A new beginning?

January 1st.  A day of new gym subscriptions, new dieting plans, new commitments to family and friends -- a perfect day for new beginnings. Or is it?

For millions of people, January 1st marks a chance to "start fresh." People are eager to shrug off the weight of all of the mistakes of the past year, to begin again without all of these burdens on their backs.

But that doesn't work for me. I can't always wait for January 1st to be my "new beginning" because I need a new start way more than once a year. In fact, I need a new start every single day.

In Lamentations (the title literally means "funeral song"), we read the words of a distraught man who found hope in his God alone. One of the most famous sections of this Old Testament book is found in Lamentations 3:22-24; 

 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

God's mercies aren't new once every 365 days; they're new every morning. 
 

Every day is a new day. We don't have to walk around carrying the weight of yesterday's mistakes. In Christ, those mistakes are gone -- forever. Each day is a chance to start fresh, to have a new beginning. We aren't slaves to the things we did yesterday, last week, or last year. We are free. So give and live 2014 in freedom.

 
On a bit of a side note, tomorrow marks the beginning of my year without buying any clothing that is not fair trade. I would like to humbly ask you to please like, comment on, and share my posts -- not so that I can get glory from this. I don't want it. What I do want, though, is for people to see that there are fair trade alternatives out there when it comes to buying clothing. I want people to know that they are not, if you will, "slaves" to the corrupt trade practices that plague our markets. I want them, and I want you, to feel empowered to make a difference in the lives of thousands of men, women, and children who need to be paid fair wages.

The true power of this blog rests in your hands - the reader's hands. You guys are the ones who can truly make a difference by spreading the word and by making small choices in favor of fair trade. Please help me spread the word.

That's all I have to say for now. See y'all next year!

A small Christmas

This year, Christmas is going to be "small" at my house. Come Christmas morning, the wood floor beneath the tree is not going to be overflowing with piles of perfectly wrapped packages. There will be a humble little stack just big enough to be enjoyed by five. And that's perfectly fine.

You see, when it comes down to it, my family doesn't need all that much. In fact, we don't really need anything that we don't already have. We each have a warm bed to sleep in, we have food on the table, and we have a house full of people we love. And yet, commercial after commercial comes on TV telling us just how much we need.

I think that the word "need" desperately needs to be redefined by Americans - including me. We say we need all sorts of stuff that we could easily go without. One of my good friends, Caleb, is really keen on catching my misuse of the word. We'll be driving to church, and I'll say something dumb, such as, "I need a new phone."

He takes his eyes off the road for a second, looks at me, raises an eyebrow. "Need?" he says dryly.

I give an annoyed little huff. "No, but I want one."

"I thought so."

During this time of year, everyone is telling us that we need a new TV, a new diamond necklace, a new pair of boots, a new everything and anything. In reality, we don't need any of those things. Sure, we want them, and that's perfectly fine in proportion. And we want to give these things to people that we love, which is also fine. I just think that we tend to put too much emphasis on all of these material things that will never even last.

Jesus said, "“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21). This isn't a super spiritual passage -- it's just Jesus being logical. Things here on earth won't last. Period. Either they will get destroyed, or we will.

But this doesn't mean that we shouldn't buy thoughtful, meaningful gifts for each other. Please, buy nice things for the ones that you love -- just don't let the emphasis be on the thing. Let the emphasis be on the love. The present will one day be gone, and then all that will remain is love.

This year, I'm going to spend Christmas with my family, not with a mountain of stuff that I don't need. I'll treasure the few gifts I get because I will know that they were carefully picked out with me in mind. In a world where I am already so easily distracted by all the stuff that I do or don't have, by all the stuff that I supposedly need, I'm thankful for a chance to have less stuff and to have more love.

Freedom in Christ - a real reason to rejoice.

About a year and a half ago, I realized for the first time that I had spent the first 16 years of my life living as I slave.

Born and raised in a Christian home, I never gave a second thought to the idea that things might not be all peachy. I had Jesus, and figured that I just had to follow this list of rules, and boom - super Christian. What I failed to realize, though, is that I was making myself a slave to the very set of rules that I thought would set me free.

The thing is, no matter how hard I tried to mind my p's and q's and be the perfect little Christian that I thought I was supposed to be, I couldn't. I failed -- a lot. The weight of the world was on my shoulders, and I kept letting it all crash to the ground.

Then, I got involved with Eight Oaks. As I prayed for the freedom of eight little girls who were in slavery in Ghana, Africa, I took a step back and started to really look at what freedom in Christ even meant. It was a term that I had heard before, but it was not one that I had yet experienced. I prayed every week that those girls would someday get to laugh  and sing and dance and be free in Christ, but nobody had ever told me to laugh and sing and dance in the freedom of Christ.

Eight little girls taught me everything I know about freedom while they were still slaves. I have learned so much from those precious little girls over the past year and a half.

I have learned to live in freedom by learning to rejoice in the promises of God. He has told me that I am a new creation, and I believe him. He has told me that I am free from sin and death, and I believe him. No longer is following Christ about following a list of rules; rather, it is about loving he who first loved me, and then living my life completely for him -- a life overflowing with joy.

I still mess up. A lot. But I rest in the assurance that the grace of God is enough. I can mess up, and I will mess up. That's just the way it is. But I am free from all guilt and condemnation through the precious of blood of Jesus Christ. I am free to mess up and make mistakes, and I rest in the fact that God can never love me any less.

Jesus loves me, he has saved me from myself, and in the end, everything is going to be alright. My God will win, and I will be with him forever. There's nothing I can do to screw that up. That is freedom, and that is something to celebrate.

Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So laugh until your stomach hurts, sing at the top of your lungs, dance like nobody's watching, and live in the freedom that is found in Christ alone.

Count your blessings, then go change the world.

Here comes Thanksgiving once again. Bring on the canned cranberries, green-bean casserole, and pumpkin-spice lattes.

Along with Thanksgivings comes the stark reminder that we need to be thankful. For family, for friends, for all of the really "important" things. Usually, though, I have a terrible habit of leaving out some simple but essential things from my list of thankfulness.

I am really bad about thanking God for the little, basic physical necessities that I have. In fact, I think that we all can be guilty of this at times.

Take clean water, for example. When was the last time that you thanked Jesus that you had clean water? Sure, this is not an ultimate thing, such as family, love, or salvation. But there are millions of people around the world who are dying for lack of clean water. Their lives are consumed by the grotesque chore of looking for clean water, and their days are haunted by the fear of illness.

The only reason that you have clean water is because God decided to let you. Do you realize that? You are not entitled to clean water. Not at all. After all, the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it. Including the clean water that comes from your faucet every single day. And the clean water you shower in. And the clean water in the ice in your slushy from Sonic. It is only by the grace of God that you do not have to worry whether or not your water is contaminated.

God does not bless us with physical things so that we can just sit here and be thankful. No, God (as always) has something even better in store for us. He has blessed us richly with physical materials so that we can go and give them away. That is the true beauty of his blessings -- He isn't giving us things merely to enjoy. He is equipping us to go and help a hurting and needy world.

Be thankful that God has given you clean water -- and then go give someone a glass of water. Be thankful that God has given you a warm home -- and then invite someone in so that he can warm himself by the fire. Be thankful that you have a closet full of warm clothes -- and then give some clothes to someone who will otherwise be freezing this winter.

We always think that we don't have the ability to really make a difference. We wait on God to give us a chance and a way to change the world. But I want you to take a step back and look at what you already have. The Lord has given you everything that you need to be Jesus to those around you.

So, my challenge for you is this -- count your blessings. See what God has blessed you with, whether it's money, time, energy, food, clothing, clean water -- count them, one by one, and then go change the world.

780 million people in the world do not have access to clean water (water.org). Photo by Haley Chester

"I have nothing to wear"? Yeah, right.

Today, I was trying to think of what I should wear to a semi-formal event this upcoming Thursday. As I thought through the items in my closet, I came to the same conclusion that I always come to when faced with Homecoming, picture day, or any other semi-formal event -- "I have nothing to wear."

I started making plans to go to Versona and pick out a nice pencil skirt and button-up shirt. I figured I didn't have time tonight, so I'd do it tomorrow. 

I came home and looked through my closet, just curious to see if anything I already owned would be sufficient. I noticed that I had a ton of random t-shirts from church and school, and out of curiosity, I started counting them. Then I counted my jackets. Then my tank tops. Then blouses. Jeans. Shorts. Swimsuits. Dresses. Skirts.

One hundred and sixty. I counted one hundred and sixty articles of clothing in my closet, not including socks and underwear.

"I have nothing to wear"? -- bullcrap.

Considering the fact that most people of the world could fit all of their personal belongings in a single bag, the fact that I had the audacity to think that I don't have enough is completely and utterly ludicrous.

I have no idea what the average amount of clothing for a seventeen-year-old, middle-class white girl in America to own is, but honestly, I don't care. I may have way more or way less than all of my friends, but that so isn't the point. Either way, I have too much.

And here, dear reader(s), is the kicker. As I stood staring at my closet, I couldn't help but wonder how many of those pieces of clothes, whether it be that $200 prom dress, that cute lace blouse, that bright coral pair of shorts -- I couldn't help but wonder how much of it had, in some way or another, been produced by underpaid workers. Or, slaves.

Please note that "underpaid worker" does not automatically mean "slave". Still, it means the exploitation of individuals who are simply trying to support themselves. I have read more than enough articles about work conditions in sweat shops, horrific stories of abuse, harassment, and far worse evils.

The funny thing is, though, that I read these articles months ago. I have known for almost half a year about the way things work, about why my really nice skirt only cost $20. I knew, but apparently, I didn't care enough to change. To stop. I have been okay with financing the exploitation of men, women, and child all around the world for six whole months.

Well, no more. Enough is enough.

So, I'm quitting. Starting January 1, 2014, I will not buy any clothing that is not fair trade for an entire year. Or, at least, I'm gonna try.

I realize that I cannot single-handedly stop the unfair conditions of workers all around the world. Even if I never bought another piece of clothing that was not fair trade, I would still be using items every day that were produced by underpaid workers. Food, coffee, pillows, tea -- you name it. I can't quit all of it.

But I can pick one thing, on product, and kick it. I'm not saying that I will never again buy a piece of clothing that is not fair trade. No, I'm starting smaller. I am starting with a single year. And honestly, I do not know if this is even possible. Can a middle-class American teenage girl go a year without buying clothes from slaves for twelve months? Maybe not...but maybe. And if it is possible, I'm going to do it. Not to amaze the world, but rather to show the world that when we decide that something is not okay, we, as individuals, do have the power to change it. To make a difference.

Even more so than all of this, more than rebelling against the status-quo, more than refusing to support slavery, I want to show the world that Jesus is enough. We live in a culture that screams at young women every single day that you have to buy this, wear that, use these to be pretty enough. Important enough. Good enough.

I do not believe that I need any of this. I do not have to prove myself. I believe that I am all that I need to be, because Christ has redeemed my life from the pit. So, I'm asking you to come along with me on this ride and to be willing to learn alongside me. I am probably going to fail. A lot. But, Lord willing, it will all be worth it in the end. As always, this is going to be a wild ride.

^"Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases^,
  who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion, 
 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s."   

-Psalm 103:2-5