Add to the Beauty ~ Sara Groves

We come with beautiful secrets

We come with purposes written on our hearts,

written on our souls

We come to every new morning

With possibilities only we can hold,

that only we can hold

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces

Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty

To tell a better story

I want to shine with the light

That's burning up inside

It comes in small inspirations

It brings redemption to life and work

To our lives and our work

It comes in loving community

It comes in helping a soul find it's worth,

a soul find it's worth

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful

This is grace, an invitation

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces

Calling out our best

And I want to add to the beauty

To tell a better story

I want to shine with the light

That's burning up inside

IJM Celebrates 15 Years of Justice

www.ijm.ca

Two Silly Fears

I finished my social studies term on Friday, slept 14 hours on Saturday(!), and am enjoying the start of subbing.  It also means that I finally have some time to read again and I am currently working on Picking Flowers on Dusty Roads by Oddny Gumaer from Partners Relief & Development (www.partnersworld.ca).  I really appreciate her honesty and her perspective of the world (specially as the organization works in Burma).  Here is a portion from "What Piece of Lego is an Ion?":

"A while ago our team at Partners had a staff team-building day.  Don't ask me why, but we decided to talk about what we were afraid of.  As we sat in a circle talking about fears of lizards, divorce, and flying, I thought about my fears.  I realized that I was afraid of so many things that it would take very long to list them all.  Besides that, I didn't think it would be very constructive for the rest of the team to hear about all the ridiculous phobias I have.  What struck me, however, was that all my fears could be narrowed down to two categories:  fear of failing and fear of losing control.  After I thought about it for a while, I decided that is probably why most of us do (or don't do) the things we do. . .People do all kinds of crazy things that actually hurt others or that hurt themselves; it stops them from living their dreams and from loving another person; it puts people on their butts instead of on a mission to rescue the princess, the prince, the dog, or whatever.  All because of two silly fears:  fear of losing control and fear of failing." (p. 183)

Context: Human Trafficking

I'm asking you to set aside about a half hour to watch the Context with Lorna Dueck episode on Human Trafficking.  She provides a lot of great information and highlights the work of some great organizations (including fair trade).  The keys to fighting injustice are educating yourself, education others and then doing something about it - hopefully this episode will help you in that:

www.contextwithlornadueck.com/episodes/slavery-human-trafficking-child-slave-labour

Cameron

invisiblepeople.tv/blog

Thoughts in Solitude

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am

going. I do not see the road ahead

of me. I cannot know for certain

where it will end. Nor do I really

know myself, and the fact that I

think that I am following your will

does not mean that I am actually

doing so. But I believe that the desire

to please you does in fact

please you. And I hope I have that

desire in all that I am doing. I hope

that I will never do anything apart

from that desire. And I know that

if I do this you will lead me by the

right road though I may know nothing

about it. Therefore will I trust

you always though I may seem to

be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever

with me, and you will never leave

me to face my perils alone.

~Thomas Merton

Destiny

invisiblepeople.tv/blog

like a kite

Throw your
dreams into space
like a kite,
and you do not
know what it
will bring back,
a new life,
a new friend,
a new love,
a new country.

~Anais Nin

All This Time ~ Britt Nicole

I remember the moment

I remember the pain

I was only a girl

But I grew up that day

Tears were falling

I know You saw me

Hiding there in my bedroom

So alone

I was doing my best

Trying to be strong

No one to turn to

That's when I met You

All this time

From the first tear cried

To today's sunrise

And every single moment between

You were there

You were always there

It was You and I

You've been walking with me all this time

Ever since that day

it's been clear to me

That no matter what comes

You will never leave

I know You're for me

And You're restoring

Every heartache and failure

Every broken dream

You're the God who sees

The God who rescued me

This is my story

This is my story

I hear these people asking me

How do I know what I believe?

Well I'm not the same me

And I saw the proof I need

I felt love, I felt Your grace

You stole my heart that day

You've been walking with me all this time

A Holy Moment

I had the privilege to be a part of a holy moment today and it had nothing to do with me at all.  I was helping run the Amnesty club over the lunch hour and there are 5 amazing grade 9 girls who are mature beyond their years.  Only today, there were just 4.  The 4 girls were texting the 5th, who had just come home from Winnipeg.  She was to start chemo treatments as her cancer had returned.  There are many things that make me want to scream out against injustice, but disease is close to the top of the list, if not #1 most days.  How unjust is it that kids and innocent people have their bodies ravaged by disease?

A text came and as the message was relayed between the girls, the mood changed from laughter to solemn. . .it said that, even though stopping treatment means that she was given 2 - 3 months to live, that was the decision that was made.  And then there was silence. . .

I wanted to say something to comfort her friends, but no words seemed right.  I have never experienced what they are experiencing, and even if I had, it just didn't seem the time.  They started writing notes to her and it was utterly quiet for about 15 minutes.  It was holy - I had a lump in my throat and had to hold back my tears.  And then, given the purpose of the group, they continued signing online petitions to fight injustice around the world.  It was almost as if they understood that they couldn't fix their friend, but they certainly had a chance to fix other things in our world and they weren't going to let this moment pass them by.

Grief is such a hard thing is sit in, and it also hard to walk alongside others who are grieving.  But if I had not experienced grief today, I would not have experienced the holy moment either - they go hand-in-hand.

Bringing Down Canada's Massive Human-Trafficking Ring

Thank you Bailey for this link to The Globe and Mail article "Bringing Down Canada's Massive Human-Trafficking Ring":

www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/how-canadas-massive-human-trafficking-ring-was-brought-down/article2394819/?utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail:+Newsletters+/+E-Blasts+/+etc.&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links

Isaiah 53:2 - 6

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised,
and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him he iniquity of us all.

CNN: Baseball Strikeouts Help Free Child Slaves

 

thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

America's Sex Trafficking Victims

The difference between me and so many other girls around the world is the simple fact of where I was born and the opportunities I've been afforded.  Along that thinking, check out the article featured on Nicholas Kristof's On the Ground column:

kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/americas-sex-trafficking-victims

2.4 Million People

Check out this Winnipeg Free Press article:

www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/un-says-24-million-people-are-victims-of-human-trafficking-and-most-are-sexually-exploited-146032925.html

One Thousand Steps

No joke (it is April Fool's!) - this is blog post number ONE THOUSAND!!  I am quite certain that when I started this blog on February 7, 2009, I never expected to reach 1000 posts.  It all started as a way to keep people up to date about my YWAM travels throughout 2009.  When I returned home early from that adventure, my blog became a place to let my new friends, who lived all over the world, know what my life back home was like.  And then somewhere along the way, it changed into a much bigger injustice focus.  I have enjoyed the different paths that my blog has taken and want to thank those of you who have traveled the journey with me, whether briefly or since its inception!  I don't know if there will be another thousand posts or not, but I am certainly learning to take it step by step.