In Real Life

I'm finally laying my Keurig to rest... and they're sending me a new one for free!

Today, I'm going to be a little more narrowly focused. Because some stuff is riding on my heart, and I want to let it loose in these five minutes. Because I hope that at least someone will read these words and let them ride on their own heart.

In real life, people are hurting. We lose jobs, face death, have bad days, and get bad grades. We hurt.

In real life, those who are hurting simply long for someone to care. Someone to listen as we ramble on about how lame our boss is, how illogical our school is, or how we're having a bad hair day.

In real life, people don't just want you to build relationships with them so that anything. I'm learning right now to build relationships so that I can evangelize. Except I'm not sure about that premise.

Because in real life, people want relationships simply because of the fact that they care about someone. Not because the relationship is the means to an end. Even if it is an end as glorious as knowing and loving God.

I want to love people and build relationships with them because I care about them and do genuinely love them. Because that's how real life works. Not because the newest evangelistic "strategy" tells me that the only "effective" way to reach people is to love them (and if by "reach," you mean bring them to church to increase attendance numbers).

In real life, it just doesn't work that way.

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Today's post was a part of The Gypsy Mama's Five Minute Friday.

Story Time!

Blogging instead of doing homework... Uh oh. I might have a problem here...

I have a pretty sweet story I want to tell you guys.

It happened just last week, actually.

Except it was in the middle of the night. Sort of. Like, halfway.

The first part of the story did happen at night. 12:30 AM, to be exact. And though my wife definitely has a different perspective on what happened that night, I couldn't pay her to post on here, so you're stuck with me.

About a week ago, I woke up randomly in the middle of the night. For starters, I wasn't sleeping well that night (which happens sometimes, especially when I get frustrated with my oxygen tubes). As I woke up, I heard something, like a hammer. I figured it was some construction down the street, so I ignored it and tried my best to fall asleep.

And then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the hammer landed. On our bedroom window.

Okay, okay. So this is this story could go two ways at this point:

A: The hammer landed, our window shattered, and I had to take down some stupid burglars who actually thought we had something worth stealing.

or

B: It was our neighbor, knocking profusely on our window. Nothing broke, and I still didn't move.

I'd like to think that the truth lies somewhere in between, but we both know that isn't true.

So, eventually, because I was lifeless, my wonderful wife got up and answered our door for whoever was knocking (the "hammer" I heard "down the street"). Meanwhile, I'm still lying motionless in our bed, because that's what I do when I'm tired, ya know? (I know - "Lamest Husband Ever" award right here). 

Turns out that maintenance thinks our bathroom is flooded because there is a leak downstairs in our neighbor's apartment. They intrude and investigate, making all kinds of noise and turning on all kinds of light, just to leave without telling us anything (or shutting off any lights). Turns out our bathroom was as dry as the Sahara, which apparently was disappointing to them.


What I didn't know was that this was a sign of things to come...

The next day, we both woke up a little irritated that we had lost sleep, but we managed. My wife went to wash her hands (or something like that), and all of a sudden, I hear some yelling that I figure is directed toward me...

We had no water.

Well, poop. I mean, well... let's not even go there.

So, to make a long story short, we went without running water for the day. It reminded me faintly of Sierra Leone, except for the part where I could walk down the street and take a shower in the dorms if I wanted to.

Mostly, though, it reminded me of how a lot of people have to live. Many, many people in the world don't even have access to clean water, let alone clean water that runs. 884 million people, to be exact.

So, because I spent a day without water, I want to plug one of my favorite charities (I know, it's so logical, right?): Active Water.

I won't drone on about the awesome work that they do, because I want you to check it out for yourself. But I am writing this so that you'll remember them next time you're looking for a way to make a difference in this world.

Question: Your turn! What's an organization you're aware of that does work worth investing in?

Traveling Thoughts

Couldn't ask for better weather outside. Enjoying this while it lasts!

Alrighty, fellow Bucketeers, here's the deal.

Darci, over at Page Traveler Tales, rented out her blog space to me for the day... for free!

Wasn't that nice of her?

So hop on over there to check out a special guest post I wrote for her and to see all of the other stuff she's written as well! Don't leave me hanging!

K.I.S.S, Part Dos

I saw The Dark Knight for about the 100th time yesterday, and I still love that movie.

Ah, it's one of those days. A Monday that's disguised as a Tuesday. Tricky, tricky stuff.

On account of this, I want to keep today's post short, simple, and sweet.

First of all, I'd love it if you checked out yesterday's post because I forgot it was Labor Day and didn't just post something that said, "Happy Labor Day - I'm too lazy to blog!"

Secondly, since we all know that today is really Monday, I want to present you with our second edition of...

Keep it Simple, Stupid.

(No worries - "Stupid" here refers to me, mostly.)

So, just like last time, this post is easy. Easy for you. Easy for me.

Just one question for you to consider today:

What worries you most in life and why?

That's it. Simple as that.

Think, reflect, answer.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

On Being Fair

I was just thinking about Daylight Savings Time yesterday and how much I loathe it...

A few days ago, my wonderful wife went to the laundromat. She's a brave soul, to say the least. I guess she doesn't want us smelling like skunks at school, though, so it makes sense. And because she was busy making sure nobody stole our clothes, I was left alone to run some errands.

The first thing you need to know in this situation is that the idea of me "running errands" (a.k.a. going to the store) is a terrible idea. I don't know my right from my left at the store. My wife does all of the shopping and does a mighty fine job at it. Why mess with a good thing?

In this case, though, desperate times called for desperate measures. You see, I ran out of coffee Friday morning. And although my wonderful wife brought me a cup from the Kwikshop down the street, that wasn't going to cut it past that morning. I can't help it - I tend to be a coffee snob most days.

So I braved the journey to Dillon's, where I proceeded to walk to the wrong end of the store for the coffee. After finding my way back to the aisle of liquid gold, I started searching high and low. For what? you might be asking. Well, you see, coffee buying is an art. It takes time, precision, a good eye, and patience. Okay, so maybe it's not that difficult - I just make it that hard.

Seriously, though, I did have to look pretty hard for some coffee that I could purchase. You see, Goal #62 on my 111 in 2011 demands that I look high and low: I'm only supposed to buy Fair Trade coffee this year.

So what's the big deal with Fair Trade? Well, think of it this way...

I have something I want to sell that I've hand-crafted. Let's say I built a time machine and I'm trying to sell it (YES!). I search high and low for people to buy my time machine, and since I'm ignorant of the market for such things, I latch on to the first buyer I can find. The company offers me what seems like a pretty fair price, so I take it, happy to have made a few dollars so I can feed my family.

In the process, I think this whole time machine business might actually be viable, so I decide to build another. Except it seems like, oddly enough, that I have even less money than I did before after I finish building my second time machine. Something isn't quite adding up here...

But I sell the second one to the first buyer because, once again, I need to feed my family. And again, I go to build another time machine with even less money.

So maybe the time machine example is a bit outrageous. But you get the point. If I build time machines, but have no way to know how much they're selling for, I have no leverage. And frankly, putting food on the table for my family is much more important to me than anything else, so I'll take any offer I can get for those things. People can take advantage of my family and me without me ever knowing.

This is where Fair Trade comes into the mix. If I decided to begin participating in Fair Trade time machine building, I would be given a reasonable, sustainable offer on the work that I do. There's a global standard set so that people can't rip me off. This allows my business to become more sustainable while allowing me to feed my family. Heck, this might even let me send one of my kids to school this year instead of staying home to help out with those wretched machines!

Per the Fair Trade USA website:

Most small-scale coffee farmers live in remote locations and typically have no access to the world market, nor knowledge of trends in their industry. Farmers often sell their coffee at a fraction of its worth, which leaves them unable to invest in sustainable farming methods and forces them to lean heavily on their own children of help. When children are required to work, instead of going to school, the cycle of poverty perpetuates.

Now I realize that counter-arguments exist. And I don't have answers for all of them. But here's what I do know:

• I'm one the richest people in the world.

• With great power, comes great responsibility.

• Thus, I must consciously choose to be responsible with every dollar I spend, because every dollar is a vote for something. If I am lax in my responsibility as someone with such great power in this world, somebody will be impacted, and most likely not for the positive.

My line of reasoning may seem futile to some, but I believe that true change begins with one person. If I, as on person, choose to vote with every dollar that I spend, instead of passively spending and hoping everything turns out alright, change will eventually come. I believe that choosing to spend my money responsibly is better than choosing to ignore my responsibility. Especially as someone whose belief system says to care for the poor and the oppressed.

Now I'm not really one to beg, but I'd ask you to at least consider what I'm talking about here. Consider what you're voting for with every dollar you spend. Consider the impact of your spending habits. Consider the fact that you could effect positive change in the lives of others simply by being more aware of the products you choose to buy.

Here are a couple of resources to help you in this:
Better World Shopper 
Fair Trade USA 

Question(s): What do you think about the idea that every dollar you spend is a vote? Have you ever considered responsibility in your spending habits? What's something tangible that you can do this month to spend your money more responsibly?