Two Heart Beats

I know what I do at PRC is confidential. I am not sure what the rules are for sharing my experiences though. Obviously names and details will never be shared. But I am pretty sure I can share what I experience and have prayer requests.

I did my first ultra-sound chaperon on Friday. Basically I am just there as another body, for the safety and security of the nurse. I don't know the situation of the lady that was having an ultra-sound. I do know that we usually give ultra-sounds to people that are abortion-minded.

So it was my first experience seeing a living soul inside some one's stomach. I could see it moving and I could see the heart beat. ...And then, I saw two. Two babies, two heart beats. She was having twins. Both the babies were in there separate sacks and had some other ring, or inner sack or whatever it is called. (I am learning lol) They both were the same length and size. All of this was very good news for the babies- they were both healthy and growing.

I thought it was so cool that my first ever ultra-sound experience happened to be with twins.

And like I said before, I don't know what that woman's situation was or is... but I do know that those twin babies will see the light of the world around mid August. :)

...And for a quick side note I thought this was a great little blog post:

A Missional Way for Pro-Life Passion

...But I thought slavery was over?

There are an estimated 27 Million people in slavery right now. Approximately 80% of human trafficking involves sexual exploitation. Between 2001-2005, 140 defendants have been convicted of human trafficking in the U.S. which is a 109% increase from 1996-2000. More than half of these slaves are under the age of 18. Human trafficking is a relatively low risk business, but if successful, garners high payoffs. Some experts claim that it generates $7 billion. In February 2001, Interpol announced that it generates $19 billion annually.

My eyes were opened Tuesday morning at a PREP session for Pregnancy Resource Center. The non-profit organization, Not For Sale, gave us a presentation on the slavery issues our world faces today. The focus was mainly on sex slavery in the NW. Portland, San Fransisco and Seattle are seeing a major increase in sex slavery. The I-84 & I-5 corridor is a main area for sex trafficking. It was a very sad realization that slavery is still a huge, huge problem for this world and for this country.

I just wanted to post a blog to help spread the awareness of the reality of sex trafficking and slavery as a whole. There are a lot of good websites out there with great information and ways you can get involved.

Not For Sale Website

Red Flags for Spotting Human Trafficking

Shadow Puppets, Not For Sale Campaign

Human Trafficking

The Facts

Slave labor and children labor is also a huge problem in the world, which I am sure a lot of us are little more aware of. But as consumers do we really care? We continually buy products and support companies that use child labor and slave labor. I am definitely guilty of doing so. Actually, I guess I just didn't pay attention or didn't care. Free2Work is a great website to help those of us who aren't paying attention- to pay attention. They have started (which you can tell is still being worked on and updated all the time) grading products and companies based on their labor. So a company that uses slave labor or child labor obviously gets an F. If your a big fan of Sketchers- you will not be happy with their grade. Nestle chocolate? Eh, not so much. There is also a big push right not not to buy cotton products from stores that are using cotton from Uzbekistan (forced child labor.) Word on the street, Abercrombie, Gymboree (sigh, I literally just bought something there yesterday) and Fred's (??? Not sure what store that is) are using cotton from Uzbekistan.

You can find all this information and more at Free2Work's Website.

Two more quick plugs and then I'll be done, for now. Not For Sale is having a presentation, "The High Price of Cheap Sex," on February 16th at 7PM at the PSU campus. The key note speaker is a woman who was freed from sex trafficking. There will also be t-shirts (design winners) for sale to support the cause, free coffee and information. Come check it out- I'll be there!

Freedom Sunday is Feb. 21st. Your church may or may not know of Freedom Sunday- as I believe this is the first year. I would encourage you to inform your Pastor of the event and maybe they can prepare for it next year. (GTBC- I emailed Mike already). I know it's late notice to do anything now, but we can always lift this horrible situation up to God in prayer. So please be in prayer, especially on Freedom Sunday for all the slaves out there in the world right now. No one should be for sale.

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Looking ahead... Lexie, our presenter on Tuesday was talking to Anne and I about some tangible ways to help out the ladies that are in recovery from being sex slaves. She was talking about how it would be great to get some sort of program off the ground to help the victims once they get out of detox. (Owners use drugs to keep their woman by their side.) Lexie thought it would be great to have a church support a girl or two for awhile as she gets back on her feet. Of course one person/family would have to house the girls. But the church at large would help pay for their food, etc. This way it is not up to one family. The church would obviously support her in a spiritual way, but also use the God-given talents that every person has in the church body. For example if there was a doctor he/she could help with medical care. The church could help her find a job, etc. too.

I thought the idea was beautiful. A family, a very large family, under the arms of Christ supporting one or two girls redeem their life back. What a picture of Christ that would be. It's something to think about for sure and to pray about. We might not be the church to get something like that off the ground, but we may be able to participate in something like that in the near future when someone does take on that huge responsibility.

I Judge Books By Their Covers

I read books by their covers. Literally. I have a really hard time reading a book that has an ugly cover. I'll do it- but I tend to lay the book face down when I am not reading it. Sometimes I go to Barnes & Nobles just to browse. I would like to say that I am looking for a great read, but I really think I am just roaming through the isles for inspiration. It's interesting to me where I can find inspiration. Front covers give me inspiration. Of course that is why I tend to like books that have actual photographs as their art. (I did sit down and flip through an actual photography book- I am not a complete weird-o)

Here are some book covers I came across tonight that I enjoyed. (I did not buy any of these books to actually read lol.)

I cannot stop playing "Can't Go Back Now" by The Weepies. In fact I am really enjoying their music right now. You can hear this song by clicking here.

Yesterday when you were young
Everything you needed done was done for you
Now you do it on your own
But you find you're all alone, what can you do?

You and me walk on, walk on, walk on
'Cause you can't go back now

You know there will be days
When you're so tired
That you can't take another step
The night will have no stars
And you'll think you've gone as far
As you will ever get

You and me wak on, walk on, walk on
'Cause you can't go back now

And yeah, yeah, you go where you want to go
Yeah, yeah, be what you want to be
If you ever turn around, you'll see me

I can't really say
Why everybody wishes they were somewhere else
But in the end, the only steps that matter
Are the ones you take all by yourself

You and me walk on, walk on, walk on
Yeah, you and me walk on, walk on, walk on
'Cause you can't go back now
Walk on, walk on, walk on
You can't go back now

B-O-R-E-D

Boredom. It's my enemy. If the devil was going to come in concept form, mine would be boredom. I should re-state that sentence. My enemy comes in the form of boredom. I can't handle mundane, ritual, or having nothing to do. Well- there is always stuff to do I guess... but, ugh, sigh.

So I told David what I did today. I woke up, ate breakfast, caught myself up on emails and of course did the Facebook check. (I failed miserably at reading my next chapter in Luke.) I talked to my sister for a few minutes- updated a few addresses in my address book thanks to my sister. I then balanced our personal finances and then finished off my '09 business finances. (I am ready for taxes now.) I swept my floor and then mopped it. Threw in a tad bit of dusting too. As the floor dried I took Lukah (and my blubber butt) for a walk. I brought the trash and recycling bins in. Showered, ate lunch, yada, yada, yada. I made a mix CD for my sister- mailed that to her. I edited the "extra" photos from Mary's wedding and mailed her a disc.

...Sat upstairs and stared out the window as I told my dog how bored I was!

Decided that I couldn't just sit around and be bored. So I jumped in the car, grabbed a latte at Starbucks and filled up the ol' gas tank. I then headed into down town Beaverton to pick up my ID I accidentally left behind. I finally went into the Beaverton Bakery and checked it out. (Awesome, by the way.) I then stopped into two different wedding-type stores and dropped off my wedding postcards. Then I headed home. My husband came home to my rescue and we chatted over dinner- where I told him how boring my day was. And how BORED I am right now.

Why? I did a lot of stuff, wasn't all the same thing either. I mean... why do I feel surrounded by this thick boredom air? Maybe it was just today, maybe it was just one of those days. Although I am fearing Friday. (Thursday- I am pretty set on keeping busy from 9:30-6:30.) But Friday... hmmm.. Laundry is done (I did that on Tuesday.) My house is actually cleaned. We have a lot of lasagna to eat for dinner and no money for groceries anyway, so cooking is not looking good at the moment. I am guessing week 3 will be accomplished on Thursday. I have nothing to edit. I have a few chapters of a few books I could read- but that will take like 1 hour, tops. Hmmm....

(So I wrote all of this...and then realized I get to volunteer on Friday! So I will be at PRC for 4 hours, I will have some time to read a few chapters and then I'll go to my dinner shift. YES! Friday is taken care of.)

Well, hopefully the dark cloud of boredom floats on by, quickly! And I do apologize for all the women who read this who have kids and want to slap me right now.

New Cleaning Tactic

Do you have a couple of places amongst your house that just never seem to see a wet rag and some liquid cleaner? Well the inner workings of my stove top is one of those places. (The area that I keep all the cleaning supplies is also on the list, ironic, don't ya think?) Well if you ever need to find motivation to actually take out the heating elements and clean than I have found the perfect solution...

My stove top is spot less now. However, I do want to add that using this tactic you will lose a glass pie dish.

Healthy, Happy & Holy

When I think about New Year resolutions a lot come to my mind. (From here on out I will just call "them" NYR's because I get tired of typing it out.) I guess it's just that special time of year that you analyze the past 365 days and think about how you could improve. I'll be honest I don't really believe in making one NYR and then crying when you failed at it come March 5th. But I do enjoy looking back and trying to jot down ideas or goals that I think I need to add, subtract or improve on.

I do have one goal this year that I do plan on completing. My 52 Weeks of Photography is my actual NYR. To read about my photography adventure this year please read my photo blog at:

http://capturinggracephotography.blogspot.com/

For life outside of photography I do have some goals to keep 2010 healthy, happy and holy.

What would one of my blogs be with out a list?

For the "Holy" part of my life...

1. Read at least one chapter of whatever Bible book I am reading and then pray. (Right now I am reading through Luke.) And thanks to the Holy Spirit and my sisters in Christ I have been doing this ritual for a few weeks now. It has been such a blessing and I want to continue my morning tradition in this fashion.

2. I am going to volunteer at the Pregnancy Resource Center. This plan has been in the making and I just need to do the last part of the volunteer process, the interview. After that I should go through some training and I will dedicate one day, four hours, every week to volunteering at PRC.

3. I am always blessed from the Bible studies I do with ladies from church. Currently I am going through "A Praying Life" with a few sisters. I want to obviously continue and finish that study. After that study is finished I want to continue on with another study with my friends. I think it is such a blessing and every study has helped me grow closer to God and learn more about God. I don't want to have months of down time with out an extra study. (Which means if I have to organize one, I will!)

No more doughnuts? ...For the healthy part of my life:

1. No more doughnuts! Just kidding. I have never been a firm believer in completely taking something out of my diet. I do believe in taking full advantage of God blessing me with taste buds, with food that has great flavor, and a lifestyle to enjoy it all. So I will. However... (ah, yes there is always a "but") Every year, every day I struggle with the concept of portions. I don't know where this idea "dessert every night" is lodged in my head- but it's there. I need to use a fork and a knife and cut it out. (Sort of like the movie... eh, never mind.) Basically I need to rethink how much I eat. My portion sizes are too big and I don't need that much sugar in my life. Hopefully this (and healthy goal #2) will aide in a healthier lifestyle and few less pounds on the ol' body.

2. Walk, bike, hike, swim, jump rope, dance, yoga, stretch = MORE! I need to keep this body moving. I really, really, really want to take full advantage of Washington Park and the fact that in 10 minutes I could be on some nice hikes, away from it all, breathing in that fine pine air. (Okay, really it's evergreen air, but that didn't rhyme with fine.)

3. I do not need ice cream every night. I do not need brownies every night. I do not need cake every night. I do not need chocolate chip cookies every night. I do not need Trix every night.

(Just so we are clear- I don't eat all these things every night- just one of them.)

"If it makes you Happy..." (Sheryl Crow) ...For the happiness in my life:

God. Check.

Health. Check.

Photography. Check.

For everything else there is MasterCard... or my list:

1. Camping. I love camping. So does Dave. Hmmm... maybe we should try to camp more? It's hard, I know. It seems like such an easy task- grab a tent and some marsh mellows and hit the road. However in the summer it's hard for David and I to get a few days off of work together. I don't know why we can't just go for one night- I guess it doesn't seem worth all the effort? Who knows, maybe we'll throw in a few one-night-wing-it-camping trips. But my goal for this year is to simply double the camping outings from one, to two. WOW. I think we can handle it.

2. Money. Can money buy you happiness? Well I think the saying is "No, but it sure helps." That's not my goal though. The good Lord has blessed us with two fine incomes, we just need to get a grip on everything else. We really need to cut our debt down. We have a plan. The only thing that is messing it all up is our desire to do "fun" stuff. (Which I am like 98.2% guilty of and David is the other 1.8%) I have been praying that God would help both of us find satisfaction and happiness in non-tangible things. I don't mean just buying things. You can touch food and wine and movie tickets. If we could be hard-core about saving this year than I think everything else will start to fall in place. We will watch that debt snow ball itself down the hill, over the ledge and we'll never see it again. Than we can move on to bigger and better things.

(This is why we are only camping twice and that is the only two things we will do this entire year! ...Totally kidding.)

The rest of my happiness list might have to be an entirely different post. I'll have to accumulate a list of things to do for free or cheap. I will end with saying that happiness is never a goal for me- because it so easily attained. I am happy with my life, husband, job, house, family, friends, possessions, etc. I could go on and on. All of these things in my life would mean diddly-squat though if I didn't have true happiness and peace with God. Which, of course, I do. After that, everything else just falls into place. (Or out of place- but I will always have Him to rely on.)

Happy 2010. May your life be as blessed and happy as mine.

Spend Less, Give More.

So there I am sitting at the gas station while someone pumps my gas for me. (We're spoiled here in Oregon.) I was sipping on a mocha that I just got from Starbucks. Actually, I was trying to convince myself to drink the mocha since I bought it, even though I was not thirsty, in need of caffeine... in fact my stomach did no feel very good. This mocha shot me into a whirl wind of thinking. Why did I feel like I needed to purchase a coffee drink? Just a few minutes prior to my gas stop I went into Starbucks. I actually was purchasing a little gift for someone. I went up to the cash register to buy the gift and I stared blankly at the list of coffee drinks. The barista asked if I wanted anything else? So I just said I'll have a tall mocha. It was almost habitual. Like I couldn't go into Starbucks, or even near a Starbucks with out getting some sort of coffee. Then I started to think of what else is habitual in my life, for instance like buying gifts during the Christmas season. (Exactly what I was doing in Starbucks.)

My friend and pastoral intern, Stephen, brought to our attention today how Americans treat the Christmas season. This is nothing new of course, I've struggled with the gift-giving notion during Christmas for some time now. But when he told us that Americans spend 450 billion on presents each year (just for Christmas) and that only 10 billion is needed to fix the world's water problem- well, once again the conviction started. Only this year it is to late for me to do anything about it. I, to my dismay, fell into the money-sucking consumerism this year.

Did I spend a boat load of money? No. Did I spoil my children with endless gifts? No. Lukah is more than happy with licking peanut butter out of his old kong, he doesn't ask for a new one. I basically bought one gift for the people that I love dearly. I bought a gift for my immediate family- you know, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews and of course, my husband. It is nothing out of the ordinary. However in hind sight- I would say when it is all said and done I probably shelled out around $200. To some, that is not a lot. For a couple that basically lives pay check to pay check- $200 can mean the world sometimes. But, that is not the point.

The point is I spent $200. What if my parents spent $200. My sister spent $200. David's parents spent $200. David's sister spent $200. That is a grand total of $1,000. And really- that $1,000 is basically being spread amongst the five families I just mentioned. So what if we said absolutely no presents- none what-so-ever. (Which actually I do believe David's sister did say that and I did not listen.) Instead what if we donated $1,000 dollars. Of what if we spent $500 on two families and provided them with some necessities like food and clothing. Do you think any of our families have problems eating or putting clothes on their backs? (Even through hard times, which some families have seen this last year or two- we all have everything we need.)

What if each member from my church (plus their families) did the same thing? I am totally guessing- I would say we have around 40 families that are members (not including regular attendees, etc.) I know you just did the math in your head- $40,000! Can you imagine?

I can't. Because every year I get sucked up into the hype. I don't trample down people in the stores, in fact I don't really go out on Black Friday. And believe me, I know the reason for the season. I worship that reason every minute of my day. But every year I feel the pressure of buying gifts. I can see the pressure rolling over to my husband this year too. My beloved husband has said at least three times to me- "I want to buy you something that shows you I care." Which, "awwww," yes is so sweet. I am touched that he wants to give me a gift that tells me he cares.

But then I started to think... now I am back in my car forcing down a mocha I don't want... My husband shows me he cares every day of his life. He gets up every morning at 4 AM and works all day- he works hard too. Some days he puts in 14 hours. He is the sole provider for our family, our house, our food and everything else. If he did not go to work- we would be one of those families in need this season. My husband supports me. He never has told me that trying to get a photography business off the ground is stupid or a waste of time. David loves on me every day. He kisses me and snuggles with me. He listens to me complain about anything under the moon. And my husband is nice! He is very giving of his time and energy- he always helps out around the house and he puts others, including myself, first.

David- by being the best husband that you can be, shows me you care. No gift under the tree will ever show me you care more than your daily actions and words. Save the money- or give it to someone who isn't lucky enough to be married to you and have the awesome life that we have.

I already have New Year's resolutions building up in my head. Maybe I'll make one for the Christmas season for 2010. No presents. Only gifts from the heart- which include my time. And if money is going to be spent- it will not be on meaningless gifts.

It may be too late for you this year too. But here are two quick videos to drive the point home and to help you change the way you spend (literally) the Christmas season next year.

PS. I never finished my mocha.