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At the start of 2014, I wrote at the end of my goals post “The one thing I know is this year is going to hold a lot of events I can’t even begin to prepare for.”  Not even 10 days later I totaled our van. Lexi was sick and missed the entire next week of school and then I was sick for the last week of January.  2014 came at us with a literal bang.

But it wasn’t all bad news.  We came into the year expecting Scott to have surgery and now his back is getting better and we’re doubting he’ll need it!  Thank you, Lord!

All that to say my goals didn’t quite go as expected.  Here’s my list with updates. If I don’t mention them at all, it’s because I’ve slated them for later in the year.

Financial

• Make one extra house payment – What a story. I called and added extra to our payment, but then they ended up deducting an ENTIRE EXTRA HOUSE PAYMENT for January.  We had to do some major finagling to cover that while they gave us a refund.  Whew, there were a few stressful days there.  All that to say we are on target for this one. 
• Save x amount for a new vehicle – Haha.  Hahahaha. Well, this goal is quite interesting now.  We got an entire new vehicle we weren’t expecting this month.  We do still want to save for the next one, although any extra cash this month went to covering the gap for the current new vehicle. 
• Pay for Scott’s back surgery, if needed. Ouch. It’s looking like his back is healing!  Scott goes to the doctor tomorrow to the surgeon so pray it has been healing like we think!
• Fund travels (Great Wolf Lodge, Allume, Summer vacation, Anniversary trip) –> After reading Notes from a Blue Bike and being even more inspired to travel, this category is getting some major attention as we make plans.  Without Scott having to have surgery, we are hoping to stretch this goal!

Health & Fitness

• Work out 30 min/day, 5 times a week. –>  I worked out about half the month.  It was terrible.  After the wreck, I was having some back pain so I didn’t think it was a good idea to work out.  And then it snowed and Lexi was sick and then I got sick and blerg.  Mostly, though, I just didn’t want to work out.  I’ve been scheming the past few days on how to get on track.  Anyone up for an accountability group?
• Continue AdvoCare supplements –> I continued on Spark but stopped the other supplements because of our budget cuts.  I’m hoping to get back on track with this.
• Stay off sugar as much as possible, aka, don’t eat ice cream every night –> I was TERRIBLE at this.  I think I had ice cream almost every single night.  I’ve been doing really well the rest of the day, though, so my diet isn’t all trashed.  I really need a better late night snack.  Ideas?
• Floss every day –> I didn’t do this every day but I only missed 5 days or so!  Yeehaw!  The Lift app helped.

Writing/Blogging

• Guest post once/month
• Write 500 words every day –> Not every single day, but almost!  I’m picking up journaling again and I forgot how much writing helps me process.
• Post at least 3x/week
• Read 3 books about writing/blogging. –> I read the first and loved it so much: Bird by Bird
• Schedule weekly brainstorming sessions
• Keep an editorial calendar

At Home

• Buy one sewing pattern and complete the project –> I actually completed TWO sewing projects so, extra credit for the year?

Relational

• Have coffee 1x/month with a friend
• Continue to host small group 1x/week –> We did this as much as we could.  Between the weather and sickness, we only met twice last month
• Have a family over for dinner 1x/month  -> We had this planned with a family, but sickness canceled it. However, we did have dinner with Dani and her family when we were in Columbia.  So, there’s that.
• Have family game night on Tuesdays –> We did this one night and it was a total bust.  We have been trying to sprinkle games through the week though.  We’re loving Mancala right now.  I’m striking this from the goals list altogether.
• Go on 2 date nights/month –> I’m counting this.  We had two Saturday mornings where we got out together.  It wasn’t a traditional date night but we did spend some quality time together.
• Start a conversation journal with Emma and Lexi and write in it at least 1x/week –> Did not not do this yet even though I keep thinking of it.  NEED to do it soon.
• Write our Compassion kids 1x/month –> After following the Compassion Blogger trip, I’m kicking myself for not getting this one done. I’m going to schedule this on my calendar to make sure it happens.
• Adding for the year: I really want to try geocaching when it gets warmer.  Any tips?

Reading

• Read 52 books –> I’m on track. I abandoned 1 and finished 3 with several more in process.

Spiritual

• Continue to attend church and host small group weekly –> We did these as much as we could barring sickness and snow.
• Memorize Scripture
• Complete The Promised One (1 month left) * –> Picked this up a few times but not as much as I wanted.
• Host/attend IF conference in February –> YES!  I planned this through January and it’s happening Friday.  If you need a place to gather around Charlotte for IF:Gathering, we still have a few spots left.

 

I’ll be honest, going through that list and posting it is painful.  Even though I was prepared for not having all of it done, my checklist self does not like not being on track 100%.  That Health & Fitness category is just, sad, sad, sad.  I’ll tell you what, though, it really makes me want to do better for next month! 

However, I do have lots to celebrate and I plan to do just that.  I have a post brewing about how to celebrate without food or spending money.  I am super proud of myself for upping my flossing, finishing not 1 but 2 sewing projects, staying on track with writing and reading and buckling down on our finances.

How is 2014 going for you so far? Any big surprises?  Everything going swimmingly?  Terribly?

 

I cannot stress how much I’ve learned that sewing an apron has very little to do with actually sewing the thing together.  Sewing is about measuring, cutting, pinning and planning.  If you can get those things right, you are 85% there.

Unfortunately, I often did not get those things right.

The Cutting

As mentioned at the end of my last post, my next steps were cutting the pattern and then cutting the fabric.

I really wish I would have gotten more pictures of this step because I had a few mistakes worth sharing.

The very first thing I learned is what the selvage was on the fabric.  Related to the selvage, is the grain of the fabric.  Yes, this is how very little I knew.

The selvage is the edges of the fabric. You know, that little white line of fabric on the edge?  The grain of the fabric travels in the same direction.

So, the pattern instructions base everything off of those two ideas.  They tell you how to lay it out, whether it needs to be on the right side of the fabric, on the wrong and whether the pattern itself should be on the right or wrong side.

This was my first mistake.  I paid attention to the fabric side, but not the pattern direction so I ended up cutting 4 pieces of pattern incorrectly and had to re-cut them.  Thankfully, I had enough fabric left over.

My other mistake was to not take the notches seriously enough.  The pattern gives you places to notch out triangles so you can later line up pieces of fabric.  When I was cutting, I was like “eh, missed that one.”  How much I wish I would have paid better attention.  I got by but not without a lot of re-placing the pattern on top of the fabric.

And here’s the final thing I did not do I wish I did: write the number of the pattern piece on the back of the fabric.  This also would have helped tremendously.

The Sewing

Finally, the fabric was all cut correctly cut and it was finally—finally—time to sew.

The first step of the apron was to stitch the panels of the apron bib together.

It was 4 simple, short, straight lines but let me tell you, I felt like I’d just climbed Mt. Everest.  By this point, I’d spent at least 2 or 3 hours cutting and re-cutting.  The very first seam felt like the precipice after a long hike.

I had oh so much more to go, though.

Next was similarly stitching the panels of the skirt together and I was oh so proud until I realized that I’d entirely stitched them in the wrong order.  My skirt was well, a little catawampus at the top and not the pretty v-shape it was supposed to be.

My machine jammed up right about that time so Mom came to the rescue.

She removed two of the panels and reordered them the right way.  And I learned my next lesson: you have to eyeball how all the pieces are fitting together as you go. 

Not only did she realize at this point that I’d stitched them in the wrong order, I had too much allowance for the seam. I had sewn it with 5/8” seam instead of 1/4”.  The liner of the skirt wasn’t fitting because it was now too big.  I had to rip the seams out of the entire skirt and sew them again.  Next lesson: learn well your machine.

All of this took me well into the evening.  I truly think I worked on it over 6 hours through the afternoon and evening. 

The next day, I tackled the hardest parts.

I had to pin and the sew the ric rac.

 

Remind me never to buy a pattern which requires ric rac.  It’s cute, but not fun to sew on with lots of curves.

The next hurdle was getting the straps turned inside out. 

These were tiny neck straps that were sewn inside out (as you do) but they had to get right side out.  Mom’s trick was to use a chop stick at the closed end and then pull the fabric on top of itself.  I ended up having to use tweezers to grab the tight fabric.  Unfortunately, I popped a few seams and had to go back at the end and hand stitch those holes back together.

After who knows how long, the straps finally were stitched on and things started moving faster.

The liner to the bib was sewn on and then the bib was stitched to the skirt.

The skirt was very similar to this: ric rac, straps and then liner.

During this process, I forgot to leave a hole for the apron to be turned inside out.  I had to go back and take out enough stitches for that. Once I turned it inside out, finally, FINALLY.

An apron:

I was so happy I had actually done it.

Yes, there were holes and panels weren’t laying perfectly at spots and seams were showing that probably shouldn’t have been, but it actually looked like an apron.

I can’t quite remember a time I’ve felt so accomplished.

In all honesty, I’m not sure how much I’ll actually wear it.  I had Scott put a nail up so I could hang it in the kitchen.  It fits right in and I love walking by and remembering the process.

A few takeaways:

• I love sewing.  Even though little of it is actually sewing, I really enjoyed the whole process. 
• More than just sewing, I really enjoyed learning to sew.  It was so much fun to learn something new that wasn’t from a book.  It was great to get my hands dirty, so to speak, and actually have something to show for it in the end.
• Mistakes were critical to the learning process.  I made a ton of them, but that just means I learned a ton too.
• If you really actually need an apron, just go buy one.  I spent $40 just in the pattern and fabric and I’d guess I spent somewhere around 15 hours start to finish.  Certainly, it can be done in a fraction of that time.
• Sewing is less about the end product and more about the experience.  I found that just as I enjoy sitting down to read a book–that it is the process of reading, not the finished book–I enjoyed the process of sewing most.
• Having help is fun.  Part of me wants to figure out new things on my own, but having my friend JoAnn and my mom’s help was fun. I got to watch them tap into a passion of theirs and share it.  We should all do that more often.

While I can’t recommend sewing for everyone, I do recommend you finally do that thing that’s always seemed interesting, but you’ve never taken the time to learn.  You may find it doesn’t live up to your expectations, but on the other hand, you might just find yourself having fun.

I rarely do this, but there are a few posts around the Internet this week I hope you’ll read.

 

Amy Bennett’s pin on Pinterest.

 

First, my friend Mandy at Biblical Homemaking called for prayer and fasting this past Monday about abortion.  Before you click away, this isn’t a matter of whether it should be legal or not.  It is.  This is about helping the hurting.  Mandy has one of the most compassionate hearts and graceful writing voices. Read her post detailing the statistics and 5 things we can do as Christians to help.

 

Second, my friend Marla Taviano is a wonderful advocate for human trafficking issues.  This week she posted nine very simple things we can do to make an impact.

 

Third, Ann Voskamp wrote this week in How to Get Through the Dark Places about a man who ran for 544 miles straight.  The post is about light and darkness and I realize as I’m writing this it ties directly into the two posts above.

 

Clearly, God is moving his people, the light of the world, into the dark places.  We all should have a bit of time this weekend to prayerfully consider some next steps.  I’m going to reread these and do the same.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

I’ve always had this notion about housekeeping that if everything was not 100% put away, it was still a mess.  I left little room for actually living in the house.  It’s not to say my house was always well kempt by any means.  I mean to say when I DID manage to pick up everything, if there were still items in process around then it still didn’t feel cleaned up.

In the book Home Comforts, I had a huge aha moment.  Actually, I had several. I wrote about the first one in my post Neatening and the Broken Window theory.  In the same chapter, Mendelson suggests trying to stay 100% neat all the time is not only unrealistic, but excessively compulsive.  However, we can learn to keep things orderly AND allow for less than a perfectly picked up house. One of those secrets, she suggests, is to establish temporary holding stations. “Neat well-organized homes tend to have a variety of these temporary holding stations.  Consider establishing one whenever you see an annoying pattern of mess developing.”

As the name implies, these are areas in the house that are designated for items before they are put away.  Your dirty clothes, for example, live in hampers until they can be cleaned.  Many families have a bin on their kitchen counter to hold bills until they are ready to be paid.

Hearing this was a total light bulb moment for me. I was given permission to let things be in process, but it also showed me how to contain the mess without breaking the proverbial window.

We always seemed to be collecting items on our kitchen counter that not only didn’t belong there, but didn’t belong in our house at all.  Our parents are great about giving us leftovers, but we were always collecting all sorts of their Tupperware and dishes.  My girls constantly have sleepovers with their friends and almost always toothbrushes, hair bows and shirts are left behind.  Packages mounted, waiting to get to the post office.  Bags of items that needed to be returned hung from door handles.

I remembered Home Comforts and realized we had a very “annoying pattern of mess developing.”

 

 

While we were Christmas shopping, I found a medium-sized basket on clearance at Target, I put it in the living room, close to our front door to act as our lost and found.

 

 

Now, when I’m cleaning up and I come upon something that doesn’t belong, I just stick it in the basket.  When my mom drops by, I know to check the basket for anything that might be hers.  When I’m headed out the door, I check for any returns to stores.

 

  

It’s really been one of the best things we’ve added to the house in quite some time.

 

Do you have a lost and found area or something similar?

For many years I’ve been in the anti-resolutions camp.

I’ve often thought resolutions were just another way to feel like a failure.  My perfectionist self didn’t want to set a goal knowing I wouldn’t complete it 100%.  But now I feel like it’s better to meet a goal by even 25% than not try at all.

I also think I had some weird spiritual ties to resolutions.  If I made resolutions, how was that leaving room for the Holy Spirit to work?  I’ve changed my mind on this.  First off, couldn’t it be the Holy Spirit leading me to these resolutions in the first place?  I mean, Satan’s main plan is to steal my joy and destroy every good thing.  That sounds like the complete opposite of a resolution. 

Perhaps by having some spirit-led resolutions, I was actually in line with the Holy Spirit.  Why not plan some things that make me healthier and bring joy? And I’m pretty sure if I write down a resolution that needs tweaking or even wiped out along the way, the Holy Spirit will guide me. 

Also, New Year’s resolutions are what my personality type lives for.  I live by checkmarks.  If I write something in my notebook and put a checkbox by it, by golly I’ll work to check it.  Sometimes I even write something down and check it off after I do it.  Making a list and working to complete it is just who I am.  I’m not sure why I was trying to fight my personality just because someone else doesn’t think they’re a good idea. Some people would rather die than live by a check list but that’s me and I shouldn’t fight it.  If that’s not you, that’s totally ok!

However, my StrengthsFinder results indicated that while I’m good at making lists, I’m not good at celebrating when things are done.  I think by writing these down and sharing, even the silly ones, I can be held accountable here and report back.  It forces me to stop and celebrate accomplishments.

Most of the goals I’m concentrating on are very practical, every-day decisions. I’m not making major life goals here.  They might LEAD to major life changes, but the habits themselves aren’t huge.

I shared the list with my family and asked them to add any family goals.  Scott’s first addition was, “My goal is to have a bowel movement every day.”  He thought it was hilarious.  And yes, he’s the reason I don’t ever take myself too seriously.

He did actually have some good ones to add and got on board with some of mine.  The kids added a few too.

After praying over the list, here are my 2014 goals:

Financial

• Make one extra house payment
• Save x amount for a new vehicle
• Pay for Scott’s back surgery, if needed. Ouch.
• Replace our swimming pool. Ouch.
• Fund travels (Great Wolf Lodge, Allume, Summer vacation, Anniversary trip)

Health & Fitness

• Work out 30 min/day, 5 times a week (I’m already admitting this will be tough)
• Continue AdvoCare supplements
• Stay off sugar as much as possible, aka, don’t eat ice cream every night
• Floss every day (Gah. Why can’t I do this?)

Writing/Blogging

• Guest post once/month
• Write 500 words every day
• Post at least 3x/week
• Read 3 books about writing/blogging.  On the list right now: Bird by Bird, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, 2k to 10k, Writing  About Your Life
• Attend Allume
• Schedule weekly brainstorming sessions
• Keep an editorial calendar
• Schedule a 24 hour brainstorming/writing session away from home
• I have a fuzzy goal around writing a book but nothing solid yet.  I’m hoping the goal to write 500 words per day will drive me toward solidifying this.

At Home

• Learn to can something (Canners, what should I can?)
• Buy one sewing pattern and complete the project (I got a head start on this and bought a pattern on Tuesday for an apron)
• Plant a garden again this year
• Create scrabble wall art for our hall
• Make hall room signs
• Complete a starburst bracelet on the Rainbow Loom (Courtesy of Emma. I’ve failed at least 4x’s)
• Get a landscaping plan for the back yard

Relational

• Have coffee 1x/month with a friend
• Continue to host small group 1x/week
• Have a family over for dinner 1x/month
• Have family game night on Tuesdays (we have Taco Tuesday already)
• Go on 2 date nights/month
• Start a conversation journal with Emma and Lexi and write in it at least 1x/week
• Go on an anniversary trip since we totally bombed our 15th last year
• Write our Compassion kids 1x/month

Reading

• Read 52 books

Spiritual

• Continue to attend church and host small group weekly
• Memorize Scripture – looking at James right now
• Complete The Promised One (1 month left) *
• Complete Jesus 90 Days with the One and Only (3 months) *
• Complete Whispers of Hope (2 months) *
• Complete David (2.5 months) *
• Complete Chase (2 months) *
• Host/attend IF conference in February
• Attend Allume in October

*The specific devotionals may change, but I have these available to me already.

 

The one thing I know is this year is going to hold a lot of events I can’t even begin to prepare for. 

Is this the year we’re going to adopt and I won’t have time to work out 5 days a week? 

Will one of us change jobs and we have to skip summer vacation? 

Will something unexpected happen at our house and we can’t buy a swimming pool? 

YES, lots of unexpected events will happen and that’s ok.  In fact, the unexpected usually produce the best parts of the year.  Even if they’re hard, we learn and grow a lot.

I’m reminded of some very wise words in Proverbs 16:9: A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

So, I’m holding these plans loosely, asking God to direct my steps.  No matter what we face in 2014, I’m confident He’ll guide us through and be with us.

I can’t wait to dig into these and share how it’s going along the way.  My little check-marking fingers are itching to get started!

In the meantime, what do you think about resolutions—do they excite you or scare you off?

 

Linked with 5minutesformom.com

Oh, 2013, how many different ways could we review you?  Top 10 lists are flying around the web and here will be no exception. 

First, I want to mention how far we’ve come here.  Did you know at this time last year, this site was still named Permission to Peruse?  Yowza! We’ve settled into the new name and theme and it’s by far the best change on the blog for quite some time.  We started over with a new Facebook page too and I’m happy to see many of you made the switch.

 

Now, let’s take a look at the year.  I thought I’d break it down a few ways. If I was a bit of a better planner, I would have stretched this out to a few posts, but let’s cram it all in today, why don’t we?

• Most popular posts by month
• My favorite books of the year
• My favorite family/personal moments of the year

 

Popular Posts by Month

 

January: January’s highlight included a guest post on Money Saving Mom on how I only shop once a week without a meal plan.

February: Many of you fellow writers could relate to the Five Minute Friday “Bare” prompt.

March: I enjoyed documenting my friend Linda’s 50 Random Acts of Kindness for her 50th and we can’t forget 9 Rules My Daughters Taught Me About Modesty.

April: We knocked out half a wall between our dining room and kitchen and made a bar.  It was one of my favorite things we did all year around the house.

May: I had so much fun comparing bloggers to Disney princesses but by far Katrina’s guest post If You Don’t Give Me Cheetos was a reader favorite.

June: Many of you working moms could relate in Working Mom Neurosis as we headed into Summer.

July: God healed a tender spot from my past during our trip to Palm Beach.  I recapped it in Where Was Jesus?

August: One of the most popular posts ever on this blog was my compilation of the Internet’s Best Blogging Couples.  I also shared the Treehouse Bed Scott made Lexi for her new room.

September: Hosting a baby shower for my great nephew was one of my favorite moments of the year and it wonderful sharing how God worked in so many hearts to make it happen.

October: Seeing what God did at Allume was just outstanding.

November: After watching Catching Fire at the movies, it set my soul on fire about materialism in America.  I funneled it all into the post A Girl on Fire.

December: On the heel of November’s post, I wrote on Fair Trade Tuesday about our buying habits.  This one resonated with many of you and is still messing with me.

 

 

Favorite Books of 2013

Jesus > Religion / The Language of Flowers/ Eleanor & Park/The Fault in Our Stars/ Beautiful Outlaw / Bread & Wine / Blue Like Jazz /  A Shepherd Looks at the Good Shepherd / On Writing / On Becoming a Writer

Some of these weren’t even published in 2013, but these books either meant the most to me or brought me a lot of joy. 

 

Favorite Family/Personal Moments

These posts may or may not have been the most popular but they document some of my favorite moments of the year.  If I ever get around to doing a family yearbook, these moments will be in there.

I got to hear Maureen from The Mercy House speak here in town.

I loved following my friend Linda for a day of her 50 RAOK for her birthday.

We did lots of traveling and those are always special: Great Wolf Lodge, visiting Scott’s cousin Carla, visiting friends in Charleston and our summer vacation in Palm Beach to name a few.

We welcomed our Havanese Bella to the family this year.

Emma got braces.

Redoing the bar was one of my favorite changes ever around our house.  Having the water leak I thought would be the worst of the year but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Both the girls love their new rooms and we really did need to overhaul those two rooms.  The treehouse bed was definitely a favorite!

Hosting a baby shower for my great nephew was wonderful as I watched friends and family gather together to be Jesus for that family.

I loved the P90X program Scott and I did together at the beginning of 2013 and then getting back on track with AdvoCare in October.

Watching what God did at Allume was one of my personal favorites of the year.

Hosting a Sole Hope Shoe Cutting party was a great way to gather friends and get some good work done too.

 

Thank you so much for taking this journey with me.  I love sharing special moments from life, what I’m learning and how God is moving.  I wrote this year about having fun and I’ve since realized writing for you and hearing back IS my fun.  Thanks for being here and here’s to a great 2014.

Happy New Year, friends!

 

Linked up with Musings of a Housewife

 

A very Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Ever since posting my Catching Fire post, my heart has been so heavy.  I’m convicted of my materialistic mindset and our culture’s consumerism.  It’s even more apparent this time of year.  I read one statistic that said 11 billion dollars would be spent on Black Friday.  Billion.  I realize that much of Black Friday is actually wise spending.  If you need something and it’s greatly discounted anyway, then go for it.  But much of Black Friday isn’t wise spending.  And much of our culture isn’t about buying what we need.

Please don’t feel condemnation from me here—I just want to share where my heart is.  I’m guilty just as much as anyone.  God has been dealing with me about this for years.  If you’ve followed me for a few years, you’ve been through my Crazy Love moments, my Radical moments, my 7 moments, my blood:water belt moments.  All of these have been steps of letting go of what I “need” and learning to give out of our excess.

I can’t say I have it mastered.  I still buy things I don’t need and my kids are spoiled.  But there’s been progress and this is a journey.

But lately, I feel convicted about the things we do buy and at what expense to others they come.  Tsh’s post about chocolate before Halloween may have been the catalyst.   She explained that much of the chocolate we buy is because of forced child labor.  CHILDREN are working cocoa farms so *I* can enjoy my Reese’s cups and M&M’s.  This is not a movie.  It’s not pretend.  It’s real children in real places being exploited for my personal benefit.

And it’s not just chocolate.  It’s our coffee, our clothes, our shoes, our purses—so many things.  And y’all, it makes my heart so, so much.  My purchases are hurting God’s people.  I don’t care if I never look them in the face or know a name.  My purchases matter.  We hold so much power in our hands as consumers and what is our power doing?  Making slaves of others.  There is no other way to say it.  It’s not being dramatic. It’s not guilt-tripping anyone.  That is the truth.

And so here I am so devastated and Christmas comes along.  Our list is like anyone’s—full of all sorts of things.  And hear me—I so believe in giving others gifts just as Christ is a gift to us.  Christmas is a wonderful time to remember what Christ did for us and a chance to show our loved ones how much we care.  But are we hurting others far away in an attempt to show love to those close to us? 

So here I go, it’s Christmas season.  Tsh posted her ethical shopping guide and today is #FairTuesday where it’s encouraged to to buy ethical, fair trade items.  I’m excited.

But guys? I don’t know how else to say it. Very, very little of what’s out there are viable options to give to our family members.

Most of what you’ll find are scarves, jewelry, tote bags and T-shirts.  While I LOVE most of that stuff, my father-in-law doesn’t.  My male cousins don’t.  My kids don’t.  My aunt doesn’t.  Heck, even I am at my limit of scarves and tote bags.

The big companies that DO offer things that are ethical and interesting to them are so overpriced that there’s no way we could afford Christmas!

I kind of threw my hands up this weekend and concluded that our culture is just simply not there.  We have put ourselves in such a terrible predicament that even when we want to buy ethically, the options are just too slim or expensive.

This morning though, my heart was just aching as I looked over the options again.  Lord, what am I supposed to do?  I was reading over at FairTuesday.com and they are simply asking for one—ONE—gift to be bought ethically and explain how much of a good difference that makes.  One bracelet can provide clean water for TWO MONTHS in Guatemala. One dress can send a child to school for an entire month in India.  So this is how God answered me: Bring me your fishes and loaves and I will make much of it.  From five fish and two loaves, I fed 5,000. I can do much with your small obedience.

I cannot buy every single gift and everything I need like I want, but I can buy something and God can make much of it.   God is in the multiplying business and if I can just make one good purchase, he can multiply the affects far beyond what I can imagine.  It won’t free all the slaves, but it might free one.  And that matters–it matters so much.

So, I conclude urging myself and all of us to get informed.  Understand at what expense your purchases come to others.  I still don’t have a grasp on everything that is “bad” and what is “good.” But if we find something good, even if the change is small, do it and let God multiply. 

A few resources I’ve found are:

• The Art of Simple Ethical Shopping Guide
• FairTuesday.com
• TOMS Marketplace

Please, I’m just learning–if you have resources to share with me to learn more, do so and perhaps share this post so we can all learn together.