Always good to have some perspective!
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Filed under: Random, Reflection, Videos
December 17, 2008 • 5:00 pm 2
Gifts that Give Back
Still haven’t finished the holiday shopping? Me neither…
This year, however, Michelle and I were influenced by the Advent Conspiracy challenge and decided to forego gifts for each other and instead put that money towards helping others. We opted to purchase feed bags for each other that essentially will feed a child for a year, you can see’em here.
While that has been exciting for us – we still have been struggling with the consumer side of things while purchasing gifts for the rest of the fam…and then I remembered…
Over the last year or so I have been dumping sites where you can buy stuff, in this case gifts, that not only are practical presents but through which your money actually goes to benefit people. I know…what a novel idea!
So…I figured that if you haven’t finished your shopping you might be able to grab a couple of last second presents from these sites while helping people through your purchases – it’s actually a pretty great feeling!!! Already bought some pajama gifts!!!
Anyway…take a looksee:
Punjammies – Punjammies are adorable sari-inspired pajamas. Each Punjammi is created in an after-care facility for women who have been rescued, released or escaped from a life of forced prostitution. Holistic aftercare involves quality medical care, emotional safety, education and the tools to create a new way of life for herself.
Tiny Rockstar - Looking for a cute top for your tot? Tiny Rockstar has two missions: 1) making cool shirts for kids, and 2) ending the phenomenon of orphans living in extreme poverty. Their first step is to fund a “Care Point” run by Children’s Hopechest in Swaziland, Africa. For every shirt you buy, Tiny Rockstar will donate enough to feed an orphan for a whole month. I think that’s pretty awesome! I love feeding people!!
The Hunger Site – If you go under Gifts that Give More on the sidebar, there are a lot of interesting things you can purchase in someone else’s name – things as different as a child’s education for a year or a microloan for a pig or goat.
Vintage Momma Designs – This inspired mama makes this jewelry and some of her profits go to help a clinic in Haiti and the Susan G. Komen Breat Cancer Fund. 
Check out her Etsy store as well!
Light Gives Heat sells necklaces and shirts that support a village in Uganda. Each piece is hand-made by a women in Uganda, providing them with a consistent income.
Rocks in the Sun is a gorgeous photography book filled with Haitian proverbs and photos of this beautiful but impoverished country. It’s compiled by Troy Livesay, who lives in Haiti and does great mission work there (and just happens to be a stellar photog). This would make a great coffee table book, and the proceeds go towards their missions work with Heartline Haiti and Worldwide Village.
Tom’s Shoes is giving a pair of shoes to a child in need for EVERY SHOE PURCHASED. This is one of Michelle and my favorites!!! Gives us good reason to buy shoes!!!
Real Hope for Haiti – Sponsor a child in Haiti for a year through Real Hope for Haiti. For $200 you could send a child in Haiti to school for the entire school year. That’s right – you can give a child the gift of an education.
World Vision has an amazing gift catalog where you can buy a number of innovative and sustaining gifts for people living in poverty. Their website even allows you to purchase and print a card letting a loved one know you have donated in their name. You can purchase medical attention for a pregnant woman, a goat that can provide milk to a child – even a grove of fruit trees!
31 Bits Jewelry is made out of 100% recycled paper, posters, and magazines by internally displaced women in Northern Uganda. Each piece of jewelry is unique and hand-crafted by a woman in the community of Gulu, Uganda.
Saint’s Coffee is tastey, and it’s fair trade, organic AND every lb you buy feeds an orphan for a month!
Invisible Children is selling bracelets made in Uganda to benefit former child soldiers. Each bracelet is a different color, and each color represents an individual child. These colored bracelets are accompanied by an inspiring short film about a child that has been personally affected by this unrelenting war.
Eastside Women of Purpose is selling $25 microloan gift cards to support a mircrofinance program through Bridges to the Nations, a non-profit ministry in Pattaya, Thailand. There are currently 50,000 young adults caught in the sex industry in Pattaya, Thailand, and a giftcard helps provide formerly enslaved men and women with education, job skills training and microloans to start their own business.
Filed under: Personal, Series, Sunday Morning Reflections, Videos
November 14, 2008 • 3:45 pm 0
What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church? A Parable.
Is in funny because it many ways it’s very typical of the church? Javaluajuah!
Filed under: Videos
October 19, 2008 • 12:05 pm 1
Halloween Party Coming our Way!!!!
You will want to go…I promise!!
more about “CLife Halloween Party Promo on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod
Filed under: Videos
October 13, 2008 • 1:41 pm 0
Tim Keller: Divine Impulses
Just came across this video over at The Washington Post (one of the many news sites that I follow to try to stay up on what’s going on and just general culture) that had Tim Keller talking about several religious issues that he deals with in New York City.
For those of you who are not familiar with Tim Keller, he is currently the senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and recently published “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism” which I highly recommend! Anyways, good dialogue in the video…
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September 26, 2008 • 1:10 pm 0
I can’t help it…it’s funny.
At first I thought this video was pretty stinking odd…but as I sat there watching it…a little chuckle rose to the surface and by golly, I felt better.Give it a whirl.
more about “I can’t help it…it’s funny.“, posted with vodpod
September 19, 2008 • 11:58 am 0
Officer having some immigration control issues…
Pretty funny…almost like a clown car.
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September 18, 2008 • 10:20 am 0
Looking back…
Ahhh…the pioneers of modern day contemporary worship music. Man…we’ve come a long way eh?
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September 15, 2008 • 3:40 pm 0
I wouldn’t be a fan of Christians either…
You won’t find me being the guy that stands up for Richard Dawkins too often but it’s times like these that make me sit back, close my eyes, and just slowly exhale….
I’m not real sure what the “Christians” thought there were doing by sending some of these emails but I think that it provides further proof that our God is long suffering both with us and those within the world.
Hopefully one day we will stop the name calling and open ourselves up to quality discussions…or then again…we could just keep sending emails…
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September 11, 2008 • 10:24 am 0
Need a Domain name?
I can’t help it…I am a sucker for made up names and this guy has plenty of them…I especially like the donkey schpill!
August 27, 2008 • 10:01 am 0
A New Olympic Game…
Again, I can’t help it – I’m trying to hold onto the Olympics for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! Michelle and I are finishing up our DVR’d episodes and loving every minute of it – watched the volleyball gold yesterday, sweet! But…while watching the Olympics an ad came on promoting the upcoming year of “The Office” and it made me think about this video clip about Jim’s new Olympic sport…ahhh…tying “The Office” into any post is a success in my book!
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