Brew Some Good!

I’m not much of a coffee fan. I blame it on my fifth grade Spanish teacher. But we’ll save my emotionally scarring stories for another day

So, yeah…I may not like coffee, but I know most of you do! Which is why I want to share a very cool way you can combine your coffeenerdness with a dose of charity.

Let me introduce to you Land of a 1000 Hills Coffee. Their motto is “Drink Coffee. Do Good.” Here is their story in their own words:

When Jonathan Golden learned that the 1994 genocide in Rwanda devastated the coffee growing community, he purchased a roaster and a few bags of green coffee beans, and launched a new coffee experience grounded in coffee, community, and justice.

By paying coffee growers in Rwanda a fair, Living Wage and supporting community projects, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee invests up to $3 per bag into the Rwandan economy. Engaging redemption through coffee, Rwandan farming communities are becoming a vibrant picture of opportunity and sustainability. Today, Rwanda harvests only premium quality arabica bourbon specialty coffee beans, grown at high altitudes in rich volcanic soil.

The Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa farmers are no longer defined by genocide. Instead, they show incredible displays of reconciliation and forgiveness as they work side by side to produce a commodity of hope that continues to break the chains by which they were once bound. Here, across the world, you can bless them just by drinking a cup of Land of a Thousand Hills coffee.

Every bag purchased provides a rural farmer with a proper Living Wage and the dignity and self respect that comes from providing for oneself. In 2004, Land of a Thousand Hills committed to paying at minimum of $1.26 per lb. to the grower for their finest coffee, more than three times the unjust 40 cents often paid by other coffee companies. Currently, the growers are consistently paid an average of $1.86 per lb. Land of a Thousand Hills also invests one dollar per 12 oz. bag sold to fund micro-finance programs that help Rwandans start small businesses.

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

Very cool stuff. Check out their website (it’s changing in the next week or two) and try a bag or two of their coffee. I’ve heard it’s really good and you’ll be helping folks out in the process. All in all, a great way to Become Last.

A Secret No Longer

I’ve mentioned before how this blog has begun to change the way I see the world. This past week has highlighted another ugly aspect of our humanity that has been operating in the dark for too long. As you’ll read in this story, there was a five year-old little girl named Shaniya who went missing last week. People from all over North Carolina were alerted to watch out for her.

Unfortunately, Shaniya was not just lost. She had been given over to a horrible and growing problem, human trafficking. Her body was found this week and it turns out they have arrested her mother whom police believe offered her for prostitution. And she’s not alone. According to the article:

Kinnaird said if Shaniya was involved in a sex trafficking plot, she is among other victims in the state. “Many of them are Asian women and children. Many of them are Hispanic women and children. But as we saw to our horror (possibly with Shaniya), they are now homegrown, and may have been all along,” she said. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, roughly 17,500 people are trafficked in the United States annually. Victims are forced into sex and slave labor.

I’ve just begun to read up on this topic so I know very little about the extent of this kind of stuff worldwide. It’s one of those things that you know goes on, but we just become accustomed to sweeping it into a corner of our mind. It’s like when you clean your room as a kid, you just throw it all under your bed and it won’t bother you there. But this stuff is real and it breaks my heart that little children are sold or taken into slavery or for sex on a daily basis. Can you imagine how scared, lonely, and broken these children must feel?

If you want to read more, I’ve begun looking at this website. I’m sure there are others if you google or bing them. That’s just the first one I came upon.

I hope you’ll take time today to read a little on human trafficking and at the least, say a prayer for the kids who are suffering as we speak.

Toddlerific!

Yesterday, I shared some questions I think we should all ask ourselves as parents. It always helps me to take a step back from parenting and examine my heart and my motives in how I parent. Today, I wanted to share with you a “proud dad” moment.

Every once in a while, he gets in these daddy’s boy moods. He’ll copy everything I do, he’ll beg me to play with him, and he’ll go out of his way to be extremely well behaved. Well, yesterday, my son grabs my finger and guides me into his little play area. He’s got about 30 matchbox cars, cars from Cars, monster trucks, and various other cars (do you see a theme?) all lined up in a row. He loves to do that for some reason! Right now, they are across our whole den (my wife calls it a living room, but it’s a den) floor!

He sits me down and we have this conversation:

E: Let’s play cars together daddy!

Me: Yeah, that’d be fun!

E: O.K. Yay!

Me: Which car can I play with?

E: Ummm…(you can see the wheels turning in his head…he scans over the cars and he lands on one in particular). Daddy can play with this one!

It may not sound like much of a conversation, but my little boy had just made a very selfless, generous decision. He gave me his much beloved Lightning McQueen car. Even better, it was an intentional decision. I love that and it was such a sweet moment to see my little guy sacrifice a little something for his daddy.

I wish it were that easy for me to give in real life. I cling to stuff so tight. Don’t get me wrong. I give here and there, but I give my leftovers. I give what I can afford to lose. My little guy – he gave his treasure. What a great lesson I learned, but such a difficult one to apply.

Have a great weekend!

Humility as a Parent

Parenting requires a great deal of sacrifice. You pour a great deal of time, money, and effort into raising your children. Not many things could more accurately portray Becoming Last. My little guy is certainly worth it and I’m sure you’d say the same about your kids. But sometimes I find myself forgetting that it’s not beneath me to serve him too. Experts normally say that people best learn when their leaders lead by example. So here’s some questions to ask to see if you are Becoming Last as a parent. Disclaimer: I am not a parenting expert. I just love my kid and have some observations about my own tendencies.

1. If your child acts out in public, are you consistent with your discipline or do they get the “extra upset” version because you are embarrassed?
2. When they directly defy you do you care more about their development than your pride?
3. Are you consistent with discipline no matter your attitude, sleep deprivation level, or crazy long day?
4. Do you work hard at praising your kids for jobs well done?
5. How many times do you say, “I love you!”?
6. Do you give them grace occasionally?
7. Do you practice what you preach (cleaning up after yourself, washing your hands, saying “please”, etc.)?
8. Are you willing to say “I’m sorry” when your voice is too loud or you react a little stronger than you should have?

Just a short list today. I think in parenting we (read “I”) can sometimes become domineering. Certainly, we are the adults and they should listen, but I know I can also practice humility and a servant attitude towards my son.

So, for you parents out there today, how can you Become Last?

Quote of the Day

Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve :
to give, and not to count the cost,
to fight, and not to heed the wounds,
to toil, and not to seek for rest,
to labor, and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do your will.

— Ignatius of Loyola

Sometimes A Picture Says It Best

Always Remember the Least of These…

 

This post is part of the One Word at a Time blog carnival hosted by a blogging buddy. This week’s theme is Remember. Check out the rest of the posts here.

Lessons From a Party – Part 2 – Using Your Talents for Others

You may have noticed my last post on Wednesday promised another post to follow by the next day. Yeah…that didn’t happen. I love posting, but seeing as how I don’t get paid for this, don’t go to school for this, it takes away from my family, and my free time is rare it can sometimes take me a few days to post. Enough excuses, my apologies for the delay. I know at least one person (me) missed it. I enjoy encouraging and being encouraged by those who read, comment, tweet, and email.

In the previous post, I briefly mentioned my birthday party included a guest, my dad and stepmom’s new neighbor Blair. Some people would think imagine a dinner with someone new to be an awkward affair. On the contrary, my family could make friends with a light post. I love that about them. Blair was also quite friendly as she shared parts of her story and brought over gifts to share with us.

These gifts were nothing lame. They were handcrafted, designer soaps she makes from her home. She gave samples away to each family and seriously, I know I’m a man and all, but these soaps were pretty neat. They came in all sorts of shapes: Lego’s, turtles, exploding frogs, sea sponges, pies. It was actually another superb demonstration of someone who is immensely more creative than I am or ever will be. I’m always intrigued at the stuff people come up with.

But here’s the Becoming Last part. Soap making is a part-time job for Blair. She spends many hours crafting these designs and she would have every right to enjoy all the proceeds from her endeavor. However, she gives a substantial portion of her proceeds to SafeHaven, a no kill shelter in Raleigh, North Carolina. I think that’s awesome.

This is no pet cause either (pun most definitely intended). She has two dogs and a cat at home. She loves animals and she talked passionately about loving them and the reasons why she loves SafeHaven.

I’m impressed she would give so much of her time to a job and then give the money away. I’ll readily admit if I had a talent like that and spent a great deal of time crafting soaps that I would be hesitant to give away the profit. It’s not that she’s a millionaire either. She simply cares enough about something other than herself to be willing to give away her time and money. Very cool.

So for you and I, what can we learn from this? Quite a bit, but let’s just elaborate with one semi-cliche point: We can all make a difference. Seriously. How many times have you thought to yourself, “I’d love to help, but I’m not sure how”? I know I’ve looked at folks with lots of money and wished I’ve had that to give away. We’ve all seen bikers or runners who ride or run for a good cause. Well, why can’t we use our talents to give back to others? Blair is good at making soaps. There are no soap making marathons (maybe she can start that!) so she chose to make and sell soaps for SafeHaven.

I can’t say what this looks like for everyone. We’re all different. We’ve got unique talents. My encouragement is not to sell yourself short. Don’t think you can’t make a difference. I’ve said that before, but it’s always good to be reminded.

If you’d like to check out Blair’s soaps, her business is called Good Karma Soaps. It’s worth checking out just to see all the fun soap designs she has created!

Lessons From a Party – Part 1 – Learning to be Open

I recently celebrated another birthday. Let’s just say I’m approaching 30…yikes. We celebrate birthdays in my family by having a dinner over at my dad’s house. We really use any excuse we can find to fire up the grill and make a big meal.

The party was great, but the best part was the two lessons I learned while I was there. You see, I’m starting to have “Becoming Last” vision. Have you ever been passionate about something to where you start seeing it everywhere? For example, when you are engaged, you find any way to work your fiance into the conversation. I guess politics would be a good example too. If you are really passionate about a certain position, you tend to listen and see things through that lens. Well, I’m starting to see things through the Becoming Last lens. I love catching people in the act of Becoming Last and learning new ideas from them.

That night, I was taught two very important lessons. I’ll share the first one now and the second one later today or tomorrow.

Even now, I’m not even sure how to phrase the first lesson I learned. We’ll call it: Learning to be Open. Most of us probably imagine ourselves as rather friendly people, but I’ll be the first to admit that my schedule does not leave much wiggle room for letting others into my family’s world. As fast paced and as busy as our lives are these days, unless you make an intentional effort to build relationships with people it is unlikely to happen. So as we seek to love people the way God loves them we should not wait for some mystical, magical moment, but we should make the practical step of sharing our time and our family with them.

My dad and my step-mom Dee are exceptional at this. They constantly invite new people to join our family events. And these are not “important” people as the world would see them. They aren’t inviting people over to gain an edge or get ahead. Over the past few years, I’ve seen them befriend people who have just moved to America, just moved in their neighborhood, or are going through a significantly difficult time in their lives.

At the party, they had invited their new neighbor over for dinner. She was so appreciative and even brought over some gifts to show her appreciation! It was the neighbor who actually taught me the second lesson, but you’ll have to wait for that!

So I’m going to challenge us to learn to be open. Can we share a family dinner with someone this week? Could we plan ahead and invite someone next week? Who are the new, hurting, lonely, or needy that we could befriend?

I know this will take building some margin into my life, but I believe God wants my life to be more of a blank slate than what it is currently. What if I stopped planning so much and gave God the opportunity to create the story he wants with my family?

Thanks dad and Dee for teaching us to be open. Who can you be open toward this week?

Dirty Water

This photo was taken by charity:water in central Africa. Photos like this always floor me. I can’t imagine filling up my Nalgene bottle with this water or serving it to my son to drink with his dinner. It baffles me that people live in conditions like this. Children drink that water filth.

That’s why simple things, like clicking a SocialVibe widget (on your right), matter. Sure, there is more to do, but our little clicks are more significant that we understand.

Helping charity:water

Congratulations! With your help, Vitamin Angels reached its SocialVibe goal! Becoming Last readers clicked their way to giving over 28,000 days worth of Vitamin A. Those are real lives that you impacted. Awesome job!

Now, we have a new charity to help. Let me introduce you to charity:water. Here is how they describe themselves:

charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. We give 100% of the money raised to direct project costs, funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need. Just $20 can give one person in a developing nation clean water for 20 years.

Right now, 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us.

These folks are top notch. Everything they do, they do well. And they are doing terrific work in the places with the greatest need.

For those of you new to Becoming Last, I’m not asking for money. Just ten seconds of your time, once a day. That’s all it takes to help. To learn more about charity:water, watch this video. To learn how to help, scroll past it, and I’ll explain. Trust me, it’s easy!

How to help:

1. Visit Becoming Last once a day.
2. Click on the SocialVibe charity:water widget to your right.
3. The sponsor donating money for each click is Colgate. You’ll see a screen that says, “Create Your Smile Story”. All you have to do is click “submit”.
4. Then click “Send it” and you are done! You can leave me a little message on the last screen if you want, but that’s optional!

With three clicks of your mouse, you will help donate what equates to 146 gallons of drinking water! Wow. Too easy.

Thank you for all the help!

How can you Become Last today? (hint: 3 clicks = 146 gallons of drinking water!)