I'm packing right now, so travel products are on my mind. But, it did occur to me to share my favorite bag for packing donations/supplies for mission trips in case it helps anyone else.
It's this duffel:
The bag is awesome because it holds a ton, but then collapses really flat and small for transporting back home once you've dropped off the donations!
It's a tough bag. We bought two in the large size and they have seen us to Ethiopia twice and the Dominican Republic once on mission trips. And I loaned them to my friend who traveled to Ghana for an adoption and still the bags look new!
And now back to packing . . .
Showing posts with label change the world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change the world. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Monday, March 3, 2014
Which crayon color is skin color?
Do you know how there is the saying that "The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know"? Well, that's exactly how I've grown to feel about skin color and racial issues.
I have so much to say and yet nothing to say.
Are you confused yet? Good, me, too.
I have learned so much being a white mama to my black daughter these past 2 years. I have gotten to know some black people on a deeper level than ever before. I've learned things about myself and about the world that I never expected. What I've learned makes me realize how much I did not know before, how much you cannot know until you live it. Most of it makes me simultaneously hopeful and sad.
But, as a mother to white-skinned children and a brown-skinned child (some of them wanted me to do their toenails tonight -- one set of those feet may or may not be a boy's but he's sandwiched between 2 sisters age-wise, bless him, and he did wisely choose "clear" as his color! So much easier than his high-maintenance sisters who want a different color on each toe!), I will continue leaning into these hard and sometimes uncomfortable issues.
But sometimes the veil lifts and there is no hard, just beauty and a picture of God's kingdom. Like this past Sunday morning when I sat at a kid-sized table in my church with the 4&5 year olds I teach Sunday School to. We were coloring a picture of Jesus and the official from John chapter 4 and the kids got in a conversation about which color crayon to use for the skin color. Only what made me smile bigger than Texas was at the table with me was an Asian child, 2 black children and 2 white children all bantering on about skin color. It was precious! Of course I couldn't resist a bit of coaching, Me: "Is one skin color better than another?" Them: "No!" Me: "Do you know if someone is nice or mean just by the color of their skin?" Them: "No!"
Revelation 7:9-10, "I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"
For now, me? I have nothing articulate to say, but THIS GIRL? Lupita Nyong'o says it beautifully! Love her!! Click here to watch her speech about beauty!
I have so much to say and yet nothing to say.
Are you confused yet? Good, me, too.
I have learned so much being a white mama to my black daughter these past 2 years. I have gotten to know some black people on a deeper level than ever before. I've learned things about myself and about the world that I never expected. What I've learned makes me realize how much I did not know before, how much you cannot know until you live it. Most of it makes me simultaneously hopeful and sad.
But, as a mother to white-skinned children and a brown-skinned child (some of them wanted me to do their toenails tonight -- one set of those feet may or may not be a boy's but he's sandwiched between 2 sisters age-wise, bless him, and he did wisely choose "clear" as his color! So much easier than his high-maintenance sisters who want a different color on each toe!), I will continue leaning into these hard and sometimes uncomfortable issues.
But sometimes the veil lifts and there is no hard, just beauty and a picture of God's kingdom. Like this past Sunday morning when I sat at a kid-sized table in my church with the 4&5 year olds I teach Sunday School to. We were coloring a picture of Jesus and the official from John chapter 4 and the kids got in a conversation about which color crayon to use for the skin color. Only what made me smile bigger than Texas was at the table with me was an Asian child, 2 black children and 2 white children all bantering on about skin color. It was precious! Of course I couldn't resist a bit of coaching, Me: "Is one skin color better than another?" Them: "No!" Me: "Do you know if someone is nice or mean just by the color of their skin?" Them: "No!"
Revelation 7:9-10, "I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"
For now, me? I have nothing articulate to say, but THIS GIRL? Lupita Nyong'o says it beautifully! Love her!! Click here to watch her speech about beauty!
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
A Third World Drug Store
Last week I had an issue with our local Walgreens. Something with some medicine I needed refilled for one of my children and a hassle getting the drug store to fill it. There were a few different phone calls, too many minutes spent on hold, red tape with insurance, and a frustrating conversation with a pharmacist where they made me feel like I was doing something wrong when all I was doing was following the doctor's orders. And it, of course, came right smack dab in the midst of a day with many other unrelated headaches, because that's just how life is sometimes, right?
But, once my pity party lifted, I was convicted afresh.
What in the world was I complaining about?!!
A minor hassle. Obviously I've spent way too much time in a 1st world country! Now for a little perspective on how some of the rest of the world attempts to get needed medicine.
Here is the "Zee Drug Store" I took a picture of while in Ethiopia a couple years ago:
It's OUTSIDE, with bags of who-knows-what to be rummaged through!
May I in America never get so busy with my complaining that I forget my blessings!
But, once my pity party lifted, I was convicted afresh.
What in the world was I complaining about?!!
A minor hassle. Obviously I've spent way too much time in a 1st world country! Now for a little perspective on how some of the rest of the world attempts to get needed medicine.
Here is the "Zee Drug Store" I took a picture of while in Ethiopia a couple years ago:
It's OUTSIDE, with bags of who-knows-what to be rummaged through!
May I in America never get so busy with my complaining that I forget my blessings!
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Life Lessons I Learned at the Black Hair Salon
I haven't written about the Trayon Martin case on this blog because I didn't want to be part of the controversy. I don't know what happened the night he died, who was the aggressor. Really it's hard to know the facts in news stories any more with even the press being dishonest. All I know is that it makes me sad.
And while I'm not sure how much race played into that particular case, I do know that the race relations debate that resulted bears some truth and though many conversations were offensive, many were also good.
As a white mama to a black child, I know that we have come such a long way as a nation in the 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech! But I also keenly know that we are not there yet. In this country people are often still judged by the color of their skin.
Before becoming an adoptive parent to my Ethiopian child, I was naively colorblind. "Skin color does not matter," I probably would have told you. Now I know that while that is a good dream, it is not reality. And I cannot be a good mother to my black child if I do not acknowledge that she is and will be sometimes judged by her skin color. That her experiences when she goes somewhere with her white family members may be different than when she goes places by herself.
President Obama said he could have been Trayvon Martin 35 years ago. While I could not have been Trayvon Martin, I do feel like I could have been his mother.
I hurt with his mom that he is gone. I hurt for the friends I have who have black sons and sat them down after hearing news of Trayvon's death and instructed them to "Never run through a neighborhood!" I hurt for my own 4 year old Little Girl and fear the day she is old enough to understand and feel the sting of discrimination.
I recently switched Little Girl to a dance studio that has many black little girls in the classes. At our previous dance studio my daughter was the only black child in her class, one of the few in the whole studio. I found this other studio which is actually closer to our house and am excited for Little Girl to have a place to go where she is not in the minority but where many of the little girls look like she does. I am also happy that the owner and founder of the studio is a black woman and a mother of three and can serve as a woman my little girl can look up to. And in another good reversal, my white daughter will also be taking dance at this studio, yet she will be in the minority!
While not always comfortable, embracing some of the differences of my black daughter, rather than ignoring them or pretending they are not there, has been a growth experience for our entire family. So much so that my 6 year old recently lamented that he, "wished his skin was not white because you have to worry about sunburns!"
Then there was the time recently when I took Little Girl to get a hair cut. I shake my head looking back now on how nervous I was taking my youngest daughter to a black hair salon for the first time. I knew with my Casper-the-Friendly-Ghost white skin I'd stick out like a sore thumb. I worried that the ladies there would be condescending to me about Little Girl's hair, tell me I'd been doing everything wrong. I worried they'd feel sorry for her for having a white mama.
I couldn't have been more wrong! I parked in front and immediately noticed the Trayvon Martin sign and the first thought that popped into my head was "These are my people!" because the whole case with Trayvon Martin hurt my heart, too. And some of my nerves began to calm. I did still pray for Jesus to be near as I grabbed little girl's hand and walked in.
I was the only white person in the shop for the entire hour we were there but everyone could not have been nicer to me or to Little Girl! The hairstylist we got is also the shop owner and she even commented on how healthy Little Girl's hair felt (which I totally took as a pat on the back for how I've cared for it rather than a condemnation of my care which I feared).
Little Girl really loved getting her hair washed in the special sink!
THEN the stylist and I began to talk about adoption and she told me she'd like to adopt. She then proceeded to share with me about losing her only child, a son, as a young infant due to a genetic disorder several years ago. My heart broke for her and we visited as two mothers, two women, about blessings and pain and life and hope. By the time I left we were friends.
I re-learned a life lesson that day in that black hair salon. In all my worry that I'd be too different, too much of an outsider in that setting, I forgot something so key. The ways we are the same are the things that really matter.
Celebrate the differences, but focus on where we are the same, that stuff is far more important.
And while I'm not sure how much race played into that particular case, I do know that the race relations debate that resulted bears some truth and though many conversations were offensive, many were also good.
As a white mama to a black child, I know that we have come such a long way as a nation in the 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech! But I also keenly know that we are not there yet. In this country people are often still judged by the color of their skin.
Before becoming an adoptive parent to my Ethiopian child, I was naively colorblind. "Skin color does not matter," I probably would have told you. Now I know that while that is a good dream, it is not reality. And I cannot be a good mother to my black child if I do not acknowledge that she is and will be sometimes judged by her skin color. That her experiences when she goes somewhere with her white family members may be different than when she goes places by herself.
President Obama said he could have been Trayvon Martin 35 years ago. While I could not have been Trayvon Martin, I do feel like I could have been his mother.
I hurt with his mom that he is gone. I hurt for the friends I have who have black sons and sat them down after hearing news of Trayvon's death and instructed them to "Never run through a neighborhood!" I hurt for my own 4 year old Little Girl and fear the day she is old enough to understand and feel the sting of discrimination.
I recently switched Little Girl to a dance studio that has many black little girls in the classes. At our previous dance studio my daughter was the only black child in her class, one of the few in the whole studio. I found this other studio which is actually closer to our house and am excited for Little Girl to have a place to go where she is not in the minority but where many of the little girls look like she does. I am also happy that the owner and founder of the studio is a black woman and a mother of three and can serve as a woman my little girl can look up to. And in another good reversal, my white daughter will also be taking dance at this studio, yet she will be in the minority!
While not always comfortable, embracing some of the differences of my black daughter, rather than ignoring them or pretending they are not there, has been a growth experience for our entire family. So much so that my 6 year old recently lamented that he, "wished his skin was not white because you have to worry about sunburns!"
Then there was the time recently when I took Little Girl to get a hair cut. I shake my head looking back now on how nervous I was taking my youngest daughter to a black hair salon for the first time. I knew with my Casper-the-Friendly-Ghost white skin I'd stick out like a sore thumb. I worried that the ladies there would be condescending to me about Little Girl's hair, tell me I'd been doing everything wrong. I worried they'd feel sorry for her for having a white mama.
I couldn't have been more wrong! I parked in front and immediately noticed the Trayvon Martin sign and the first thought that popped into my head was "These are my people!" because the whole case with Trayvon Martin hurt my heart, too. And some of my nerves began to calm. I did still pray for Jesus to be near as I grabbed little girl's hand and walked in.
I was the only white person in the shop for the entire hour we were there but everyone could not have been nicer to me or to Little Girl! The hairstylist we got is also the shop owner and she even commented on how healthy Little Girl's hair felt (which I totally took as a pat on the back for how I've cared for it rather than a condemnation of my care which I feared).
Little Girl really loved getting her hair washed in the special sink!
THEN the stylist and I began to talk about adoption and she told me she'd like to adopt. She then proceeded to share with me about losing her only child, a son, as a young infant due to a genetic disorder several years ago. My heart broke for her and we visited as two mothers, two women, about blessings and pain and life and hope. By the time I left we were friends.
I re-learned a life lesson that day in that black hair salon. In all my worry that I'd be too different, too much of an outsider in that setting, I forgot something so key. The ways we are the same are the things that really matter.
Celebrate the differences, but focus on where we are the same, that stuff is far more important.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
If you could choose . . .
Exactly two years ago we went here:
To Alaska. On a cruise trip that was gifted to us by my dad and his wife, they had always wanted to go on a cruise with their children and grandchildren. Alaska was beautiful, a trip of a lifetime and we were grateful for the experience.
Then one month later we went here:
The slums of Ethiopia.
And now, recently when my 10 year filled out an "About My Mom" card at school that he gave me on Mother's Day, there was a question, "If my mom could take a trip anywhere in the world, she'd go to _________________." My son accurately said, "Ethiopia".
And it's true. Ethiopia captured our hearts.
Because of beauty like this:
and this:
Beautiful people with amazing joy in their hearts despite often horrific situations.
The poverty, the sickness, the orphans. The problems of Ethiopia are huge. But so is the hope.
Their lives can be changed for the better. And you can be part of the solution!
Sponsor a child and give them not only tangible care in the form of food, clean water and education, but hope.
An opportunity to change the world for $34 a month? That works for me!
Just like I'd trade an Alaskan cruise for a trip to the slums and orphanages of Ethiopia, trading a bit of luxury in your own life to ensure life for another person, for a child, is a choice you will never regret!
Use this link to sponsor a child in Ethiopia.
Find more Works for Me Wednesday here and Wordful Wednesday here and Wordless Wednesday here.
To Alaska. On a cruise trip that was gifted to us by my dad and his wife, they had always wanted to go on a cruise with their children and grandchildren. Alaska was beautiful, a trip of a lifetime and we were grateful for the experience.
Then one month later we went here:
The slums of Ethiopia.
And now, recently when my 10 year filled out an "About My Mom" card at school that he gave me on Mother's Day, there was a question, "If my mom could take a trip anywhere in the world, she'd go to _________________." My son accurately said, "Ethiopia".
And it's true. Ethiopia captured our hearts.
Because of beauty like this:
and this:
Beautiful people with amazing joy in their hearts despite often horrific situations.
The poverty, the sickness, the orphans. The problems of Ethiopia are huge. But so is the hope.
Their lives can be changed for the better. And you can be part of the solution!
Sponsor a child and give them not only tangible care in the form of food, clean water and education, but hope.
An opportunity to change the world for $34 a month? That works for me!
Just like I'd trade an Alaskan cruise for a trip to the slums and orphanages of Ethiopia, trading a bit of luxury in your own life to ensure life for another person, for a child, is a choice you will never regret!
Use this link to sponsor a child in Ethiopia.
Find more Works for Me Wednesday here and Wordful Wednesday here and Wordless Wednesday here.
Monday, July 1, 2013
You could change the world this summer!
When people talk about changing the world, do you immediately think -- too hard or not something I can do?
Check out this article from Christianity Today about the significant positive life outcomes for sponsored children.
We have sponsored children for a few years and even got to meet our boy Mathews in Ethiopia two years ago, and I can tell you the experience has definitely changed our lives for the better!
And the cost? So small. It costs more for my family of 6 to eat out at a basic restaurant one meal than it does to sponsor a child. So my family of 6 decides to skip the restaurant one time during the month and instead we eat left-overs at home as a result a child living in poverty gets not only enough food for a MONTH, but clean water, access to basic medical care, education and the best thing -- discipleship!
Are you in?
There are several great organizations doing child sponsorship and doing it well. We actually participate in 4 different child sponsorship programs as God has led us to sponsor additional children.
There is a particular region of the world and a particular organization we have thrown part of our hearts into, though. I'm going to post more on this tomorrow, but if you're looking for a child to sponsor now, today (and really, there is no better time to start!) then go here find a child that has "Unsponsored" under their precious picture and change the world for that child.
Did you go? Did you click the link? When I see their faces it sucks my breath away. I feel like I'm looking into the eyes of my own children and it hurts. Children should not go hungry! Just should not happen! And 1 in 8 children in Ethiopia die before their 5th birthday. Can we all stand up and change that statistic?
You can change the world.
And after you do, keep it to yourself or come back and leave a comment letting me know, I'd rejoice over the news!
Check out this article from Christianity Today about the significant positive life outcomes for sponsored children.
We have sponsored children for a few years and even got to meet our boy Mathews in Ethiopia two years ago, and I can tell you the experience has definitely changed our lives for the better!
And the cost? So small. It costs more for my family of 6 to eat out at a basic restaurant one meal than it does to sponsor a child. So my family of 6 decides to skip the restaurant one time during the month and instead we eat left-overs at home as a result a child living in poverty gets not only enough food for a MONTH, but clean water, access to basic medical care, education and the best thing -- discipleship!
Are you in?
There are several great organizations doing child sponsorship and doing it well. We actually participate in 4 different child sponsorship programs as God has led us to sponsor additional children.
There is a particular region of the world and a particular organization we have thrown part of our hearts into, though. I'm going to post more on this tomorrow, but if you're looking for a child to sponsor now, today (and really, there is no better time to start!) then go here find a child that has "Unsponsored" under their precious picture and change the world for that child.
Did you go? Did you click the link? When I see their faces it sucks my breath away. I feel like I'm looking into the eyes of my own children and it hurts. Children should not go hungry! Just should not happen! And 1 in 8 children in Ethiopia die before their 5th birthday. Can we all stand up and change that statistic?
You can change the world.
And after you do, keep it to yourself or come back and leave a comment letting me know, I'd rejoice over the news!
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