“Processing
and planning: these two activities
occupy
the majority of your thought life. We spend so much
time
processing and planning that we forget that we are
supposed
to be living. The only time we actually think
about
the present is when we are complaining about it,
and
complaining about the present once more pushes us
back
to the memory of better days gone by, or forward to
the
anticipation of better days to come.
What
we fail to recognize is that the two vehicles
which
enable our time travels are called shame and
fear.
Shame takes us into the past where we continue to
relive
things gone by, and fear takes us into the future
where
we continue to pre-live things to come. We long
to
be clairvoyant historians who have mastered both the
past
and future, and we spend our lives in pursuit of this
goal
because we think that if we could just work through
the
stuff of our past and fully prepare ourselves for the
happenings
of our future, we could secure our happiness
once
and for all time. But this is a myth! Happiness is not
found
in the past or future; happiness is only found in the
present.
Until we learn how to be present, we will never
learn
how to be happy. And until we gain the authority to
quiet
our minds, to hold them still long enough to drink
in
the present, we will never discover the central reality
that
pervades our lives from beginning to end: God is
with us,
and he is with us now!”
~A quote
from Pastor Benjamin Robinson, A PATH
THROUGH MIGHTY WATERS
Lately I have been quite the busy bee,
but in addition to my typical exploits, I have been learning to drive stick
shift (which is a whole other blog post to come) and I just finished my Noonday
Fundraiser. Noonday is a program that
supports artists in third world countries and helps them to rise out of
poverty. The best part is that it is not
a hand-out but an investment. The goods
we buy support a program that not only trains people to start their own
businesses, keeping workers out of sweatshops, but also funds adoptions and
helps individuals in ways specific to each location. Below are some of my items and their stories.
 |
| Tagua Seed Bracelet- Ecuador |
Peru: The Alpaca Wool gloves are made
by artists in a very rural section of Peru with very little employment opportunity. Because of the Noonday program, these women
can work at home and still care for their children.
 |
| Ugandan Rolled Paper Bead Necklace |
Ecuador: Made from Tagua seeds this bracelet is a
prime example of a product made by artisans who see the importance of good
business practices. These particular
artists not only rose out of poverty, but now they are providing jobs for other
locals in the area.
Uganda: As these male artisans rise out
of poverty to a new level in society, they are given a certain status. These new Christians have taken it upon
themselves to use their new status not for themselves but instead they started
classes on how to be a Godly man, which includes lessons such as “how to not
beat your wife”.
All in the power of a purchase!
For more on Noonday see this site:
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