Fair Trade Guilt? Yes Please!

In the last ten years there has been a huge rise in interest and purchase of fair trade products in the USA, and I am so glad! It is wonderful to see people really caring about how their products are being made, and thinking of others--thousands of miles away--and how they are affected. I love Mercy House and their blogs that have opened my eyes to how important our purchases are. I love chatting with friends about their discoveries and talking about how we will make real-life changes.

My personal journey has been a bit different from many of those I know. Fair trade issues have mostly been centralized around the three Cs: Coffee, Chocolate, and Clothes (and accessories). My practical (and lazy) way to ethically deal with these is that I don't like (or buy) coffee or chocolate, and I buy all (about 95%) my clothes (and accessories) used. Who knew my mom was so progressive when taking me to Goodwill my whole life? (Go mom!)

I basically avoided being unethical in my choices because of personal taste (not liking coffee and chocolate) and not having enough money to buy new clothes/accessories. Thinking of others and how they are affected by my purchases is mostly a developed country issue (I am choosing to use "developed and developing countries" rather than "first and third world countries" as terms here) and I am grateful we can have the discussion, rather than having all of our energies focused on just surviving and finding enough food for our kids (as many in developing countries are). It is a privilege to have the time and money to consider our purchases: it is also our duty.

While I do have effective solutions to many fair trade questions, there is always more I can do, and deeper I can go into the issues: what about buying local? What about recycling (what happens after I purchase my goods)? And many other questions. While my solutions in Brazil may look different than yours in the USA, I have found they mainly revolve around two practical issues: TIME and MONEY.

My current struggles with buying local and recycling are mostly with time. I can go to local vendors for amazing fruits and vegetables, but it is more walking and carrying heavy things around--with one or two kids--which makes it rather miserable. It is washing containers that are gross while my baby is crying. It is driving the recycling to someplace I am not sure where. In general, it is hard.It takes extra planning. And in all my good intentions, it is slow-going. But baby steps, slowly relearned, is the key with TIME.

Money is a very motivating factor, and yes, it is cheaper to buy things that are unethical and unhealthy and un-recyclable. It is normally pretty easy to ignore those things as well. But, as my cousin graciously put: for many things, it is even cheaper to just use/buy less in the first place. To learn how to appreciate and care for what we have. That is the secret with MONEY.

Who knows how far the rabbit hole goes, and what fair trade issues will come up next: but they will probably always involve time and money. Good luck to your own journey in making ethical choices and becoming more aware that what you buy and use effects those around you: near and far. And as we all struggle a bit with fair trade guilt, I hope we use it to make change.

Sunday Funday June

Last week was a whirlwind! The girls left on Friday, but not without leaving lots of love and memories. Two more videos of their time (middle days and last day) are coming soon:).

Basic outline of their time here (and then a weekend of sleeping):
Saturday: (see last week's video) arrival
Sunday: (see video above) church and pitch-in with lots of acai (thanks Lillian!) Pizza with good friends
Monday: (see video above) MMA class, Guadalajara Living Stones, the family with 9 girls
Tuesday: (see Middle Days video) Cajueiro Claro Living Stones, trash dump community outreach, Taco Tuesday and an early celebration of Ana Sofia's birthday
Wednesday: shopping around town and speaking to the English classes at the International school
Thursday: (see Middle Days video) Lagoa de Itaenga Living Stones, Olinda for sightseeing
Friday: (see Last Day video) the beach and the airport. They got home safe on Saturday.

We loved having them here. It meant more than we can say. Thank you to everyone who made it possible

Reads from the Interwebs:
1. Podcast about missionary kids starring missionary kids: important for anyone who is or has missionary kids! Disclaimer: it was hard for me to listen to this...parenting is hard enough without lots of other issues added to it--but we MUST do our best as missionary parents. Many parents from the last generation found this out the hard way. If we are not INTENTIONAL in parenting, and SPECIFIC in addressing the additional issues that come up in being missionaries, we will fail. 
2. Ten things to remember on furlough: Six months and our home assignment begins--plan now:)
3. What to expect on furlough: I much prefer the term "home assignment." As the article says: "Our supporters and perhaps friends or family, on the other hand, may have a different idea for our furlough.Um, you’re not gonna use my money to just sit around all year, are you? All those trips you have planned? That costs a lot! My family doesn’t get to just travel around for a year, why should you? You’re going to take some classes, too? Are you going to get a job to help pay for all this?"
4. A long hard article on LGBTQ+ and Christian faithfulness: I felt this deeply.

June Funday Sunday

In all the craziness, we ate ice cream:

The strike, thank goodness, is over and things have returned to normal. Unfortunately, they didn't really return to normal until Wednesday, and my sister and goddaughter were flying out Tuesday. So they changed their tickets and arrived on Saturday. We really missed having those three extra days, but are just so glad they have made it here safely! First adventure: opening bags!

Not too much more to say, as we are loving being with our family:)!!!

Reads from the Interwebs:

1. Returning stronger than before

2. Risk and the cultural worker: "A theology of risk answers how I am to act on the opportunities presenting themselves in risk: Risk equals opportunity for both great loss and great gain."

3. Family mottos to live by

Sunday Funday Brazil in Crisis

What happened to my nice, normal week? Our weekly vlog explains:

It started out as a normal week for me to get English videos done and lots of other little things before my sister and goddaughter come to visit. Sure, Jessica is either teething or a little sick, meaning multiple night wake-up feedings, but other than that, we were going strong. And then THURSDAY happened. Caid got stuck on the road by a strike blockaid. Then he couldn't find gas for an hour, and I was late to teach my class (I really hate being late). 

Then we realize this is a much bigger problem than we realized, and that it isn't going away very quickly. As the video said, we are fine, we are not suffering: we are wondering how long our tank of gas will last. We are just a couple of steps away from normal, so everything feels a bit off. But at the same time, we are just a couple of steps away from serious food and fuel shortages, something the media likes to scare us with more than it should. Words like "Cut all electricity from the country" and "Military coup" are frightening. 

Brazilians are a wonderful, resilient people, and are freaking out much less than I am. This helps a lot. Most schools are closed, but everyone is just taking it one day at a time, so I don't know what tomorrow will look like. It angers me that those in poverty and children are always the ones to suffer first for government corruption. Living Stones is working to see and make sure that our communities are taken care of. Jesus feels a little closer when you are calling out to Him more often to calm you down. 

The biggest thing that has affected us is that airports are out/low on fuel, and so my sister and goddaughter's trip has been changed from them leaving May 29th to leaving June 1st. We are hoping that things have cleared up by then and look a little more normal. We are going to treasure every minute (even if there are less minutes available) they are here! We covet your prayers in this time of unknowns!

In lighter news: I found some awesome books for only $1 each!!! Wanna make some awesome stuff happen for some great kids???

Watch this beautiful video (thanks Craig Olson!) of the Trek for Transportation this year:

Reads from the Interwebs:

1. The Washington Post about the current Brazil crisis

2. WHAT???? Little Women mini-series by Masterpiece theater??? Why wasn't I better informed of this???

3. Sometimes I struggle with the Bible

4. Why haven't I read Bob Goff's books yet?

5. Gift ideas for returning missionaries. Such a nice list:)

Sunday Funday May

Here is our weekly vlog:

It was a busy, beautiful week as Tuesday we had an opportunity to work with 45 kids from a public school and share Jesus, Jessica is 5 months old now, we got to watch Caid's (our) niece graduate college (love live feeds!), got our first bi-racial English princess, and had a great Mother's Day celebration in Cajueiro Claro. Yes, my daughter was the one picking her nose during the presentation:

My mom gave me a play-by-play of the 8th annual Trek for Transportation over skype, and it was so great to see so many people we love were there and sharing and laughing and having good weather for once! Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen! Thank you to everyone who donated to help purchase a vehicle! 

We were sad not to be there in person, but NEXT YEAR is going to be epic:). We are planning to be there, and already have our tickets back to the USA for December 4th. 

Reads from the Interwebs:

1. #sheispriceless

2. Rubber duck lesson on leaving: I LOVE this visual! the sorrow duck and the joy duck

3. Books I'd like eventually

4. Quartz weekend: This is a little news blurb I get since I don't watch the news. This weekend highlighted JOMO: Joy of Missing out. yassssssssss

5. If I were 22 again

6. Welcome, Princess Meghan! 

Mother's Day Sunday Funday

Our weekly vlog is, well...I made three language videos this week, so regular vlog making has been on hold. Our Mother's Day celebrations are split between this and next week, so that video will be ready next week. Feel free to practice English, though:).

Happy Mother's Day! 

I hold my breath

As I watch my children 

Live the life

I have chosen for them

The struggle of things 

I didn’t know were hard 

The victory of challenges

I have still yet to conquer

It is beautiful and heart-breaking 

These human that came from me

But aren’t me

Will I spend my whole life

In this breathless wonder-worry?

Reads from the Interwebs:

1. Grief and Benji the sheep: some amazing insights on grief from my second cousin (I think? We are related, whatever it is)

2. Raise real world changers: one of my favorite bloggers blogging on another favorite blog:)

3. Top 10 most valuable mindsets for Mks and TCKs: forget them--I need these for me!

4. The butchered sheep we could not name: This resonated with me: "In all sincerity, I was glad our neighbors were comfortable enough to tease me."

5. My favorite Mother's Day read

6. Summer: the expat season of goodbye: As our two closest families are currently gone, we are feeling the ache. I am realizing that my biggest coping mechanism is to just "HOLD ON" until they come back (or I come back, or go back, or whatever). And while this works for short absences, it definitely isn't a long-term solution. 

May Sunday Funday

Our weekly vlog is a mixed hair tutorial:

Tuesday was International Work Day (Labor Day for everyone but the USA it seems), but our plans changed as Sofia had the sniffles: we had a picnic on our living room floor instead. If you are wondering about our "Missionary" vlogs that seem much more like "Baby/toddler" vlogs: yes, we do both. In this phase of life, Caid is doing more of the missionary work, and I am filming what happens most with me: kiddos. When we are about to film something "missionary-ish," someone often gets sick and plans change. Ah, life. BUT, we are still doing missions, and things are going strong, and videos are happening there too--our YouTube channel is Building Living Stones, and we keep it (slightly) separate from our weekly vlogs. 

The rest of my week was shot as then I got sick (thanks Ana Sofia!) and had a high fever. Caid took over cooking and kiddos and by Sunday I was up and about again. Thank goodness too, because every first Sunday of the month, instead of just having communion, we have communion and then all stay for pitch-in lunch. We love our little church, which this year has the theme "One church, one family."

(Ana Sofia is off at a little table to the side, eating rice and beans)

Reads on the Interwebs:

1. The simple question to help you evaluate any ministry among the poor: POW!!! This got me! Because as much as I want it, Living Stones is not there yet! In 2015, when we had to better define who we were to better provide services, we also made Living Stones something more ridged and un-accessible and reproduce-able to others. Much prayer and planning is going into how we can change this and make more sustainable change! A must read for everyone! 

2. Dreaming in reality: "How does this reality compare to the dream?" 

3. Seven ways to teach our sons, churches, communities to respect women: no, this subject is NOT over. 

4. Despair is where hope is born: "“Hope expressed without knowledge of and participation in grief is likely to be false hope that does not reach despair. Thus…it is precisely those who know death most painfully who can speak hope most vigorously.”--Brueggemann

5. When strong blocks love: "Love always begins with vulnerability." Interesting note: we love tax time because it means tax tithing and a chance to do something awesome for some of the incredible people we know and love in Brazil. As Caid and I were eagerly planning our gift-giving, we were most excited to invest in some young people who had asked us to be their mentors. Why? Because "you are responsible forever for what you have tamed" (the Little Prince). They were vulnerable and asked for help, and they have won a place in our hearts. There are fund-raising secrets hidden here! 

6. How to drive an expat crazy: So true!!! Made me laugh!