361 Days of Being 29 (and 4 Days of Being 30 Because I Started Late)

[I'd like to add captions and frames to these photos but I'm going to have to play around online to figure out how to do it. For now, I'll put their captions up here. Photo #1: Mary Oliver's poetry - way inspiring! Sorry it's kind of hard to read. Photo #2: The irony is that I bought the book. Photo #3: Sadie and the friend she made at a beautiful watery light show at the National Harbor. And yes, that is my mother-in-law's Evo in the corner.]

This year I want to:

• Get published
• Home school my 3rd grader (stay tuned for a When, What, Where and Why blog)
• Learn to skateboard with Sadie
• Find ways to help Jermaine prepare for boot camp and tech school
• Get through my first year of seminary
• Read a bunch
• Lose some weight
• Survive and thrive while living with my in-laws (and hopefully grow closer to them in the process)
• find an outlet for my deep desire to perform
• Go surfing for the first time
• Go snowboarding
• Go to India and learn some Hindi
• Teach my daughter about human trafficking
• Vacation with friends
• Get a handle on our debt and become saving savvy
• Blog about my adventures everyday

I entertained thoughts of combining my blogs and/or creating a whole new one. But it was starting to seem too complicated so I thought I'd just begin with this blog and see what happens. I'm going to attempt to blog 6 days a week - sometimes on here and sometimes on one of my other blogs. And my two main objectives are that it be relatively short and bursting with all the creativity I can muster.

Some interesting tidbits of my day today (and the last few days at the end):

• I woke up and tried to make some coffee and the coffeemaker sort of exploded. I resigned to consisting off instant coffee while I live here. I try to buy fair-trade coffee, but there was no fair-trade instant coffee at Giant. So I did what I do when I'm not sure if the people that made the product I'm purchasing were paid a fair wage - I prayed for them.
• The coffee debacle reminded me yet again that I am addicted to caffeine. I filed it away in the "deal with later" part of my brain.
• I went to Borders to get caffeinated and peruse the shelves. One of my favorite activities. Didn't buy any books. Win!
• Got hit on by a very nice Hispanic man. But got annoyed when he wouldn't leave even after I told him I was married.
• Figured out that the clutter that surrounds me at the moment is depressing me and making me unproductive.
• Found out that Sadie didn't know how to make a sandwich until her Aunt Danielle showed her yesterday. 
• This doesn't pertain to just this day - but I've lost 8 pounds since I had my caloric revelation! Still need to blog about that at some point . . . 
• Sadie and I are going to be doing some volunteer work for Polaris Project by putting together party kits, gathering stuff that survivors need and participating in the DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk. Super stoked!
• Got an email about the India trip 2011. Feels real again!

Journey to India

Hi! Thanks for reading this! I'm going to try to keep it short. It will be the first of a LOT of notes/blogs/emails/letters I'll be writing regarding India. And it will hopefully cover all the basic stuff.

As you may have heard, I'm going to India!!

THIS summer, in fact.

I'll be leaving July 30th (a Friday) and I'll be coming back around Sunday, August 15th.

It is NOT a mission trip.

The organization I'm going with - Made By Survivors (also called The Emancipation Network) - is an anti-human trafficking organization. You can check out TEN and more about what human trafficking is at this site - http://www.madebysurvivors.com/.

Our basic agenda -

- We'll have breakfast and a planning meeting everyday at 8:30am.
- Next, we'll go in groups to visit different shelters each day. At the shelters we will interact with the kids there and "divide our undivided attention evenly among the kids". Each volunteer is responsible for putting together/bringing games, projects and other fun things to do with the children.
- At the end of each day we have some free time - keeping in mind that we want to get to bed early to be refreshed for the next day.

We'll be there for two weeks and during the weekend that falls in between those two weeks (which just happens to be my birthday weekend!) there is an optional vacation trip to Goa, India (a beachy resort type place).

The total cost for the trip will end up being somewhere between $3500 and $4000.

Ooh, that's where you come in (hopefully!).

I am going to attempt to raise at least the entire cost of my trip. Any extra money that I raise will go to The Emancipation Network. Last year, someone raised $10,000. And these funds are crucial to the existence of the amazing shelters they provide.

Incredibly, the morning after I found out I was going to India, I woke up to a text - dear friends/family pledging $500.

I was blown away.

I have this strong sense that this is a God thing and that God will provide completely for this trip. I'm excited to send out letters and emails and tell people about this journey. But, no worries if you can't help me out with the fundraising aspect. Can you pray? Even if you don't consider yourself a "religious" person (especially if you don't, actually). Because I'm willing to bet that prayer is probably more essential than money.

If you want to donate a financial gift, great! If you just got your taxes back, even better! ;) I'm in the process of setting up a PayPal button so you can donate a dollar (or more) with a couple clicks of your mouse. If you prefer to send a check, let me know so that I can email you my address.

I'll be sending letters/emails out in the next week or so. If you prefer one over the other, let me know.

Thanks again, for taking the time to read this. Your support means a great deal to me.

My Beautiful Challenge

This is big. This is real big. And I'm super psyched!

For the past couple weeks/months/years I've been toying with this idea that's been rolling around in my head. Forgive me if I've already mentioned this to you - I have a ridiculously bad memory when it comes to stuff like this.

Basically, I want to start some sort of organization to help victims of human trafficking. I'm thinking, like, real grass-rootsy. The main focus will be on rehabilitation - but we'll start small. A big house, people that have had to endure modern slavery can live there and our organization will help them figure out where to go from here. It'll be small enough that I can tailor the program to fit each person's unique needs. So, for example, one girl is a 18 year old from Ohio who just found out she's pregnant by her abusers. She can't go home for one reason or another. If she decides to keep the baby, she'll need Medicaid and prenatal care and counseling and a Drivers License and to be enrolled in a GED program so she can go on to college. Soon she'll need help finding childcare and money for school, etc, etc. Another girl is a 38 year old from Brazil. She needs a way to get back home - her kids, who are still in Brazil, were kidnapped by a trafficker. She probably needs counseling, too - but right now, what she really needs is a plane ticket and maybe some help in Brazil locating her babies.

This is what it looks like in my head. But, who knows how it will end up. All I know right now is that I have a deep sense that it's a God thing. A couple of weeks ago I was at church during service thinking about this beautiful challenge and my thoughts kept coming to Isaiah 61, I looked it up and what I read blew me away:


¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called mighty oaks,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

⁵ Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

⁶ And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

⁷ Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.

⁸ "For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.

⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed."

¹⁰ I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations. [TNIV from BibleGateway.com]

I've been praying and dreaming about a tangible way I can really dive in and help fight slavery and I think God is leading toward that. So, here we go! Phase 1 - The Research Phase. My friends: Jess H. and Priscilla and Mike immediately come to mind because their research skills absolutely dazzle me!

Ooh, speaking of amazingly wonderful people - We sang this song at church this weekend and I'd like to dedicate it to Andrea and Abi and Meghan and Amie and Jess and Jess and Priscilla because it makes me think of you guys and cry. :)

One last thing - calling all people serious about helping to build this dream. So be it!

Ron Soodalter and The Slave Next Door

I'm pushing it today. I just wrote a blog and now I'm starting another one. But this one will be short. And it's less of a blog and more of an invite.

Ron Soodalter, co-author with Kevin Bales of The Slave Next Door will be speaking on "Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today" and signing his book this Saturday [7/11] at Politics and Prose in DC.

I'm SUPER excited because I've driven by that little bookstore/coffeeshop a half a dozen times and always thought, 'Man, that really sounds like a place I'd like to go.' And now I have one of the best reasons ever!

I haven't read the book yet. I'm a little sad about that. But, I most definitely plan on it, and will review it as soon as I do.

You are SO welcome to come with me if you live around here [or are visiting, AMIE :)]. Just let me know.

The following video is a little bit about modern slavery from Kevin Bales.

Thanks for reading/watching my blog!

Untitled.

[The guy on the far right is Jermaine's cousin, and our new roomie. He's super fly.]

I wasn't planning on writing. I was planning on doing my homework, watching another crime show and trying to remember to wash my face and put the dishes in the dishwasher before I fell asleep.

But then, I had to go to the computer to email a professor, and, one thing led to another - the next thing I know . . . blog-be-done!

So here I am, cheating on my bed with my computer. This should be an interesting blog.

What's on my mind these days? Hmm, well, school just started. I'm trying not to fail. That's been fun.

I met this girl yesterday. I hope she doesn't mind making a cameo in my blog. She's a Christian sociology major passionate about fighting human trafficking. I felt like I was talking to myself! I wasn't, bytheway. We have three classes together, which is nice for a couple of reasons. First, I'm not used to having a comrade in the class, it's rather nice. Second, practically speaking, if one of us misses a class, the other has the notes.

In other news, I finally started writing a real live article! Who the heck knows if it's publishable but I'm doing it anyway. I have this long list topics that I would like to write about [everything from whether it's okay for Sadie's daddy to decide if she calls Jermaine "dad" to Fixed Hour Prayer to a book review on A Generous Orthodoxy [by Brian McClaren] or Ending Slavery [by Kevin Bales]. Things I would like to carry on about. I finally got around to delving into one [ooh, I should mention that the one I did decide to carry on about is not mentioned above].

I really like the word "delve". You probably knew that.

I'll keep you updated. If this blog is stained with tears in a couple of weeks you'll know I've submitted it to a publication and subsequently turned myself into a reject.

What else? What else? Ooh, there is some news in regards to the human trafficking front. The Cameo Girl and I spoke briefly about starting up some sort of group/club on campus. She's all about making prayer a big part of it. I can't deny how much of a God Thing this is. I've known about this call to help the slaves of the world for some time. And in the past couple months, God has been bombarding me with messages about the importance of prayer. CG [who, of course, has a real name although it's generally good to ask before throwing someone's name in some crazy blog] brought these two concepts together for me in a big way.

Cost of UMD education for an "out of state" student [don't get me started]: $$$$
Cost of meeting a kindred spirit and scaring her away by going on and on about her in your personal blog: Priceless

Good times.

Sadie and I have been reading The Tale of Despereaux chapter by chapter every night before bedtime. I personally believe that it should be entitled The Tail of Despereaux. But I'm just a crazy wordplay fool.

Oh! Goodness. I almost forgot the big news. Er, well, it's big to me. It might just be egg-sized to you - we moved!

It's really a very touching story. Full of deceit and coming clean and God goodness. I'm learning that my natural self is really quite deceitful. I have to work hard to be honest. Lying comes oh-so easily.

I'll give you the short version [to spare you [and me a little bit]. We found an apartment and were supposed to move in last month. But we had to lie on the application to get the place. Jermaine's cousin was going to be living with us and we didn't put him on the lease. Plus, we lied about our puppy. Worst of all, Sadie caught me in both of those lies while we were in the leasing office. She politely but firmly demanded an explanation.

This all went down in December. Because that time of year is so busy I was able to push it to the back of my mind. It didn't feel quite right, but I chalked [sp?] it up to the nervousness of moving and the stress from the holidays.

But then, enter the prayer room. And God was like up in my face saying, "This is wrong and you know it." Youch.

I remember talking it over with a close friend of mine. I said, "I'm scared to back out of the lease. We would only have a month to find a new place. But I can't help but think, you know, what if God has something way better planned for us but if we go ahead with this and move into that lie we'll never know about it?"

So, I'm like prophetic, or something. Or God is amazingly wonderful.

Probably the latter.

Because that's exactly what happened. And it happened so fast. Not one week after backing out of the first lease did we sign for the new place. And it is wonderful. It has a washer and a dryer. It has a thermostat [I won't get into what the old place had - but it wasn't pretty]. It has a little sprayer hose thing on the kitchen sink [novel for sure but sweet nonetheless]. And we got cable. Which, you know, may induce nothing but guilt for me as I ponder how many hours I will spend and have spent watching CSI: NY, but still, enjoyable nonetheless. And, I didn't know the new Real World had eight housemates. That's monumental.

Now, I generally don't cling to the belief that more stuff equals Good [I loathe the prosperity gospel]. And I don't think that this kind of living is the end all be all of the plans the Lord has for our lives. But I feel God's blessing on us. And I'm grateful. Even if it's just for a moment in time.

Ugh. This blog has become so long. And I have more to say!

But I can't do it. For my sake and for yours. Thank you for letting me share.

I am so not doing the dishes tonight . . .

Lazy Saturday Blog

"I write to find out what I'm thinking about." - Edward Albee

I've kept a quote book since I was about 14 or 15. I don't really add much to it anymore. It contains mostly phrases that struck me hard when I a sweet [and silly], naive teenage girl. Quotes like:

"I shall have more to say when I am dead." - Edwin Arlington Robinson from the poem "John Brown"

"The more particular, the more specific you are, the more universal you are." - Nancy Hale

"I don't want to be normal like you." - Everclear

"Violence s something only for people who have run out of good ideas." - Doug in Doug: The Movie

These were the words that shaped my formative years. Wait . . . are your teenage years the "formative" years? Well, whatever. You know what I mean.

That first quote has always rang so true for me. Like today. I have no idea what this blog is going to be about [even though I'm halfway through]. I just started it to see what was going to happen.

It's been a long time. I never blogged about the wedding. I'm sorry. It was simply fabulous. If you weren't there you missed something amazing. If you were there you are probably a little bit ticked at me right now because I have yet to write one thank you card.

All in good time. All in good time.

I'm feeling very speculative today. I was just reading Ending Slavery by Kevin Bales, so that may be why. I read and I think, what can I do? I want to do something! I'm not a teacher. I'm not a doctor or a nurse. I'm not a psychologist. I'm not a lawyer. I am certainly not a musician. These professions are so needed in the abolitionist movement and I am not gifted in any of these areas. What the flip can I do?

Today it hit me. In a still small whisper like a ton of bricks, "A voice." I'm a voice.

I guess I've known this for quite some time. Perhaps it seems like I'm all over the board. I certainly want to be and do a lot of things. But I am clear in my gifts. I'm a writer, a reader, a speaker and a salesman. And I make a great first impression [most of the time]. I think God is all about using the gifts I do have [and the nagging annoying passionate nature I possess] in the fight against human trafficking. And I'm excited.

Man, this week has been a whirlwind [is that one word or is it hyphenated?].

I quit my job at Red Robin. And I started a new job as an At Home Consultant with The Body Shop [think girlie stuff for nature-loving hippies]. Right now it's all about building up my business and dealing with rejection because, you know, everyone hates a salesman [sorry to be so gender-specific but "salesperson" and "saleswoman" are just too long].

It's cool though. Many things I love put me in line for rejection [Jesus, acting, sales, writing, public-speaking]. I really should get over it. I think that it may be one of those life lessons God is teaching me about right now [at such a time as this].

This week has been full of second guessing myself, depression, thanking God and feeling blessed. It's had extreme highs and lows. I'm over the lows [at the moment]. Yesterday was a high and I wanted to share.

My friend Valerie had a GNO [Girls Night Out - a Body Shop party] for me to help me get my business started. We prepped all day. We bought fantastic food from Trader Joe's and denied ourselves food [because we were so wrapped up in preparing we forgot to eat]. We bonded and giggled and made stupid jokes. We rushed and ran and hurried. The excitement is the best part. We finally finished just as the clock struck 7pm. Our first guest arrived! I was excited and nervous - only a few more minutes and then . . .

. . . no one else came. WTF? She was bummed. And pissed. And she's got a bit of a temper. In the training videos I was told that if I didn't care [that not a lot of people showed up] then the host would be put at ease. And honestly, I didn't care. The friend that had arrived was really chill and I was having fun with them. I just like people.

But, I was pissed for her. Because ten or so people had RSVPed that day and said they would be there. How rude! [a la Stephanie Tanner].

Finally, we were like, "Screw them, let's pamper our feet." It was a foot spa party, by the way. And so, I began and the mood lightened. The spas are really nice and you can't help but relax whilst soaking aching toes.

I had just finished my shpeel and was about to move on to the body butter portion of the evening when lo and behold, another guest showed up.

And then another.

And then two more.

Yeehaw!

Now, I feel compelled to add that one of the guests was a boy [her brother, in fact]. I add this because he absolutely made my night. He was all about a foot spa! Loooved it.

The evening ending up being filled with more giggles and guffaws then the day leading up to it had held. It turned out to be a fabulous debut for me and a welcome treat for everyone involved. I mean, I think, at least. They seemed to like it. I didn't go around asking people if it had been a treat or anything. Whateve.

The point is it was goood. It was real good.

So I know I have written far too much. I only have one more thing to add: I might be going on a pilgrimage [another one of those sacred disciplines] with an amazing group of girls whom I am blessed to have as friends! Sweet, right?

Yeehaw. Praise Jesus.

Prayer of an Abolitionist

So, apparently country songs make me cry. Even the stupid ones. I had no idea.

I used to listen to country music all the time [I am from Greene County, VA]. But, when I fell in love with hip-hop [and yes, it was a love affair] I sort of blew off country. Part of that had to do with my obsession with being cool [country music is so last decade].

Anyhoo. Recently, I figured out that I am, in fact, not very cool at all [I'm hot, tho . . .] One cannot be cool and write words like "anyhoo" and "backside" with a straight face.

Whilst I adjust to this new realization I have decided to give country another go-round. And what do you know? I can barely get through one song without bawling my eyes out.

That is so not cool.

Anyhoo.

Last week while I was in Charlotte my friend, Amie, lent me a book about spiritual disciplines entitled The Sacred Way by Tony Jones. Today I tried one out.

I've read through about 5 of them [there are 16 in the book]. I've read through Silence and Solitude, Sacred Reading, The Jesus Prayer, Centering Prayer and Meditation. I chose to practice Sacred Reading for my first venture into the world of spiritual disciplines. I had no intention of blogging about it before hand [hello? I'm getting married in like 2 1/2 weeks, what else would I talk about?]. But, the events that unfolded in my quiet time lent themselves to a blog.

There are 4 parts to Sacred Reading [also known as Lectio Divina]: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation. I chose Psalm 90 because I had marked it as my favorite psalm some time ago [and then all but forgot about it]. I read out of The Message [as suggested by Mr. Jones [he also recommended the New Jerusalem Bible, but I didn't have that].

This is the text I read:

A PRAYER OF MOSES, MAN OF GOD

1-2 God, it seems you've been our home forever;
long before the mountains were born,
Long before you brought earth itself to birth,
from "once upon a time" to "kingdom come"—you are God.

3-11 So don't return us to mud, saying,
"Back to where you came from!"
Patience! You've got all the time in the world—whether
a thousand years or a day, it's all the same to you.
Are we no more to you than a wispy dream,
no more than a blade of grass
That springs up gloriously with the rising sun
and is cut down without a second thought?
Your anger is far and away too much for us;
we're at the end of our rope.
You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed
since we were children is entered in your books.
All we can remember is that frown on your face.
Is that all we're ever going to get?
We live for seventy years or so
(with luck we might make it to eighty),
And what do we have to show for it? Trouble.
Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard.
Who can make sense of such rage,
such anger against the very ones who fear you?

12-17 Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!
Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—
and treat your servants with kindness for a change.
Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we'll skip and dance all the day long.
Make up for the bad times with some good times;
we've seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
Let your servants see what you're best at—
the ways you rule and bless your children.
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

I read it over and over. There were parts that brought tears to my eyes. "Surprise us with love at daybreak" stood out to me. As did, "We've seen enough evil to last a lifetime." It was so sad. I couldn't figure out why I had been so struck by this passage as to dub it "my favorite." I thought about my dad. I thought about Darfur and human trafficking. I praised God for the blessings in my life.

As I read and re-read the text I thought about Moses. He was scolding our Creator. That went against everything I had been taught. And yet, here it was, in the Bible. It appeared to be coming from a place of desperation. I thought about the International Justice Mission and the people of the Polaris Project and Night Light. The scripture seemed to be a prayer of an abolitionist.

OMG.

Moses. Moses was the abolitionist. I began to weep. I want to say I stayed there to savor the moment, to soak in this knowledge I'd been blessed with. I didn't. I mean, I did for a minute. But I was just so excited.

I asked God if I could blog this experience. I believe He gave me His blessing.

I want to be an abolitionist when I grow up. I hope I grow up soon.

Slavery Still Exists.

I have been putting off writing this blog for a while.

It's so serious.

It's so big.

It's so real.

But honestly, these excuses are lame. So let's get to it.

If you know me only from reading my blogs then you might believe that I possess an ability to make people laugh. I don't [except my best friend, Andrea and my daughter, Sadie - but in all fairness they laugh at everything]. In fact, close friends and family consider me to be more serious than most.

I usually try not to transfer my austere nature to my blogs [partly because it doesn't translate well - I end up coming off like a saleslady]. But I suppose for this entry it will prove itself useful.

Back to the point at hand. If you were not aware that slavery didn't end when it was legally abolished then I want you to take a moment a soak in this horrible truth.

Beat.

Modern slavery is not the same beast that the abolitionists of the 19th century worked so fervently to end. The concept of slavery has evolved into something arguably worse.

I've known about sex trafficking for a couple years now. I don't remember how I came across it. But just before I moved to Maryland I stumbled upon a website called madebysurvivors.com. Survivors of what? I pondered. I did a bit of menial research and discovered that there were women and children all over the world who were being forced into prostitution and captivity. I was horrified by this new information but unsure as to how to help. I was a single mom with almost no money and even less time. What could I do? After a bit of contemplation, I decided to buy this bag from the website [pictured just below]. It was win-win. I was doing my small part. And I got lots of compliments on the pack [I loved it because it made me feel like a more legitimate tree-hugger [and I have to say, two years later it has held up fabulously [and I am particularly rough on purses] - but here I am morphing into a salesman]]. I left the problem in my head but pushed it to the back of my mind.

That all changed last semester. I was assigned to write a 20 page paper in my Social Problems and Issues Class on a topic of my choice. Guess which one I chose?

Alas, I seriously underestimated the scope of my task.

First of all, I discovered that though sex trafficking was prevalent and terrible it was not the only form of slavery in existence today. There was debt bondage, also known as bonded labor. For example, let's say your great-grandfather needed an extra bit of cash to cover his expenses for a particular month. An acquaintance offered to loan him $100 [or less, or more - whatever he needed]. In exchange your great-grandfather and his family would come and work in the acquaintance's rice factory until the debt had been repaid. Fast forward 50 years. You have never experienced a world outside of the rice mill. You are 17 and have been doing back-breaking manual labor since you were four years old. Still, somehow the debt has not decreased. In fact the man who runs the mill [the acquaintance's grandson] just informed your father that since he has had to provide food and shelter to your entire family for so many years the debt has doubled.

This concept seemed outlandish to me, but it is reality for millions.

If you watched Blood Diamond then you are aware of the concept of child soldiers. But perhaps you did not know that it is still a terrible reality in the world today. I posted a video about the crisis on this blog. It is a trailer of a documentary called Invisible Children. I've never done that before [posted a video] and so I don't know exactly how it will turn out [or where]. Let's find out together[it ended up near the beginning of the blog as it turns out]. It explains the situation better than I could. The documentary itself was put together by three boys in their 20s. Passionate, adventurous spirits led them to travel to Sudan directly after graduation. They weren't prepared for what they were about to witness. I haven't seen the documentary [I read about it in the book Not For Sale by David Batstone] but I plan to.

27 million people today are enslaved. Tens of thousands of those people are being held captive in America. I didn't want this blog to be about statistics, but I find these facts shocking.

Sometimes I can't sleep. I cried for days while researching information for my report last semester. I felt guilty experiencing joy while people suffered so tragically. They didn't get a break, I reasoned. How could I?

Eventually I concluded that constant worry wasn't the answer. I have opted in a new direction. I hope that someday soon I will have the opportunity to volunteer for a company like the International Justice Mission or The Polaris Project. Until then I'll research and use my voice, my blog and MySpace.

One more thing [shifting...shifting...Ok! - Saleslady Mode]. A guy named Joe Mettimano works for a company called World Vision. He and his team are currently working on a campaign called the "Children Should Never Be Soldiers" petition. They are trying to get a million signatures and when they do they will submit it to the U.S. president, the Congress and the United Nations urging them to take meaningful political action. I went to sign the declaration online and was surprised that they currently have less than 50,000. Come on. We can do better than that.

Thank you for reading this. I would love for you to comment.

This blog took more than 3 hours. My daughter is hungry and probably feeling a bit neglected [I can't concentrate on this, peel her orange and discuss the pros and cons of the latest episode of Larry Boy [but after brushing her off by saying "not now" for the eighteenth time I finally did explain what I was writing - she agreed that it was very important]. I better go tend to her.

I don't feel like I said everything I wanted to say. I would like to discuss sex trafficking more and talk a little bit about why slavery is so rampant today. Another blog. Another day.