Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

Besides pizookies and peanut butter, my two favorite things (and the only causes I shamelessly promote in this world) are Plant With Purpose and my younger brother's music.

Today, one of my favorite bloggers, Rachel Held Evans, posted a compilation of her Favorite Things.

Her list is much more comprehensive than mine and there is some seriously good stuff on there, so please please please check it out here (especially her #2 favorite Life-Changing Gift, where she does the Plant With Purpose promoting for me).

My other favorite thing is my younger brother's music. I know I'm biased because I'm his sister, but take a listen for yourself to see how objectively talented he really is. And show your support by purchasing his new EP for just $5 buckaroos--talk about a Cyber Monday deal!

AND especially take a listen to the song he wrote for me, his favorite (and only) sister. (I mean, jeeze louise, you'd think I'd never get down on myself with a song--and a brother--like this).

What are your favorite things?

Birthdays and Baby Talk

And I'm back from the world of surgery.

Years ago I would have been bashful about asking for money on my blog. --Please don't stop reading, yet-- Months ago I was bashful about even having a blog.

You know those people who swear up and down that they would never call their boyfriend babe or be lovey dovey in public, and BAM once they meet that special someone they're baby-schnookums-muffin talking and nuzzling all over the place?

That's what Plant With Purpose did for me.

I swore I would never blog--too much self-promotion.
I swore I would never ask anyone for money--too self-degrading.
I swore I would never in a million years work in fundraising--too sleazy car salesmen sounding for my shy, literary self.

And now, I must admit, I do all of these things on an almost daily basis.

What changed? Did I sell out?

I would like to think that I didn't. I would like to think that my shameless Plant With Purpose promotion has been a lesson in humility. In putting an organization I love--and the people it serves--above my self and my desire for privacy, self-sufficiency, and autonomy.

When you love someone (or something), you want to shout it from the rooftops. And that's how I feel about Plant With Purpose. For those of you who don't know, Plant With Purpose is a Christian non-profit organization that reverses deforestation and poverty around the world by transforming the lives of the rural poor. What does that mean exactly? Basically, we come alongside poor, rural communities around the world to restore productivity to their land, create economic opportunity, and foster spiritual growth through discipleship and church partnership. Our main focus, above giving anything away or even solving any problems, is transformation. We believe that all of us—not just poor people or rich people or people who speak different languages or live in different countries—are on this journey of transformation. A journey of learning—and choosing—to live and enjoy life as it was intended to be. A journey to “recover our true identity as human beings created in the image of God and to discover our true vocation as productive stewards, faithfully caring for the world and all the people in it.”

That’s it. That’s what Plant With Purpose is about. With a heaping dose of humility and a hearty dash of respect, we seek to come alongside individuals and communities to bring about this positive change, both in their lives and in our own. This idea is what I first fell in love with. The people I have met in the field--the hardworking Oaxacan mothers, the big grin wearing Dominican men-- and the countless stories of men, women, and children I receive from the field are the reason the feeling hasn't faded.

And this is why I am unashamed to ask you, dear blog readers (well, family, a sprinkling of friends, and, of course, my mother), to please consider donating to Plant With Purpose for my milestone 25th birthday this Sunday.

You can donate to my Birthday Wish on Facebook or give directly through our website: https://www.plantwithpurpose.org/donate.

Thanks for reading this far, if you did. Thank you for supporting me in my life and my work. And thank you for putting up with my shameless, baby-talk equivalent, Plant With Purpose promotion.

What Am I to Do?

My brother wrote this song. It sends chills through me. Knowing that he, when he's brutally honest, has felt the same way I do.

I don't care. Don't ask me to.

That's where God works. That uggh feeling. That fighting off of tears and empathy. That fighting off of realizing that if I actually gave a shit all of my priorities would have to change.

And here my little brother is singing about that with his beautiful voice and beautiful heart and beautiful freckles.

God works there. God is there. I thought it was worth sharing.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRaO12mTqQE]

Lyrics below:

She walks ten miles for a cup of muddy water and I turn on the faucet to feel the water flow
And clean my hands for the fourth time today while she makes her way back home, if you can call it a home.
And she prays Lord what am I to do? Lord what am I to do?
It's been a long day so I turn the TV on and she's alone as her baby cries to sleep
Cause it hurts too bad to see her cry I blind myself to why not to live the way I do
And she prays Lord what am I to do? Lord what am I to do?
She makes the most of what she has builds on her faith and praises God for his grace
And love.
I love the clothes I wear the car I drive the greed that brings me power to hate
And can't leave these behind
So Lord what am I to do? I don't care, Oh don't ask me to.