life in bullet points

no flowery stories; i'm rollin' with bullet points today. and no capitalization. just gettin'-my-hurry-on...which i am sure that many of you will appreciate!

WHATSA HAPPENIN' W/HUMAN TRAFFICKIN':

- an interest in human trafficking was sparked in my heart after hearing a radio interview with Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope Int.

- checked out SHI and requested more info

- rec'd an out-of-the-blue email from a friend (we hadn't talked in quite awhile) telling me all about SHI! when she came in contact with this org, she decided to share it with me. i responded a la francis chan with, "NOOOO WAAAAY!"

- met with friend to discuss and said, "let's rock and roll!"

- started researching human trafficking...and praying for God's guidance

- discovered lots of organizations but kept coming back to SHI

- despite the NUMEROUS needs in this issue, i began to feel led to focus on "ending the demand"...raising awareness about the connection between the commercial sex industry and the trafficking of human beings to meet the escalating demands of that industry

- shared this feeling with a SHI employee...who then passed on my contact info to another staff member who is heading up a national awareness campaign to END DEMAND which will kick off in june

- plan to host an awareness event in conjunction with SHI during the last week of may and, Lord willing, might join them in Vegasbaby for their kickoff event

During all of this, God's Word has been filling my mind.....verses like:

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose [them]. Eph 5:11

Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few." 1 Sam 14:6

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10

Arise, O LORD! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble....LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more. Psalm 10:12, 17-18

also, CHOCOLATE:
- children abducted and forced to serve as slaves on cocoa plantations, particularly in the ivory coast

- previously i CHOSE to ignore it because the thought of modern day slavery seemed unreal, i figured US companies would be regulated for such things, and, well, i like chocolate. seriously, i have days where about 50% (ok, maybe more) of my daily intake is chocolate, but i watched a video interview of a young man who was a slave on a cocoa plantation. as he spoke of the atrocities against him, he stated that to eat of his plantation's chocolate was to eat of his own flesh. Gulp. Guuuuulp.

- i've been buying only slave free chocolate...which is understandably more expensive...which means I am not buying much chocolate these days...which means i go into convulsions every hour or so...but the bruises are healing nicely...kidding!!!

- sites for you to check out chocolate: #1, #2, #3 (#3 is betterworldshopper so you can check out other products, too)


WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- check out Shared Hope Int
- host an awareness event (if interested, let me know and i'll direct you further)
- pray for the END DEMAND campaign to receive national media attention that will cause big changes in the hearts and lives of Americans
- kick your M&Ms to the curb and buy divine

more to share later...right now i have a date with my Bible. happy weekend, everyone...and happy mama's day to all my precious mama friends!