Where you live shouldn't determine whether you live

The events of last night and the reactions of Americans and our President have been bothering me. In his address to the country last night, Obama praised the dedication of the American people, talked about how hard the military has worked to catch Bin Laden, stuff like that. I don't want to cheapen that, but I can't help but think of Joseph Kony's child soldiers.

The war in central Africa has been going on for 25 years now, and has effected Uganda, DR Congo, Central African Republic, and the southern Sudan. The Lord's Resistance Army has murdered an estimated 102,291 people in these countries in the last 25 years. Not to mention the approximately 99,116 children they've abducted and forced to become soldiers. This is an atrocity! Mass murder and abduction should not be allowed to continue for 25 years! And yet most people, especially Americans, don't even know about this war. Why should death be more poignant when it happens on our soil?

As Jason Russell said in one of Invisible Children's videos, "We believe that where you live should not determine whether you live." No life is more or less valuable than another. Just because we haven't seen the faces of these children doesn't mean that they aren't God's beloved children! Here's one of their faces. Does that make you uncomfortable? Good! The children and people of central Africa have been suffering in silence for over twice as long as we have fought the war on terror. It has taken this long to get our government to even take notice of the war and finally pass a bill in the interest of apprehending Joseph Kony.

America is an incredibly prosperous nation. We have everything, and yet we only reach out to help others when forced, or if it directly benefits us. If we took the dedication that Obama praised last night and decided to take action in the interest of people other than ourselves, can you even imagine the impact we would have on the world? We have been so blessed! Why do we insist on holding this gift so tightly in our fists? I especially appeal to those of you who are Christians. James 1:27a says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction...." We are called to selflessness, to help our brothers and sisters in Chr*st. 

I'm not being unpatriotic, I'm just letting my heart speak.

25

I can't talk. It's been 17 1/2 hours. I just read a Mother Teresa quote about how nature is silent and God is in silence. The crickets sure aren't silent right now though.

What about the wind? It doesn't really make any noise, but I can hear it. I hear it moving, but it has no voice. No voice, and yet it has the ability to destroy homes, knock down trees; wind is strong! But it is silent. We say we hear the wind whistling, but that's nothing more than the sound of its movement reacting with the environment. 

This event is all about speaking out without speaking. The wind is a good example of what we hope to accomplish. Even though we are silenced, we are as loud as ever as we interact with our environment, our society. Our silence is strange. It merits reactions, responses, action! Words are cheap. Action, on the other hand, action... it makes waves. One drop in the ocean. Change isn't initiated with empty words and promises; it happens when we ACT. Right now 90,000 supporters of Invisible Children are silent. That has generated more change than even the most eloquent speech could have generated. When we break the silence tonight, I can't even imagine the wave that will start. Thousands of voices simultaneously silenced, then simultaneously unleashed, each with renewed passion for the cause they went silent for... we're going to change the world.

Find out more about 25

Donate on my fundraising page!

What happens when it's all too much...

Wow. This has been a rollercoaster of a day. I won't go into it all, but in a nutshell I've been extremely stressed for the last week or so, and it's just been building up more and more until today, it finally reached its peak. I lost it. I cried. That's a big deal for me. I felt totally and completely hopeless. It was just too much. I didn't even want to take the next step. But I did.

In the hours that have passed since that moment of utter despair, God has slowly instilled a sense of peace in me. I know that he closed some doors [rather brutally] on me for a reason, and I know that he knows what I need better than I do. It's odd, in the past I've tried to make myself believe that kind of thing, but this time it just happened.

This is a verse that I cling to a lot, but the last part has never been real to me until today: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." [Philippians 4:6-7]

The peace that I feel right now truly does surpass my understanding. It must be from God. I'm too neurotic [there's the psych major in me] to get there on my own. It's funny how it had to build up to the point where I had no choice but to accept that I was powerless before God stepped in and rescued me. Maybe he wanted to teach me a lesson. He is in control, not me. And when he does let me have control, my life is a mess. Thank goodness I have him. I cannot handle this life all by my lonesome, that's for darn sure.

One Drop

So, I've been really inspired by Mother Teresa lately. As you could probably tell from my last post. But the quote that's stuck with me the most is the one that says, "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."


So often I feel like there's so much hurt in the world, so much brokenness, and I'm only one person. I can't even make a dent in the world's trouble, so why even try? But that's not what it's about. If everyone had that attitude then nothing would ever change. But when every person has the attitude that any change is worth making, no matter how small, then the small bits of change add up to something bigger, and slowly but surely we help make the world a better place. Together. I know it seems cliche but it's a truth that I've been clinging to.


Who knows how much change you can effect in the world! Even planting a seed in one person can lead to a chain reaction in hundreds of people. You never know what the smallest act of kindness will grow into! If you want to be a world changer, start with people. Go out of your way to be kind and civil towards them. If you see an opportunity to effect even the smallest bit of change, take it! Don't be too big for the little stuff. It's just so exciting to think about how much we can do together. I believe that God has great things in mind for my generation. We will be world changers. 

So go out, change the world. 
Hold the door open for someone. 
Smile. 
Do something for someone other than yourself. 
Don't wait for someone else to step up. 
BE the someone else. 
Step up. 
I can't wait to see what we're able to do. 

Mother Teresa

So we've all heard of her, but she's just an icon to most people. I was looking up quotes from her today, and I was blown away by how awesome they were. Here's some of my favorites:

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls."

"Peace begins with a smile."

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

"Words which do not give the light of Chr*st increase the darkness."

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

"Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work."

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

"Live simply so others may simply live."

"I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world."

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples."

"If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are."

"May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

"Work without love is slavery."

"Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life." 

"A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness." 

"One filled with joy preaches without preaching."

Sorry that was so long, I just couldn't trim it down! What an amazing woman! I hope I can do even a fraction of the good she did for people. 

Hemp

So, being the psychology major that I am, I performed a little experiment on myself a few months ago. Whenever I felt sad, I decided to make a hemp bracelet and watch The Office. The idea was that watching The Office would cheer me up, and that eventually I would connect those and be able to stop the negative feelings by making bracelets. I realize now how random that is, but I just really love hemp :)

Who would have ever expected it to work?? I seem to have successfully conditioned myself to be cheered up, pretty much completely, simply by making hemp bracelets. Anyway, I've decided to put that to good use! I am participating in Invisible Children's 25 hours of silence for 25 years of war event on April 25, and part of participating is raising at least $25 for the implementation of the Protection Plan (download here). If you want more information about it, go to invisiblechildren.com/25 or watch this video.

Anyway, I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to raise money and last night I saw the tangled mess of hemp on my desk and the light bulb went on!So here's the deal: I won't ask for more than $1 for a bracelet (or it could be an anklet if you want). If I don't know you personally, you can shoot me an email (elsie.elise@gmail.com) with your address, and donate the money on my fundraising page here. And I'll mail it out to you as soon as I can! So. If you would like to help out, comment with your wrist size (take a piece of string, wrap it around your wrist, and measure how long that is) and whether you want the flat (see above picture) or spiral kind (pictured left). I would absolutely love it if y'all contributed! :)

Smile

Have you ever noticed that smiling comes naturally?
    Frowns are always contrived.
        Frowning is against our nature.
            It's a side-effect of our brokenness.

When we smile, we're defying that dark part of us.
    We were made for the light.
        We were created to smile.

It's no fun going through life without expression.
    Blank.
    Apathetic.
Try smiling at the people you see every day.
    Strangers on the street even!
        See what kind of reactions you get.
Be nice and cheerful in your daily interactions.
    Make someone's day!

Stand out.
    Be a light.
        Rebel against the darkness
            in you and in others.

I've found that, in trying to brighten someone, anyone's day,
    I brighten my own
        without even trying.

Let's just try smiling
    and see if we can start a chain reaction.
        and bring light to our broken world
            one broken person at a time.
                Starting now.
                    With you.
                        With me.
                             :)