When I was a wide-eyed 19 year old who thought I could save the world, I started volunteering in a little neighborhood less than 2 miles from my college campus. This neighborhood has all the markings of an urban community: graffiti, gangs, drugs, alcohol. In my naïve mind, this was definitely a community that needed to be “saved,” and who better to save it than me…a white middle class Christian girl from the suburbs. After a few months of getting to know the community, while tirelessly trying . . .
Playing summer catch-up
This post was sponsored by the makers of Invisalign® clear aligners. My nephew and mom are receiving complimentary Invisalign treatment as they share their Invisalign journey. Summer means a lot of things: no school, vacations, late nights and sleepovers. Summer means playing outside and going swimming. For me, summer also means playing catch-up. Is it like that for you? Most moms I know use summer as the time to get all the things done they've put off during the school year. It's just . . .
The difference between sex trafficking and sex tourism
Today is our last day in S.E. Asia. We've had a full trip . . . I'm still processing what we've seen and learned, and have so much that I want to share. We hit the ground running and had little down-time so I wasn’t able to write as much as I’d hoped from the road, but have so much I still want to share and I hope you’ll still follow along. I thought I would start with explaining exactly what sex trafficking is, and how it is different than sex tourism. One of the first things we . . .
Explaining that drunk guy to my kids
This post was sponsored by FAAR in collaboration with the Talk Early campaign, an initiative to empower parents to talk with their kids about alcohol. We live near the beach, and a popular boardwalk takes us right down to a beautiful spot on the Pacific. Riding boardwalk path on a summer evening or weekend is one of our favorite things to do as a family. Unfortunately, it also takes us past a variety of beachside bars, which means my kids have encountered their share of drunk and . . .
What modern-day heroes look like.
After a long day and night of flying, we finally made it to our destination in S.E. Asia in the wee hours, caught a couple hours of sleep, and hit the ground running this morning. Our first stop was to the country headquarters of Exodus Road. Exodus Road shares an office space with an organization called Freeland, an NGO dedicated to investigating both animal and human trafficking globally. Together, they have joined forces to create the Liberty Alliance, a coalition with the goal of uniting . . .
The trip I didn’t want to take, to tell the stories you may not want to hear
Right now I’m in the middle of a 13-hour flight to Beijing, China. From there, I’ll take another flight to another country in southeast Asia, where I will be meeting up with Matt and Laura Parker, the founders of Exodus Road, to spend a week learning about what they do. I will be joined by fellow bloggers and friends Heather Armstrong, Roo Ciambriello, and Jamie Wright. . Exodus Road is an NGO dedicated to rescuing women from the sexual trafficking circuits in southeast Asia. We won’t be . . .
8 horrible parenting tips you should not follow
We are way beyond the baby stage at our house, and thank God. Karis graduated preschool this week, and as I sat there sobbing about my last baby growing up (don’t judge me), I thought about all the advice we used to get about parenting babies and how much that has tapered off. I think part of that is because most parents of older children realize that none of us know what we are doing. We’re no longer the helpless parents of infants looking for a flow-chart. We realize by now that no handbook . . .
That’s what she said: the internet’s woman problem, the nipple tattooist, guns and Jesus, and more . . .
The Way Of The Gun | A Deeper Story "But, a large piece of the puzzle is the lenient access to firearms and weapons in this country, and that’s something that we can act on NOW. My husband and I are gun owners and we are American citizens. I believe it is both mine and your constitutional right to own a firearm. I really believe that – I’m conservative in that regard. However, as followers of Jesus, we should not be waving the banners of the NRA and marching under the calls for the protection . . .
Friday Finds
1. Men's 100% alpaca cardigan | Novica 2. Alchemy Goods shave kid made of recycled bike tubing | FairIndigo 3. Kale and fig salad made with a creamy avocado dressing and hemp seed | via pureandsimple 4. Cognac wedge sandal (I have these. So comfy.) | Zulily 5. Spaghetti strap maxi dress by ENVI at Gilt 6. Leather tote | Zulily 7. Embroidered flower dress for girls | Zulily 8.Magical thinking blanket | Urban Outfitters 9. Anchor t-shirt . . .
The joy and sorrow of kids who grow up
Next year is the year, people. It's when Karis starts kindergarten. My youngest. My last. I haven't quite figured out how that's supposed to feel. Part of me thinks I might break into song and go skipping jubilantly through my house. Because freedom! I will be able to work without distractions every weekday. I will not have to struggle to maintain a work-life balance because I can just WORK during those precious hours. I can blog and write and Facebook and plan dinner and all those things . . .
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