Getting outside

You know what's really fun? Being out until 1 a.m., and then forgetting to turn your alarm off so it wakes you up five hours later and you can't get back to sleep. That's super-fun!! So, I apologize if this post is somewhat incoherent...

Last weekend I volunteered at a benefit concert called Justice Jam, which raised money for Justice for Children International (JFCI). It was a great turnout, and I was glad to give some of my time and money to this cause. It's wonderful that COR has the facilities and resources to host such an event. Between bands, there was a speaker from JFCI who talked about what we were there for - to help put an end to child sex trafficking. His speech is now uploaded on the Justice Jam site, so go check it out if you missed it. (Update: I wasn't able to get the audio to work for the speech when I tried to play it today - it only played a few seconds, so I'm hoping that will be resolved soon.) It's not easy to hear, but it is important.

During the show, I was collecting donations for newcomers outside in the lobby area, so I didn't get to be in there to hear what he said. One of my friends came out during that time and seemed upset. He had already seen the video from JFCI earlier that day, and he told me that it was too heartbreaking for him to see again. I agreed with him that it is heartbreaking to know about this, but it's better than being ignorant about it. And it's good that we care and are at least trying to do something positive to raise awareness and help put an end to it. I can definitely understand why he was upset, though. It would be weird if it didn't bother him.

Things like this remind me how comfortable my suburban Midwestern life is, and how much I have to be thankful for on a day-to-day basis. For example, my biggest complaint today will probably be that I only got five hours of sleep, followed by a complaint about having allergies this time of year. That's it, really, yet I'm sure I will whine about it at some point today when I start to get tired. I just love it when I get like that. I've tried, with only mild success, to combat this tendency of mine to care and pay attention to only myself and my immediate surroundings. It's not easy, which is sad to admit, but it's true. One way I've attempted to do this is by having the picture of the girl I sponsor through World Vision at my desk at work. I think my coworkers are somewhat perplexed as to why I have a picture of an African child amongst the other photos of my (very white) family. However, I have her picture there to remind me of several things throughout the day:

1) There are people in the world that need our attention/awareness and support, even though it's hard for me to imagine what their lives must be like because all I've ever known is this privileged Johnson County life.

2) As I'm working, it reminds me that a small part of my paycheck is going to her each month, and this reminds me to be a good steward of my resources, which includes the money I earn.

3) Her picture also reminds me to be a witness to the beauty and love of God. Let me explain that one a little further. . . I signed up to sponsor a child during Lent last March, as part of my almsgiving. I had been wanting to do this for quite a while, but I made the excuse that I couldn't afford it until after school. Well, that was a pretty flimsy excuse for me because it really isn't that much to give each month and I could already afford it if I budgeted for it. Now, to go back a little further, I started this blog a couple months before that. I didn't really want to start this blog, to be honest. It scares me and makes me feel really uncomfortable (and still does, actually) to be so open about my faith because it's so important to me and so personal. Not like that many people read it, but still . . . I don't particularly enjoy feeling this vulnerable. However, I felt the need to do this because I couldn't think of anything else that I would rather write about. I'd rather have what I write be meaningful, yet scary, than superficial, yet safe. At the time, I was also trying to challenge myself to be more of a witness, thus the name of my url for this ("make me a witness"), and up until that point I hadn't been much of a witness at all. Okay, so back to Lent and signing up for a sponsor child. When I went to their Web site, there's a link on the homepage that says something like "sign up for a sponsor child by clicking here." I hate to admit this, but I was still semi-debating if I should sign up at the time or wait until after I was out of school. Through my hesitation, I clicked on the link, and there she was. I then looked at her name: Witness. Still gives me chills to this day. There are thousands of children that need sponsors, and the site randomly generates a different one of these children to come up each time. So, some people may say it's just a coincidence, and maybe it is, but I tend to feel differently about this particular instance.

Okay, that was a really long bullet-point. Oops. The "Witness" story is one I was hesitant to write about when it happened last March. I didn't want to appear to be showing off that I had just signed up for a sponsor child or trying to get attention for it, so I didn't write about it. However, it was a pretty awesome moment for me, and I don't give that much each month so it isn't really something for me to brag about, anyhow. I could be doing a lot more. Thus, I hope my telling this doesn't come across that way. I've got to get going here pretty soon, so I'll wrap things up on that note.