Super Sneak Peak

Here's a super sneak peak at the auction item.  It is actually almost done, but I thought this picture would be more fun and keep you guessing.  I know there's a handful of you that can guess what it is...but don't ruin the surprise!

Feeling the Pressure

Okay, after this post I'm not going to talk about "readership" and such anymore (at least for like a week, haha).  That's because I got a new site tracker, and it said I had 86 hits on the blog, just TODAY!  And you know what that means.....

It's auction time!  

Only now I'm worried about disappointing people with my "super cute something".  What if I've built it up to be more spectacular than it really is and I just can't deliver???

Just remember that I'm a stay-at-home mom to 3 little 'uns.  How much time do I really have to be hand-making stuff?  LOL.

Well I hope this is the first of many auctions, depending on it's success.  And hopefully my things will be spectacular to at least one person :) 

I have a new goal for the auction to go up.  I'm aiming for Tuesday after Labor Day.  So PLEASE don't forget to check back in after the holiday weekend!

Again, I hope to be able to post when I am gone, but won't know until I get there.

Call + Response

Call + Response

A documentary featuring the world's most hidden secret - slave trafficking -  is coming to theatre's  near you this fall.  First tangible act YOU can do - go see this film - and drag everyone you know to see it.  The first thing society can do to help this problem, is not ignore it anymore.  To really see the face of it.  The ugly, dirty, secret face of it.

Feeling Restless

I told Luke tonight that I am feeling anxious.  He asked about what, and I couldn't explain it.  Just "without peace".  My mind has no peace.  Even when I think I am not thinking, I have this restlessness.  I have this sense of urgency, but can't put my finger on exactly what it is.  It's almost anxiety-attackiness (like my made up words?), but I think it is spiritual.  I think God is making me uncomfortable.  Because when we are too comfortable we get complacent.  And I begged Him to never let me be that way again.  So I guess this is an answer to prayer?

Shout out to my readers

So I've had a handful of people e-mail me to tell me they are following my blog. And I'm going to "out" them :)

Thank You blog readers

Brian King of Napa
Tracy Jurasek of Apple Valley
Kate Kalsbeek of Castro Valley (she commented about this blog on my family blog)
Debbie Texeira of San Leandro (she commented about this blog on my family blog)

Matt Moore

Readers that have posted a comment on this blog:
Cami Terpstra
Mary Nathan
Heather Lettus
Amy Moxley
The Brunk
Brian Berry
Bonnie Monk
Lyn from IJM HQ
Brenda Madsen
Elaine Mendenhall

This is kind of fun. I may periodically make a roll call of my readers.

Woo-Hoo! 14 readers!!! Now I just need to make sure I keep it interesting enough so that you all come back!

Your readership means the world to me, especially your COMMENTS!  It's the comments that keep me going on this blog journey.  :)

checking in

I think I'm up to 5 or 6 readers.  At this rate, I might have 10 by  Christmas :)

Anywho, I'm not getting much sleep lately.  And I am constantly in a state of deep thought.  

My poor kids.  "Mom.   Mooooooommmm - did you hear me?"  

This justice thing is all-consuming.  How was I so asleep before?  How did I just enjoy my American Dream life without being concerned about others in the world who don't have basic needs?  How could I be so shallow?  I vow to never go back.

Okay, so I guess I need to get my very cute something done and get it up for auction so one of my 5 readers can bid on it.  Off to go work on it now :)

2 Readers.

I have 2 readers.  Count them.  2.  Two.  

I definitely don't think I can hold my online auction with 2 readers, especially since one of them is from the IJM headquarters!  (I wonder how she found my blog?)

Tonight I am going to a meeting  at Cornerstone (our church) with a representative from IJM.  I will post more when I get back. 

2 Readers.

Two.

????

First tangible action

So it's time to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.  I've been doing a lot of talk about DOING SOMETHING, yet am still trying to figure out what I CAN do.  I'm still in that process, but am tired of waiting, so I'm going to make my first move.  

Right now I'm not sure how I can tangibly do something besides send money to a well-respected established organization like IJM.  So that's what I'm going to do.  But I want to do more than just send in what I can afford.  I want to multiply my money.  I want to use my money (and dare I say skills) to bring in even MORE money.  Your money :)

So I'm going to hold an ONLINE AUCTION for a very cute something that I'm going to make. The winning bid will receive this very cute something, and I will donate the ENTIRE amount to IJM.  In fact, I don't even want the money to touch my hands.  I will have the winning bidder send the money directly to IJM, and when they send me the receipt for their donation, I will send them the very cute something.  I will cover shipping too!  

Are you intrigued?  

The key to this online auction is to have a lot of people watching the auction, and hopefully bidding!  The hard part is, I have NO IDEA how many people are reading this blog.  I signed up with some site tracker thing, but it's not working.  It says there has been zero views - which is impossible because I have like 8 comments and a handful of e-mails from people who have been on the blog.  So I'm asking that everyone please post a comment to let me know you were here, so I can see what kind of readership I have.  I'm also asking that once I get the auction item listed, you will help me by telling everyone you know (via e-mail, facebook, myspace, forums, etc) to check out the blog and the auction.  I'm *hoping* that people will bid higher than usual knowing that their money is going to a GREAT organization to help rescue oppressed people.  

So what do you think?  

Please post a comment to let me know you were here!!!!!

***PS -I'm going to be gone on vacay next week, I *might* be able to blog via my iphone, not sure yet.  I hope to have the very cute something listed sometime the following week.  I'm hoping Monday the 25th.  But no promises!

Irresistible Revolution

I'm reading Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution.  It's a little early to review it as I'm only a quarter of the way through.  But so far the one thing that the book has taught me (or reminded me) is to see Jesus in everyone.  Matthew 25:40  "And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me."
That 5 year old being raped in Cambodia is Jesus. Would I really turn my back on Him? So why would I not rescue that child as I would rescue Jesus?
It's understandable to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the world's problems, but it can't be an excuse to not do something.
I think everyone has heard the story of the boy with the starfish, but if you have somehow missed it, here it is....

There was once a boy at the beach, picking up starfishes and throwing them back into the sea.
A man came along and told the boy: "Boy, there are thousands of starfishes all along the beach. You are not possibly going to be able to save every one of them."
The boy continued, picking up another starfish and throwing it back into the sea and said "It matters, to that starfish." And picking up another "and to that starfish", and another "and to that one"....

No individual is going to be able to stop world hunger. But we can each help a starfish. Maybe that will be one child, one family, one village.

The Family-less

I read an article that Steven Curtis Chapman wrote, shortly after one of his adopted daughters was tragically run over by a car and killed.  He said that if just 7% of Christians adopted one child, the world would have no more orphans.  I don't know where he found his data, but if it's accurate, those facts are amazing, and convicting.  

Limitations

I've realized that while I've claimed to be "following Jesus" these last 16 years, I have been following Him with limitations...that I set.  I was willing to serve Him in the capacity of my comfortable home in Pleasanton, where it was really important that my kids were established in a neighborhood and could have the same friends from kindergarten through graduation.  Yep, that really was a top priority to me.  

I was willing to "sacrifice" some money; you know, 10% tithing and various other ministries that we chose to support.  We were even sooooo missions-minded that we were "willing" to take our young children to Africa with us for 3 weeks.  Ha!

While I never told God "I will serve you from Pleasanton, and with this much $", that is exactly what I was doing.  And I'm ashamed.

I can now honestly say that I will serve Him in His capacity, wherever, and sacrificially.   Maybe that will be here in Pleasanton, and if it is, I know that I will be called to do much more than I ever dreamed.  And maybe we will be called to physically go feed the hungry in Sudan, or to the inner city of Bankok to rescue children from brothels, or maybe to China where we will be led to adopt one of the thousands of little girls who are family-less.   All are terrifying to me.  But more terrifying, is not being in His will, and not taking care of the oppressed, the hungry, the abused, the forgotten.  

Luke was afraid that we would not be led in the same direction, and that would cause conflict between us.  But I have faith that God will lead us together, and if we are not together, we are not listening to Him.  

So now my prayer is "Bring it on God, bring it on".   (Stolen from Catherine Rohr the founder of PEP - Prison Entrenpeneur Program).  

my heart is heavy

It's been a long day and  a long night.   All good stuff (Leadership Summit conference during the day, and our friends visiting from Kenya over tonight).  There was so much to process from the conference today, I'm pretty drained.  

So I'll just leave you with this article to read.  It's not an easy read, but these people's stories have to be told.  And we owe it to them to hear their stories.  (Thanks Cami for sending this to me).

What's next?

Sooooo, I'm wondering what's next? I don't want to lose my momentum while I wait around for the Benefit Dinner to inspire me again.  Cornerstone Fellowship will be having some sort of meeting/event later this month, that I believe is supposed to give us (the church) some direction.  Still, I don't even want to wait for that.  I'm thinking about asking some friends who have expressed a similar interest/passion, if they want to get together and brainstorm.  Share what they have been thinking about, and how they are feeling led to DO SOMETHING.  Maybe a - Mom's with a Mission  - night, or something.  Anyone interested?

It's official - I'm a table host!

Are you wondering what YOU can do to help the oppressed, the abused, the lost and forgotten?  The problems are so huge, so overwhelming.  Come to the International Justice Mission (IJM) Benefit Dinner held at the Fairmont in San Francisco,and sit at MY table.   Gary Haugen - President and CEO will be the featured speaker.  This guy is truly amazing.  The dinner is on Tuesday October 14th at 6:30pm. Tickets are $100/person.  I can't think of a better way to spend a chunk of change.  I really can't. 

Leave a comment if you are thinking about coming.  I'm prepared to twist as many arms as I have to!

Thought for the day....

There are really young girls forced into the sex industry.  REALLY young.  Like 5-10 year olds. The thought of girls MY DAUGHTER'S age being forced into brothels, this is what makes me want to DO SOMETHING.  

Disclaimer

I just wanted to say that I know I'm not really qualified to write a blog that is interesting and entertaining.  Hopefully you will see my passion about social injustices, and that will make you want to keep reading, and maybe even DO something.  If you are looking for some great witty humor, you would have to go to my friend Wendy's blog.  Or if you are looking for talented writing, you would have to go to my friend Cami's blog.  Unfortunately I am not witty, funny, or a  great writer.  But I do have passion!  So if you can manage to read my somewhat boring, grammatically incorrect, bloggings, stay with me!  Who knows, maybe I'll get better with time =)

Changes

I know these are small changes, but they are something, and I want to move with my momentum.
I am going to resist the fashion frenzy. It's such a waste of resources. Time, energy and money. Those of you that know me are probably getting a little worried right about now. There really isn't much fat to cut in that area of my life. Sometimes I am barely above the long braids and homemade smocks our sisters on the compounds wear. Even so, I find myself thumbing through magazines and checking out what Hollywood has deemed worthy for this season, and sometimes even make a lame attempt to "be in style". So the first thing I am going to do, is not buy the magazines (which I don't very often anyways). The funny thing is I randomly started receiving Glamour magazine about 3 months ago. I didn't subscribe to it. I mean really, I'm 32 with 3 kids, and I don't think I have even looked at that magazine in like a decade. After the 2nd one came I started to get paranoid that someone in my life thought that I looked THAT bad, and thought if they sent me this magazine I would get some fashion tips out of it. I don't think that anymore (although here's your chance to fess up whoever you are!), but I still don't know where it came from. So I'm just going to recycle it. And instead of trying to keep up with the trends of high-waist vs.low-rise, wedges vs. heels, (and well, that's all I can think of because I am not fashion savvy), I'm going to find my own style and stick with it. So if you see me rockin my cowboy boots that are oh-so passe from like 3 years ago, I'm wearing them because I like them. And heck, maybe I'll drag out that off-the-shoulder poncho that's still hanging in my closet...  (okay, I never actually had one of those, because they were on their way "out" before I got up the nerve to buy one).
I don't think I'm going to just let myself completely go (although it is tempting, and what better excuse than to do it in the name of fighting social injustices!), but I'm going to spend a lot less time worrying about it. I'm going to try to be healthy, but not be so focused on the 10 lbs I would like to lose. Because in the big picture - it really doesn't matter.  That's the point of this change.  I'm going to do a better job at spending my resources (time, energy, money) on what matters
Okay, that's it for now! 1 change a day is good. 

Inspired, to say the least

God has been preparing me for tonight's message. I've been moved. For quite some time I have had this all-consuming feeling of "not enough". I simply wasn't doing enough in the face of world hunger, the AIDS epidemic, child trafficking, modern day slavery, child soldiers, etc. There is so much corruption in this world that has forced people into unthinkable circumstances, horrific abuse and unimaginable deaths. I've laid awake many nights wondering how I, a nobody stay-at-home-mom could make a difference. It's overwhelming. It's daunting. It's scary to think that I am making a choice to take it on. Because with this choice, comes a whole new perspective. It's been something I've been processing for a while now. It's letting go of the "me & mine". My world, and all the details that I have put so much energy into, truly are insignificant when compared to the world's injustices. How can I worry about the huge stain on our new rug, when children this very minute are being sold into the sex slave trade? How can I spend one more ounce of energy thinking about my outgrown highlights or outdated wardrobe, when there are child soldiers forced by rebel groups to perform heinous crimes against one another? When I know that 25,000 children are dying EACH day from malnutrition? This is a dangerous road to go down. It is going to be a tricky process to find balance between my life as it is now, and the actions I am being called to. I don't know what all this means right now. But I'm putting it out there in writing. I am being called, and I will obey.

Tonight at Cornerstone we had a guest speaker - Gary Haugen from International Justice Mission.
He was a Washington DC lawyer who was sent to Rwanda after the genocide. 800,000 people were killed in the course of 8 weeks. Gary was there to prosecute the perpetrators. Part of this process was going through the thousands of corpses, and interviewing the survivors. It was during these interviews that he understood God's call for us to stand against injustice.

International Justice Mission is rescuing people. They are taking legal actions through the courts to free them from their oppressors. They have rescued children from brothels, widows who have been forced off their land, child slaves, and many many more. Please check out their website to see all that they are doing.

On Tuesday October 14th there will be a BENEFIT DINNER at the Fairmont in San Francisco (there will be others nationwide too, check the website). We will be going - and I'm planning on being a table host as well. If you would like to go and be at my table, leave a comment in this post. (Leave a comment even if you aren't going - just to say hi if nothing else!). The cost is $100/person. I believe this will be an eye-opening if not a life-changing event.

I'm tired of sending checks. For every worth-while cause out there, the answer always seems to be to send a check. This is one of the first times I am EXCITED about sending a check. And also finding out what I can do beyond sending money. I think this is one of those times where we NEED to inform society about what is happening in the rest of the world (and here too), and take a united stand that we will not let this go on anymore. We can no longer burry our heads in the sand. If we won't stand up for these people, these children, who will?

So there it is. For everyone to see. Now I HAVE to do something :)

Please come back to see where God leads me. And please pray about how He can use you. Because now you know too.