little piece of hope

Yesterday I lost this:

I didn't realize it was missing until late afternoon. I had trouble putting it on in the morning because I had just lathered my hands with lotion. But I gave it a good tug to make sure it was on properly before leaving the house. Apparently, it was not on properly.

I kept my eyes open the last couple hours at work, checking the dimly lit hallway on my way to the printer, the path between the printer and the ladies rest room, my own office. Nothing. It wasn't in my car when I left to go home. Nor was it in the parking lot. It was gone.

Or was it?

Today, when I left my office I walked out in the empty parking lot to my car. Unlocked the doors and threw my stuff in the backseat. Opened the front door to slide in and there, laying on the pavement right next to my door, was the necklace. Laying there as though someone knew I was coming and had placed it there for me.

I know what probably happened is that it somehow got stuck between the door and the seat and I didn't see it in the five or six times I had been in and out of the car since I put it on yesterday. When I left for lunch today I probably kicked it and it fell out onto the ground.

But I much prefer that magical reappearance. Someone knew I needed a little piece of hope this week. That necklace wasn't anything extraordinarily special, and I would have been fine going on with my life without. But it's been a hard week. A hard month. And finding that little sparkly piece of jewelry after I thought it was long gone was like a reminder that good things happen, even when we least expect them.

~ Psalm 52:9~

I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.

Wicked

This week I went to see Wicked and it was fabulous! I knew it would be the tale of Glinda and The Wicked Witch of the West (made by famous by The Wizard of Oz) and what happened before Dorothy and Toto showed up. But I was unprepared for a story that made the audience partial to the supposed "bad guy."

She really wasn't so bad after all.

oh brother

faith on film

I came across this in World Magazine this week: A feature article on a New York photographer who has created a project of photos of people worshipping God. Check out the article here.

I googled the photographer and found her website here.

"Lifted Up in New York City." That's the title of the project. There's a really beautiful slideshow of the images: folks of all different ages, races, genders in various forms and stages of worship. Very powerful stuff.

smart fridge

Check this out: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/internet_fridges.php

It never ceases to amaze me what we can come up with in our modern world. While the prospect of a computerized refrigerator is actually a little creepy, I am in favor of the idea of the fridge being able to tell me when something has been in there too long and should be removed. That is one surprise I would be more than happy to forgo!

things I learned last week

1) Replacing the fuel pump is more costly than replacing the alternator.

2) Sometimes, I have a really hard time asking for too much help.

3) Finding parking in Del Mar on a beautiful Saturday is close to impossible.

4) Dog beaches are really awesome.

5) Kidney (as in steak-and-kidney-pie kidney) is NOT delicious.

6) Microsoft Office 2007 is a problem-child.

7) My drying rack expands to hold more clothing at one time.

8) Ulta sells toothbrushes.

9) Lemon juice tastes good on just about everything.

seeking justice

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

Four summers ago I did a journalism internship with Reign Ministries. One of my tasks was creating and sending the weekly newsletter of updates from our short-term mission teams serving all over the world. One of our teams went to Nepal and spent a whole day in an orphanage that rescues children and young women from Nepal's rampant sex slave trade.

While reading and editing the team's mission update I realized this was an injustice that I felt very strongly about. I thought to myself, "This is what I would do if I found myself with a lot of money all of sudden. Open a home somewhere in the world where women are forced into prostitution because there is nothing better for them."

Unfortunately, I have never found myself with a large sum of unexpected money. But there are other ways we can help people across the world who are entangled in this demoralizing industry.

My good friend from high school, Ann, works for an Orange County-based organization called The International Princess Project. This organization helps restore the lives of women formerly enslaved in prostitution in India. To do so, they teach them to sew pajamas called PUNJAMMIES™, which are sold online. The proceeds go back to the women to pay for holistic aftercare after they are rescued, give them a fair trade wage, and build a saving's account for them so they can rebuild their lives after they go through aftercare.

In India, millions of women and girls work as prostitutes. Many have been trafficked, kidnapped, lured with promises of jobs, or sold by their own families into sexual slavery. Some as young as six years old have become sex workers (the actual term used in India) due to poverty or lack of opportunities. Within the huge, cosmopolitan city of Mumbai, lies the largest red-light district in the world, which is home to a myriad of injustice, abuse, and horrors.

One million children are trafficked into the sex trade each year, taken from their families and forced to work as prostitutes. In Mumbai alone, ninety cases of HIV are reported every hour. Once in the sex trade, women and girls may be forced to have intercourse with up to twenty clients per day.

You can help bring hope to women who have been rescued or escaped from forced prostitution and human trafficking! By purchasing pajamas these women have made, you help empower them to restore their lives. While living in a safe, holistic recovery home, the women learn to sew PUNJAMMIES™. PUNJAMMIES™ help the women support themselves with skill and dignity, heal in body and spirit, and live lives of freedom.

If everyone takes a small piece of responsibility in the fight against human trafficking and forced prostitution, we can overcome the dark reality these women have lived and prevent others from experiencing the same. Please purchase PUNJAMMIES™ online at www.punjammies.com. Every sale contributes to restoring hope and dignity to another life.