how to give

Life in my 20's

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:19:21 -0400

whatshouldwecallme:

"We cannot do great things, but we can do small things with great love."

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:17:47 -0400

“We cannot do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

- Mother Teresa

Human Trafficking Awareness

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:03:21 -0500

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. What can you do?

Buy fair trade.
Stop looking at porn and buying sex.
Donate to survivor services. I have seen and support Word Made Flesh and IJM.
Educate yourself and your community on what trafficking looks like.
Put the number of the National Trafficking Hotline in your phone: 888-3737-888

Photo

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 20:27:54 -0500

"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing..."

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:26:00 -0500

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!”

- A Psalm for Election Day. Now go vote.

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Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:38:08 -0400

Thai orphans street art

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:59:57 -0400

Thai orphans street art

Artist Berndnaut Smilde makes clouds inside. No, really. Not...

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:29:47 -0400

Artist Berndnaut Smilde makes clouds inside. No, really. Not digitally. See for yourself here. Magic.

"There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength,..."

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:35:26 -0400

“There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another’s wounds. Let’s remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.”

- Henri Nouwen

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Mon, 02 Jul 2012 02:41:13 -0400

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Mon, 02 Jul 2012 02:28:23 -0400

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Sun, 03 Jun 2012 00:37:41 -0400

cinemagr.am

Mon, 28 May 2012 14:55:48 -0400

cinemagr.am:

(Taken with http://cinemagr.am)

Since blogs are an exercise in vainglory anyway, I will assume...

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:06:00 -0400

Since blogs are an exercise in vainglory anyway, I will assume you all have been dying to know what I’ve been up to and why blogging has been sparse. Here’s why:

My sister got married! I’ve never been a fan of weddings, but this one was awesome. I think maybe it’s because I got false eyelashes for the first time.
My garden is KILLING IT. I have huge, infant-sized zucchini and hundreds of small tomatoes.
I went to LA for work — we’re planning a new gardening initiative. We are also, as a foundation, investing in some super cool projects here in Austin that I can’t wait to share when it’s appropriate. Being a philanthropist is every bit as cool as you think it will be.
I turned 29. 29 is, let’s say, sadder than 28, but wayyy better than 22.
The Village Center is closing. I’ve been going there every week for over a year now and it’s really sad to see so many families moving and relationships changing, but it’s the nature of refugee life. I will miss the group of kids so so so much.
I had the privilege of welcoming Dr. Salai’s wife to America. My 84 year-old Burmese friend is an eloquent champion of peace in Burma; I have never met anyone so hopeful and determined for their country. He hadn’t seen his wife in 4 years, and now they will live together in America.
Freddie Mercury is still around. I almost released him into the wild when he ate my eye glasses, but we’ve worked things out.
We’re moving. I’m sad to leave our first house and our garden, but we’re moving near my best friend and a Mexican bakery. It’s a lose-win situation.
Phillip and I are both going to Thailand for a month this summer! I’m beyond thrilled to be going back to visit friends and students and to eat som tam and chili crabs and go to the beach and. Oh man. It’s going to be awesome.

Video

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:01:02 -0400

I read one measly book in April. The subject matter of the book...

Wed, 02 May 2012 16:17:00 -0400

I read one measly book in April. The subject matter of the book was so intense, I couldn’t read a lot at one time. I’d read half of it before and just now picked it back up. It’s rough, no need to make it more palatable.

War is Not Over When It’s Over is a collection of women’s stories from post-conflict zones. As you can expect, war demolishes more than just the physical landscape of a place. So many tales of rape, brutality and injustice go unreported after a war is supposedly over. Really hard to read but really worthwhile. It’s bad enough that sexual violence exists; we shouldn’t make it worse by ignoring the problem.

This is the best thing I’ve seen in a long time. Just this...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:24:00 -0400

This is the best thing I’ve seen in a long time. Just this video spawned a scholarship fund and a foundation to support creativity and entrepreneurship in kids. Love.

Happy birthday to my boss and world-changer John Paul Dejoria.

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:28:08 -0400

Happy birthday to my boss and world-changer John Paul Dejoria.

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Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:42:34 -0400

Wednesday: Give a little.

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:02:59 -0400

Last week I kind of skipped Give a Little. I think the unspoken message was you know what, I’m a teeny bit sick of giving. It’s hard to pretend that giving gets me jazzed every day of the week. I’m going through a phase right now in which I’ve gotten so big picture I can’t even tell what I care about anymore or which organizations are effective. And what does effective even mean?! Within philanthropy, it’s called donor fatigue.

Sometimes it’s important to take stock of what you feel called to do and where your talents meet a need. Rethink. Regroup. I can’t stress enough that personal relationships with the poor or oppressed or truly the only thing that remain at the end of a time like this or at the end of, well, the end. Organizations will lose your trust. Nonprofit leaders will disappoint you. It’s not that relationships are a mean to the end, but they are the end. They’re the goal. So I know it’s not give a little — relationships aren’t easy or small — but the beginning of one is a small place to start.