Monday, May 24, 2010

If I am so blessed

If I am so blessed as to have children they will be going to a school like this one.

Friday, May 21, 2010

STOP THE TRAFFIK!

This morning I had this email prayer request sitting in my in box:

Dear All

Tomorrow, Oasis India will be conducting a raid to rescue young girls who have been trafficked into prostitution. Please join with us to pray, especially for:
- The logistics will go smoothly and we'll be able to rescue the girls
- Safety of the team
- Good cooperation with the police
- Those we rescue will trust Oasis and work with us

Thanks so much
God’s peace
Andy


For those of you inclined to do so, please pray that this operation goes smoothly. This human traffiking has got to STOP. Let's be the generation that brings about the end.

If you'd like more information take a few minutes and go check out the Oasis Website.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Death by Nutella

Nutella is delicious. It is. I really enjoy it.

Today, however, my Nutella committed a crime. It killed.

Actually it was kind of amusing. I needed a snack halfway between lunch and dinner and made myself a piece of toast and then spread Nutella on it. (If you don't know what Nutella is, stop reading this, go buy some, eat a spoonful and then come back. I can wait.)

While I was eating my Nutella I decided to go and ask my dad if there was anything he needed me to do. Since he was in the back yard grilling the ENORMOUS turkey we were going to eat for dinner I took my Nutella goodness out back with me.

As I was walking down the driveway a moth or something flew full force toward my face as I was taking a bite of my snack. At first I was startled and then very afraid it had flown into my mouth. As I was making sure I hadn't eaten the bug I pulled the Nutella bread away from my face and immediately noticed that the bug was stuck to my toast. Wings stuck with the body out, legs flailing trying to get free.

So I did my best to try and free the poor thing. Transferred it from the toast to the grass and then tried to clean it up with the napkin I was holding. Which was difficult because that stuff is STICKY.

However I went back to check a while later and although at first I thought it had survived due to a bug-sized Nutella track I found it motionless a few inches away, still covered in Nutella.

I'm sorry little bug for your unfortunate run-in with my midday snack. I have a feeling you didn't enjoy the Nutella today as much as I did.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Accountability

Tonight my mom and I went to an event to bring awareness to modern day slavery. There were speakers, musicians, and a small market selling fair trade items. You should probably check out Stop the Traffik: http://www.stopthetraffik.org
and Oasis: http://www.oasisusa.org/ for more information.

The entire event was moving and informational and thought provoking.

One of the musicians spoke at one point about how he came to be involved in activism toward informing the public about this tragic reality. He said something that really struck me. He mentioned how at the beginning he always turned away from the information. That although he knew a little of what was going on, he tried to avoid finding out too much. That might sound awful, but then he made this really good point: He shied away from the information because he knew that as soon as he heard it he would then be accountable for it.

Wow.

What an amazing point. And how convicting.

How many times have I heard something and then thought "gee, that's really bad, and it needs to be stopped," or "geez, that really needs to get done." But then instead of doing something about it, instead of jumping in with both feet I turn away and hope that someone else will just take care of it.

How many times have you?

Now, I know it's unrealistic to think that I can go ahead and jump into total activism on every single huge issue I hear about. I mean, how many are there? World Hunger, Modern Day Slavery, Cancer Awareness, etc, etc, etc, and so on and so on. You get the idea (I hope). No one can do it all. But there are small things that I can do. For each of the causes.

That statement also just hit me on a personal level too. There are things that have come to my attention in my own life that I need to acknowledge and attend too instead of walking away from or turning my back on. They aren't going to go away, and I am accountable to them.

He also made the point that these things will just keep tugging at you, or that they will keep coming back into your life over and over until you have no choice but to acknowledge them.

What have you walked away from or turned away from recently?

Let's hold ourselves accountable.