Joy Jars // Never Ever Give Up

This past week (I think there are still 17hrs left of this campaign), Sevenly partnered with the Jessie Rees Foundation (aka NEGU / Never Ever Give Up) to bring hope, joy and support to children who are suffering from cancer, in the form of Joy Jars. Jessie, a little girl who lost her battle with cancer, never gave up on her dream of bringing joy to others in their darkest time and now her legacy lives on.

Here is how Jessie's story started...

Blessings!

Ronell x

JESSIE’S STORY AND HOW SHE INSPIRED THOUSANDS TO NEVER EVER GIVE UP

Jessica (Jessie) Joy Rees is known to thousands as a leader and a spokesperson for childhood cancer awareness and her story has inspired thousands to join together to support children fighting cancer around the world.  More importantly, Jessie is a hero to the estimated 500,000 children and their families affected cancer all over the world. In March 2011, Jessie was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), which is a brain tumor within and around the brain stem, making it inoperable.  During her 10 month fight with childhood cancer, a time when most people would be looking inward, 12 year old Jessie chose to focus her time and energy helping other kids—courageous children, who felt lonely and limited due to their own fight with cancer–kids who she thought could use a little happiness and Joy. 

  She was only three weeks into her own difficult treatment, when she asked a question that would forever change the lives of thousands of kids, “How can we help them?”—referring to the other children in treatment at Children’s Hospital Orange County.   That same night, while her parents, Erik and Stacey Rees talked privately, she began to create the beginnings of her JoyJars.   JoyJars—named after Jessie’s middle name Joy, are plastic jars filled with age appropriate, hospital approved toys, games, and activities, along with a special note and bracelet—with her personal motto and inspirational message to NEGU, Never Ever Give Up.  

Jessie and her family received tragic news in September 2011 that there was a second inoperable tumor.  Jessie had only a 1% chance of beating this horrific disease. But this did not stop Jessie from continuing to fulfill her dream of encouraging children fighting cancer to Never Ever Give Up.   She and her family personally stuffed and delivered over 3,000 JoyJars to kids in children’s hospitals. 

Jessie earned her wings on January 5th, 2012.  With more than 9,000 people attending her celebration service and countless more watching online, Jessie’s family knew they must continue her dream.  In fact, Jessie’s NEGU spirit is as alive and well, as the Jessie Rees Foundation continues to spread love, hope and joy with JoyJars being sent to all 50 states and 12 other countries, reaching nearly 50,000 kids in over 200 hospitals, 175 Ronald McDonald Houses and over 5,000 individual homes.  All of this is 95% volunteer based, privately funded and is at no cost to the recipients or hospitals.  Jessie, in 10 short months, has made a major impact on childhood cancer awareness and will continue to do for years to come. She has rallied a community filled with passion and a following filled with purpose–to give selflessly and Never Ever Give Up!

2012 was an amazing year for Jessie’s foundation.  Jessie was recently awarded the 2012 CNN Young Wonders Award, given to few select children who have stepped up to change the world.  The Jessie Rees Foundation was also awarded the Jimmie Johnson Helmet of Hope Award.  Many high profile professional athletes and celebrities join us in delivering JoyJars to kids in hospitals, through the Special Connections Program created by the Jessie Rees Foundation. Schools, clubs and groups all over the country have conducted Joy Drives to collect toys for JoyJars. 

Also in 2012, Jessie was awarded the Lady Diana Award, an award that was created by the UK Government in honor of Princess Diana. Princess Diana truly believed that young people had the power to change the world and she wanted to help encourage them so that they would have that chance. This award was created in hopes that it would encourage some special young people to create a better society around the world.

Jessie showed us that children fighting cancer need to feel supported and encouraged. She helped us see that even in the face of  devastating news, small acts of kindness and joy can go a long way to help brighten the day for children fighting cancer. Jessie showed us the importance of joining together as a community, a country and a world to fight childhood cancer and to Never Ever Give Up for the kids.

Travel4Souls

Travel4Souls' mission is to create lifelong ambassadors of change by providing opportunities for people to travel and distribute shoes in developing countries.

Our wish for you is a life-changing experience shaped by the merging of cultures, building relationships and simply helping others.

Through our distribution trips to Haiti, Costa Rica, Honduras, India, Jamaica, and Tanzania (Africa)- we see a world of sustainability. Sustainable development achieved through sustainable relationships. You are the center of this vision. Your impact is immediately felt in the smiles and embraces you will receive from those we will serve. Your transformation is carried back into your daily life as you feel a true sense of connectedness that sets the foundation for your continued journey of sharing service, hope and joy for the rest of your life.

It starts here, in the simple yet profound act of handing out a pair of shoes, and it builds into a lifelong love of service to others that can reverberate and touch thousands of people. Watch the video above to see the impact first hand. Spend a few minutes reading our stories, seeing some photos, laughing at our tweets, and watching our videos. All of these sources give tremendous insight into what we’re all about.

You can do this, and we make it easy. You pay or fundraise and we take care of ALL the details. Because Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) all payments and donations made are tax deductible. 

Soles4Souls

Soles4Souls is a global not-for-profit institution dedicated to fighting the devastating impact and perpetuation of poverty.  The organization advances its anti-poverty mission by collecting new and used shoes and clothes from individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners, then distributing those shoes and clothes both via direct donations to people in need and by provisioning qualified micro-enterprise programs designed to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities.  Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Soles4Souls is committed to the highest standards of operating and governance, and holds a four-star rating with Charity Navigator.

 

 

How Soles4Souls Achieves Its Anti-poverty Mission

Founded in 2004, Soles4Souls is a global not-for-profit institution dedicated to fighting the devastating impact and perpetuation of poverty through the distribution of shoes and clothing.

Soles4Souls distributes shoes and clothing in two ways. Most new items collected primarily from corporations and retailers are given directly to people in need, both in the U.S. and overseas. The organization has relationships with several of the world’s leading apparel brands, which provides Soles4Souls with new but non-marketable overstocks, returns, discontinued models and other shoes or clothing items.

At the same time, Soles4Souls receives millions of articles of used shoes and clothing that have been collected by individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners.  After sorting items in its national warehouse system, Soles4Souls typically sells the used shoes and clothing, as well as some new items allocated by manufacturers, to carefully selected micro-enterprise organizations. These both private and non-profit companies are contracted to provide shipping, financing, inventory, training and other support to ultra-small businesses in countries like Haiti where there are virtually no jobs to generate personal income.

Through the collection and sale of used (and new) clothing and shoes, Soles4Souls helps create self-sustaining jobs that generate desperately needed revenues throughout those communities. The sale of footwear and apparel to support micro-jobs also provides the majority of funding to sustain Soles4Souls operations and further expand its donations of new shoes and clothing.

Clothes4Souls

About Clothes4Souls

Clothes4Souls, a division of Soles4Souls,  is a global not-for-profit institution dedicated to fighting the devastating impact and perpetuation of poverty.  The organization advances its anti-poverty mission by collecting new and used clothes from individuals, schools, faith based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners, then distributing those clothes both via direct donations to people in need and by provisioning qualified micro-enterprise programs designed to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities.  This might mean, for example, a single table selling used shoes in an open marketplace. Or a street vendor with an inventoy of used jeans spread out on a blanket. To learn more about microenterprise, go here.
 

Did You Know? 

Over 85% of all clothing in the USA ends up in landfills instead of being recycled.                                                               

It takes over 1,500 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for just one pair of jeans. 

Each American discards over 65 pounds of clothing per year.
 

Get Involved    

Host a Clothing Drive: Our clothing drives operate just like a shoe drive! Register to host one here, and get ready to make a sustainable impact with your unwanted clothing. Get your friends, family, coworkers and neighbors involved as well! 

Bring Your Clothing Donations to a Blue Bin: Use our blue bin locator to find the one nearest to you! These donations will go directly to our microenterprise program. 

Crowdfunding // How to Raise Money for Your Project or Cause {Indiegogo.com}

I have been doing a bit of research on the concept of crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is not a new concept: the Statue of Liberty, for example was a gift to the United States from France, but they did not have the funds to build the base on which to display it, so they crowdfunded it, asking the citizens to donate an average of £0.89! {indiegogo.com} Love it! 

To me, the possibilities of crowdfunding seem endless! You can start a project (e.g. a film, an album, a community garden, a new technological invention, etc) and crowdfund it rather than going to a bank or a venture capitalist. Or you can choose a cause that you are passionate about and crowdfund that!

So I went to www.indiegogo.com and signed up (yes I definitely have something brewing!) and watched some of their tutorial and webinars on crowdfunding (highly recommended), so whatever you are wanting to raise money for (a project or a cause), crowdfund it! 

Here are some tips from the guys at indiegogo.com:

Keys to Success:
1.     Engaging pitch
2.     Attainable goal
3.     Unique perks
4.     Proactive communication

Top 5 Crowdfunding Mistakes:

1.     Crowd funding is not a lottery 

2.     Setting a goal that is too high

3.     Jumping the gun with marketing

4.     Dry business pitch/video

5.     Promotion of perks that just don’t work

Check it out and see if crowdfunding could take your path to world change (or funding your inventions or projects)

Blessings!

Ronell x

{photo credit: http://www.indiegogo.com/}

Incredible TED Talk by Lisa Kristine {Modern Day Slavery}

Lisa Kristine, humanitarian photographer and anti-slavery activist gave this inspiring TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/en/id/1541

For more on Lisa's work: http://www.lisakristine.com/

For more TED talks: http://www.ted.com/talks

I highly recommend checking out Lisa's body of work and the TED talk site- so much inspiration and information!!

WARNING: You cannot watch this and remain unchanged!

As Lisa puts it: "I hope that these images will awake a force in those who view them- people like you. And I hope that that force will ignite a fire, and that that fire will shine a light on slavery. For without that light, the beast of bondage can continue to live in the shadows."

Blessings!

Ronell x


{photo credit: http://www.lisakristine.com/}

Freedom Challenge {A21 Campaign} // 11 Days to Raise Awareness

One of my all time favourite organisations (The A21 Campaign) has a team of 8 cyclists who will start their 11 day journey to raise awareness and funds to combat modern day slavery and human trafficking and see it abolished in the 21st century!

Please show your support by spreading the word and encouraging your friends, family, colleagues (and yourselves) to donate to this incredible cause!

Together we can literally change the world.

Blessings!

Ronell x

From October 6-16, 2013, The A21 Campaign is holding a FREEDOM CHALLENGE where a team of brave and determined cyclists will ride through trafficking routes and mountainous regions from Sofia, Bulgaria, to London, UK. The purpose of this ride is to raise awareness both in countries where many young women and children are taken, as well as to raise $210,000 for The A21 Campaign shelters and victim assistance programs.

Take the FREEDOM CHALLENGE by becoming a sponsor today. Click here to make a donation now, or follow the navigation bar for more information.

Together, we can see the injustice of human trafficking abolished in the 21st Century.

Lisa Kristine // Humanitarian & Fine Arts Photographer & Anti-Slavery Activist

A friend of mine who shares my passions for photography and putting an end to injustice (modern day slavery in particular) introduced me to the incredible work of Lisa Kristine and I'm blown away!

Lisa Kristine is a San Francisco based photographer specializing in indigenous peoples worldwide. Through her work, Lisa wishes to encourage a dialogue about the beauty, diversity and hardship of our inter-locking world. The more meaning born in the images, the deeper that dialogue may be. Lisa Kristine aims to enhance her viewer’s awareness and engage them in a visual journey that is also a questioning of our existence. She wants to welcome them into the exploration of our mysterious existence with a spirit of importance, astonishment and hope.

For more than twenty-five years, Lisa Kristine has explored the globe, looking for the peoples, cultures and places that time forgot, creating indelible and unforgettable images. She brings the distant and the ancient and the rare into clearer focus. Best known for her evocative and saturated use of color, her fine art prints are among the most sought after and collected in her field. Lisa’s work has been auctioned by Christie’s New York for the United Nations with Kofi Annan; she works with foundations , educational venues and museums.

Not only is she an absolutely incredible photographer, but an amazing anti-slavery activist. You can see/buy her work on her website: http://www.lisakristine.com/ , which directly contributes to the causes she supports. You can also buy her books, DVDs, posters, etc in her online store: http://www.lisakristine.com/lisa-kristine-store/ 

Also, check out what other organisations like TED, Reuters and The Huffington Post have to say about her in these videos: http://www.lisakristine.com/press-and-media-video-archives/

Cosette Thompson of Amnesty International said of Lisa Kristine: "Few artists know how to capture the diversity and dignity of indigenous people. Lisa Kristine's portraits exquisitely convey their silenced messages."

Lisa is an amazing example of using your talents to end modern day slavery in the 21st century! And I pose to you the same question that was posted earlier this evening by @freedomforother on twitter: 

"Start where you are Use what you have Do what you can @Ronell1984 What can you do with what you have in your location to end #Trafficking?"

So I challenge you to start where you are and use what you have to fight against modern day slavery in the 21st century!

Blessings!

Ronell x



OH HOW I ADORE THIS PHOTO!! 
{photo credit: http://www.lisakristine.com/portfolio/freedom-ghana/ }

10 Things You Might Not Know About Women Being Sold For Sex

I previously posted about 10 Things You Might Not Know About Men Who Buy Sex and promised this linked post, so here it is. Knowledge is power people! Get the facts; learn to spot the signs; and report anything that might be able to help save a woman from sexual slavery! Learn more about this on The A21 Campaign's page.

Blessings!

Ronell x

10 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT WOMEN BEING SOLD FOR SEX

Posted on September 17, 2013

Many say prostitution is the oldest profession in the world and believe the private affairs of consenting adults should not be infringed upon.  Those same people are quick to claim that prostitution does not harm anyone.  Perhaps you are one of those people. If that’s the case, I’d like to suggest to you ten things that you might not know about a women being sold for sex.  Statistically speaking:

1. She was just 13 years old when she entered into the sex trade.
2. She is a victim of incest. (65% to 90%)
3. She is the most raped demographic on the planet. (80%)
4. She will die within 7 years after entering into prostitution.
5. She has a trafficker selling her as a commodity and keeping all or most of the money. (70%-90%)
6. She is or has been homeless. (72%)
7. At some point she has considered suicide. (75%)
8. She is 40 times more likely to die than the national average.
9. She is two times more likely than a solider in a war zone to have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (68%)
10. She is classified by the US Center for Disease Control as having the highest HIV prevalence in the United States.

Learn Ten Things About Men Who Buy Sex.

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Bridget Battistoni is Director of Operations for REST: Real Escape from the Sex Trade

- See more at: http://iwantrest.com/2013/09/17/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-women-being-sold-for-sex/#sthash.Xpfk3LOI.dpuf

10 Things You Might Not Know About Men Who Buy Sex

A friend of mine shared this post on facebook and I thought I would share it. I was really surprised by some of the content and really not so shocked about some of the other content, but, either way, it is real food for thought! I will also post a linked post called 10 Things You Might Not Know About Women Being Sold For Sex.

Blessings!

Ronell x

TEN THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT MEN WHO BUY SEX

Posted on April 30, 2013

In a comprehensive study, “Comparing Sex Buyers with Men Who Don’t Buy Sex,” Melissa Farley, PHD, Founding Director of the Prostitution Research and Education, compares the characteristics of men who buy sex versus those who don’t. Besides their involvement with prostitution, the men surveyed revealed surprising attitudes and behaviors when it came to sex and women. Here are ten things you may not know about men who buy sex:

1.  On average, men reported were 21 years of age when they first bought sex.
2. 25% of the sex buyers had traveled to another state and while there used women in prostitution.
3. 41% of the sex buyers knowingly used a woman in prostitution who was controlled by a pimp.
4. 66% of the sex buyers observed that a majority of women are lured, tricked or trafficked into prostitution.
5. 74% of the sex buyers reported that they learned about sex from pornography.
6. Sex buyers were more than 7x’s more likely than non-sex buyers to acknowledge that they would rape a woman if they could get away with it and if no one knew about it.
7. Sex buyers are far more likely than non-sex buyers to commit felonies, misdemeanors, crimes related to violence against women, substance abuse-related crimes, assaults, crimes with weapons, and crimes against authority.
8. 89% of sex buyers said they would be deterred from buying sex if their name were to be added to a sex offender registry.
9. 90% of sex buyers said they would be deterred from buying sex if a $1,000-$2,000 penalty were imposed.
10. 100% of sex buyers said they would be deterred from buying sex if a one month jail term were imposed.

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Bridget Battistoni is Director of Operations for REST: Real Escape from the Sex Trade

- See more at: http://iwantrest.com/2013/04/30/ten-things-you-might-not-know-about-men-who-buy-sex/#sthash.UBKTKCVx.FN1qqVpB.dpuf

I Hate Church..?

I stumbled on this blog post this morning about how modern day Christians are failing those that need Christ the most by making church an exclusive club rather than what it is intended to be- the hands and feet of God, reaching out and pulling in those who are lost and needy and meeting their needs wherever possible. God's two greatest commandments to mankind are: 

(1) love the Lord your God with all your heart
(2) love others as yourself

Love God; Love others. 
Not: Love self; Love organised religion, religious rituals and those in your religious bubble.

I love God, but I hate religion (in the Pharisaical sense of the word). I love being part of a church here in the UK that is inclusive of anyone who walks through the doors and makes a point of catering for the needs of the community at whatever age and walk of life (check out Regeneration Church), but I have seen and experienced first hand many churches who do not.

Christian or not, do yourself a favour and read this post by Andrew Alleyne!

Blessings!

Ronell x

I Hate Church…

Posted on August 28, 2013 by andrewalleyne

If you’ve seen me preach in the last few months you might have noticed a bit of a change in my attire. Instead of a nice pair of jeans and a blazer you might have noticed my hat worn backwards coupled with earrings in my ears. What I’m about to share with you is the reason why.

My wife and I have made a habit of randomly showing love to strangers wherever we go. It could be a waiter/waitress at a restaurant we’re visiting or a homeless person on the street asking for money. We’re not always the most consistent with this, but we have quite a few stories we could share. One of these stories is about this time when we decided to go on an adventure downtown and we saw this beautiful young lady sitting on the ground asking for money. Immediately we were moved with compassion and decided to invite her to come with us to get something to eat and then proceeded to give her some money. While we were sitting down getting to know this amazing young lady it came out that we were Pastors and she went on to mention how there have been times when she’s walked into a church and people have simply stared at her because of her piercings, tattoos, and how she was dressed, ultimately making her not want to immerse herself in that kind of an environment.

Another time I had the incredible opportunity to share the gospel with 100+ bikers inside of a Walmart Parking-Lot. Closer to 80% made decisions to do life with Jesus, but then afterwards several of them came up to me and made statements like “I would never step foot inside of a church, but I would come to your church,” or “I’m not welcomed in churches,” etc. Keep in mind many of these guys and girls were saying they came from pretty hard backgrounds and if I can be stereotypical for a moment, they also looked like it.

Then I would hear outrageous statistics about abortion rates within the church and how studies have shown that abortion is highest where religion is highest… (insert screeching car sound effect here). Say what??? How does that happen? I thought church was supposed to be a safe place. I’d walk through downtown Toronto and see “Christians” on street corners yelling at people with signs in their hands telling them they’re going to hell. I’d even engage a few of them in conversations asking them how effective they’re evangelism attempts had been, often times they didn’t have much fruit to speak of. I’d get into conversations with young people in bars about me being a Christian and at first I was written off because of their previous experiences/encounters with people who profess Christ.

Fast forward a few months and my wife and I find ourselves deciding to visit some prominent churches in our city, as well as churches that we have preached at in the past. She would wear a mini-skirt, I would wear some baggy jeans with a hat put on backwards, with big diamond earrings in my ears, and we would pretend like we didn’t know much about how “church worked.” In almost every single church no one would say hi to us, people would simply stare at us, I had people in services tap me on my shoulder and tell me to take my hat off… Some of my Pastor friends didn’t even recognize it was me and were absolutely shocked when I revealed myself. All in all… most places left me not wanting to ever come back. I remember in one service I couldn’t even focus on the message because I was so infuriated as to how this one lady treated me. I wanted to tell her I’m an ordained minister and read off my rap sheet out of some misplaced sense of pride, but I managed to keep it together. Then I got it.

I began to understand why an entire generation can feel more loved and welcomed in a club than in a church. We preach revival, we talk about the harvest, but how many Christians are really stepping into the dark places of our city and shining their lights? How many Christians only have “Christian” friends, go to “Christian” events, and speak “Christianeze.” Are churches really ready for the day the prostitute walks into church after she just finished her night shift? Or when the back of the church smells like weed because broken people are coming in through the doors? Or the day when they can’t leave their purse on their seat during worship because that visitor might just steal their wallet? For the first time as a minister of the gospel I poorly attempted to put my feet in the shoes of “non-christians” and I confess… I would have probably written off church/organized religion if I wasn’t already a Christian.

I think Ghandi said it best, “I would have become a Christian until I met one.” The will of God is always displayed in Jesus but not always in his followers. We as Christians do a really good job of screwing that up. It’s as though church has become about good meetings and good music, and unless you look like, talk like, and act like me, then we cannot walk together, be seen together, or hang out. We’ve created this movement, this culture that is so anti the very world we are called to reach. We’ve demonized celebrities, stepped out of society, and we’re afraid to come close to “darkness.” Show me Jesus in that. Can you imagine if they had social media in Jesus’ day? Instagram, facebook, or twitter? Someone would have taken a picture of a prostitute washing Jesus’ feet and someone would have posted it online and it would be an absolute media frenzy. Jesus wasn’t afraid to touch that which was unclean, sit with sinners, or be their friends. By the way, I’m pretty sure he dressed like a modern Jew in his time.

Now… I don’t hate church, and not all churches in Toronto are like the churches I described in this blog. This is just a title to catch people’s attention. I love church. I find myself falling in love with this awesome church plant downtown called C3 Toronto. A church filled with broken people, who don’t have it all together, but genuinely love Jesus and are allowing him to transform their lives and the lives of those around them. I’ve realized that some of the sweetest worship doesn’t come from the most perfect people, but from some of the most broken people who need him the most. I’m not sure where the invisible wall we’ve created in churches that says “unless you act like us and dress like us, you don’t belong,” but it’s so far from anything I see in the life of Jesus. This blog isn’t an attempt to bash churches, or speak negatively of organized religion, but to some of my friends who are Pastors, I hope it’s more of a challenge. When we preach this message of unconditional love do we live it when people step through our doors? When was the last time we decided to go and hang out where the “Zacchaeus’” of our day hang out? Would we even go to their home if they invited us? This is why some of my modern day heroes are guys like Carl Lentz, the pastor of Hillsong Church in New York City, who we just had the privilege of visiting during our stay in New York. Thousands of misfits, x-gangsters, celebrities, hipsters, gather together for 7 services in rented out clubs right in the hub of the concrete jungle. He’s got alot of haters, but religious people always despise people who do things they are afraid to do. I’ve gotten emails from people and had conversations with individuals who think I’m crazy, are concerned with the way I dress, and I find myself feeling a bit more like Jesus, and to me they’re beginning to look alot more like Pharisees :s.

Something has to change in our city. Before revival comes to a city or region, God puts his finger first on the church. I hear people say “we’re waiting on God” but I believe God is waiting on the church. To all those who wouldn’t consider themselves Christians and are reading this post, on behalf of the church, I want to apologize for the way you’ve been treated. I hope that our actions don’t serve as a barrier that stop you from being able to receive the authentic and unconditional love of Jesus. You are loved, you are wanted, and you belong. To the Christians reading this post, take a look inwards and evaluate your life. Your city needs you to communicate and display the truth in love. If it is truth without love it isn’t the truth, and it isn’t the gospel.

Child-like Faith

I received this via email and was inspired by this little girl's childlike faith and her belief and determination to make a difference! I believe that God puts godly desires in our heart that He wants us to pursue, and people in our paths to bring about those desires when we do. 

Please read it to the end and share it if it inspires you. 

Blessings!

Ronell x



A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect.. No chance here for mistakes. 

Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on
the glass counter. That did it!'And what do you want?' the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.. I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages,' he said without waiting for a reply to his question.

'Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,' Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. 'He's really, really sick....and I want to buy a miracle.'

'I beg your pardon?' said the pharmacist.

'His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?'

'We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you,' the pharmacist said, softening a little.

'Listen, I have the money to pay for it.. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.'

The pharmacist's brother was a well-dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, 'What kind of a miracle does your brother need?' 

'I don't know,' Tess replied with her eyes welling up I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money.'

'How much do you have?' asked the man from Chicago.

'One dollar and eleven cents,' Tess answered barely audible.

'And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.'

'Well, what a coincidence,' smiled the man. 'A dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.'

He took her money in one hand and with
the other hand he grasped her mitten and said 'Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the miracle you need.'

That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well.

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.

'That surgery,' her Mom whispered. 'was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?'

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost....one dollar and eleven cents...plus the faith of a little child.

In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need.

A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law. 



{photo credit: http://inspiredwomenmagazine.com/iwmonline/2011/09/in-our-childlike-faith-go-to-god-i-dare-you/}

Volunteer at a School {Mandela Day} 31 / 67 ways to change the world

As promised on Mandela Day 2013 (19.07.13), this is part of my series on their 67 suggested ways of changing the world. This one comes under the category of 'Become an Educator':

31. Offer to help out at your local school.


I am a teacher and I know how desperately schools need volunteers, so this one is close to my heart! If you have any spare time at all that you could give to investing in the future of this country (its children), please do so! Even if it is one or two hours a week- teachers always need help hearing readers or putting up displays or (my least favourite) filing/sticking in kids' work! By taking pressure off teachers in these areas, you are freeing them up to become better and more efficient educators, so please do what you can!

Read Why Should I Volunteer in Schools? on HandsonBlog.com for more information.

Blessings!

Ronell x


{photo credit: http://handsonblog.org/2012/09/04/why-should-i-volunteer-in-schools/}