Time Out for Women

Besides losing my wallet, Time Out for Women was awesome! I had fun just being with women who were all trying to do the best they can in life. I felt uplifted and reassured by the speakers and the music. There was a lot of laughter and moments of spiritual reflection. I wish I could've recorded the whole thing but here are some of the things I remember most.

Sister Okazaki's talk was based on these words by the prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., "I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves" as applied to dealing with others, particularly our children. Well, let me tell you I wish she could've spoken for much longer so I could get how to do this. I for one could use some help getting my 3-year-old to govern himself. She talked about the principles of agency and love and the importance of respecting our children's agency and showing love to them. This is definitely much easier said than done for me. Sister Okazaki should write a book and share in more detail how she was able to get her second graders to solve conflicts with each other without her involvement and to behave when she had to leave them without supervision in the classroom for periods of time. I personally think she just has that magic touch... and is a genius for figuring out how to teach correct principles.

A really cool realization dawned on me on Friday night as we were listening to Michael McLean talk and sing. It's a connection I've never made before because I've only heard his music a few times. I have to start with the story of how I became a member of the LDS Church.

It was Easter Sunday and I was flipping through the channels. For some reason, I stopped on the PBS channel which was showing what I later found out was "The Easter Dream." I didn't know what it was and I only caught the last few minutes. At the time, I was 15-years old and had been trying to figure out what was the purpose of life, why I was here, and where I was going. Life's big mysteries. So, at the end of the show, there was an ad for a free video, "Our Heavenly Father's Plan". I thought, "Cool, a free video!" and I called the 800-number. Three weeks later, a couple of elders knocked on the door with the video. That led to me taking the discussions and being baptized.

So, basically, this video changed my life! And I realized on Friday night that Michael McLean directed the video! After the event had ended for the night, a bunch of friends and I went up to talk and get pictures taken with him. I had to tell him the story so he could know that at least one person's life was influenced for the better by his work. When I told him the story, he said that he was involved in every single aspect of the video from writing script, directing, and writing the music. How cool was that?

Another speaker I loved was DeAnne Flynn, the author of The Time Starved Family. Besides the fact that she told the most hilarious story about how she didn't want to die naked in her kitchen, I loved her message about being prepared to meet God. It really struck me how we go along with our lives every single day and not really be any closer to being ready for the time when we will have to meet our maker. I know what it's like to sit down at the end of the day and ask myself, "Where did the day go?" It seems like there's always something to be done: laundry, diapers, meals, dishes, phone calls, playgroup, bills, work, and on and on... I'm grateful to be reminded that while there are many worthwhile things out there, I need to not let them take place of the things that are most important to me like strengthening my relationships with my family and loved ones and being ready to go when it's time.

I'm really glad I took a "time out" for myself. It's given me a chance to reflect and to refuel so that I'm ready to tackle the everyday routine again.

How I Lost My Wallet

I've always thought what a nightmare it would be to lose my wallet. If someone unscrupulous happens to find it, he/she could do a lot of damage. I've heard horror stories of identity theft and how devastating it could be on your life. At the very least, it is a pain to try to replace the driver's license and the credit and debit cards.

Well, today it happened. I was down in Denver and we went to Subway for lunch. I was in line and as I got closer to the counter, I decided to get my money out to be ready to pay for my food. I opened up my tote bag and realized my wallet was gone!! I thought maybe I'd left it in the convention center where we were sitting. After lunch, we went back to the convention center and I checked at the courtesy desk as well as the lost and found to see if anyone had turned in a wallet. Nope. I then checked the bathroom stall where I could've left it because I remembered bringing it to the bathroom with me.

As the time passed by, and there was still no wallet to be found I became worried that maybe some strange person from off the street had walked into the building, used the restroom, found the wallet and taken it. In my mind, I pictured the person taking all the cash. (I usually don't keep cash on me but had just gone to the ATM this week in anticipation of needing it for this weekend.) I didn't care too much about the cash since that was a small loss compared to the damage that could be done if thousands were charged on my two credit cards and one debit card. The thief could max out the cards and wipe out my bank accounts. The more I thought about it the more anxious I was for my wallet's safe return.

I checked lost and found a couple more times and even talked to the events center facilities staff. No luck. I thought maybe I was going out of my mind. I double-checked with my friend who drove and asked her if she didn't remember me asking her to hold a notebook and my wallet for me so I could have my hands free to put on a necklace when we were in the parking lot. She thought she did remember doing that.

During my search, I said many silent prayers that I would be able to find my wallet. Finally, just to be sure, I decided to check the one place I knew for sure it couldn't be. I got the car keys and walked out to the parking lot. It was a long shot but I've got to check everywhere. I opened the trunk, got into my bag and rifled through the contents. It wasn't in the side pocket. I dug into the main compartment and there it was, hidden between the pajamas and toiletry bag, my beloved missing wallet, safe and sound. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and realized what an idiot I'd been.

This has to be THE worst case of mommy brain I've ever had. I'm glad I didn't lose my wallet but I'm afraid today will always be etched in my memory as the day I lost my brain.

Something to Look Forward To

I have never been away from my kids for more than a couple of hours, unless you count the few days I was gone to look for a place to rent when Dan got a job offer in Wyoming. Not that I'm complaining because Dan and I are great partners in caring for our kids and doing household chores. Dan does a lot around the house and works very hard at his job all the while dealing with pain resulting from a car accident many years ago. Still, I do dream about taking a break once in a while.

That's why I'm so excited about this weekend: I'm attending Time Out for Women in Denver with a bunch of women from our ward! For those who are not familiar with TOFW, it's sponsored by Deseret Book. There are presentations/talks by prominent LDS people. This weekend features Chieko Okazaki, Kenneth Cope, Michael McLean, and others. This is my first time going so I don't know what to expect but a friend has told me it's amazing. So, I'm ready to be amazed! I'm also looking forward to hanging out with my friends and eating at one of my favorite restaurants. And I heard there's a hot tub at our hotel. Mmm!

I've been looking forward to this since I signed up last month. I'll be gone from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening. I've gotten Ellie to nurse only once a day so she won't be too upset while I'm gone. Dan knows what to make for dinner. All I need to do now is pack by bag!

Relief!

My little boy is growing up! My last blog about him was full of frustration over potty-training. Well, he has decided to be a big boy and has been wearing his Thomas the Train underwear proudly this past week. With only a few exceptions the first few days, he has remained clean and dry even overnight! I'm so proud of him!

Tonight, we celebrated his accomplishment by taking him out to eat at our favorite family restaurant.

I want to thank all my friends who have shared experiences and tips with me. That support has definitely helped me not get too stressed out about this whole process.

Everybody Dance!

Movie Review: The Family Man

Here's something we don't get to do often - Dan and I watched a movie on TV this weekend: "The Family Man". It stars Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni and was made in 2000. I'd never heard of it before so it must not have been popular or I was too out of it when it came out. The year 2000 was a busy year for me.

We both thought it was a great movie. Nicolas Cage plays a Wall Street whiz who had left his college girlfriend to pursue success 13 years earlier. One day, he wakes up married to her. I won't give the rest of the movie away but suffice it to say that he learns a big lesson. It reminded me of how grateful I am for a wonderful husband and family. I wouldn't trade what I have for a million dollars (or more). If you haven't seen this movie before, it's worth checking out.

http://www.family-man.com/intro.html

Birthday Girl

Ellie's birthday was last Saturday. I can't believe she's one!! She's definitely a big girl now. Just within the past couple of weeks, she started eating crackers, bread, and bananas.
She loves to play peek-a-boo and show us that she's "so big!"

Ellie also signs "more" when she wants more of something and waves "hello". She mainly says Da-da and cries Ma-ma when she's sad.

We had yummy chocolate cake with ice cream to celebrate Ellie's birthday. Here are pictures of the cake and of Ellie enjoying it.


After eating cake, we opened presents. She loves her new toys.

Bugged

I've been bug tagged by a friend. You're supposed to list 10 things that bug you and then tag 10 friends. I don't know if I have 10 friends I could bug about this that haven't already been bug-tagged so I'm just going to pick on Holly C., Jody Z., Steph Q., Mandy A., and Janie L. I'd love to find out what bugs you!

My friends who wrote their lists said that they don't really get bugged. Well, I, unfortunately, am not as laid back and I do get bugged by a lot of things. I guess I just have to be more patient, which is really hard to do. (Ironically, I had a hard time thinking of 10 things that bug me.)

1. I go to the store to get one thing I really needed for dinner and end up buying a bunch of stuff but forget to buy that one thing. My kids must have really sucked away a lot of my brain cells!

2. Interrupting people. I hate being interrupted so when I realize I'm the one doing it, I feel terrible!

3. Being tail-gated. Ooh, I get mad and I try extra hard to hover on the speed limit. I guess this is considered passive aggressive so I've been working on it. Fortunately, I don't spend that much time driving around and Cheyenne is a little town. I used to live in the DC area and you really do have to be aggressive there. Though I wouldn't get in the way of tail-gaters (there are a lot of them out in that area) because I'd probably get shot!

4. When people smoke in parks. I know it's a free country and people can do what they want. But it still bugs me because usually I have my kids with me and I don't want them to be inhaling second-hand smoke.

5. Commercials. I'm so glad I have TiVo so I can skip them!

6. When I realize I just wasted 2 hours on the computer and got nothing accomplished. The internet and email are great but it's easy to get sucked in!

7. When I get insomnia and my kids are sleeping fine.

8. When my son says, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy,..." and doesn't really have anything to say. Obviously he's just trying to get my attention. Now, why doesn't he do that to Dan?

9. Exercising 6 days a week for two months straight and not really seeing any results.

10. When it's dinner time and I'm still in my pj's! Some days are better than others.

This whole list makes me depressed. I'm going to make a list of things that I love so I'm not depressed anymore:
1. My hubby. :-) I love having someone to share everything with.
2. My two beautiful children. I don't think I knew true joy before they came along.
3. The restored gospel - can't imagine life without it.
4. Dark chocolate. Mmm!!
5. Exercising. Even if I don't see results right away, sweating makes me feel good. I especially enjoy running - all those endorphins are great!
6. Taking a nap.
7. Food. You should check out my blog on food.
8. Reading. I can just eat those books up. Give me a book and I'll be happy for hours.
9. Traveling. My favorite show is "House Hunters International" because I get to see what life is like in other countries.
10. Living in America.

Pulled Over

I bet you've never had this happen to you before:

A few weeks ago, I was returning home from the library with my kids. I took a left turn with a cop car behind me. It wasn't a big deal because I'm usually a good driver and I "try" not to speed (although my husband tells me I do). Anyway, I wasn't speeding so when I looked in the rearview mirror a few minutes later and the cruiser's lights were flashing I wondered to myself why he was still behind me when I was obeying all traffic laws. Then, I realized that he was trying to pull me over!! So, a couple blocks later, I was able to safely pull over and remained calm.

He asked me if I'd realized that my registration has been expired since August. Shock and disbelief was all over my face. I said really? I had no idea. He asked to see my registration. Fortunately, I had the receipt from the last time I'd renewed my registration (in 2007) and the receipt said it did indeed expire in 08/2008. Uh-oh. I told him that I hadn't seen any renewal notices in the mail or I'd have taken care of it right away. Then, I told him that they must have sent it to my old address and it must not have gotten forwarded. He asked for my license which I had to get out of the purse which was in the trunk. He also asked to see proof of insurance - which was in the glove compartment. Did I seem disorganized or what?

He went back to his car to check the info and I sat in the car waiting. I wondered why it was taking him so long and I knew he was probably writing a ticket. Great! He came back and told me that my registration was expired but that he wasn't going to cite me for that if I'd promise to call the county treasurer (who does the registration) and take care of it. Then, he showed me a ticket and said that however, I didn't have current proof of insurance so that's what the ticket was for. But, he said that I could get the ticket (and $400 fee) waived if I brought current proof of insurance information to the county court or to the police department.

Well, needless to say, I was relieved that he was actually nice about my registration because he could've given me a ticket for that and I couldn't argue with it. But, instead he gave me the ticket for the insurance which I could easily get out of because AT LEAST that was in order. Whew!! I took care of the ticket later that day because I did not want to have that hanging over my head.

Goals

A couple of weeks ago, for Family Home Evening, we wrote our goals for this year on cardstock paper. Each person had his/her goals, even our baby whose goals were to sleep through the night and eat real food (she loves nursing!). Then, we cut out images that are related to each goal and glued them by our lists. The goals are posted in visible places so we can look at them every day.

A good friend of mine said that a goal is not a goal until it's written down. I think there's something to that thought. When we wrote down our goals, I thought to myself that it's going to be pretty tough to accomplish some of them. However, as I have walked past each person's poster, I've realized that we've each made a little progress toward those goals. I think it's been helpful to be reminded of our goals everyday and it feels good to know we're a bit closer to the end result.

Xin Nian Kwai Le!

Xin Nian Kwai Le! Happy Chinese New Year! This is a couple days late since Chinese New Year was on Monday. This is the year of the Ox, which is known to be hardworking and prosperous. While the official holiday was on January 26th this year, the celebration lasts about a week. Millions of Chinese people travel home to be with family because it is considered the most important holiday of the year. The traditional belief is that the new year brings good fortune. A major part of the celebration is eating a fancy meal of foods that symbolize good fortune, prosperity, and long life.

Our family celebrated by eating dumplings, rice, and stir-fried bok choy with garlic and shiitake mushrooms. The dumplings represent gold nuggets and the rice is for good fortune. The day before the holiday, people usually clean their homes from top to bottom, symbolizing sweeping away bad luck or ill will from the past year. You're not supposed to clean on the holiday itself as you wouldn't want to sweep away any good fortune that might have arrived. Not being superstitious, and since the day before was the Sabbath, I did do some cleaning on the first day of the new year.

Our little celebration was quite modest compared to how you're really supposed to do it. Here's a link to some beautiful pictures of people celebrating Chinese New Year around the world.

By the way, I have another blog devoted to something I enjoy very much: food! It's called Cheyenne Foods and the url is http://cheyennefoods.blogspot.com. I will be sharing recipes and food thoughts there.

Help!

After spending hundreds of dollars and changing countless diapers, I've decided enough is enough! Dan and I have made it our goal to make sure Charlie is potty-trained this year!! The sooner the better.

Unfortunately, it's been a struggle. I regret that we didn't start doing it sooner. We should've started a couple years ago but Dan got a new job and we moved almost 2000 miles. Six months later we bought a house and a few months after that we had our baby. So, now he's much older and even more stubborn. It truly seems like a battle of the wills. For a couple of days, he was really into peeing in the potty so he could get a piece of candy. We tried to get him to do number two but that wasn't going to happen. I got mad at him one day because I knew he was trying to do a bm but he told me he didn't want to sit on the potty. Five minutes later, he told me his diaper was pooy. So, I yelled at him (which I know was a no-no). Then, he decided he didn't want anything to do with the potty. A couple weeks passed and the other day he peed in the potty once. I feel like we're back to square one.

If anyone has any tips, we'd love to hear them! For now, we've told him that we're not buying any more diapers. My only consolation is knowing that he will be trained eventually.

Okay, so I wrote this yesterday and since then I've had a chance to talk with some other moms and read up a bit more on potty-training. So, I feel a little bit better now. I have a potty chart with squares that I would mark off with a star every time he uses the potty. I told Charlie that when he earns six stars I would give him a prize (which will probably be a small Thomas the Train toy because he loves Thomas). He seems to like the idea and earned his first star today!

I'd still love to hear what you've done so I can have an arsenal of tricks.

Proud to be American

I couldn't help feeling touched when watching the Inaugural Ceremony on TV yesterday. Having grown up right outside of DC, the Capitol and other great buildings and monuments on the National Mall are familiar landmarks. It was as if I was actually there to witness this amazing moment in history.

President Obama's speech was a somber reminder of the dire problems we do face but it was also a call to every citizen to do his part to solve them. Being a mother, I was especially struck by his mention of nurturing a child. I thought to myself that that's what I do every single day. I'm glad he included such an important work in the list of things we can do to help our country move forward.

Much has been said about the historic significance of an African-American becoming the president of the United States. I think it does merit recognition as does the fact that we were able to have a peaceful transfer of power. I am so grateful to be an American and to be blessed to live in this wonderful place. While we do have challenges, we also have so much. It reminds me of the scripture that says, "where much is given, much is required."

Smile!

Yeah!! I found the camera! It was actually in a place I didn't think to look before and I happened upon it while putting away some stuff.

Finding the camera was one less hurdle to taking a picture of Ellie & her first tooth. I didn't realize how hard it can be to get such a picture! Every time I caught her smiling or laughing, she'd see the camera and reach for it or she'd stick her tongue out. Out of all the pictures I took trying to get one with her tooth in it, this was the only one that turned out.

Money, money, money ...

There's no way to ignore what's going on out there. We hear about it in the news every single day. The credit crisis, the Wall Street Bailout, the Big Three Bailout, the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme gone wrong, layoffs, bankruptcies, etc., etc... Okay, I don't want to be negative because there's still a lot of good things happening but these are sure rough times for so many people.

I've been keeping up on this stuff because I keep track of our family finances and get a weird sense of satisfaction from learning more about investing and personal finance. Last year, Dan and I worked on getting our affairs in order, mainly so the kids are taken care of in case anything happens to us. It's morbid, I know, but it's also preparing for the unknown. So, I used Suze Orman's Will & Trust Kit to set up a trust and other documents. I've read several of her books and have found her advice to be very helpful.

Now Suze Orman has a new book out called Suze Orman's 2009 Action Planner, which can be downloaded for free from Oprah.com. It's only free until January 15th. I love Suze's advice because it's always practical and easy to understand.

So, even though it's kind of crazy and scary out there, I feel like we do have some control because we're trying to do the right things like tithing, savings, living within our means, and... well, I'd like to say budgeting but that's one we're still working on. It just makes me feel grateful to know that even though money is important and necessary, it's not the most important thing in our lives.

Missing

Ahhh!! Tonight, I discovered that our digital camera is LOST!! I have been looking for it the past few days but just thought it was hiding somewhere in the house. Well, tonight Dan hunted around all the places I could think of it possibly being and no luck. Then I realized maybe I'd accidentally left it at the restaurant we went to a week ago with the kids. (I'd brought it thinking that I'd be so prepared to snap any cute pictures.)

I've been dying to take this adorable picture of Ellie with her first tooth. I'll be calling the restaurant first thing in the morning to see if they have it. Wish me luck!

Change

We attend church in a building used by two wards (congregations) so our meeting schedules are staggered to accommodate all the people. Last year, the other ward's meetings went from 9 AM to noon and ours went from 11AM to 2 PM. Every year, the schedules switch so now we meet at 9 AM and vice versa. While it was nice to be able to sleep in and take our time getting ready for church, last year's schedule was not conducive to maintaining a good nap schedule for the kids. Both Dan and I were excited for the new schedule that started today. The only downside was not being able to sleep-in but it was a trade-off we were willing to make so the kids could get their naps in at the normal time and we could have our Sunday afternoons to relax and spend time with each other.

One change that was not welcomed by Charlie was starting Sunbeams (Sunday class for 3-year olds). He kept insisting on going to Nursery and was hysterical when we brought him to the Sunbeams' meeting area. I don't know - maybe we didn't talk with him enough about going to Sunbeams during the week. Dan stayed with him until he calmed down, which took a while. I think he'll be okay after a couple weeks, once he realizes that his friends are still there and that things are not too different.

A new year brings new changes, some welcome and others unwanted. I'm excited for new beginnings: new experiences from which to learn and grow. This year, I hope I can accept both the joys and the challenges with gratitude and grace. I hope I can be a little better, a little kinder, a little more patient, a little more loving, and a little more compassionate.

The Kindness of Strangers

Originally, we were going to stay home for Christmas but Dan's Mom, who'd wanted to come visit us but couldn't, invited us to go to Michigan. Since Dan had a few vacations days left this year and would lose them if he didn't use them, we made plans a month ago to take the trip.

So on Christmas Eve, we got to the Denver International Airport early (for once!) for our flight to Michigan to visit Dan's family. This was a quite a feat because we live two-hours away from the airport and we had to get two little kids ready and out the door by 6:45 AM.

Looking at the departure flight information on the monitors, we noticed that our flight was delayed for a few hours. Another person on our flight was also scratching his head and we agreed it seemed strange that the flight should be delayed because the weather was fine. So we head to our gate to find a long line of people waiting to talk with the agents. It turns out that the plane had mechanical problems and the part had to be flown in from a different airport. After many hours of waiting around, they finally canceled the flight so we had to get on a flight for the next day.

What made it bearable was the people we met while waiting and waiting and waiting... We met two other families who were on the same flight. One family had brought a portable DVD player and invited Charlie to watch the movies with them. They had a little girl about 4 1/2 years old named Maggie and a little boy about two-years-old named PJ. They were watching "101 Dalmatians" and Charlie was a little scared of the scenes on screen at the time. The little girl tried to reassure Charlie and told him she would keep him safe. After a while, Charlie decided to sit and watch the movie. The little girl sat down next to him and put her arm around him - she was "keeping him safe". Isn't that just the sweetest thing? There was another family there with two girls, one close to Maggie's age and the other close to Charlie's age. They and Maggie hit it off right away.

So while the adults tried to get the latest status of the flight and figure out what to do - whether to try and get a different flight, or even if another flight was available at all - (this WAS Christmas Eve and all flights were full) - the kids were having fun watching movies and playing with each other. It was actually very nice because we were worried enough as it was without having to try and entertain our kids or keep them from melting down.

When it was apparent that our flight would be canceled, it was too late to get on another flight. The first family invited us to stay the night at their house but we didn't take them up on their offer because we hadn't figured out what we were going to do yet. Dan had wanted to drive home but I didn't want to have to drive two hours home and then have to drive all the way back to the airport the next day. Later, the other family also extended the invitation for us to stay at their house and said we were welcome but that they wouldn't be offended if we chose not to stay with them. They left the airport before us because we needed our luggage and it took the luggage people a while to get them for us. We did decide to stay with the family because it had gotten late, almost dinner time.

The man is a firefighter and his wife is a nurse. He had written out detailed directions and gave us their cell phone number. They lived in Aurora, which is only 30-minutes from the airport. Their house was very nice with a finished basement which had the guest room and an extra child's room.

They had gotten on a flight early the next morning so they had to leave much earlier than we did but they said to just lock up when we left. We were amazed at how nice they were. They even watched Ellie for us while we took Charlie to get some dinner. The next day, around noon, they called us to make sure we'd gotten on our flight.

We were so grateful for this sweet family and their kindness to us. These people opened their home to us, mere strangers whom they'd only met at the airport. They trusted us to lock up their house for them when we left. The world is a better place because of people like them. I will always remember their great example of kindness.

Have a Very Merry Christmas!

Christmastime is a great time to remember friends and family, especially those we don't get to see often. We always enjoy hearing from you and getting cards and letters updating us on your lives.

Our little family has weathered a year of ups and downs and just feel grateful to be mostly on the upside of things. We began the year by settling into a newly purchased home. Right away we began two home improvement projects: one, moving the laundry area from the kitchen to the utility room complete with a new set of larger and more efficient washer and dryer and two, replacing linoleum flooring in the kitchen with tile. The tiling was not yet complete when our little girl arrived at the beginning of February.

The birth of baby Ellie ushered in many changes in scheduling and lifestyle, which are normal. Ellie is a darling girl and we enjoy her sweet little personality. She has learned to crawl and loves to explore all the places she can get into. Recently, she has been working on pulling herself up and standing. She also shows signs of getting a couple of teeth.

Charlie accepted the new way of life in stride and continues to be a happy, healthy little boy. He loves to build railroad tracks, play on the computer, watch TV, sing, dance, and count. He's learned to count in English and Chinese. He plays well with his baby sister and likes to help with the diaper changes and other chores. The thing he doesn't like as much about having a baby sister is having to share his toys. It's a hard thing to learn for a three-year-old.

Dan is always busy both at work and at home. About once a week, he has to go into work in the middle of the night to do maintenance on the network. Because there's a chance of taking down the satellite connection, the maintenance has to be done during the time when there are few viewers. He's also on-call every six weeks. During one on-call week, he was called every night! When he is home, he's busy helping with the kids, dishes, and laundry. Charlie and Ellie are always glad when daddy gets home from work. They love to give him hugs.

I stay busy caring for the kids and our home. After Ellie was born, I did get tendonitis again but am now able to do most things. We were grateful to be able to get help from church members. My mom came and helped out for almost two-months, which was really a lifesaver.

We remember the Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. We're grateful for the many blessings we enjoy because He was born. We wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season. May the new year bring many happy things to come!

Making a Difference

Every Christmas season, our family participates in some form of giving to a good cause. While living in Midland, we did the Sharing Tree where we took tags describing gifts we could purchase to give to someone in need. Last year, Dan's workplace did something similar but this year there isn't a program.

Well, I just found out about a great idea through my cousin's blog. She's a singer songwriter in Atlanta, Georgia. Her most recent blogpost includes a video in which she explains the Not for Sale Campaign to fight against human trafficking. Did you know that this is a problem here in the US as well as all over the world? The Not for Sale Campaign's website describes the purpose of this non-profit organization:

...Not For Sale is a campaign of students, entrepreneurs, artists, people of faith, athletes, law enforcement officers, politicians, social workers, skilled professionals, and all justice seekers, united to fight the global slave trade.

Not For Sale aims to educate and mobilize an international abolitionist movement through the innovation and implementation of open-source activism. Inside the United States, the campaign identifies trafficking rings and collaborates with local law enforcement and community groups to shut them down and provide support for the victims. Internationally, the campaign partners with poorly resourced abolitionist groups to enhance their capacity.

Every single person has a skill that they can give to free an individual living in bondage.

It is unbelievable to me that such terrible things are happening to people today. I know that while I can't personally stop such atrocities, my actions and contributions added to those of millions of other people can make a difference.

Maybe this is not the kind of cause everyone would like to support. There are many other good causes you can support. United Way is an agency that supports local organizations that help the needy in communities throughout the US. If you are looking to help locally, that would be a great place to start. I encourage everyone to seek out ways to help others. I know many of you are already doing this and it's great to know such caring people.