According to a study by World Vision, an international relief and development group, "eighty percent of teens use social media and 44 percent say they’ve become more aware of the needs of others as a result of their use of social media like Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, "34 percent “friend”, “like” or “follow” charitable organizations or causes they believe in."
In an age where fundraising income has dramatically decreased, I think it's safe to say public awareness about charitable causes has greatly increased with the advent of the internet and social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The Internet Generation and Millenials are generations who can spread news like wildfire using a tool even more powerful than their debit card: their social networking account.
Social media has empowered younger generations to have influence and a platform to contribute to good causes, even if they don't make a ton of dough, have a famous name or a prestigious diploma. In the twenty-first century, all it takes to make positive change overnight is a Wi-Fi connection, a Mac and a message.
Disclosure:
In the interest of full disclosure, I must state that I am employed by a company in the humanitarian and relief sector, however, my blog posts are not related in any specific way to my job, nor do they or will they convey proprietary information or necessarily convey the views of my employer. Advocacy and volunteering for non-profit is my passion both professionally and personally, but this blog does not relate to my professional job.
29 October, 2011
14 August, 2011
Dropping the ball
Our standard schnauzer, Duke, is crazy about tennis balls (especially ones that squeak, but that is beside the point).I had just bought him a new ball to play with but he was adamant about keeping the old filthy one. He ran around desperately trying to keep it, but little did he know I had a newer, even better toy for him. It was as if he didn't believe I could have something he'd love more. I just wanted to swap the dirty, torn ball for something I knew was safer (and squeakier!)
As I finally managed to trade the old ball for the new one, I realized that is a lot how we are with God. We hold onto possessions, bad memories, dreams, hope, even guilt or sin, unwilling to trust that God could have something better in store for us. After all, how could God's plans be better than our own? And even if they were, it's scary letting go!
The truth is that the very one who created each of us knows us well. Holding onto hurt, forgiveness, shame and fear are just as futile as Duke gripping onto the muddy, broken ball. He had no idea that in releasing the old toy, he was about to get something in exchange that he'd enjoy even more.
If we can love our pets or children and take care of them, how much more our father in heaven loves and wants to provide for us! The thing is, we can't receive his blessings with clenched fists and callused hearts. Ironically, it's through letting go of our plans and stepping out in faith that we find a life unleashed in Christ which is more extraordinary that we ever could have imagined for ourselves.
As I finally managed to trade the old ball for the new one, I realized that is a lot how we are with God. We hold onto possessions, bad memories, dreams, hope, even guilt or sin, unwilling to trust that God could have something better in store for us. After all, how could God's plans be better than our own? And even if they were, it's scary letting go!
The truth is that the very one who created each of us knows us well. Holding onto hurt, forgiveness, shame and fear are just as futile as Duke gripping onto the muddy, broken ball. He had no idea that in releasing the old toy, he was about to get something in exchange that he'd enjoy even more.
If we can love our pets or children and take care of them, how much more our father in heaven loves and wants to provide for us! The thing is, we can't receive his blessings with clenched fists and callused hearts. Ironically, it's through letting go of our plans and stepping out in faith that we find a life unleashed in Christ which is more extraordinary that we ever could have imagined for ourselves.
16 February, 2011
Fear or faith
Between the rattlesnake encounter and rock climbing, you could say last Saturday was an interesting day. We went on a guided lesson with The Southern Terrain and let me tell you, seasoned advice from very experienced adventurers will only take you so far and then faith has to take you the rest of the way. Let me explain...
Although the face we were climbing on was considered "beginning," there was nothing simple about it, you still had to haul yourself up there. The good news is that you find a great deal of satisfaction once you've reached the top. The blunt truth is that it looks easier than it is from the ground and it's actually quite intimidating on the way up.
I decided to climb the easier face first, saving the more technical climb for last. First one went okay and I managed to ungracefully scramble my way up and down. But about half way up my ascent on the harder face, I made the mistake of looking down. Instead of thinking of how far I'd come, all I could think of was that it was a long way down and the only thing keeping me from falling was a rope and a guy holding it further down the cliff.
Standing on a tiny ledge, I stretched out my right arm and foot looking for a sturdy crevice as my next move. And then I looked down. Fear overtook me and I'll admit it, I asked to rappel down instead of braving the next step.
You know what I realized from that experience (albeit once I was safe and sound on the ground)? Rock climbing is a lot like having faith in God. As humans, we look up at mountains we face. Sometimes we feel the cliff is just too steep, or we'd rather take a slower, easier, less painful route to get to our destination, but in doing so we don't grow, we don't challenge ourselves to mature, or face our fears to see what we're really made of. Instead of facing an obstacle or hardship with faith that God will guide our steps, we look look up at how far there is to go, or down and realize our position is too vulnerable and we opt out of an opportunity.
Sure, it's safer on the ground, but by staying there we'll never experience the satisfaction of knowing what we can accomplish or grow our faith in God by experiencing His faithfulness in action. And if for no other reason, I've learned that enduring the climb and persevering gives you a humbling perspective you could never have witnessed from the safety of the valley floor.
Although the face we were climbing on was considered "beginning," there was nothing simple about it, you still had to haul yourself up there. The good news is that you find a great deal of satisfaction once you've reached the top. The blunt truth is that it looks easier than it is from the ground and it's actually quite intimidating on the way up.
I decided to climb the easier face first, saving the more technical climb for last. First one went okay and I managed to ungracefully scramble my way up and down. But about half way up my ascent on the harder face, I made the mistake of looking down. Instead of thinking of how far I'd come, all I could think of was that it was a long way down and the only thing keeping me from falling was a rope and a guy holding it further down the cliff.
Standing on a tiny ledge, I stretched out my right arm and foot looking for a sturdy crevice as my next move. And then I looked down. Fear overtook me and I'll admit it, I asked to rappel down instead of braving the next step.
You know what I realized from that experience (albeit once I was safe and sound on the ground)? Rock climbing is a lot like having faith in God. As humans, we look up at mountains we face. Sometimes we feel the cliff is just too steep, or we'd rather take a slower, easier, less painful route to get to our destination, but in doing so we don't grow, we don't challenge ourselves to mature, or face our fears to see what we're really made of. Instead of facing an obstacle or hardship with faith that God will guide our steps, we look look up at how far there is to go, or down and realize our position is too vulnerable and we opt out of an opportunity.
Sure, it's safer on the ground, but by staying there we'll never experience the satisfaction of knowing what we can accomplish or grow our faith in God by experiencing His faithfulness in action. And if for no other reason, I've learned that enduring the climb and persevering gives you a humbling perspective you could never have witnessed from the safety of the valley floor.
22 January, 2011
Pulling up the weeds
For the last few weeks, okay months, I've been pretty lousy at pulling the weeds in my garden. Armed with gardening gloves, a shovel and rake, I began the process of tidying the back yard this afternoon. As I waded through the mud, digging up all the weeds, it reminded me of how sin left unaccountable can grow at a rapid rate, infiltrating everything in its path. There were so many weeds, I could scarcely distinguish between the vegetable plants, shrubbery and weeds. I almost uprooted vegetation I planted with care months previously.
Left unattended, botanical pests such as Morning Glory had grown rampantly in my garden and started to wrap around my vegetable plants, slowly killing them. In the same way, sin, when allowed to grow in the garden of our hearts, takes hold of all of the good, beautiful parts of our lives and takes over. It moves into even the good parts of our lives and before we know it, robs us of our spiritual fruit.
The weeds had gotten so out of control in my yard, that despite some heavy rains and frequent watering, it appeared some of my plants had been choked by the weeds and were dead. To my amazement, several of the plants were alive and had ripe vegetables. Just so, sin covers up the fruit in our lives, hiding our potential and stunting growth in the areas of our lives God wants to grow.
Yet with with regular maintenance (the weeding of sin from our lives), goodness has plenty of room and sunlight. Though it can be strenuous work and not very fun, pulling sin from the roots deprives Satan of having any strongholds in our lives.
Watering plants (going to church), fertilizer (getting spiritual sustenance from reading the Bible) helps plants to grow but when plants don't have adequate sunlight or are overrun by weeds, all the watering or fertilizer in the world won't save them. Simply put, plants won't grow well and you won't grow spiritually without regularly clearing out the "weeds".
As brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge and uproot the weeds in our own back gardens. I promise you, any garden, or person for that matter, will thrive with this kind of regular maintenance.
Left unattended, botanical pests such as Morning Glory had grown rampantly in my garden and started to wrap around my vegetable plants, slowly killing them. In the same way, sin, when allowed to grow in the garden of our hearts, takes hold of all of the good, beautiful parts of our lives and takes over. It moves into even the good parts of our lives and before we know it, robs us of our spiritual fruit.
The weeds had gotten so out of control in my yard, that despite some heavy rains and frequent watering, it appeared some of my plants had been choked by the weeds and were dead. To my amazement, several of the plants were alive and had ripe vegetables. Just so, sin covers up the fruit in our lives, hiding our potential and stunting growth in the areas of our lives God wants to grow.
Yet with with regular maintenance (the weeding of sin from our lives), goodness has plenty of room and sunlight. Though it can be strenuous work and not very fun, pulling sin from the roots deprives Satan of having any strongholds in our lives.
Watering plants (going to church), fertilizer (getting spiritual sustenance from reading the Bible) helps plants to grow but when plants don't have adequate sunlight or are overrun by weeds, all the watering or fertilizer in the world won't save them. Simply put, plants won't grow well and you won't grow spiritually without regularly clearing out the "weeds".
As brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge and uproot the weeds in our own back gardens. I promise you, any garden, or person for that matter, will thrive with this kind of regular maintenance.
12 September, 2010
Adandoning Ourselves to God
Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest said, “To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all of our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring.” As humans, it is our natural proclivity to cling onto what we can plan and control, but in doing so we miss out on growing in faith and encountering God’s best for our lives. God calls us to seek Him as little children and to trust Him. When we build this sort of relationship with God, life can be full of what Chambers calls "spontaneous, joyful certainty and expectancy."
In whatever role we have in our lives as Christians, parents, or spouses, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has called us to step out in faith, believing in His goodness as we serve His will and follow His leading in our lives. As Chambers explains, “We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God.” Indeed, we are guaranteed surprises in abandoning ourselves to the Lord, but in it we so often find His plans are much greater than we ever could have planned for ourselves. We can only fully experience the glory of God and the richness of His plans when we relinquish our hopes and our plans to Him whether that be about a project at work, a prayer for a family member, or a future endeavor. There are many uncertainties in life, but of one thing we can be certain: God is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23:
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."
Reflection:
In whatever role we have in our lives as Christians, parents, or spouses, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has called us to step out in faith, believing in His goodness as we serve His will and follow His leading in our lives. As Chambers explains, “We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God.” Indeed, we are guaranteed surprises in abandoning ourselves to the Lord, but in it we so often find His plans are much greater than we ever could have planned for ourselves. We can only fully experience the glory of God and the richness of His plans when we relinquish our hopes and our plans to Him whether that be about a project at work, a prayer for a family member, or a future endeavor. There are many uncertainties in life, but of one thing we can be certain: God is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23:
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."
Reflection:
- Is there anything in your life you have not entrusted to God?
- What does it mean to fully cast your cares, burdens, hopes, and dreams on the Lord?
- What is the difference between trusting in your beliefs and trusting in Jesus?
28 June, 2010
Borrowing God's sunglasses
I was at a zoomba Latin dance class tonight and it was an interesting experience to say the least. At one point we were all gyrating in a circular conga line and the instructor was in the middle flipping her hair about and dancing like she was on fire.
For half the class I was frustrated that the instructor wasn't keeping with the beat and was so hard to follow. And as I copied her half-belly dance, half-step aerobic moves, I felt God ask me to take another look at her through His eyes. Then I noticed her smile, saw her sincerely jovial nature, how much fun she was having, and that she was comfortable in her own skin. I could learn a thing or two from this woman. Dare I say, I started to have a good time hopping around like a fool, laughing at myself and looking at these women the way God saw them.
It made me think- how often am I in a hurry, preoccupied or just plain so self-conscious that I miss out on who people really are and how God sees them? It's so much easier to love others or grant them grace or compassion when you look at them through God's eyes. You put yourself in their shoes, you see their struggles, their hopes, their faults and the bits about them which are intrinsically unique. It grows tolerance and appreciation for others. It brings friendship, love and joy to the most unexpected places.
My prayer is that God grants me the patience and wisdom to see His people as He does, and the heart to love them as Jesus did. I sure would want others to extend me that kind of grace, wouldn't you?
"When you judge someone, you have no time to love them." -Mother Teresa
For half the class I was frustrated that the instructor wasn't keeping with the beat and was so hard to follow. And as I copied her half-belly dance, half-step aerobic moves, I felt God ask me to take another look at her through His eyes. Then I noticed her smile, saw her sincerely jovial nature, how much fun she was having, and that she was comfortable in her own skin. I could learn a thing or two from this woman. Dare I say, I started to have a good time hopping around like a fool, laughing at myself and looking at these women the way God saw them.
It made me think- how often am I in a hurry, preoccupied or just plain so self-conscious that I miss out on who people really are and how God sees them? It's so much easier to love others or grant them grace or compassion when you look at them through God's eyes. You put yourself in their shoes, you see their struggles, their hopes, their faults and the bits about them which are intrinsically unique. It grows tolerance and appreciation for others. It brings friendship, love and joy to the most unexpected places.
My prayer is that God grants me the patience and wisdom to see His people as He does, and the heart to love them as Jesus did. I sure would want others to extend me that kind of grace, wouldn't you?
"When you judge someone, you have no time to love them." -Mother Teresa
14 September, 2009
Thank you, God, for motorcycles
When I was a little kid sitting around the dinner table, my parents used to make my brothers and I take turns blessing the meal.My younger brothers used to thank God for the smallest, seemingly insignificant things.I remember thinking how silly it was, but it was what mattered in their little boy worlds at the time and so they thanked God for what brought them joy.
Now looking back as an adult, I see the irony of the situation. Nothing that matters to us is insignificant to God and as much as some children expect to "grow up" and figure it all out, there are some parts of faith children understand better than grown-ups. Perhaps that's why Jesus loved little children so much; they weren't too busy to love him. They didn't complicate religion, they just loved Him and believed without any conditions. How is it that children can find so much joy and love without caveats?
It reminds me to sit at the feet of God and share all the tiny details of my life, which matter to the creator of the universe.
Luke 12:6
"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God."
Now looking back as an adult, I see the irony of the situation. Nothing that matters to us is insignificant to God and as much as some children expect to "grow up" and figure it all out, there are some parts of faith children understand better than grown-ups. Perhaps that's why Jesus loved little children so much; they weren't too busy to love him. They didn't complicate religion, they just loved Him and believed without any conditions. How is it that children can find so much joy and love without caveats?
It reminds me to sit at the feet of God and share all the tiny details of my life, which matter to the creator of the universe.
Luke 12:6
"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God."
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