They will all arrive this week…swarm our church campus…and wrap ribbons of Hope around our hearts.

Global workers.

Some call them missionaries, some call them non-profit workers, some call them “ministry” organizers…all are tuned to the heart of God for the nations (either here in the US or around the world).

This week marks the annual missions conference in the life of our church home. I am really looking forward to it. Growing up overseas, as a product of what this very week represents, I have the opportunity to listen, encourage, and see life through their eyes.

What do their eyes see?

amazing poverty…and God’s provision

unfounded wealth for high-level business men and women…and a chance to tell them where real wealth lies.

women trapped in human trafficking…and how the Lord is changing these women, one precious heart at a time

homelessness in the US…and how the Body of Christ is coming through to minister to the least of these.

I am praying today that He will open my eyes-your eyes to see what others see, what He sees. That we would be overwhelmed by the work He is accomplishing through His children worldwide. I am also praying for protection for you, dear friend, because when you pray to see things through His eyes, the enemy notices as well.

Chime and let me know what you see or what He is showing you…

I’m honored to introduce you to Annie who is guest posting today for Fair Trade Friday. She is amazing, super talented and an excellent writer. Thanks Annie for taking time to give insight into Fair Trade!

My husband has an aunt, so really I do too, who is known in our home for three things: a wildly compassionate, tender heart, a pulse for justice and equality, and a knack for sending sweet little packages.

The day we closed on our house, we left the bank, key in hand, to walk through the empty rooms together – all full of cobwebs and hope, trespassing on the future with the giddiness of kids at Christmas. When the doorbell rang we froze: our doorbell was ringing. We had a doorbell!

I opened the front door, our front door, just in time to see the mailman hopping into his truck. And there at my feet: a package from Aunt Eileen.  Dishtowels, little decorations for the girls’ room, a note full of blessing for our new home.  She couldn’t have imagined the timing, or the impact of her small gesture.

Always an outpouring of love, her gifts reflect not only her affection for the recipient, but also her respect for their maker. They’re often hand-crafted, sometimes supporting an organization she believes in, almost always fair trade. Besides the sweetness of all her warm gifts, I am deeply moved by her commitment to gift items that are enriching the lives of those who created them.

These values seep out of her, unspoken, into our lives.

For a long time, I have admired folks who shop like Aunt Eileen. I have a special pedestal in my heart for my fair trade friends, right next to the weekly bread making, 100% organic pedestal. The funny thing about pedestals, though, is that they mostly serve to create distance. As long as fair-trade purchasing folks are heroes in my mind, I am quietly excused from attempting to join their ranks.

As long as I view fair trade as something unattainable, a lofty goal, one that requires an entire life overhaul, I do nothing. But change must start somewhere, and every journey has a first step.

So, friends, if you’re like me, if you love the idea of fair trade but keep it polished on display instead of wrestling with it down here in the mess of life, might I suggest that this is our day take fair trade out of the realm of theoretical and into our actual lives?

Let’s brainstorm together. Is there one small way you could let your heartbeat for justice be heard? A gift you could be intentional about purchasing? One habit you could change – maybe just your coffee? A creative way you could partner with an organization like Freesetor Sari Bari or countless others?

Whether you’re an Aunt Eileen, already committed to fair trade lifestyle, or, like me, you’re all heart and theory, I invite you to share today in the comments one small step you’ll take to make fair trade a reality this week, this month. Let’s start today. I’ll go first.

Do you ever feel like drawing in the sand? Setting up stones for remembrance?

I feel like that today.

Nothing amazing has happened, no significant life-change, no raise, or extra baby coming…but I feel as if I just need to draw in the sand. Set up stones. To remember. To be reminded on days I am unsure…that He is here. That He is working.

I feel the wind kissing my cheek. I smell the change of seasons. I sense the Spirit moving.

It excites me. Makes my heart beat fast. It is like getting on the airplane, the anticipation you feel at getting to your destination (that is, if you don’t fear flying). The excitement at seeing a friend you haven’t seen in years.

There are plenty of days (more days than not) where I don’t see Him. I don’t remember the things He has done, the way He provides, or how He has moved. Today is a day I am compelled to put a stake in the ground to look back at, as a marker: He is here.

I want to remember this, on the good days, bad days, and “meh” days.

HE is here.

He doesn’t leave me or forsake me. He has plans for me. He has a hope and future for me.

And He does for you too, my friend.

I hope you have a stake in the ground, a stone, or picture in the sand to look back at, and mark your days and years that He is here.

Do you see Him? What are you drawing these days? What are your stones of remembrance?

Photo Credit

You are not a failure.

You may feel you are, whatever your circumstances are this Valentines Day.

Single. Single mom. Married. Small kids, big kids…or no kids at all.

YOU

are not a failure.

How do I know this? Because He has created you in the image of Him and HE is not a failure. He doesn’t make mistakes. You are not a mistake.

I leaned my head against the cabinet doors in the kitchen. It had been a long day, not to say anything of the long week. My son had been in trouble at Mothers Day Out for participating in a “show” of all the boys comparing their um….well….you know. (For posterity’s sake I want to say he did  not start it!) No one had taken a nap that day. And we were out of milk. again. Stops to the store with kids take so much energy. And in fine form, I had yelled at my kids. I had had a headache, day 5 of what would be almost ten days of migraines.

I felt like such a failure.

Laundry everywhere. Emails. Kids. Dinner. Friends. Prayer. The list kept running, like a ticker through my mind of what I was not. Of all I had not done, what was left to do, and how I just could not pull it all together.

Then He reminded me. Gently like a fresh breeze that gently blows by and kisses your face: “you are not a failure, my child.” My eyes pooled and I cried out to Him, answering back that I knew that in my heart, but my head just felt like it could not be true.

Two things my friend:

1. When Satan (because that is who it REALLY is trying to tell us these lies) creeps in and tries to tell you that you are a failure at _____ (you fill it in), you must believe not just with your heart, but with your head, that YES you are uniquely made for the Kingdom and for His glory. You have a purpose and mean so much to the Father and to so many around you. (Like me! You mean a lot to me!!)

2. Sometimes we just need to make a list of things we feel we are a failure at….and burn them. Throw them away. You may feel that way, but that is not truth. Yell it back at the sky, pray it, or whisper it with the last of the energy you have left, but take your successes and beautiful-ness BACK and know that it is truth. He promises that His plans are not to harm you, but to give you a hope and future (Jeremiah 29:11). If He promises that, then nothing is wasted. Not one tear, experience, laugh, or smile. He has a hope and a future for you…

whether single.

married.

kids or no kids….

good health, bad health…

no matter the road you are walking…

He values YOU and knows you have a lot to succeed in. He is cheering for you, along with many others (like me!! I am cheering for you!!).

So soak up Him this Valentines Day. Whatever it is or isn’t for you…know He values you and loves you.

What greater gift could we have on this day of love?

Is there value in fair trade? My response?

Yes.

Why: Because you are valuing people and not products or consumables (coffee, tea, chocolate, etc.).

This value affects all of us, globally. “Why/could it affect me, here, in the US,” you ask? The greater value that is placed on fair trade principles (no child labor, slave labor, human trafficking, exploitation, fair wages, etc.) the greater the moral standard and high value placed on humanity. The lower the expectation and value placed on humanity, the more slippery the slope, scaling downhill quickly.

Fair trade helps to ensure that people are valued for the unique qualities, talents, and abilities they have (or potential to have) and use. It encourages hope and a future. Unfair trade practices enforces the devaluation of humanity, using people as currency (or a type of product), only as valuable as their immediate use. This is not why we are here and not our intended purpose here on earth. We are created to worship and give glory to God. It cannot be glorifying to God to abuse and exploit His creation.

Fair trade has helped me to see the world with new eyes: while someone may not have the skills (either by choice or force) to bring in income with dignity, they certainly have potential, worth and value to have the opportunity to do so. He came to give and invest in us, that we might live forever in dignity and salvation with Him.

For you and me, we take that gift and pass it on (seeing others through His eyes) that they might have dignity, sustainable income, and understand their own value. Once you understand who made you and the great purpose He has for you, you cannot let go of the value you hold in the eyes of the Maker.

When you really understand…I mean really see how He sees you…

beautiful
amazing
talented
useful for Kingdom work

…the value you place in others and their work is seen through new eyes. His eyes.

Yes, the poor will always be with us. But that doesn’t mean they have to be viewed as a problem or explioted as a commodity. What it does mean, is that they are to viewed as people. Just like you and me. With hopes, dreams, joy, excitement, and wonder at the world. Fair trade is about value. But not value as the world would describe in terms of currency or commodity. But value as a creation unlike any other.

I love fair trade because it challenges me to see people and not things or products.

What do you think?

I recently had a realization about a staff and Moses, that has left me looking at what I have and what I have been given, in a different way.

What gifts has He given you? Are there things you hold dear? Your family? Children? favorite shoes? Perhaps there are some things have been entrusted to you…

In our girls group, we are reading What Women Fear, by Angie Smith (an amazing read, I might add, if you have not heard of it!). During the chapter on the fear of failure, Angie covers the story of Moses when he strikes the rock and water comes out (second time).

Numbers 20:10-12 (New International Version (NIV) bold mine)

¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

¹² But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

My sentiment in reading this story was that God was angry with Moses for responding in anger, so His punishment was to prohibit the very thing Moses had worked for. I felt the punishment so severe and just did not understand the meaning behind God’s sudden and harsh penalty. Moses had obeyed. The people were griping. Who could blame him?

But I suddenly understood there was more…I  only hope I am able to articulate it well enough to represent what the Lord revealed through the Word.

God had entrusted Moses with a staff-a staff that would bring miracles right in front of the Egyptians.  A staff that would be rest for his weary body to lean on.  A staff that represented the power and glory of the Lord.

What I understood after reading this chapter was this:

“Moses did not create the staff, nor give it any power. He merely held it, waiting for further instruction.” (What Women Fear)

It wasn’t that Moses used the staff to provide water, or that he was angry and acted in anger as I had thought. It was that he used the staff in his own power for his own glory. “Must we bring you water” is what the Word says…and after that verse “you did not trust in me enough to honor me as Holy.” The glory had not gone to the Lord has He had intended. Moses was the steward of something intended for His glory, and in a moment of heat, used it for his own glory.

The Lord was not upset at the miracle, but of the miss-use of what he had entrusted to Moses to use or be a steward of. So, simmering in my heart now are these questions:

HE has entrusted me with children for His glory. How am I treating my stewardship of this gift?

HE has entrusted me with knowledge and gifts and talents: how am I using these for His glory?

HE has entrusted me with a house, car, friends, family…and on and on…am I using the “staff” given to me for my own gain and glory? Or am I pointing others to Him, giving Him glory?

I didn’t make them or craft what He has given me. I merely hold my staff, the things He has entrusted to me, waiting for instruction.

How are you using the “staff” He has given you?

Big news today!!!  Relevant is now Allume Social!

Allume means “light” (in French) and I am honored to be a part of the Allume community and be a light! If you are looking for a place to be blessed, encouraged, and prayed for, the Allume community is for you.

Straight from one of the founders, Sarah Mae:

Allume is the community that is all about Christ invading our souls and us reflecting His light out to the world, via the online space and in our spheres of influence – home and beyond.  At Allume you’ll find articles, podcasts, videos, and all kinds of goodness to encourage you in the Light.

What about the Relevant Conference? You ask?

From the Allume Social Team:

Allume Social (formerly The Relevant Conference) is the Christian women’s social media conference that focuses on ministering to the woman, the blogger, the story teller. We want to love well, encourage, and spur women on to shine the Light that lives within them via the online space.

There it was again.

I had heard clearly from the Lord regarding several things in my life over the last year and that story kept returning.

Obedience.

As I read the story of Sarai and Hagar again, something different struck inside my heart. God had promised Abram and He would deliver. But Sarai had chosen not to wait for the fulfillment of this promise. God had promised me some amazing things. While I thought they were to happen soon (just like Sarai did), God is choosing to wait.

Are you waiting? Waiting for Him to fulfill that promise?

Perhaps like the disciples, you heard a promise. They heard the Lord say He would return one day, but they thought that meant in their lifetime. Sweet friend, I do not know what you have been promised, or what you are waiting for. Simeon waited a lifetime to see the face of Jesus as it had been promised to Him. I pray you and I do not have to wait that long, or even as long as Sarai.

The thing that struck me was this: what if I chose to rest in the promise that He would do what He said He would do, instead of being so anxious about the actual fulfillment of the promise? Instead of praying and asking God to make it happen (now), change my heart, or remind me again that He was in control….what if I chose to rest? Rest in the knowledge that He would have a season for the fulfillment of that promise and that I need to focus on what He has entrusted me with now, instead of mulling over what isn’t yet.

Obedience is doing what God asks. It is also waiting on the Lord do what He asks and has promised and not “helping” God out. The hard part in waiting is not confusing it with procrastination (on your part) or lining things up your way to make it happen (helping God out).

What has He asked you to do? Are you waiting on Him? Are you resting or racing, trying to push things to happen?

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Why does fair trade matter? {to you}

Fair trade matters because it ensures people are cared for and esteemed with value. When items (phones, coffee, bracelets, baskets and more) are made under fair trade practices, there is protection for those that made it: healthy working standards, sensible working hours and environment, fair wage, and no slave or child labor.

Fair trade helps to break the cycle of poverty and end slave labor or human trafficking. When people are valued and seen as people, not items, the cycle of exploitation begins to end. Without fair trade there is no accountability to safeguard the lives of those working to feed, clothe and protect their families.

Our global economy does not really allow for the complete erradication of slave labor with healthy fair trade practices.  Our demand for cheap, fast products means the supply becomes of utmost importance, compromising fair trade practices and hindering the chances of it succeeding.

So what do we do? We (typically) are not in a position to exclusively buy fair trade. But we are in a position begin thinking about how we buy. Begin looking at tags in garments. Labeling on toys. Country of origin on jewelry.

I would challenge you this year to replace one gift from a fair trade company instead of somewhere else.

Not all your gifts.

Not all your clothes.

Not all items.

Just one.

One item this year that helps free a woman from human trafficking, provide support for a widow or young mother, ensure work environments are healthy, and fair wage is paid.

You can make a difference. Fair trade matters and you can change the global economy of supply and demand fairly.

Who will you buy a fair trade item for this year?

Over the years I have realized the influence and power we have as women to either make peace in families or continue rifts that have been there for years, is astounding. As women, God has made us unique in our abilities to be the “thermometer” within our family structure.

My grandmother is with Jesus now, but if she were here, she would sit my two-and-a-half year old daughter in her lap and tell her stories. Stories of her mama, stories of Jesus. She invested in us and did her best to make sure we knew she loved us unconditionally-all from thousands of miles away. I grew up overseas (my parents were missionaries) and yet my brother and I had the closest relationship with our grandparents. All due in part to the women in our family committing to having those relationships thrive.

I am not sure where you stand in your relationship with your mom, grandmother, or daughter….

Read the rest here at the Shades Women’s blog…

Honored to be guest posting!