Gift Guide Volume 2

Just a couple of addendum's to my gift guide. Just doing my part for the black Friday/ local Saturday weekend shoppers.


Music for the City: Austin musicians giving back to Austin = awesome. There are now two albums to choose from. The first album benefits Austin Children's Shelter and Safeplace. The new album (which for some reason is unavailable online, but available at local stores like Waterloo) benefits Mobile Loaves and Fishes.

Love41: Love41 works to support one of my all time favorite organizations - Africa New Life. Africa New Life has done and continues to do amazing and life changing work among the people of Rwanda.

Rwanda baskets: Another way to support the people of Rwanda is buy one of these incredible baskets. They come in as many shapes and sizes as you can think up a use for.

Divine Chocolate: Chocolate that you can feel good about buying and giving. Divine chocolate is some of the only chocolate in the world made completely without forced labor. In addition, the workers at the co-op farm own 45% of the company! These chocolate bars make great gifts to give out to neighbors. They are available online and at Whole Foods stores.


Thanks everyone for shopping kindly this year. This is such an important part of what Christmas is really about.

My Gift Guide

The holidays are officially upon us. I know this because my mailbox is now just a depository for the onslaught of adverts and catalogs that we get everyday, and every commercial on tv is accompanied by a Christmas jingle. With the holidays comes shopping, and though shopping responsibly can be a year-round mission, starting out or focusing on buying items that also give back during the holidays is a great place to start. Here is my official unofficial gift giving guide, with all of my favorite organizations and companies. This is by NO MEANS an exhaustive list - any Google search would tell you that - this is just a list of MY personal favorites, divided up by category. I hope you find it helpful as you search for gifts to give your loved ones this season.

Jewelry:

Noonday Collection: Ahh, my heart always beats a little faster when I go to a Noonday trunk show or window shop online at their beautiful earrings, necklaces, knitwear.... Everything, and I mean everything, is made by local artisans around the world, and your purchases go to support families seeking to adopt as well (so, double good!). An Austin born and raised company!

Raven + Lily: LOVE this stuff, its just plain cool. Another local Austin company (we are a really cool city) that stretches itself to reach out and help women around the world. Their metal-worked jewelry is made by marginalized women in Ethiopia and India, and they pour profits back into those same communities to establish healthcare, education, and micro-loans in order to combat the cycle of poverty.

Funky Fish: This lady does jewelry like no other. Another Austin gem, Dawn Patterson of Funky Fish supports all sorts of other organizations through Funky Fish, including Project Hopeful and Hope in Ethiopia. I especially LOVE her bracelets (you could get one in every color, I swear) and her name necklaces. BUT, word to the wise, she is closing up shop for 2 weeks while she moves to North Austin (YAY! Welcome to my hood, Dawn!) so ORDER NOW if you want her stuff (and you do, trust me!).

Shoes:

Chooze: Cutest shoes EVER. Did I say ever? I totally meant it. Too bad they are for toddlers... If you live in Austin, Sandy's carries these, if not, there is always the interwebs. Their model of sustainability and working within the communities that they are trying to help kicks Toms's butt, and I have a feeling they might be a bit more durable.

Sseko: These sandals are all over the pages of magazines these days, and you can order them through Jessica and Noonday, or directly from the Sseko website itself. They train young women in Uganda in business and accounting while they are on their way to college in order to give them real business experience. Plus I love the swap-strap idea, but then anything that reminds me of the 80's :)

Roma Boots: This company is sort of along the lines of Toms, only instead of shoes, they take these rain boots over to super rainy and muddy areas of the world to give to children. Its a one for one concept. The boots are very cute, if only it would rain here....

Toms: Well, if you don't know what Toms is, you might just want to go to their website. They do have some Movember specials and holiday shoes out for the season.

Simple: You might not immediately associate Simple with this line-up of companies, but they are actually a super awesome company. They make all their shoes out of recycled materials and their supply chain is completely clean and maybe the most ethical one out there. Their shoes are really cute too!

Clothing:

Good and Fair Clothing: OMG, when I first found Good and Fair clothing I thought I was going to faint. I LOVE basic tee's and they have them! They have their cotton sourced right there on their website. Once you have felt how soft these shirts (um, and underwear) are, you won't want to wear anything else.

Threads 4 Thought: I stumbled upon this label one day while looking for a hoodie for my hubs, and now I don't know what I would do without it. They have super great basics. They stand for sustainability and give back to the International Rescue Committee.

IOU: Have you heard? Plaid is the new black. Or something like that. This clothing line is unique and handmade and each item has a personal story. For the plaid lover in your life.

Punjammies: Sleep in style. These jammies are such a great idea for a gift, or just for yourself. They are made by women in India rescued from a life of forced prostitution. They are beautiful, and the women behind them are even more beautiful.

Accessories

Open Arms Open Arms is located right in the heart of downtown Austin and employs refugee women in a manner that they can support themselves. Visit their website and consider purchasing one of the unique scarves or other creations made out of recycled t-shirts.

Krochet Kids: Hats and other fun things knit by women in... Uganda! Love me my Uganda! Krochet Kids has actually exploded as of late, and now they have all sorts of clothing and such, but their core remains the same - buy a hat, change a life.

Warby Parker Eye wear: Is your future so bright that you have to wear shades? Thought so. Warby Parker is committed to keeping your eyes protected and doing good throughout the world. Now that is a bright idea. Check out their web page for more info.

Lifted Uganda: My friend Katie is living over in Uganda right now with her husband and kids and she is helping out some women by selling handmade bibs and burb cloths. The lag time on these is considerable, (coming from Africa), so order a bunch to have on hand for baby showers throughout the year.

Hello Somebody: What time is it? Time for you to get a watch! Or two or three or four watches... Hello Somebody is an organization that partners with other orgs to support them - and right now they are partnering with Africa New Life to help get some really sweet street boys of the street and into school. All you have to do is buy a watch (or a shirt, etc...). These are a great price-point to give out as gifts as well. If you do buy a watch, please type in the boy I am trying to help get off the street, Emmanuel Niyomugabo in the notes section.

Feed Projects: From cool large bags to (gasp) Clarins pouches, Feed projects raises funds to feed kids the world over. I reeeaaaally want one of the over-sized burlappy ones (hint, hint).

Toys

Fair Trade Sports: Fair Trade soccer balls, basketballs, and footballs for the sports enthusiast in your life!

Cosmetics and Body Care

Lush: This is sort of a weird company, but a couple times a year they do something really cool. Right now they have these awesome "charity pots" of all organic fair trade cocoa butter they are selling, and giving 100% of the money from these to grassroots charities around the world. Mmmmm. I can feel my dry skin healing as I type.

Radiant Cosmetics: ANOTHER Austin-based company. We might be the most socially-minded business city out there. Radiant cosmetics is involved in fighting human trafficking, and they have beautiful make-up and skin-care.


Well, that's what I've got for you. I've left off food items, like coffee and chocolate and such, as well as entertainment, like musicians and photographers that are giving back this time of year. I am already seeing that I will need to do a follow-up post. But, this is a good jumping off point. Again, these are just MY favorites, there are many other organizations and companies out there giving back and doing good!

Update: Here is volume two.

DTR: Defining the Relationship

DTR. Oh how that acronym brings back awkward feelings and yet hopeful promises all at the same time. Back in college my girlfriends and I used to worry over boys and boyfriends and future boys and future boyfriends - oh and then there were the potential future boyfriends and potential future husbands, well you get the picture. It wasn't until someone had the ALL DEFINING DTR talk that everyone could just, well, relax. The DTR let everyone know - yes we are dating; or maybe, yes we are boyfriend and girlfriend; or maybe even the every-dreaded "I'm just not that into you" talk. Ouch. That one was the worst.

Well, I think its time that the men and women of the church had a DTR. A real, honest, look at our relationship lately. There needs to be confession on both sides, forgiveness on both sides, and then a biblical defining of what we will be to each other moving forward. It is the only way I see of allowing both of us the freedom, the encouragement, the power to be the full expression of the person God created us to be.

Defining the definitions:
helpmeet: In the Hebrew: ezer-kenegdo

Kenegdo: literally, "the help that opposes"
The best explanation I have ever heard of this idea is by an orthodox Jewish woman named Ahava. She says that the rabbis explain ezer-kenegdo this way: "like two posts of equal weight leaned against one another. They stand because of equal force."

Ezer: refers to a strong military ally. This term (ezer) is used to describe women twice in scripture, both in Genesis 2. Throughout the rest of scripture, ezer is used three times to refer to those Israel turns to for military aid, and a whopping 16 times to refer to God himself as a helper to Israel in battle. To summarize, of the 21 times ezer is used in scripture, 19 of those times are certainly in a military aid context. Therefore it is safe to conclude that the other two times ezer is used, to refer to woman as man's partner, it also has a strong military ally connotation.

Taken together as written in scripture, then, the ezer-kenegdo woman is a force to behold. She is the other half holding the man up with equal force, and is created to fight the battles before her with the strength of a warrior. Battles such as the injustices that fill this earth. Women are equipped, able warriors in the fights against poverty, slavery, trafficking, abusers, and oppressors. We can work as equals to elevate those who are marginalized, like the uneducated, the orphan, the widow, the homeless, and the immigrant or refugee. Not merely helpers, but equals in every regard.

Injustices abound in this world and we need all the fighters we can get. Let us not discount each other's abilities and worthiness to participate in the ministry of reconciliation based on our gender. There is, after all, enough work to go around.

Reading is the Most Dangerous thing I do

To me, reading is not a luxury, it's a necessity. I am constantly reading. I didn't really know what I wanted to do when I grew up, so in college I majored in English, pretty much just so I could read more books. Not surprisingly, I am currently un-employed (well, I do have those three kids to look after...).

However, for many in the developing world, reading is not only not a necessity or a luxury, it's not even an option. Illiteracy affects 25% of adults in the developing world, and not surprisingly, 67% of those are women. Women are chronically under-educated in the majority world. It is a a well-fashioned cycle of gender-roles and poverty that has kept many girls and women trapped under the authority of men for the entirety of their lives. Education costs money, money better spent to educate boys who will ensure the cultural status-quo.

Without education, a woman in a dangerous marriage has no way of supporting herself or her children and so she stays. Without education, a woman has no way of knowing that she has other options than to be married and raise five children with a man that has multiple wives. She has no voice and no skills to aid her outside of the realm of the house. She has nothing to pass along to her daughter other than the life that she knows. However, with an education, with literacy, suddenly a whole world opens up. If a young girl is educated, she may not marry at the age of 17. Instead she may decide to continue to pursue her education. She may become a lawyer, or a nurse. She may run for political office and seek to change her entire culture.She may not NEED a husband, though she will likely choose to have one. If that husband treats her abusively, she knows she has the skills to leave him. She is confident within herself and she will be able to pass this on to both her daughters AND sons.

And suddenly the status-quo begins to change. Like I said, reading is dangerous. It can fill a young impressionable mind with all sorts of dreams and ideas.

I saw this playing out first hand when I visited Sudan last July and August. All of a sudden the young girls of this new generation were going to school! Their mothers, the women we were teaching and praying with, had not and were all illiterate. We were using a picture Bible to convey gospel stories and messages. Can you imagine having a bible with no words?? Could you remember everything simply through pictures?? I know I couldn't. A long-term team that was set-up there was holding adult literacy classes, however, and some of the women were attending. I can not properly relate to you the pride on their faces when they could write their own name. It was transformational to their whole countenances.

Discussing the education of the girls was an interesting topic to chat with the Sudanese men of the village about with as well. I asked one of my friends there, a young man with a daughter about 18 months of age what he thought of it. He related to me that he wanted his Janie (his daughter) to be anything she wanted to be when she grew up - a pilot, a teacher, a doctor, anything. When I asked him how this would affect her marriage and family, he looked uncertain. There are still many questions about these new gender roles for everyone in the developing world to sort out. The good news is, the change has begun.

Even here in the U.S., the bastion of education for all and promotion of women's right's, reading is still dangerous. Most of all, especially in the church, we still hold on to that statas-quo of long ago, those gender roles I see so starkly played out in the developing countries I visit. I think we might call it "traditional roles" and feel good about it, or slap the label of "spheres" or "equal but different" on our attitudes. Sometimes I even hear submission thrown into the mix and then my skin starts to boil and my mind start shouting out things I should start saying RIGHT NOW! Through my, ahem, reading I have come to a few conclusions.

1. Reading books that challenge my faith only makes my faith stronger. My God is able to handle my biggest questions, doubts, and fears about Him, after all, He is a really big God. Not only can I question everything I am taught at church - I should. It makes my faith my own, forces me to dive deeply into scripture to find out what it says for myself. If I don't, then my relationship with Him is a fraud, inauthentic at its core. He can handle my questions, and yours too.

2. Submission is not my highest calling. Nor is being a wife. Nor is being a mother. If you a married woman with children, its not yours either. Being fully entered into a personal relationship with Christ, the product which is loving and serving others as I am filled with the Holy Spirit in order show God's glory as I work to grow the church is my highest calling. This is the work that I am called to. That YOU are called to. I promise you are, its right there in the Bible. Having a family did not change this calling, whether you are a man providing for one or a woman taking care of one; or a woman providing for one and a man taking care of one :).

3. When our focus is inward it can not be outward. Sort of redundant, but it bears saying, only because I see SO MANY mothers focused solely on the raising of children and taking care of the home. It may be your responsibility, but it is not your mission in life. Jesus tells you very clearly what your mission in life is in the gospels. I'm not going to tell you here - go READ it for yourself!


Reading lands me in places I never thought I would be. It takes me out of the boxes of women's, children's, and hospitality ministries and throws me into a world full of men that is hard to navigate. I don't know if they think I belong. But I do. Its right there in the Bible. Like Lydia, the first Christian in Europe who then teaches others, or Deborah, who was not only a wife and mother, but served God as a Judge of Israel, who all of Israel came to for counsel, I know I can serve the church, serve God, wherever He places me.

Here's some recommended reading to get you started on your journey of danger:

Generous Justice by Tim Keller. One of the best books on justice you will read. READ IT NOW!

When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor by Fikkert and Corbett. This book will have you re-thinking missions, both short-term and long, and the ways the church reaches the most vulnerable. An eye opener and conversation starter!

Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. You might start off hating this book. If you do, take a moment and ask yourself what you are struggling with, take a deep breath and finish the book. It can shift so many of your perspectives, and you don't have to end up living in a commune.

Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey. Its always good to know that other leaders in the church have struggled with the church at times, with faith, and have come through it all the stronger. Philip Yancey will introduce you to 13 people who influenced his faith throughout the years. When he does, go read books by them, especially

Annie Dilard' Pilgrim at Tinker Creek which will cause you to wonder at the everyday beauty of the world around.

Adopted for Life by Russell Moore. You could read anything by Dr. Moore and be on the right track, but if you are interested in adoption at all - and you should be, since you are adopted in Christ if you are a Christian, then this is the book to read first.

The Lost World of Genesis One by John Walton. This book will give you lots to think about in terms of your view on creation and God. Whether it ultimately changes any of your viewpoints, of course, is up to you.

Finally, if you have the tiniest artisit or creative hair on your body, Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water: reflections on Art and Faith is a must read. Its beautiful, poignant, and quiet.

Don't have time for a whole book? (And really, who does after getting to the end of this massively long blog post?) Here are some articles and websites that will get those thinking juices flowing:

http://rachelheldevans.com/blog

http://biologos.org/

http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/

The Patriarchy movement

Post-Modern Women: What you need to know about us


More in a vegetative state of mind? Start with these docs:

The Lost Boys of Sudan documentary that will give you compassion and knowledge about a set of boys that have gone through so much.

God Grew Tired of Us Another movie about the lost boys of Sudan.


Happy reading everyone! And tell me what you're reading right now - I always need a recommendation! I'm currently reading this.

Its Just Not Your Business

This post is in response to a recent blog post that circulated around the adoption community and beyond; this particular post received almost 300 comments on the author's blog alone, and I'm sure many more on the countless facebook, twitter, and blog accounts it was re-posted on. Every single comment I read was a positive one, except mine and one other of my friend's. It is not my usual mode of operation to write a response to someone else's opinion or blog; we all have our own personal views and ways of raising our children, and in the adoption community especially we tend to stick together pretty closely. However when I see something I feel is so obviously egregiousness and it is going not only unchecked but praised, I feel as if it is my duty as an adoptive parent to stand up and say something.

If you have not read this particular post, please don't. Just know that the author wrote it in the name of being "authentic" and "real" with her audience. She did this by sharing the intimate and personal details of behaviors the two children she very very recently adopted from Africa were displaying. Behavioral details her children, had they been able to express themselves properly in English and had the right social skills to know it was wrong, would probably not want their new mom sharing with every stranger on the internet. I understand this mom's need to be heard. I understand her need to be validated, understood, and encouraged. I understand it. But I don't agree with how she went about getting it.

As parents, and adoptive parents especially, we are walking a tight-rope of trust. What is harder than us being overwhelmed, exhausted, and struggling to connect with the kids we just brought into our families? Our kids adjusting to an entire new culture, entire new language, entire new family, entire new set of expectations at every corner, new foods, smells, and sounds, an entire new trajectory for their entire lives. Literally EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of their lives have changed with a plane ride. Anything at all we do to damage the trust we build with them may have ramifications we may not know about for years to come. Why would we want to expose their hurts and wounds and damaged selves for the world to see? They are acting out of fear and hurt, we should be searching for that unique and precious "child with-in" not blogging about how angry and nostalgic for the pre-adoption days they make us.

I see this as an alarming trend in the adoption world. As parents blog before and after they bring their children home they write about their raw emotions way way way too authentically. We must remember as a community that our children could someday read this. The internet is permanent. We can be authentic and say that the post-adoption days are not all peaches and roses, that there is real pain and grief to work through, that there are peaks and valleys, that you better have a major support group around you, that some days you are so overwhelmed by the walls your child puts up you have no idea how you will ever knock them down. We can also be authentic and tell people there is no greater joy than seeing the newest member of your family give you a real hug, a huge smile, play with joy, be a kid - a pleasure they were robbed of in their home country, blend in seamlessly to your family, tell you they love you for the first time, snuggle with you, relax around you, try a new food and like it, make a friend for the first time. There are ways to be authentic and real without being painfully revealing on the internet.


Adoption community: please, instead of posting public blogs about your raw emotions, journal about them on paper, talk about them with close friends, family, and your small group. After all, that is what they are for. Create an adoption support group to talk to. Or perhaps if you just can't stop blogging, you may want to start a private blog for close friends and family. Once you are a few years removed from this transition period you can talk to people about the realities of what post-adoption looks like at a seminar or conference for families looking for information on adoption. But for the love of Pete, please don't publish such private details of your children's own histories on the internet for all to see.

Electronics and Purchasing Justly

Get ready, I'm about to geek out because I am a geek with birthday money for electronics.

When I buy computer parts or a phone or anything that beeps I do tons of research, ask Rachel. And I'm keeping with my modus operandi. But this time instead of researching the most cost effective products, I'm researching companies with the best treatment of others. The result is that I found something great, something bad, and a whole bunch of meh.

Great: It turns out that one of my favorite companies rates highly on the global stage and I can safely buy all of their products.

Bad: My other favorite company rates poorly and I've bought tons of their products over the last 15 years.

Meh: It's really hard to get good information on these tech manufacturers. Different sites rate the same company at different ends of the spectrum while most research organizations don't have full data on their working conditions and pay. And sometimes, you are just trying to pick out the least bad company. That doesn't feel good.

So after about four hours of searching for information, here's some sites I found for research:

www.corporatecritic.org & www.ethicalconsumer.org

This one has the best rating system of all but is not free. I signed up for a four week trial.

www.gooshing.co.uk

This one is neat, but they are missing data on some key areas like working conditions/fair wage, etc. They can, however, tell you if the company deals in armaments or supports an evil dictator. Yay.

www.crocodyl.org

This one has a lot of research on non tech companies, so it will be good in the future for me.

www.business-humanrights.org

This one doesn't do ratings but gives articles about the companies. You can learn a lot here and I recommend it for researching companies where you think you will buy a lot

Things People Point Out: Stewardship

In another life, when I was doing college ministry for a "living", I was asked to give a sermon on the Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16), in front of about five hundred students. At the ripe age of twenty-two, commanding an annual salary of around $19,000, I didn't feel that I was the best equipped person to deliver this message. My then mentor, the Paul to my Timothy, told me that experience makes anecdotes and wit, but the Word of God and the Holy Spirit make the sermon. So I did it and I brought the house down. Or at least I did alright. I don't remember.

I had a conversation with a friend who didn't really see any value in what we're doing. And one of the reasons he gave was poor stewardship; that we were paying extra for things that we didn't have to.

Stewardship or Frugality

I think saving money on the things you buy is good, but frugality is just a part of being a good steward. A good steward gives resources to the appropriate places and appropriate times regardless of the deal. Thriftiness isn't appropriate when giving a good gift and hoarding goods you will never use is worse. It can even be a sin when used to scrutinize a loved one or save money to feel secure instead of finding security in God. Rachel and I aren't trying to be frugal, we're simply trying to give money appropriately by spending in places that support treating people justly.

Rachel and I are willing to pay more and be content with less things so that people around the world can be paid well for what they produce. Especially when their product is designed to make life easier for rich people in developed countries.


P.S. Rachel said people don't want to read "Bible Lessons" on blogs, so I deleted the masterpiece I wrote on Luke 16. But if you really want one, I suggest a short read through Matthew Henry's commentary here. It will make you want to do something good with your money.

And Go!

Today is the day! Today officially marks the start of our one year of living, buying, and giving as justly as possible. Here are my food plans:

Shop at my local grocer co-ops, such as Wheatsville, as well as farmer's markets on Wednesday at the Triangle and Saturday downtown, and subscribe to Greenling. Buy only fair traded coffee, chocolate, nuts, spices, vanilla, sugar, and tea.

Some sites I love!

Divine Chocolate - 45% of the cocoa farm is owned by the women who farm it! UNHEARD of in the brutal world of cocoa bean harvesting. Not to mention the chocolate is amazing!

Just Love Coffee, Gobena, Land of A Thousand Hills - I am a coffee FREAK, and there are a million and one fair trade coffee sites out there, these are just some extra cool ones. Not only is the coffee super good and already produced ethically, but then the profits benefit the community in some way as well. I love double good products!

The great thing about shopping at a place like Wheatsville is that hopefully I can get them to carry some of these products. Joining a co-op has its advantages!

Would you order food or coffee online? Do you buy fair trade? Would you consider changing - why or why not? Let me know!

What's in a Name?

The beginning of the fall (umm, if you can call what we are currently experiencing "fall") always brings with it the start of new activities and a new school year. This year we are lucky enough to have all three of our kids at different schools - yay for me! That means three drop-offs and three pick-ups, what oh what was I thinking?! It also means three different sets of parents to introduce myself to. "Hi, I'm Rachel, (insert correct child's name here)'s mom." Add in the swimming, soccer, and karate extra-curriculars and I am swamped with new people!

Sometimes I meet new people with - gasp- no kids around. Maybe at church or on date with Jonathan. Then I get to be the other half of a couple. "Hi, I'm Rachel, Jonathan's wife." That's a good one.

On occasion I'll be promoting some sort of Orphan Care thing or other at church. This past Sunday I was running our Orphan Care/ Missions table at Welcome Back Sunday. That day I got to be Rachel the Orphan Care girl. I like that girl.

How we introduce ourselves says A LOT about who we are. Are we a mom, dad, doctor, lawyer, husband, wife, single gal or guy, minister, delinquent, phd, cpa, longhorn, aggie, what? What do we want people to know about us right away when we first meet us? Its seems to be the key information, the most important about us - I am Rachel, mom of 3, wife of 1, orphan advocate. I guess that about sums me up.

Now, how does God introduce Himself over and over and over again? Its interesting. You would think it would be something like, "I am God, MIGHTY and EVERLASTING". That's what I would do if I were God. Or maybe something like "I am God, BOW TO ME MY MINIONS." But surprisingly He doesn't use either of those. Instead, our God, who is indeed mighty and everlasting, who indeed does deserve our worship and adoration, is introduced as a defender to the vulnerable. Why? Because this is one of the main things He does in the world.He identifies with the powerless and then takes up their cause.

Psalm 68:4-5 He is a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows

Deuteronomy 10:17-18 The Lord your God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the immigrant, giving him food and clothing.

Psalms 146:7-9 He executes justice for the oppressed gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, He lifts up those who are bowed down, He loves those who live justly.
The Lord watches over the immigrant and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.

And just who are the powerless again? That quartet of the vulnerable that we talked about earlier, the widow, orphan, poor, and alien. In modern times we can see that it expands to the refugee, the migrant, the slave, the elderly. I love this about God! He has every title there is, every name in the book, and yet He chooses to be introduced and known as the defender of the fatherless. He chooses this and we are to be like Him.

Does Jesus change this? What do you think? How do you introduce yourself to others? Let me know!

He's my son, not a citizen

Without getting too personal on here, (not because I mind getting personal, but because I don't want to violate Simon's privacy), the American adoption process has some kinks to work out.

Now, I am whole-heartedly FOR adoption. If you ever want to talk about it, ask about it, or look at spreadsheets about it, Jonathan and I would be more than happy to meet with you. We (ok, Jonathan) kept detailed financial records all along the way that we happily share with others genuinely interested in the process, and we have many resources and connections to help families along the way.

That being said, we have been home about six months now and we are still not done with the American legal process of adopting Simon. He, of course, is our son. However he is not even considered a citizen of this country. He has a permanent resident card and received a very fancy brochure from the U.S. government on what benefits that means he can and can not receive. The brochure was very firm on making sure he knew he needs to pay taxes and that he could, in fact, join the military if he wanted to.

Seeing as though he was 5 and couldn't speak English, I let that slide at the time. However, if this process doesn't speed up and his fascination with guns doesn't subside, I might re-visit that conversation with him....

All joking aside, sometimes justice is about action and advocacy. This is one of those times. EACH is THE organization in Washington D.C. that drafts and lobbies Congress on behalf of adopted children and their families. They need every supporter they can get to let Congress know that there are people out there that care about this issue. Joining is free! I am a member and I urge you to become one as well. Please take a moment to read about the work that they do and the legislation they have drafted on their website.

Children adopted into American families, both domestic and foreign born, should be given the same rights and opportunities as those naturally born here into families. Its really hard to believe they are not. Help change that, and help make the adoption process better for everyone.

Why couldn't I have said that?

Words fail me all the time. They just slip right out of my head. My mind goes completely blank. I know have something to say, I just can't remember what that something is. It happens to me ALL the time, but it especially happens to me when I feel like I am being confronted about something. Does that ever happen to you?

Recently I was at a girlfriend's house with some friends, having a glass of wine and some great dessert, when we started talking about clothing stores and their source factories, and someone asked me a question about why I shop at a certain clothing store over another. So, I dove into the problem of children laboring in the cotton fields of Afghanistan. Children start picking cotton in these fields around the age of eight. They camp out in the fields for weeks at a time, with no adult supervision, obviously not being educated, while picking cotton that has been sprayed with more poisonous pesticides than any other grown product on earth from dawn until night. (Since cotton is not consumed, it can be sprayed with pesticides exponentially more than produce). At least I tried to dive into this problem. I half-hazardously stumbled through an explanation, grasping for words as my mind blanked before me.

Then I tried to explain that MANY companies KNOWINGLY use this cotton, and I would rather spend my money supporting a clothing manufacturer that KNOWINGLY DID NOT use this cotton and actively supported fair wage and fair growing processes.

Then, ACK! Someone there said something about if those fields weren't cotton fields, they would be planted with poppies and used to harvest heroin, so it was better the way it was.

And my blank mind struck again!! What I wanted to say was that NO! It wasn't an either/or situation. Afghanistan can plant cotton fields and harvest them without using child labor in slave-like conditions. They can pay fair wages to their cotton harvesters. Children there can stay AT HOME and be educated. In fact, that is what needs to happen in Afghanistan if that country is going to succeed.

But how? We, the consumers, have to demand it. Are you a stock-holder in a retail corporation? Do you know where those garments are sourced from? Demand to know. Use your buying power wisely and selectively. Sponsor a child in a country, like China, Bangladesh, Thailand, or Afghanistan where child labor is the means for family survival in many cases, so that these children have access to education and a better life.

Now, if only I could have said all that the other night!

Wait, huh?

Ok, so by the number of questions that both Jonathan and I have received over the past few days it is obvious that a lot of you guys out there are a bit confused as to what this whole living justly thing is all about. Well, its a bit hard to sum it up in a short pithy blog post, so if this subject is completely foreign to you I will post a list of books by real, live theologians and pastors that can help you on your way to a nirvana understanding social justice. In the mean time, let us go with this very general working definition of living justly:

"making long-term personal sacrifices in order to serve the interests of the most vulnerable, marginalized, and poor members of society."

In the Bible, the most most vulnerable groups of society that come up over and over again are what some refer to as the "quartet of the vulnerable" and they are the widow, the orphan, the alien, and the poor. In modern times we can expand this to look like many single mothers and elderly, the migrant worker, the refugee, the slave, the homeless.

Right now you might be thinking that I have JUSTICE mixed up with MERCY or CHARITY. But I assure you, I don't. For one, charity implies something that is optional - otherwise it would not be charitable, it would be... a tax? A forced gift is no gift at all. Justice is something that is owed someone. God exhorts us in the Bible to protect these groups - and so therefore that is what they are due. Justice is giving someone what they are due whether it is positive- protection, or negative- punishment.

ONE trickle down application of this, therefore, is your buying power. Think of it as voting with your dollar. So that's what we'll be doing - voting with our dollar. Supporting those companies and places that treat their workers in a just manner.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to just living than that. We'll explore more in the days to come.

This might be crazy but...

So this might be the craziest* idea I've ever had, but welcome to it! As impulsive and reactionary as I can sometimes be, I've actually been mulling this idea over in my head for a week or so now and I can't seem to shake it. Rather the opposite has been happening. I find not only my conviction for this project getting stronger, but more ideas splintering off from my first as my enthusiasm and excitement grows. I have gone from "is this even possible?" to "I can not wait to get started!"
The goal is this: to take all of my book knowledge and do what the bible really tells us to do, that is, to ACT justly. See, I've read a lot of books on justice - A LOT. Maybe you have too. I know a lot about a lot of what is going on in the "world" of social justice. Adoption. Orphan Care. Poverty. Brothel Rescues. Sweat Shops. Name a human rights issue and I could talk to you pretty knowledgeably about it, and more than likely I would know someone in that particular area of work. But knowledge, as we know, tends to puff up, and what I want to do more than anything is serve where needed.
What does ACTING JUSTLY look like? Where will our food, clothing, and energy needs come from? What will our giving look like? Who will I talk to to really find out what is going on on the ground level in some of places where the worst injustices on earth are taking place? You will have to stay tuned to find out. We have some ideas already, and some outlining still to do in the weeks ahead to get prepared for what is ahead of us. I am sure we will make mistakes. I am sure that at some point I will have to make an emergency stop at a store that won't fit my profile, for that is the nature of being a mom to three kids. But I also know the balance of justice is mercy, and for that I am thankful.

I welcome healthy conversation and debate in the comments section.

*For those of you that remember my idea to put a GPS tracking device and bug in my adoption dossier, you know I have had some crazy ideas in the past...