Eyes that see - Rim to Rim

What motivates you to action?  What motivates you to do something great and daring.  Something selfless and completely and totally out of the ordinary for someone else? 

Sometimes we need to do something amazing for our own spirit, and sometimes the need of someone else moves us to action.   I don't know which push you need, so I'm going to give you both.

With the evolution of the internet, the ends of the earth are at our finger tips.  We see stories of pain and heartache coming from countries we have only ever dreamed of.  Let's be honest, in any given hour if you watch TV, listen to the news, or browse the internet at any length, you will be given dozens of opportunities to give to amazing organizations doing incredible work around the globe.  I don't know about you, but with the magnitude of missions and organizations out there, I often feel so overwhelmed, that I start to tune them out.

You want real honesty?  I will confess to even hearing myself say, "OK, its another hungry kid, I get it."   

I feel helpless to help them all, so I don't help any.

 How are you to choose who gets your $50 or $100 bucks?  Or who gets your free time to volunteer and help out?   Habitat for Humanity?  The firemen that save our lives?  The vets out begging for food?  The orphans?  The abused animals?  The homeless?  The war victims in Africa?   Even writing this I feel overwhelmed with the needs of real people and don't know where to start.

If you have ever felt that way, I am writing this for you.  Right here and right now is your chance to do something.  To stop the cycle of impassivity.  We can't do nothing. Humanity calls us to do something.  

Eyes that See  is an organization that does work in Ethiopia.  They help release women from prostitution.  More than that, they create the safe place that is necessary and the counseling and leadership that is required to bring God's powerful healing to their lives.  They work towards healing and love for the body, soul and mind.  "Eyes that see" desires that these women would grow to understand their beauty and power that is theirs in Christ Jesus.  It is an amazing ministry that is doing incredible work.  Please check out their website to learn more about them.

The thing about this though is that at this moment, if you are still reading, this organization still doesn't have a face to it.   It's just another organization doing amazing work in some country around the world, and I'm just another blog telling you about it.

That is where my friend Steve Wiens comes in.   If you don't know who he is, I would highly recommend checking out his blog.  He is a man not just searching after God's heart, he is actively running towards it.  I know you will be blessed by his ministry if you take the time to read his blog or listen to his preaching.  

The really great thing about Steve is that he was inspired by Lynne Hybels blog, Maybe I can, can you.  Instead of just loving what Lynne was doing, or hoping that others would catch on and do great things, Steve stepped up.  Being the father of three small boys and a pastor at one of Mpls/St. Paul's biggest churches, he has excuses and reasons to say he is too busy.  Yet he didn't give in this time.  This time, he stepped out and is doing something insane.

Steve will be running the Grand Canyon on Sept. 15 from Rim to Rim.  (Which is right around the corner.)  He has worked his butt off to raise $50,000 to save 50 women out of a life of sexual slavery.   

50 freakin real life women. 

50 women with names. 

50 women who are daughters. 

50 women who are crying out for help, hoping to God someone hears them. 

What I love about what Steve is doing, is right out the gate he has invited people to join him on this journey.  He knows it takes all of us.  All of us who are waiting for that perfect thing to be called to support. 

Well people, here's your calling.  This is that perfect thing.  That organization with a name, a great story, and real women who need us. 

When I travel the country speaking I encourage my audience to open their eyes.  I tell them that "The need is the call".  If you see a need in front of you, then God is calling you to do something about it.  It's as simple as that.  That is God talking to you.  He is inviting you to bring heaven here on earth.  To ACTIVELY participate in creating more space for love while pushing the darkness out.

This is your chance. 

Steve is just under $9,000 away.  People from around the globe have given more than $41,000!  He is so close!   

41 women will be saved from sexual slavery. 

9 more need us. 

9 more. 

Those 9 women need to know that someone sees them.  That they are worth redeeming.  That they are worth love. 

Let's get Steve the rest of the way.  He is daring to do something great with you.  Join him.

Donate now.  

Please. 

9 women. 

9 names. 

9 daughters. 

Stop Traffick

I haven't written in a bit, and for me this is the perfect thing to come back with.  I couldn't think of a more urgent issue than to address this one.

There is a dear friend of mine who is a well known national speaker and founder of HappyFunTime Industries that is writing and directing a short film called "Stop Traffick".

Wes and his team of people are cut from some of the highest quality of work you can find.  His intelligence, his heart and his persistence for true interpretation is amazing to watch, because he balances it with humor, honesty and grace.  It is a pleasure to call him a colleague.

When I saw that they were doing this project, I grew so excited for the prospect of what it means for this issue.  For such a high quality product to be out there to draw attention to a very serious issue that I believe gets overlooked here in America.  When I told Wes I wanted to blog about it, he sent me this info.  Please, please, please check it out!

Did you know that over 100,000 

American

 children are trafficked for sex. Or that the average age is 13? Human trafficking is an assault on our youth. But the tide is turning. And Wes and his team of Hollywood filmmakers are taking this problem seriously.  

Here is what Wes has to say:

"We think the problem lies in ignorance. But we know that film is a powerful educator! 

We want to produce 'Stop Traffick,' 

a short film shot in Las Vegas, NV and Bakersfield, CA as it tells a startling story of trafficking... and HOPE... in America"

But this film, starring Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects, Midnight Clear) and Lauren Sweetser (Winter's Bone), can't be made without our help. 

The next 7 days of donations are critical to our mission of immediate intervention and education. Every hour and every dollar counts!

You can also learn more about Wes's partnerships with organizations that are on the front lines battling Human Trafficking. 

Your immediate donation matters

...it will fuel a film that will help combat Human Trafficking… a problem we know can be solved in our lifetime!

Keep fighting the good fight!

After watching the video, if you were effected at all,  PLEASE pass this blog along, re post it, tweet it, donate to it, blog about it, tell others.  We are talking about real lives here.  Lives trapped in slavery.  Lives that matter.  That is the key isn't it?  The issue of the value of someone else's life.  By donating even a small amount to this project, you give value to a young girls life.  You tell her she is worth it.  You tell her, that even if no one else see's her, you see her.  You gave to change her life.

Please, check out this project, and give any little bit you can.

Thank you Wes and your team of people for giving a voice to this.  For spending time and money away from your families to help in anyway possible bring a voice to these young women.  We want to partner with you and give hope where there is none.

Thank you.

Social, ethical, parental responsiblity

In times of crisis, I wish I had a medical degree.  I wish I had the freedom to pick up and go to where help is needed.  To comfort people in despair.  To organize volunteers.  To lift away debris and bring the hurting to help.

To work.

To help.

To love.

To be human.

But I can't.

There are people here in this house who desperately need me to survive.  They need me here, and so I can't be there.

When tragedy strikes, and I hate to admit that most of the time it is news on main stream media that I hear due to my lack of media watching and listening, I can't seem to tear myself away.

Today was no different.

We don't turn the TV on, because seeing the images of blood streaking the Boston streets would only serve to put fear and anger in my children.  And so I listened to the radio in the kitchen while I cooked.  Even when it felt like too much, I had a sense that if I turned the radio off, I would be turning my blind eye or deaf ear to the situation.  It felt wrong to leave the tragedy, when so many others couldn't.

And yet, you have to.  Not forget I mean, but take a breather.  Let it sink in.  Allow the gravity of the situation to have it's rightful place.

In these moments I often wonder what my role is.

Where is my responsibility in this?

I think about my children sleeping in their beds right now.  I think about how impressionable they are.  I wonder on what their futures hold.  What battles they will have to fight as young men and women.

I really hate to admit that I have lived a long time in "retreat" mentality.  Pull away, live off the grid, stop all the media from being in my house, go simple, don't invest, it's too much out there, so I'll just live small in our own little world.

But really, all that means is that I escape all responsibility and I hide from being apart of the solution.  What my greatest sin with that way of living, is teaching my children to do the same. When I don't engage, they will never know how.

As parents it is critical that we understand the importance of what our job is.  If you have small children living in your home, then you understand the absolute power you have in your words and actions in shaping the minds and hearts of the young people who look up to you.  The way we engage, or ignore problems.  The words we use to describe hate crimes and those who hurt.  The way we talk about different cultures and religions.  Our words will directly shape the way our children see the world and the people in it.

Humans history is filled with wars and killings based on greed, power, selfishness  and sickness. It won't ever go away.  So how do we deal with that?

The only power I have right now, today in my circumstance is to raise up children who will desire to be apart of the solution, not the problem.  To be helpers.  To be supporters.  To be advocates.

To give my children a language to communicate their thoughts and feelings, so that talking through problems is the first solution.  To teach the power of communication, understanding, forgiveness, and compromise.

To install in my children a longing for justice and a heart for the wounded and hurt.

To equip them with the tools necessary to find solutions to problems.

To in every way possible, give them an acceptance of all people, without judgement so that they can see the man behind the culture, the religion, the uniform.

To talk about the scary things that happen in a space where it allows your children to voice their questions and concerns and worries and wonderings. 

To give them your thoughtful observations and passion against evil.

Today felt overwhelming.  The obvious tragedy brings with it a sense of hopelessness.  After the hopelessness came the urgency in the awareness of the responsibility of raising my children.

Raising them to not run from the fight, but equipping them to be prepared for it.

In my opinion, Jesus hasn't shown up yet, so I would rather we were a family who actively cared about the solution, instead of pretending that all the problems don't exist.

We have a responsibility as parents.  Our children are what we are giving to the world, to the next generation.  They will inherit all of our mistakes and all that is wrong and right with our world.  I will say it again, my greatest mistake will be not preparing them for that.

How does one move past the fear?

This morning I woke up to the sound of my son coming in to my room, hugging me and saying, "I am so glad you are alive mama.  I am so glad you are alive!"

I looked at him and said, "Oh honey, of course I am alive.  Is everything OK?"

That's when Big told me that last night they woke up to gun shots ringing in the front yard.  They ran out to get Paul, thinking we were being attacked.  Paul had already flipped the light switches off and was ducking down to see a group of teenagers breaking off in pairs from our front yard after shooting a couple rounds off into black sky.  They clung to their dad hoping he could make it better.  After calling the police, he tucked the kids back into bed and sang over them.

This morning, their fear for me and for them was all they could talk about.  I was writing at the coffee shop like I do every Tuesday night.  I wasn't home, and so in their young minds, I was at risk out there with the bad guys.  They were out there and I was out there, not safely at home.

As each of my kids came into my room this morning, all hugging me tight, thankful for my safety, my heart physically hurt for how to help them navigate through this.  I wasn't sure how to do that.

I can't give them promises that I will always be there for them.  Because I won't.

I can't tell them that nothing bad will happen to me.  Because I don't know.

So what can I give them?

First off, this is not a story of living in the hood.  This story isn't shared to get you to feel bad for us.  It's not a  story to gain attention or have some weird twisted story to brag about.  This story speaks to what we do with the fear our children have.  All kids have a fear of something.  Fear of fitting in.  Fear of being embarrased.  Fear of talking to strangers.  Fear their parents will split up.  Fear there is something wrong with them.  So the question then is, what do you do with that fear?

Second, as parents, I think it is very tempting to use our status in our children's lives to turn into the ultimate power.  If you have a wound, I will make it better.  If someone hurt you, I will go take care of it.  If you have a need, I will fill it.  It is nice to be needed and have someone rely on you.  To be the hero.  The one who saves the day.

But in the end, what good does it do to have our children put all of their trust in us?  In a human being who will fall short, mess up and disappoint them?

Paul and I have as much as possible, whenever possible, try to point our children to the one who will not fail them.  To the one who will ultimately heal and help them.  It is our goal as parents to teach our kids to reach out to God in times of trouble, pain and joy.  This is not without trying our hardest to be there for our children, to help whenever it is right.  But we can't desire to be their ultimate power in life.

So each morning, we try, at breakfast to institute, "Feed your body, feed your soul."  This is a time where we read a few verses in the morning to make sure that the word of God is in our children's hearts.  Lately, we have been reading through the proverbs.  But this morning I knew it was different and we would need a different kind of comfort and healing.  So we read Romans 8:31+

"What then shall we say in response to this?   If God is for us, who can be against us?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In reading this, it also brought to mind the verse that says, "perfect love drives out fear" which I think is 1 John.

God's love can drive out our fear and demons and insecurities.

I wanted my kids to walk away not living in fear.  Not overcome with worry about who might get shot and killed in our yard.  We are still trying to convince them that we won't die every time a thunderstorm hits in the middle of the night.  Two years later, Big and Little will still crawl into our bed trembling that we will die when the thunder hits waking them up in the darkness of night.

It is my belief that fear, left in our heart will create a foothold for Satan to tear us down and keep us from thriving in life.  When a small amount fear or doubt is left in your heart, the only thing it has the power to do is grow.  It gains strength every time we experience something that reminds us of that fear.  Then eventually, it will keep us fearful and unable to take chances, to trust, and to love.

So in this round about way, as parents, and just as people ourselves, the way to not live in fear is to cling to the one who has the power enough to love us out of the fearful place.  To admit that fear.  Surrender it.  Lay it down.  Give it over.  Try to learn to trust a little bit more every day.

This morning we prayed after reading scripture together.  We prayed that we could rest in God's love.  We prayed that Satan wouldn't have a hold on our hearts in the fear we have about how scary the guns were.  We prayed that God could create trust in our hearts.  We prayed that his words we read would strengthen our faith and allow us live in HOPE that God, no matter what, will work all things to his glory.

We don't know what that means exactly.  We don't really know what that looks like.  I do know though that I could tell a difference in their smiles this morning.  I am hoping that teaching them to give over their fear and worry and weakness, that they will start to cling on their own to a relationship with Christ.

He is much better savior than me.

And in the end, I have lived most of my life in fear.  I would like to find a way to help my children live in love and courage by showing them how to surrender over the fear.