Childhood memories.

I am a fairly inquisitive person. In order to get to know someone I like to ask a lot of questions. When I was with Youth With a Mission, I met many people. One of my favorite things to do at dinner time was ask people about themselves. Such as; What's your favorite color? What's your middle name? I like to know other people's middle names but hate to tell them my own. If you know me well enough you know why.


One day, sometime in spring, after a very trying and emotional day of classes, I came up with my favorite question. What is your favorite childhood memory? That day I got to hear many warm memories and you wouldn't believe how that question lightened the mood and lifted spirits.


It was my dad's birthday about a week ago, and in honor of his birthday, I thought I'd share one of my favorite childhood memories.

I can't remember where we were or even how old I was, but sometime, long ago, when I was munchkin I had breakfast for dinner. Back when I looked like this --->
I moved around a lot and at that time we were staying at a hotel. I was hungry and my dad and I walked to Denny's. We ate our dinner--or breakfast-- my guess is I probably had pancakes. They're still on my top ten list of favorite foods. After we had finished eating we walked back to the hotel. It had begun snowing and my dad taught me how to catch snowflakes on my tongue. We stood in the parking lot, in the snow, and waited for snowflakes to land on our tongues. After all these years, I still remember that.


Try asking people what their favorite childhood memories are. You'll get some great answers and I would love to hear all about your favorite childhood memories.

Block.

I spent Thanksgiving in Ohio with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandma. I had a really nice time, ate a lot of food, and got to to see some of my family that I hadn't seen in awhile. Pretty much a successful holiday. Also as an added bonus, I got to share a room with my little cousin. Being an only child I never got to do that as a kid. Now I refer to her as little, because she is four years younger than me (and she is one out of only two cousins who is actually younger than I am.) However without much exaggeration, if any, she is probably about a foot taller than me. So one night, my "little cousin," Annelise, and I are writing in our journals and she asks me what I'm writing about.

A few blog posts back, I asked people how they pray. I'm curious, you see, because I'm convinced that we all pray in a unique way. About a year or so ago I started praying via my journal. I am very easily distracted. In fact, as a small child one of my teachers had me tested for Attention Deficit Disorder. I don't have ADD but I often tell that story to prove my point about not being able to keep focus very long. I struggled for a long time in my prayer life because I could never seem to communicate with God effectively because I would get so distracted after about a minute of prayer. And so, I began journaling. I've always enjoyed writing, some people even dare to say I'm pretty good at it (including myself)-- and ever since I began writing my prayers, my spiritual life has improved. I still pray, even when I'm not writing, but I've found that writing to God is how I best communicate with Him. And so, when my cousin asked me what I was writing, I was praying.

Annelise and I had a nice long talk about, well, talking to God. I told her that I was writing my thoughts and prayers to God and how I had found that journaling my prayers was a perfect match for my personality. We also talked about being in a spiritual rut--or having a "block" when talking to God. You know that feeling when you just feel so spiritually low and you can't figure out why God's not talking back. Why He doesn't seem present. I said that I have found that even in those times when we feel that God is absent we just kind of have to keep showing up to pray and commune with Him and trust that He'll show up. And even though there might be a "block," He always wants to talk to us and that block won't be there forever. And then my not so little cousin said something that I would not have had the wisdom to say when I was in high school. She said, "Unless you let that block be there forever."

As of late I've been pretty discouraged. It's made it hard to talk to God. I told Him this morning that sure I trusted in Him no problem when the going got rough, but it's been a real struggle since the going stayed rough. After all nothing's been going my way... shouldn't I pout? But you see, just as my cousin pointed out, when we get stuck--really stuck, is when we refuse to move on. When we let our "block," our rut, win. When we give into discouragement or whatever it is. And so I ask you. What is your rut? Your block? And what are you going to do about it?

Zaccheus was too small.

Pay it Forward.

I remember one time when I was a kiddo, on the way home from the doctor, my mom and I stopped for lunch. Belly filled with chicken fingers, I napped the rest of the way home. When I awoke, my to-go box filled with my left over lunch was nowhere in sight. I asked my mom where my lunch went and she told me she had given it to someone in need. I was very upset about the whole ordeal, down right mad and grumpy. I had wanted to eat those chicken fingers-- what a way to wake up from a nap I thought. But my mom taught me a very important lesson that day-- I probably didn't learn it until years later but she planted a seed in me that helped shape me into who I am today. 


I think giving food to people in need is an excellent testimony of kindness and the love of Christ. I almost never give people money-- I try to give them something to eat or something hot to drink. My mom taught me that kind of generosity by showing me through her actions-- it's something I hope my kids pick up on too. 


So in the spirit of the holidays, and more importantly in the memory of what Christ has done for us, I encourage you to pay it forward. Do something nice for someone else, someone in need. Be a living testimony of Christ's love. 

...and I'm a Mormon.

As of late, I've been going to the dentist a lot. Not that I needed a reminder why no one likes going to the dentist. But as it is, I've been there twice already this week. My aunt works in a dentist's office and was kind enough to get me an appointment while I was visiting during the Thanksgiving holiday. And hopefully by Thanksgiving the numbing medicine will have worn off. 

My aunt introduced me to most of the people who worked in the office and it spread pretty quickly that I had done missions work in Latin America. My dental hygienist was very friendly and talked a lot. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with a dental hygienist, dentist, or orthodontist? Do they actually expect you to talk back with cotton and their fingers in your mouth? Silly notion if you ask me. But I do appreciate a friendly demeanor just as much as I appreciate sunshine and good dental hygiene. So my dental hygienist asked me about my mission work, turns out her son is in the Peace Corp in Mongolia. She then proceeded to tell me how much it costs to send a care package to Mongolia. If you can't think of anything to be thankful for on Thursday, be thankful you don't have to shell out enough dough to pay for a package to Mongolia. She then asked me a question that took me aback. Because of the missionary work I had done, she asked, "So are you a Mormon?" I was shocked and maybe even a bit offended for some reason or other. Like something I had done inspired her question-- like I was guilty or something and that's why she asked if I was a Mormon. I'm sure my facial expression changed as I shot back a quick no and told her quite firmly that I was Christian. Truth is that her question got me thinking. It makes sense-- her assumption was logical. Why is it that we as Christians are so slow on the uptake?


I really respect Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. I don't agree with them--  but I respect them. They've got at least one thing right. They tell others about their faith. They tell everyone! They go on missions trips and spread their faith openly and boldly. What if we were like that? What if we were more like Mormons? What if we actually believed what we say we do-- wouldn't that mean that we would tell others about it? About the inexplicable joy and freedom of salvation? What if we went out into the world and made disciples like we were commanded in Matthew 28? What if we one-upped the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses? Why not? After all we do have truth on our side. 


So I will ask again, Why are we as Christians so slow on the uptake? Even if you could think of an excuse--it wouldn't be good enough. I say that we shake things up a bit. When people think missions let's make them think Christianity. 

Missing Costa Rica.

Incurable Fanatic.

"If to be feeling alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large."- William Wilberforce


Recently I heard Human Trafficking defined as "the exploitation of vulnerability." Here are some statistics about Human Trafficking and modern day slavery.

• A child is trafficked every 30 seconds. – UNICEF
• The average age of entry into commercial sex slavery in the United States is 13 years old. – United States Department of Justice
• Human Trafficking occurs in 161 out of 192 countries. – The United Nations
• Pornography is a 96 billion dollar per year industry. – The Internet Filter Review
• Up to 96% of women in prostitution want to escape but feel they can’t. – United Labor Organization
• Human Trafficking is a 32 billion dollar per year industry. – The United Nations
• In some countries it is estimated that 70% of men purchase sex. – Victor Malarek; The Johns
• Over 27 million people are enslaved around the world. This is more than double the number of Africans enslaved during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. – Kevin Bales; Free the Slaves
• There are nearlly two million children involved in the international commercial sex trade.-UNICEF

Sunday night I went to a free screening of the documentary Nefarious: Merchant of Souls. If it's coming to a city near you I impede you to go see it. As a small(er) child I never pictured myself becoming a documentary lover-- but I am and I hope you will get a chance to see this film. I think we can read these facts and feel sad. Maybe even cry. But I feel like these statistics, these people deserve more than our pity and compassion. They need our help. You can start helping by spreading the news-- tell others what you know about human trafficking. Repost these statistics on your Facebook and on your blog if you have one. Heck make an Anti-Human Trafficking Blog. Whatever you can do to spread the word do it. Secondly you can pray. Prayer is powerful. I was inspired by the Nefarious film to pray every time I'm stuck at a red light. As soon as I'm done writing this blog I'm going to make a sticky to put in my car to remind me to pray for the end of human trafficking. Every time I'm stopped at a red light I'll pray for the girls who are held in captivity in the red light districts around the world. I hope you'll join me.