Rapunzel- A princess I can love

I would not consider myself a feminist and I don't think that Disney movies are inherently evil and teaching our daughters terrible things.

But after reading a couple of books and having a number of discussions along those lines, some of the arguments against Disney really start to make sense.

As much as I LOVE the Little Mermaid, she sells her voice for a boy. I'm not sure how I feel about that...*

All that to say, tonight I watched Tangled with a friend (not for the first time, just for funsies) and I couldn't help but analyze it for the underlying messages it sends our young girls (I didn't do it on purpose, but sometimes I just can't turn off the UNC mind).

Let me tell you, I love Rapunzel.

I think that she is an awesome princess. She's beautiful, sweet, and totally kicks butt and takes names.

She's the kind of princess I would want a young girl to admire.

She is the balance of innocent and naive, but sassy and observant. She figures out what is going on pretty quickly and stands up for herself. This blonde has some fiest to her.

I love fiest.

And the best thing is, both she and Flynn are great. It seems in these kinds of movies that either the girl is sleeping and the boy saves the day, or the girl is awesome and the boy is a doofus.

Flynn is great. He fights for his girl. And lets be real, no matter how much feminism tells us otherwise, a girl wants a boy who is going to fight for her. A man who is going to defend her. I believe that is what we were created to long for. And in the end, both were willing to sacrifice themselves for the others well-being.

Merida in Brave was hailed as a Disney princess for feminists. She was fierce and a fighter. Like the awesome Katniss Everdeen, she was an amazing archer. And most importantly, she didn't want to get married. I had one problem with Merida...

She was a brat.

I couldn't stand her. The way she treated her family and threw temper tantrums was just annoying. (sorry if you liked the movie- the animation and music was beautiful, but I couldn't stand her).

This is not who I want girls emulating, they get enough brattiness from other TV shows and movies.

Why can't a girl be cute and girly? Why can't she be sweet and naive? Why can't she use a frying pan as a weapon?

Obviously, the person that we want our girls to emulate the most is Jesus first and foremost and then the Bible and Christian history is full of amazing women who gave their lives to God and others.

But when it comes to role models in secular culture, I really like Rapunzel.



*I am all for watching The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (Belle is my favorite princess), but I definitely think that those movies need to be watched together and discussed (as most things do). However, the ones where the girl literally just sleeps while the prince slays the dragon (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) nope, just nope. 

I'm not an awesome person

Lately, people have been asking me a lot about my plans after college (almost wrote high school...).

I've been asked a lot if I plan on staying in this area to teach after I graduate and, of course, I say no that I want to teach at an orphanage in India.

And I always get the same response:

"Wow. That is so amazing. That is so great that you want to do that!"

And I never really know how to respond.

Because on the one hand, it is kind of awesome. It is a huge need and I'm so excited to get to be a part of these kids lives and a part of the plan that God has for them.

But on the other hand, its not about me. Not at all.

I had nothing to do with it. I did not choose to do this. I didn't decide to go and do this awesome thing.

God literally reached into my life, lifted me off the path I was headed down and set me on this path instead. It was all his doing. I am simply following his directions. Because I've learned its better not to argue with the creator of the universe. He tends to win those arguments.

And even more importantly, I'm not an awesome person. I'm a sinner. I'm extremely selfish. I have a tendency to be lazy and procrastinate.

There are things about life in India that I dread, to be honest. I am not looking forward to the hot summers. I am not looking forward to be separated from my friends and family. I know that I will be frustrated and short tempered at times. I will not be the teacher that I want to be or imagine myself being.

I don't really know why I am writing this, except to say, I am not awesome.


but GOD is. 

School themed top 5

This was my first week in my placement classroom. Since it was the first week of school, we all went to our placements everyday but starting next week we will only go on Wednesdays. I am in a 4th grade class here in Durham and I absolutely love them! Here are some highlights:

5. My kids are having a really hard (but understandably so) time trying to figure out what my name is. So they are constantly looking at me "um excuse me, Miss Dro.. um Miss... what's your name again?" Its super cute!

4. One of my boys chose the final Percy Jackson and the Olympians book to read. When I asked if he didn't want to start at the beginning of the series, he told me that he didn't need to because his brother had already read them and told him what happened. To say I was dumbfounded would be an understatement. But he's reading it and says he enjoys it. But he's missing out.

3. Not a funny story- but we have a couple of new kids to the school so its been really cool to watch them open up and make friends. One boy in particular has been really quiet and shy and spent a lot of time by himself, but today in particular, he really started opening up and talking with the other kids. That makes me happy.

2. My class makes my bookwarm heart warm. Every time my corporating teacher stops talking (even for just a minute) half the class has a book out! I love it! My CT is constantly having to tell them to put their books away. What a great problem to have!

1. Finally, I just really love my kids! One girl wrote me a really sweet note today saying that she liked me a lot (and my clothes and hair haha) and that she really wants me to stay and teach at Forest View next year :) And when I told them today that I wouldn't be there until Wednesday next week, they were all so upset! They told me I should just skip class so that I can come more haha.

So that was my first week! I'm super excited about the year and will have lots of stories to share in the future :)


Also- on a completely different subject: Doctor Who comes back TOMORROW!!! So excited!!! (even though I won't be able to watch the new episode until Monday) It's going to be awesome!!!!!!!

What I did last week

My week started pretty typically:

I took this precious girl out for her 7th birthday.

We went to Frankie's and she wanted to do the ropes course and let me tell you, this girl is FEARLESS! All the teenagers were super impressed by the 7 year old who was going on the highest ropes. And she made fun of her adult babysitter for being terrified of heights. She thought it was just awesome that I was scared and she wasn't.

Then we went to get frozen yogurt and (because its me) found our way to barnes and noble to read some books. It seems these girls and I have started a sort of book club- trading books back and forth each Sunday. 

Which leads me to a funny story. While driving, A says to me when the topic of me being an adult some how came up- "but you're not really an adult, you're still kind of a kid. Like you like to read kids books and do kid stuff, so you're still kind of a kid."

And you know what, sweet girl, I am totally ok with it. 

Also, at B&N we came across this beautiful collection of books:

(That's Percy Jackson and Harry Potter all on the same table)

Sweet A ran up to the table and proclaimed: "Look! It's all your favorite books!" That's right and I'm proud of it! (I might start doing book reviews, in which case you will hear about my recent love of Percy Jackson.)

Then my weekend took a slightly uncharacteristic turn and I found myself doing this:

I ended up at a shooting range with a few friends. This was the first time I ever even held a gun and, as you can imagine, there was some giggling and squealing when we made our first shots (and several rounds after that...)

All in all, it was super fun. My friend and I call ourselves disney princesses because of a personality test we once took. Well I've never seen a disney princess who could do this:

(don't be too impressed, we were pretty close up)

The shooting range was fun, but I don't think it converted me into a gun-wielder (although I would like to go back some day haha).


Also- on an unrelated note, I've decided to completely embrace my nerd side and have entered the wonderful world of Doctor Who. It's British TV (and everything that that implies) at its finest and I love every second! (and it makes scanning so much more interesting!!) 

HIgh Five for Friday

I forgot to do these for the past two weeks, but here we go again! I'm linking up with Lauren over here. Also, no pictures again this week. Fail.

1. Found out my student teaching placement!!

I will be student teaching in a 4th grade class at a school here in Durham starting this fall! I'm so excited! 4th grade is the grade that I wanted and one of my good friends is going to be at the same school as me, so we can ride together! This also makes everything a lot more real and I'm slightly freaking out over the fact that I will be a senior and a teacher soon....

2. Pool time with an old friend.

Yesterday, I got to go to the pool with my best friend from elementary/middle school. It was super fun to hang out and catch up since we go to different schools now and rarely get to see each other.

3. Painting, painting, and more painting

I helped some friends paint a room in their house this week. I really enjoy painting and have done quite a bit of it with my mom here at our house, so I was happy to help them out. It was also a fun excuse to spend time with a new friend before she leaves me :(

4. New books!

I started a new book series this week, I'm not completely in love, but I'm giving it more time. Its another young adult fiction series by the same guy who wrote Percy Jackson. I'm loving some YA fiction this summer.

5. Celebrating 7 years of this sweet girl!!

Yes, this picture is from years ago (but it was the only one I could find right now haha) but today this little one turns 7 and will be celebrating Tangled style! 

Differences that make me smile

India is a different culture.

Shocking I know. 

And yet, I feel like I am beginning to get a grasp on Indian culture, although I realize that I probably never will completely understand that place and I'm fine with that. As I grow more comfortable with this land that I love, it is so fun to watch people experience the culture for the very first time. That has been one of the biggest joys of these past two trips. getting to introduce people to this culture that has captured my heart and see them learn to love it too. 

I love watching the girls pick out their clothes and attempt to wear a sari (as long as I am not the one leading the sari lesson).

It's awesome watching people attempt to eat with their hands, especially our poor left handed friends who have to learn to use their right (if you don't know why you can only eat with your right hand in India... well ask me in person sometime...). 

And always the best is watching them being welcomed by the kids and other members of the ministry. They are always surprised and so happy when the little ones bring out our welcome garlands the first day and cry when they bring out our farewell garlands on the last day. 

And then there are the differences that just make me laugh. I want to share the best example. 

A few weeks ago, there was construction on 147 (the main highway through my city). For probably 1.5 miles, the right lane was blocked off, but no one was working. I finally reached the work, 1 truck drilling in the road, and then the lane continued to be blocked off for another 1.5 miles. So about 3 miles blocked off, for 1 truck. (these distances may be exaggerated)

When we were leaving India, as we drove through Delhi, we came across construction on a bridge, 1 man working on this like fence thing along the edge of the bridge. He had maybe 5-7 cones set up about 4-5 feet into the lane. Traffic barely noticed him and just kept chugging along. 

I don't know if this makes you laugh, but to me it sums up the difference in Indian and American culture. In India, I just laughed, imagining the traffic jam that would have been caused in America, because you know that lane would have been closed for at least a mile for that one man working. 

I'm not saying one way is right and one is wrong, they are just different. 

And it makes me smile. 

High Five for Friday

So I think I'm going to start doing some more posts just about my everyday life (cause I know you are so interested), one of which is the High Five for Friday posts with Lauren for From my Grey Desk. I think I'm supposed to do these on Friday morning, but who really cares haha.

So here are my weeks top moments:

5. Bike riding with my dad.

My dad and I used to ride a lot, but we had stopped for a while. Now we've gone a few times again and when I say ride, I mean like 30-60 mile rides. Its fun to get to hang out with him, I'm a crazy daddy's girl. We talk about really random things: everything from my plans for India to the latest book series I'm reading (see below).

4. Doing nothing but read for several days in a row.

I am fully taking advantage of this summer to be totally lazy and that means that I have spent about 4 days doing nothing but lay in bed reading. Seriously, that is pretty much all i did for the 4th of July. It has been WONDERFUL. Which also leads me to my next point...

3. Percy Jackson

I am a bookworm, but the books I like best are typically written for middle schoolers (Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, etc). This series is no exception, but I am obsessed! I just finished the last book that is out right now (there are three more coming in the next years, CANNOT wait) and now I am suffering major withdrawal. Which most likely means I will be reading them all again. Seriously though, these books are really fun and good too, I will probably do a review of some sort soon.

2. Seeing favorite friends!!

So this happened last week, but one of my favorite friends returned from 6 weeks in East Asia and so I got the pleasure of meeting her at the airport and then driving her down to Charlotte then spending a few days down there with other good friends. It was so great catching up and seeing people's faces since I hadn't seen them since May. (Bemi also told me to read the rest of the Percy Jackson books, so that led to the craziness of the past week of speed reading).

And although it hasn't happened yet...

1. Zach and Lauren's wedding!!!

I'm so excited to go celebrate my sweet friends' wedding tomorrow near Asheville. I'm looking forward to seeing other good friends as we celebrate Zach and Lauren's love and their new life together.



So that was my week. Hopefully next week will be more exciting haha and maybe I will try to take some pictures, but no promises...

To Care for the Fatherless

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the orphan and the widow in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. 

James 1:27

For almost 3 years, that has been one of my favorite verses in the Bible. 

The command to care for the fatherless. 

For the least of these.

It is all throughout scripture. We are to care for the poor, the fatherless, the widow, and the foreigners. 

Because that is what Christ does for us. 

This past Sunday, Danny Franks preached about this verse and the call to adopt for Christian families. He told his own family's story. They showed a video about their little girl that brought me to tears (granted it doesn't take much). 

I love how this family has lived out James 1:27 for our church. I love the way that their boys have stepped up and loved their little sister. I have been amazed as the boys that I knew as elementary schoolers have truly become young men of God in the past year or so. 

I love that our church is taking this call seriously. I love that there will be a packed house on Wednesday night as families come to learn more about adoption and fostering. 

I love that we want to follow Christ's command. I love that people's hearts are aching for the children around this city, country, and world who are alone tonight. 

I love it. 

I know that many of you were moved by Danny's message and by the words of the God coming alive in your hearts. 

I know that you feel the burden for these children. 

I also know that most of you are not in a place in your lives where you are ready or capable of adopting or fostering. 

I am single, in college, and 21 years old. I'm not going to adopt- that would be just crazy. 

But James 1:27 is talking to me. 

Some of you may be overwhelmed just trying to take care of the kids that you already have. 

James 1:27 is still talking to you. 

Adoption is beautiful. Watch the video of the Franks family, it is BEAUTIFUL. 

Adoption is not the only way to live out this command. 

I know 70 children right now who need someone to support them so that they can go to school. $100 per kid is all that it takes to educate a child for the whole year. 

That is caring for the orphaned. You may never meet the child your money went to, but you still made a HUGE impact on their lives. 

There are kids at the orphanage I work at that do not have sponsors and this breaks my heart. There are children who do not have someone here in America loving them, praying for them, providing for their needs. 

You may not be able to adopt. You may not have the finances for it or the mental capacity, but could you give $50 a month and love a child that you have never seen? 

I have been sponsoring a girl in India for the past 2 and a half years and it is the most fulfilling thing I do with my money. I love my girl more than I can express. She loves me too, she knows me from when I go, but she does not know that I am her sponsor. I don't want her to know. 

This trip, she told me that from now on, I'm her mom. My heart couldn't hardly handle her sweetness. 

You don't have to do either of the things that I just mentioned, but I will ask that you pray, truly pray and seek God's heart for the fatherless and the hurting children around the world. 

Our God is a great Father, and his heart aches for these children more than you or I could even imagine. He wants them to be cared for and loved, even in ways that may look different than we imagine. 

I will say again, this command to care for the fatherless is for every believer. 

So ask God how he would have you live it out. 

College men (cause so many of you read this blog) mentor a middle or high school student. That is a way of caring for the fatherless. 

Moms and Dads, consider sponsoring a child through some organization and tell your kids about it. Show them the pictures and have them write letters. Begin teaching them now to care for the kids like them who are less fortunate. 

I could go on, but I have to go to bed now. 

Above all, pray and then pray some more. God knows the children around the world who are without families. My daughter was not an accident, God knew when she was born and he knew the day that she went to live at that orphanage. Nothing that has happened in her life was outside of his great plan. 

God sets the lonely in families

Psalm 68:6

Here's the video of the super-awesome Franks family.

Thoughts on being home again

I have looked through the pictures about 10 times.

I listen to the music that we sang with the kids (including some awesome songs in Hindi).

I have talked about it some, but I know that with time, the stories will come and I will share more. I always talk about my trips gradually, not all at once.

What I haven't done is write and that is what I need to do the most. Because writing is how I think now.

I miss India, a lot. I miss my kids.

In some ways, this time returning has been the hardest yet. The trip was so short that I by the time I was back adjusted to India and loving it there, it was time to go.

I had to leave before I was beginning to miss friends and family back home, so now all I was left with was the pain of leaving the ones I love in India without the joy of seeing people that I was missing in America. (Not that I didn't miss people, but I wasn't even gone 2 full weeks).

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, I am so so grateful for the trip that I was able to go on. It was a huge blessing from God. He provided the opportunity and the funding. Completely blew my mind with his provision, not just for me, but for my team members.

I had fully accepted that I would not return to India this summer and then God opened up this door. It was more than I could have asked for.

But leaving is always hard.

And the year stretching out in front of me until i get to return looks very long.

I miss my girls. I miss the boys that I am getting to know. I miss laughing at my terrible Hindi. I miss having chai. I even miss the heat.

God is good. He knows that plan that he has for me and these children. He knows when I will be able to see them again. It may be next summer, for all I know, it could be sooner. I have found that He likes to surprise us when we least expect it.

As it stands now, I may be able to return next summer and when I go back, I may be staying for 6 months. Nothing is set in stone, but R and I are talking about it.

The opportunity to go and stay for 6 months so soon after I graduate blows my mind. I have often said that if everything went my way, I would get on a plane the day after graduation, but that that would not likely happen. Well, now it may.

As I said, nothing is set in stone. I have a lot of praying to do. I do not want to do anything out of the will of God.

All that is to say, that while the year in front of me looks very long, I am begging God to show me how to cherish this final year. For all I know, this could be my last year permanently here in Durham/Chapel Hill. That blows my mind and terrifies me while it excites me.

I want to love this year, not wish it away. I want to cherish the time that i have with the precious little ones that I love here. As much as I miss Rani and my girls in India right now, I will miss the kids here just as much.

Even if I don't leave for India right away, at the end of this year, all of my college friends will scatter. Our friendships will change and adjust. I will miss them all very much. (I am terrified of being a senior, but that is different post for another day).

I am sad to have left India. I always want more time with the kids there and my friends. I am to the point where I feel like I have actual relationships with the people there (not just the little girls) and I miss those people. There are many things about the culture that baffle me, yet there are so many things that I miss.

I would give almost anything to be going to evening prayer with the kids.

But God wants me here. Its not my time to go yet. And so I am begging him to keep me content. And asking him to help me cherish my time here. 

Just checking in!

We are having a wonderful time here in India!! VBS is going wonderfully! Today was our second day. The kids are having a great time and the team has quickly fallen in love with the kids. We are teaching them about the different fruit of the spirit, so yesterday was love and joy and today was peace and patience. We have taught them several songs which they love singing and dancing to. It is extremely hot but the team is being wonderful troopers. I can't wait to share pictures with you when we get back! Thank you for all your support and prayers. You are so wonderful!

Headed to India

Hi all! I'm sure most of you know this, but I am leaving for India today. I am leading a small team of people from my church and a few friends to go work at the orphanage. We will be leading VBS and serving my friends while we are there. I will try my best to post something on here while we are gone, but no promises. I'm sure when we get back I will have lots of stories and pictures to share!

I would love it if you would be praying for me and the team as we go that we would be able to teach and love these kids well and that in all that we do, we will glorify our Father in Heaven. 

Have I ruined my life?

Recently, my friend, Becca, and I have been engaged in a really interesting discussion with our philosophy professor about Christianity (what we believe, how it affects our lives, things like that) on our class's online discussion board. I have been extremely impressed by our professor's respectful handling of this subject, even though he has said that he doesn't believe any of the Christian beliefs to be true. He has asked great questions that have made us think deeply about our beliefs and has just overalled, listened to what we have to say, he hasn't twisted the words of the Bible to meet his agenda or anything like that. I just wanted to preface with that so you know that our discussion has not been the typical sort people have here at UNC.

One thing in particular that he said made me really think though, and I posted it as a Facebook status, but I wanted to go into my thoughts about it a little more here. In my professor's explanation of his own beliefs, he basically said that by believing in Christianity and rejecting the things of this world we have ruined our lives.

At first, I was pretty upset that he said this. I guess I don't really see any way that I have ruined my life by believing in Jesus, if anything it has made it a whole lot better. I was beginning to come up with a great rebuttal to what he had said and prove him wrong and all that, but then I started thinking about Jesus and what he would have said on the subject...

Matthew 16:24-26

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would saw his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?"

Matthew 10:37-39

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will loose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Mark 10:21

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me."

Matthew 10:22 (repeated in Mark and Luke)

"and you will be hated by all for my name's sake."

It seems Jesus agrees with my professor. Following Jesus requires ruining one's life. At least the life that they had before following Jesus. 

This is certainly true in my own life. I had a nice, selfish plan for my life before truly surrendering my life to Jesus. (It was a ridiculous plan, but it was certainly what I wanted) Then I had a true run-in with Jesus and my life looks a whole lot different than I ever could have imagined. 

Now I plan on living the rest of my life on the other side of the world from everything that I have known and loved. I will have to give up all sorts of creature comforts that people work their whole lives to obtain- nice clothes, a nice house, nice car, heck, even air conditioning (in a place that hits 125 F, this is a pretty big sacrifice). I may never get married, never have kids of my own. And even if I do, my kids will grow up seeing their grandparents once a year or on a computer screen. 

Most people would say that this is crazy. They would say that I have ruined my life. 

Most people would say that I have ruined my life simply by choosing to major in education, since that's not exactly a career where you make a lot of money. 

And maybe I have. I don't want to sugar-coat what God has called me to do, it will be hard. I got a small taste of how hard it will be to leave behind everyone that I know and love and move to the other side of the world when I was overseas this past summer. It will be lonely and tiring and frustrating, and living a selfish life just seems so much easier. 

So why do we do it? Why am I going to move to India? 

I may be ruining my life here on earth, but I have the promise of so much more waiting for me in heaven. 

Mark 10:29-30

Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sister or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."

Jesus may have ruined the plans that I had for my life, but in exchange, He has given me more joy and peace than I could have ever imagined. I love the girls in India more than my heart can stand sometimes. This calling is a blessing in my life, never a burden. I get to love girls who have never known true love before and I get to tell them about their heavenly Father who loves them more than I or anyone on earth ever could. I would take that over a fancy car, big house, and successful career any day. 

So my question: has Jesus ruined your life? Why don't you let him and just see what blessings he has in store for you. 

My Summer Adventure Part III- Greece

This is WAY overdue!! I have been hoarding pictures of the final part of my summer for quite some time.

For those of you who don't know, last summer, I went on quite an adventure. I was overseas for about 2 months. First I spent 2 weeks visiting my sister in Central Asia- check out these posts here, here, here, here, and here (I posted a lot when I was there haha). Then I went and spent about a month with these wonderful people in India. I didn't post as much in India, but I did put a lot of great pictures on my facebok, so feel free to go look there.

Then after all of that, my parents met my sister and I in Greece and we spent about a week and a half there.

I'm finally going to share some of the pictures from the time with you.

The Accropolis all lit up at night. Its a little blurry cause we were a little far away. 

I continued with my theme of taking pictures of the beautiful flowers that I found there. 

The theatre nerd that is still in me was so excited to be sitting here in the Theatre of Dionysis- where theatre began thousands of years ago. 

I just liked how the sun looked behind the ruins. Also, it took forever to walk up to see the Parthenon, so there was nothing else to do but take pictures. 

We visited a lot of ruins obviously. This is the Parthenon in Athens. This side you could actually see the columns and everything, on the other side, they were doing a lot of preservation so all we could see was was scaffolding and such. 

After Athens, we headed to the Islands for a few days. First, we went to Crete, but I don't have any pictures from there on my computer right now- I have to find them. Then we went to Santorini, where the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed. I had one goal for this trip- to ride a donkey like Alexis Bledel. 

The houses were so cool and pretty built into the side of the cliff of the caldera. 

I got my wish- we rode donkeys, twice!!

A view of the city from the bottom of the cliff. 

Santorini is famous for their beautiful sunsets. 

All the people came out and watched the sun go down. 

I have even more pictures to put up, but that is all I'm going to post for now. I will put the rest up on my Facebook page eventually. 

How many slaves do you own?

I have about 33 slaves around the world working for me.

33

Back at the beginning of January, I went with a whole bunch of college students from RDU to Passion conference in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a fantastic 4 days full of worship, teaching, and fellowship with friends (old and new). We worshipped the God of the universe with about 45,000 college students from all across America and from all around the world. And next year its going to be even bigger- next year there will be around 70,000!! If you are between 18 and 25, you should really consider coming next year! It was the best way to spend the last little bit of winter break. 

The point of me telling you about Passion is that while we were there, we not only learned and worshipped, we also responded and were challenged to "Do something now." The focus for Passion this year was ending human slavery. 

We were shown videos of former slaves from around the world- a woman who was a sex slave in Greece, a girl who was a domestic slave in the Middle East, and a man who was a slave on a rice farm in India. 

Around the world right now there are more than 27 million men, women, and children living in slavery. Everywhere from the cocoa fields in West Africa to the red-light district of Amsterdam to downtown Raleigh, people are living in slavery. 

More people are enslaved now then ever before. 

We think of slavery as a thing of the past. Isn't that what the civil war was over? (if you didn't learn history in the south at least). 

Slavery seems old and barbaric, something that would not be happening in a modern world. 

But it is. 

And it happens here. 

Its not just something that happens in the developing world, its happening here. In New York, in Los Angelos, in Durham. 

But we are not powerless. Together, those of us at Passion raised over $3 million to give to organizations around the world fighting human trafficking and slavery. 

So what can you do? What can I do now?

First, find out your slavery footprint.

Slaveryfootprint.org is a great website that explains better than I can the state of slavery in the world today. They will explain where you have slaves working for you and what you should do about it.

I calculated my footprint and I own 33 slaves around the world. In Latin America, Africa, Asia, and India.

Note- these are estimates of course. There is no real way to know exactly how many slaves are affected by you, but still, the point is that my shoes, jeans, and car were made by forced labor around the world. 

Its sad, but the truth of the matter is that it is just about impossible to live in this world and not buy things produced by slaves. Especially if you are living on a budget. 

The point is not to right now swear that you will never buy anything ever made by a slave again, you won't last. You will burn out. 

The point is to take action, any action. 

Choose one product that you don't want to buy anymore. I wrote this post last year about Hershey. I will admit that I have gotten slack in this regard and given in to the temptation for Reese's a few times. 

Slaveryfootprint.org makes it easy to make a difference. They have an app (that I already downloaded) that helps you know if a product is made by slaves and if it is allows you to e-mail the corporation and make your voice heard demanding the end of slavery. 

You can also go right now and sign this petition from the International Justice Mission for President Obama demanding action to bring about the end of slavery. 

As believers, we cannot ignore this problem around the world. The Bible is clear on God's stand about justice. God hates injustice. He hates slavery. Let's hate what He hates and love what He loves.

 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
   he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Isaiah 61:1

For I the LORD love justice;
   I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
   and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 

Isaiah 61:8

 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:41-46

Haven't I learned this before???

So it has seriously been a long time since I blogged! I really want to be better about posting and sharing my thoughts with you guys (because I know that you all are dying to hear my thoughts).

I'm going to try to be a lot better! And try to put up some pictures or something like that.

On the same note- I have yet to finish putting up pictures from the summer on my Facebook page. Clearly I am really bad at this stuff.

But to the point of this post. This year I have decided to do the For the Love of God reading plan with my friend Bemi. Each day we read 4 chapters from different books of the Bible. Right now, we are reading in Genesis, Nehemiah, Matthew and Acts. By the end of the year, we will have read through the Old Testament once and Psalms and the New Testament twice. They also give you a blog to follow that gives you some thoughts on the chapters that you read. And you know how much I love a good blog. All that to say- if you want a good plan to read through the Bible this year, you should join in! It's not too late. I have never read the Bible all the way through, so I am really excited to be reading the whole thing this year. Seriously, we are given the very word of the God of the universe, so how about we read it!?

The other day, I was reading in Matthew and I was struck by something. I was reading Matthew 14 where Jesus feeds (more than) 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish and there are 12 baskets of food left over. We all know this story, we have heard it over and over. The disciples doubted and didn't believe that Jesus would be able to feed everyone, but then He does and everyone is amazed and happy.

Then what happens?

In the very next chapter, Matthew 15, there are 4,000 people (again, more when counting women and children). Jesus calls the disciples and tells them that He wants to feed them. I wonder if He was testing their faith, seeing what they would say. If they would say, "Great idea, Jesus, you fed even more people last week, so I bet you could do it again." That's not how they responded. Again, they looked at him (probably like he was crazy) and asked where they could possibly get enough food to feed all those people.

Reading this, I just had to laugh and gape at the disciples. I'll be honest, I don't always have a lot of patience for the disciples. I often wonder how in the world it took them so long to understand and believe. I mean they had Jesus right there in front of them! They had seen him feed thousands, heal people, and walk on water, but they still doubted.

But as soon as I had that thought, I had one of those "ohh..." moments as I realized, I do that everyday.

I have had an extremely interesting (to say the least) past 2 weeks.

Moments where I doubted, questioned and just all around didn't believe God's promises and His faithfulness.

Moments just like the disciples. Jesus had already proven that he could care for people's needs, that he could feed thousands with a lunchable (as pastors like to say). But here I am doubting that he will be able to do it again.

I was left laughing at myself, laughing at the disciples and asking, "Haven't I learned this before?"

But isn't that the beauty?

I have already learned this. God has already proven himself faithful.

Jesus had already proven that he could feed the masses, but he was just as willing to show his power again.

Because he knows that sometimes we need reminders. Sometimes we have to learn things a few times before it finally sinks in.

I am endlessly thankful that we serve a God who is loving and patient. Who just like a loving parent, will graciously teach me the same lessons.

And I pray, that one day his lessons will sink in. I'm thinking that they will, because after all, the disciples didn't stay doubtful and forgetful. They became the pillars that the church was built on.

God is faithful. God is good. God is sovereign.