Processing it all

I'm still having trouble blogging about Haiti. I don't know how to wrap my head around the grief. The suffering. The death.
It hits too close to home.

Haiti is like Ethiopia in a lot of ways. It's a very, very poor country with a very rich culture and amazingly loving people. People in Haiti don't ask for our help. They live their lives and raise their children and have a strong faith that sustains them. Like Ethiopia.

So when I see the destruction, when I see the little boys and girls in all the orphanages...when I see all the children who will now end up in orphanages...I see Sam. And it's too much.

So please, skip that cup of coffee at Starbuck's, or that pizza night out...and go here or here, or here.  And help. And then go into your child's bedroom, and inhale his scent, and kiss his cheek, and thank the heavens that he's your baby. And pray that all the babies find their parents, and all the mothers find their little boys.

AWBC 2010: In it to END It

In 2010, once again, we are participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  If you don't know about this amazing 2 day journey, please check it out here.  We each have been touched by this disease personally, with friends and family members courageously fighting, and winning.  These loved ones are beautiful, strong, and feisty women with children and husbands and careers.  They fight for themselves and those around them.  They garner strength from other survivors, and we are humbled and awed by the grace and courage they have shown to us over the years. 

Although we cannot take away the physical pain or emotional hardships this disease causes, we CAN WALK.  And we can raise money to fund mammograms for underinsured women, and research for a cure.
If you'd like to donate to our team, BREAST INTENTIONS, drop us an email and we'll tell you how.  But this isn't about US, so donate to other walkers/teams, or become a walker yourself, form your own team, be a volunteer to pass out water, do whatever you can.  Because together, WE CAN FUND A CURE!

Doing more this holiday season

I'm a busy mom. But I have a home, a job, a husband, food on the table, clothing for my baby, 2 cars...and the list goes on and on.  But many, many moms around the world don't have these things.  They are trapped in the cycle of poverty.  They cannot provide for their children.  I cannot imagine that level of pain, not being able to feed and cloth your children.
But there is a way out of poverty. 
It's called Kiva.  Kiva makes microloans ($25) to individuals around the world.  The recipient of the loan uses the money to purchase inventory to sell (be it food, clothing, etc.)  The recipient improves her life, her family's life, and her community by being a small business owner.  Through local banks, the loans are disbursed and PAID BACK IN FULL to the lender.  YOU are the lender.  YOU can transform a life, a family, a community.
If you are reading this blog, then you have a computer.  If you have a computer, you have $25.  Let's face it, we are all going to spend a lot more than that on holiday gifts for friends and family this year.  We ALL have $25 to give. 
So I encourage you to make a Kiva loan, and maybe even have THAT be your gift to a family member (like Charity: Water or Heifer International.)  Kiva has gift certificates so your family/friends can pick their own project to loan to with YOUR money.  How great is that??

Do you have a favorite world-charity?  How are you working to help others and take the "commercial" out of the holidays this year?

Sacrifice

We all make sacrifices everyday.Whether it be a sacrifice for a good friend or family member or for your children, we all come to a time in our lives where we must make a sacrifice.Today I went to get a pedicure at the same place I've gone for over a year now. I have gone to the same woman for the last 6 months or so as she and I have kind of figured each other out. She knows when I want to talk and when I need to read or just relax and she respects that and doesn't feel like she needs to make small talk. Today she needed to talk and I listened. Sara (not her real name) told me today that she has a 10 year old daughter in China. She went on to say that she left her daughter 5 years ago with her husband in order to come to America. Sara works 6 days a week from 9am to 7pm and lives all the way on the other side of the world from her daughter and family all in order to be able to send them money. She made this sacrifice in order to provide for her family. What a sacrifice! I know how she must yearn to hug her daughter and spend time with her husband. I cannot imagine being away from my family for that long. She calls them weekly and is able to go home every other year to spend time with her daughter. I told her how strong she is to do what she is doing. The next time you have difficulty making a sacrifice, think about this family, their desire to succeed and their love for one another.