Football and Folly

In previous posts, I have shared a lot about our apathy, and how we need to get passed it and start caring about what's going on in the world. Without trying to beat a dead horse, I feel that I need to share some thoughts this morning as I sip my coffee.

My morning routine is almost always the same. Sleep in too late, rush to get ready, make my coffee, and head to work. Once at work I turn on my computer, take care of anything left on my desk by the attorneys the evening before, and then read the news.

And for the last 3 mornings of this week, there have been a lot of news articles about the foibles of the refs who have replaced the striking regular refs in the NFL. (Striking as in they are on strike, not that they are striking in appearance. Although, I don't watch much football, so for all I know they could be striking in both ways.) All over facebook, twitter, google+, and whatever other social networking site one uses, people are angry about the dumb calls these refs are making. They are worried about the future of this football season if the NFL doesn't make concessions to the refs so that they come back. There is some talk of the football players going on strike as well. America is on edge waiting to see what is going to happen.

All over football.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not knocking football, or any other sport. If this was happening in college basketball, I, too, would not be happy. But what strikes me is how fired up we get over things that are utterly meaningless. Yes, it's fun to watch a game, the ups and downs of seeing your favorite team play. But let's keep things in perspective, folks. Whether or not the replacement refs blatantly make the wrong calls is not, in any way, shape, or form, going to effect humanity.

So I have to ask. When is the last time you got as angry over the injustices in the world as you do over {insert meaningless thing that makes you angry here}. Our God is a God of righteous anger. I truly believe God is angry when his children are abused, mistreated, sold in slavery, abandoned, etc.

Sure, it's frustrating to see the outcome of a game botched by incompetent refs. But I think it's time we got angry over the fact that there are more people enslaved today than the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. That children are left in the street by their parents who refuse to take care of them, or are orphaned because of drugs, alcohol, and STD's. Get angry about the things that God, in his righteous way that we will never understand, gets angry about.

But don't stop there. Anger as the end is not righteous. Anger as the means to change, anger that fuels reform, that is what should be taking place in our lives.

(disclaimer: all the things that I post about are ways that God is working in my life, and prompting me to share in the blog-o-sphere. they are not, in any way, personally pointed at any reader, but instead personally pointed at me, with the hope of sharing how God is working in my life with my readers.)

The Way God Works [part 2]

I feel it only fair to expound upon the way God worked out my new job situation to go on this trip, in order to give praise where priase is due.

I started about halfway through June. I figured there was no point in applying for Romania, becuase no office would give time off 4 months after hiring someone. But I couldn't let it go. I hesitate to use the word "nag" in this situation, as it has a negative connotation, but God would just not let me forget about it. So I finally decided to apply to get Him to stop bringing it up. I figured I probably wouldn't get it anyway, so no harm done.

And then I found out that I was a finalist. It was time to bring it up at work. The people I work for are amazing, but I was still scared about asking for 2 weeks, literally weeks after I started. The whole day I rehearsed what I was going to say, over and over again, trying to get it to sound perfect. I watched the clock tick by slowly, dreading the end of the day, when it would be time to ask. And like always, I started coming up with reasons why I couldn't do it that day. I'll ask her on a day when Tom and Meghan aren't here, I reasoned with myself, and God. Well, friends, don't try to get out of stuff with God. I am convinced that he chuckles to himself and says, sure.

Well, I'm sure you can guess where this story is going. Tom and Meghan both left around 4:00 that day. Like child walking to clear the dinner table, I slowly trudged back to Patty's office, and asked the question to which I was sure the answer would be a "no" or a "that just wouldn't be possible right now". After explaining the nature of the trip, the time-frame, and my willingness to work evenings and weekends to make up for lost time and make sure everything is done, she answered.

I will never forget what she said to me. "You need to go. You absolutely cannot pass up an opporunity like that."

But beyond giving me permission to miss work, every day she would ask if I heard whether or not I got the position, officially. They all told me how excited they were and how much they hoped I got the spot on the team. When I told them that I was officially a part of the team, they were so excited for me.

Now they ask me how preparations are going, and if I'm getting excited, and all the questions that one gets asked when preparing for a trip of this nature.

It is such a blessing to know that not only are they ok with me missing 2 full weeks or work, but they are excited for the opportunity that God has blessed me with.

I'll close with this completely unrelated thought: It's kinda terrifying when the sheriff's department calls to talk to you.

Fear not, blog readers, it was just to say that my courthouse ID tag is ready to be picked up.

The Way God Works [part 1]

I touched on this a little in my initial post about this trip, but I feel the need to expound upon the way God worked out all the details, so as not to take His grand orchestration of my life for granted (as we too often do).

As I mentioned before, when Scott spoke about this trip to our church family, I was in the process of looking for a full-time job.

Any of you who have recently attempted to find work, know how tedious and frustrating this process is. Hours spent scouring the internet for anything that I was remotely qualified for and didn't seem too sketchy. The repitition of tweaking my resume and cover letter over and over again. Finding a job these days is every bit as hard as it seems. (Just to let every know. The job market is NOT getting better. I do not say this from a political standpoint, just from my new life experience of trying to get a job in a failing job market.)

At any rate, after weeks of searching, I was offered a job. It was one that I wouldn't like doing. It would be a fight every time I had to work. But it was a job. Something that I needed.

But there were a lot of downfalls, besides being the tedious, miserable job that my generation hopes to stay away from. The biggest problem was that I would barely be able to be involved in church as I would work Wednesday and Sunday nights. That didn't sit well with me. All throughout college, but especially the last two years, I was really excited about moving back home to get heavily involved in Calvary. That was something that I missed while at school. I LOVE our church and church family and the thought of still not being able to get inolved made me really sad.

Ok, God, You know I need a job. But you also know that I want to serve you through Calvary. So do what you do best, take this situation, and guide me where you want me to go.

And then I got another call for an interview. A job that I had no training in, no experience in, and was completely out of my league. The first interview went well. A few days later I got a call for a second interview. That was to be held on the same day and time as my training for job A.

So now I was completely confused and at a loss of what to do. (Shocking, I know.) Should I give up the opportunity for this job that's a yes, for a possibility that may or may not happen? Job B was everything I was looking for, but when faced with the decision of a definite for a maybe, it gets a little scary.

As usual, I went to my parents for advice. (I kinda liked the days when they would just tell me what to do. This whole "your an adult and need to decide for yourself" kinda stinks sometimes.) Enter God's orchestration.  I went to my parent's seperately. They didn't talk to each other about this opportunity or discuss it previously without anyone else. And they both came to the exact same conclusion. God know's you need a job, this one's kinda been thrown in your lap. Go to the interview.

And now, here I am, writing this post from my awesome desk at my awesome job. It's so awesome to be able to look back over the summer and pinpoint exactly where God was working and moving in my life. This Sunday made me sooo thankful for following the way he was leading instead of taking the "safe" way out. Sunday morning started with worship team practice, followed by singing in the service. Then I had a meeting in the afternoon with my fellow leaders of our children's program, Evening service, and choir practice after. None of which I would have been able to do if I took job A.

This post is getting a little long, so I will cut the story short here. Stayed tuned for more details on the way God worked out my boss giving me the time off!

With 2 cups of coffee downed, and another in hand,
Ali

Side Note

One thing that I forgot to mention in my post yesterday dealing with doing good in the world is a soap company that I LOVE. This company was started by a girl with a vision. She trains girls how to make these soaps, so that they have a trade, and aren't left to resort to other forms of self-support. They have all different kinds of soap with different scents and different functions. Like toothbrushes, we all (hopefully) use soap. Consider buying soap from this company and support a GREAT cause.

www.goodfortunesoap.com

What are you going to do about it?

A few days ago I posted about the apathy that is running rampant in our country, and worse, in our churches. (Don't worry. I get back on that soapbox.) At the end of my time in Cambodia, I was asked a question that still haunts me: Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?

So that is the question that I pose to you, my faithful readers. Now that you have been reminded of our own complacency in light of what's going on in the world, what are you going to do? Maybe your thinking, I really don't care. Then you need to pray that God would show you his love for the "least of these" and break your heart for what breaks his. Hopefully, however, this is not the case. Maybe, like many that I've encountered, you care, but you don't really know what to do about it.

Never fear, my friends. I will just tell you some easy things that I have changed in my own life, and maybe that will inspire you! (I'm not setting myself up on a pedestal here. I don't care NEARLY enough. I've just done a lot of research in these areas.)

The most obvious thing that comes to mind is supporting a child through a project like Compassion International, or Worldvision. Through monthly donations, organizations such as these provide life necessities to children living in poverty. With Christian founders, it is usually a requirement for these children to attend Bible classes and church services. Hmm...adressing spiritual and physical needs at the same time...sounds a little bit like how Jesus ministered a lot of times. For both Compassion and Worldvision it is pledge amount of $40/mth, and you get to write letters to your child and send them fun things for their birthday, and most times the children write to you as well! It's a huge blessing to get those little letters. My parents and I both support children through Compassion. Here are the websites for the two I've mentioned if anyone is interested:

www.compassion.com
www.wvi.com

There are also a lot of One-for-One organizations that seem to be springing up. A lot of you are probably familiar with Toms Shoes, a company that is committed to helping people in poverty by providing a pair of shoes to those without for every pair that is purchased. One-for-One. Even if you don't like the style, consider buying a pair as a reminder that we are so lucky to have things that we take for granted -- like protection for our feet.

www.toms.com

Another one-for-one company that I recently discovered is called Smile Squared. It's a toothbrush company that -- you guessed it -- gives a toothbrush for everyone purchased to children in poverty that aren't able to practice basic hygeine. We all brush our teeth, so why not buy these toothbrushes next time your in need of a clean one, and do some good while you're at it? They also have an option to just donate toothbrushes, which is nice if you require a specific type!

www.smilesquared.com

Another thing that is really easy to do is to start buying fair trade. Fair Trade certified products offer fair wages to all the workers involved. They are a little pricier than slave-based products (which I'm sure you can reason out on your own) but it is well worth to not propogate slavery. Did you know, that there are more peoples enslaved today than there were at the height of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade?

Two of the biggest culprits for using slave-based labor are coffee and chocolate. (These are by far not the only two, but the two that are most notorious.) Thankfully, due to the increased awareness of slave-labor, fair trade versions of these two products are making their way onto shelves, and a lot of other companies are starting to switch their practices. You can do a google search to learn more about Fair Trade, which companies use slave labor, and so on.

Well, friends, this post is long enough. If you want more information, just shoot me an email: aliciajoy731@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer questions or anything.

Let's start caring for the "least of these."

Ali

I'm legal!

It's official. I am now legally able to travel outside of the states. 

My new passport is here!

For those of you have, like me, (until yesterday) have only had the old passports, let me tell you, the new ones are WAY cooler. They're like super decorative and every page has cool designs on them.

I'm excited to get new stamps as I travel! There's just something about that stamper hitting the page that sends a new wave of adventure through me. 

Yes, I know I'm a dweeb. But that's ok. 

The United State of Apathy

82,000. That's the recorded number of orphans in Romania for 2010. And that doesn't include the estimated 170,000 "migration orphans" left by their parents. Add to that number the 1,000 street kids with nowhere to go. Usually after hearing statistics like this our response is "...wow. That's tragic." And then we go on with our day and focus on our "middle-class problems" and that is that.

It always amazes me when I encounter the general not-caring attitude of the average American. We prefer to live in our little bubble of American prosperity and not really care about what's going on in the world around. We don't know, and what's worse, we don't care. And even when we are forced to face the stark reality of the world in which we live, our response is the proverbial shrug of the shoulders in a very "eh, that's their problem" sort of way. And the truth is, this response is seen both in secular and sacred circles.

But that is not how we are called to live our lives. Now I'm not saying that we all  need to be Mother Theresa's and embrace utter poverty to live out the calling of God. But I am saying that we need to be more conscious of the poor and destitute, just as Christ was, and just as he has called us to be.

It is so easy to be caught up in the American idea of poverty. And I am guilty of this, so this post is just as much a self-reflection as a call to others. But the reality is, the majority of us have no idea what it means to be poor. We complain about struggling to pay the bills, but those bills are for our high-speed internet, satellite, 2 cars, and nice house. Most of us have never experienced a struggle to feed our families, or to afford a one-room hovel, or to not be able to clothe our children.

We need a wake-up call to remember the poor and needy. My first wake-up call came walking through the barrio of La Vega, Dominican Republic. Garbage piled in the streets. Houses made of corrugated tin. And by house I mean one or two rooms for an entire family. Children running around naked, with the puffy bodies of starvation.

My next wake-up call went above and beyond the desperation of poverty into the world of human slavery. Child sex trafficking. I walked through the casinos in Cambodia where most of the workers were slaves. I saw the faces of children rescued from the life of sex slavery and forced prostitution. And my life was forever changed.

It's hard when you experience things like that to make people back home understand. It can become exasperating to try to push past the apathy and make them understand what you've seen, to feel the same passion that you do.

We are called to care about the poor and downtrodden. Before my trip to Cambodia, I spent time looking up verses dealing with this very issue. It is my prayer that you, dear readers, will take time to prayerfully read through them, and see what areas of your life could be tweaked, what areas you have become apathetic to the plight of those less fortunate than us.

"...learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." [Isaiah 1:17]

"Blessed are the merciful...for they shall receive mercy." [Matthew 5:7]

"When Justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but terror to evildoers." [Proverbs 21:15]

"Blessed are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times." [Psalm 106:3]

"For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong." [Isaiah 61:8]

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly before your God?" [Micah 6:8]

"For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever." [Psalm 9:18]

"Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is He who is generous to the poor." [Proverbs 14:21]

"But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." [Amos 5:24]

"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. " [Proverbs 31:8-9]

Vlad the Impaler

As I have talked about this trip with various people, I have been warned to be careful. But not for the normal reasons of traveling in a foreign country...but in case my travels should take me to Transylvania, the home of Dracula. (Thanks for the concern, everyone. I will do my best to avoid him. I'll keep an eye out for any sparkling men. [and yes, I did just allude to Twilight. Deal with it.]) And so, being the history nerd that I am, I decided to do a little research and find out the history surrounding Bram Stoker's gothic novel.

 This is Vlad, III or Vlad Dracula. (I really like the name Vlad, so forgive the overuse that is more than likely going to take place.) Vlad lived in the 15th c. For those of you who struggle with centuries, I will relieve your stress and just tell you it's the 1400s. He was born to Vlad, II  (shocking, I know) in Transylvania (tune in in the next few days for some history on Transylvania and Dracula's castle). Vlad, II was a member of a secret society that was determined to protect "christianity" during the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the mid 1400s.

Vlad Dracula was inducted into the Order of the Dragon, the same secret society his father  belonged to, at the age of 5. Talk about indoctrinating your children. Growing up he was tutored in combat skills, geography, mathematics, science, languages, classical arts, and philosphy.

Both Vlad's  were  rulers of Wallachia (not Transylvania) as you can see in this map of Romania:

Vlad II ran into some trouble during his reign, and so he sent Vlad III and his brother as hostages to the Ottomans. Vlad III was known for being defiant, thus explaining Vlad III's hatred for the Ottomans. He also had daddy issues since his father sold him to the very people that his secret society swore to work against.

 

Vlad III took the throne at a young age after his father had been killed. This first reign was short lived and he fled into exile for a few years. When he took the throne for a second time, he found Wallachia in an appalling state. He implimented severe measure to bring prosperity back to the province.

 

And so began the bloodshed. To ensure his rule, he put many of the nobles to death (those whom he deemed responsible for his father's death).

 

When the Pope declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1495, the Turks visited Vlad III to ask for a delayed tax to be paid. Vald refused, saying that to pay the tax would signify Wallachia's inclusion in the Ottoman Empire.

 

Instead, Vlad had the envoys killed by nailing their trubans to their heads, for "refusing to remove their hats in his presence." And then he went on a killing spree. He ravaged through the Ottoman empire, killing men and women, young and old alike. Posthumously dubbed "the Impaler", his favorite method of killing was by impalment. I'll leave out all the gruesome details that I came across, but this guy was bad news, and was known for his sadistic pleasure in killing people. The death toll during his reign is estimated in the tens of thousands.

 

The character found in Bram Stoker's novel circa 1800s, may have been loosely based around Vlad II, (aka the Impaler, aka, Vlad DRACULA), however Stoker made enough changes that no direct links can be made to good ol' Vlad. Many historians will agree, however, that Stoker's knowledge of Vlad Dracula played into the character.

 

So now you know the real Dracula (minus the gorey details). Rest assurd, readers, that I will do  my best to avoid any vampires, or impalers whilst journeying throughout Transylvania and Wallachia.

Flight Itinerary

Good Morning! I thought I would just pass along my flight itinerary as some of you may be interested in the technical side of this trip as well.

We will be flying Finnair out of JFK, in New York, the only airport I've ever flown out of! Our flight leaves (supposedly) at 5:50 p.m. Friday (Flight 6 for those of you who are really into technicalities) and will arrive in Helsinki, Finland at about 8:50 a.m. on Saturday (or about 8 hours after we take off, since planes NEVER leave on time). We have about a 40 minute layover, and then we board Flight 753 for the short 2 hour flight to Budapest, Hungary. Now I know some of you might be saying, wait. I thought you were going to Romania. Why are you landing in Hungary? Well, my curious friends, we will be driving for a few hours after we touchdown, and will at last arrive in Romania by car, or van, or bus, or whatever vehicle takes us there.

At the end of our time in Romania we will travel (by land, again) back to Budapest, where we will fly on Flight 754 at about 11:35 am, and will be landing in Helsinki around 3 pm. We have an overnight stay in Helsinki  (my first ever layover longer than an hour!) and then we will take Flight 5 and arrive back at JFK around 3:55 pm.

Total flight time, (not including driving to and from airports) will be about 10 and a half hours!

Ready to fly,
Ali

Reality Check

You know those moments that happen every so often that give you a good taste of reality? Those moments that make you stop, and think about your life, and realize it's not that bad...

My sister and I both had moments like that this weekend, at different times and in different ways.

She had been going through a bunch of baby clothes to donate to Romania. I was looking through the clearance section of Sears on my break trying to find great bargains. And we both struggled. Both of us, as we looked through the clothes and saw things such as "My Mommy Loves Me" or "Daddy's Little Girl" or "Grandma's no. 1 Guy" we were both given that reality check. These kids don't have mommies, or grandmas, or daddy's to rely on.

How many times do we complain about our families? How many times do we roll our eyes at our parents who "just don't understand"? How many times are we annoyed by our aging grandparents who sometimes get confused even though you told them the same story 6 times in the last 20 minutes?

But these kids don't have that. They will grow up, for many of them, never experiencing the love of a parent or grandparent. They will grow up wonder why they weren't good enough, or what was wrong with them that no one wanted them. And that reality breaks my heart.

And as a mother, it broke my sister's heart in a different way, a way that I don't yet understand and don't feel qualified to write about. But her heart was broken, too.

So the next time that we are quick to complain about our parents rules or the 32nd time trying to explain your job to your well-meaning grandma, stop and give yourself this much-needed reality check.

I am struggling to put words on the page to describe the work that God is already doing in my heart, the way he gave me a strong dose of His reality, so I will just end this post by saying...

May our hearts be broken for the things that break His.