Time Out Part 2~

Hopefully you've had a chance to look into yesterday's post.  Very sobering stuff, huh?  But a great opportunity to do something global!

Today I want to talk about something more local~ The Give-A-Shirt Project!  This amazing project was started when a local youth group was given a challenge to think of one thing they could do to better the community around them.  Listen to what one girl, Whitney, came up with:

Can you imagine being an intelligent, yet homeless, teenager who is too humiliated to continue school simply because you have no clothing?  What a waste of potential!  I want to do my part to set these kids up for success!  And working for the school district, I see it everyday!

Give A Shirt t-shirts are a mere $15... How reasonable is that?  And 2/3 of that purchase goes to buy clothing for people right here in our community!  And the idea is spreading nationally.  Congratulations to this teenager who thought big and is giving big!

Wanna help?  There are 3 ways to get your Give A Shirt gear:
1) Online at http://igiveashirt.org/
2) Pick one up at Felicity Boutique
3) Pop on over to Salem Alliance Church (if you live in the Salem,Oregon area) where the whole project originated.

Buy one for yourself and buy one for a friend or three...  This has been impacting our community in a very large way, and I heart that!

Time Out~

I'd like to take just a little time out to draw your attention to a couple of causes that are dear to me.  Now, there are 612,942 different causes I'd like to be a part of and I wish I had unlimited resources to do so... If only my pocketbook were as big as my heart...

But these are 2 special ones that I take part in and you can be too!  I sincerely hope you will take the time to investigate both.  And the call to action for both causes are so simple!  Today I'd like to talk about the Kony 2012 campaign...  After than sinks in a bit, tomorrow I'd like to tell you about the Give A Shirt project!

About 6 years ago, I was made aware of an organization called Invisible Children. My heart was wrenched by the stories of child soldiers, mutilation and brutality.  I've bought t-shirts and bracelets to help support the movement, but still felt like I was just a small drop in the bucket...  But now, today, I am seeing that it's a bucket that is about to overflow and we are so close to solving a very BIG problem!

 By now you may have heard of Invisible Children, The LRA, and or Joseph Kony.  If so, FANTASTIC!  If not, then I would not be doing my job if I did not make you aware of the nightmare that is taking place in Uganda.

Rather than try to articulate what's taking place, which I know I cannot do, I am posting this video.  I hope you will take the time to watch it!  If this were taking place in America, it would be on the cover of every major news source and it would be put to a stop immediately!  Yet, somehow, this has been going on for years and many people still don't know about this horrible tragedy.

The good news is, we can spread the awareness, and the powers that be are listening!  I am planning on taking part in plastering the town on the night of April 20th.  Won't you join me?

Welcome Home~

I'm not gonna lie.  This week was kind of a hard one for me.  You see, I have a great house.  It's definitely on the small side, but I have given it lots of the special touches a home should have and it provides us with everything we need.  I like it here!

Not interested in having real birds, but I love my cages!

My 12 year old daughter has expanded her social base since starting middle school and I love that she is making friends!  Here's what I struggled with this week~ A lot of these friends come from the land of landscapers, granite and hardwood...  We come from the land of vinyl, carpet (with throw rugs to cover stains...) and we do all our own yard work here.

You may not be able to see it, but yes, I have a piece of leopard print duct tape covering a tear in the couch.  It matches the leopard print accents around the room.  I call it "White Trash Chic".

I wrestle with feelings of self-consciousness rather than focusing on ministering to our company with hospitality... I'm too busy batting at that cobweb in the corner I didn't notice before they got here... I'll bet Suzie's mom never has cobwebs!  Or the fact that Suzie's bedroom is probably the size of my living room... I hope she doesn't strain her eyes trying to watch the movie on our 27 inch TV!  It is a constant battlefield of the mind to not let the enemy get full control over my stinkin' thinkin'.  Am I alone here?

When I get into this ridiculous mind game that I sometimes play with myself, I find I turn into a Martha and lose all the Mary moments that are being presented.
Who Cares?!  My home is lovely, regardless of size and building materials!  It's not the stuff, it's the people!  It's the pizza and games every Friday night that make the memories.  It's the snuggles in the hammock on the back porch that matter.  It's the deep and hard to answer questions that get discussed at the kitchen table.   It's providing a safe, non-threatening environment for anyone who enters... Whether I've vacuumed or not.
I know an amazing P31 woman who lives in a home that looks like it belongs on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.  I know an amazing P31 woman who has lived in a home on wheels.  I can tell you that what makes them so amazing~ how they've impacted my life as well as many others~ is not their homes, but how they make me feel in them.
Lord help me to remember that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing... And that is You and what You've called me to be right here in my own portion in life.
"...be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"

LIFE IS JUST A BOWL OF CHERRIES~

I have this crazy life long goal to become as close to a "Proverbs 31" woman as I possibly can before I leave this earth.  I've read articles, books, found amazing websites and have journeyed through numerous bible studies and devotionals that have impacted and inspired me greatly!
It seems, though, that I whenever I am feeling extremely confident about where I'm headed, I find someone out there who is "P31-ing" sooooo much better than I am... and then I deflate...  Which just goes to show that I was "puffed up" to begin with...
It's really not about keeping up with other women who seem to "have it together".  Being a P31 is not a competition between us women! Pa-shaw!  Where'd that idea come from?  (Well, I have some ideas about that...)  And who says each P31 model should look the same?  No, I think I finally have discovered, that each  P31 is unique.  Fashioned, by God, specifically to fulfill a role in the unique lives, the unique dynamic, that surround her.  The single mom, the mom of a blended family, the woman who is taking care of elderly parents living in her home, the wife of a politician, the housewife/SAHM... There is nooooo way these women can have the same P31 blueprint!
BUT!  We are all called to the same guidelines.  Same guidelines, different finished product.  We are all called to be the heart of our home.  We are all called to bring our husbands (if we are married) good and not harm.  We are all called to protect our finances, bring beauty to our environment and work hard.  "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."  (Proverbs 31:25NIV)
So, as I am on this journey to figure out how to be the best P31 woman I can be, given the life God has chosen for me and entrusted me with, I hope that you will join me!  I want to encourage and uplift you.  I want to pass on all the little nuggets I have learned and will learn as I reach to attain my goal of becoming a P31 woman.  And I want to hear from you! How are you growing?  How are you learning?  What isn't working? (Lord knows, I have plenty of those stories to share as well!!)
I'm looking forward to this!