrooms, then you would need to adjust your cooking temp/time and add the cheese toward the last few minutes of baking, so it doesn’t burn.)

Four of the boys were home the evening I made the mushrooms (for myself! ha!), and they all clamored for some. They were a big hit!