7 things a good friend will do

Each year I recognize a little bit more the absolute importance of having good friends and being a good friend. These past few years I have been so blessed to have had amazing people around me that have encouraged me, challenged me and helped me grow more than I would have ever thought.
I don't always get the friendship thing right (like that time in primary school when I told a girl I wouldn't be her friend unless she gave me her lamington.... yup that really happened.) and I know there are times when I hurt people with my words and actions, but there are also times when I manage to put into action some of the stuff I know in my head! 
So this post is a collection of 7 things that a good friend does: all of these being things I am still working on myself, but know how important they are!

Number 1
Be there.  No matter what time of day or night or whether it's convenient, just be there. Be there when that relationship ends, be there when the drunken call comes from town at 3 am, be there when they get that promotion, be there when that sick family member dies and the funeral is out of town. Some of the most significant friendship moments for me have been when I was at my absolute lowest and ugliest, not even fun to be around but someone was there anyway, refusing to leave. And be aware that most people won't ask you to be there, don't wait for that. Just be there anyway.

Number 2
Listen. Maybe for the guys it's different, but I will speak on behalf of the girls... Usually I don't want advice or a solution from my friend (If I do, you'll know about it). I just want you to listen and validate that what I'm feeling is a real thing and worth addressing. That's all. If you're a close friend, you might have to listen to the same thing several times before they figure it out... That's okay. Try not to say "We've talked about this before", but just listen again, maybe talking something through will bring the breakthrough they're wanting.  

Number 3
Ask good questions. This one really goes hand in hand with listening... I would go as far to say that asking good questions is a part of being a good listener, and it takes practice. Questions can have two purposes... 1- They get you information about someone or a situation. ie, What time do you need me to be at your practice? Which flowers does your mum like best? That kind of thing... or 2- They are a tool to draw out the knowledge, understanding and experiences of another person in a way that allows them to better understand themselves or their situation. Most of us can figure out the first type of questions easy enough but the second type is what a good friend will need to practice. This could be something like... "What is it about this relationship that makes you a better person?" "When you play piano like that, what does it mean to you?" "How do you think your natural teaching skills can benefit this organization that you're working with?" These types of questions are not for your information but almost exclusively for the other persons benefit.  I could do a whole blog on questions, I love this stuff!

Number 4
Don't assume your relationship will remain strong left unattended. Wow, this is one that constantly challenges me and I know I've lost some friendships through not understanding the importance of this. A friendship is just like any other living thing.... If you don't look after it and pay attention to it, it will die. Fact of life. 
Make an effort to text back. Write a note and leave it with their stuff. Make time to go out for dinner. All of those little things can mean the difference between life and death of a friendship or relationship. Some friendships survive for seasons solely on one persons initiative and sometimes that's okay but don't let it go on too long, start watering that thing too!

Number 5
Let each other grow and change. Your friendship might have been amazingly strong and valuable during high school or university or during a specific season.... but don't lock someone into staying that same person as you move forward in life. Allow them space to explore and become someone different as they move through experiences that are bound to shape both of you. Trust that your friendship will stay strong even as you have the courage to hold someone with loose hands

Number 6 
Champion your friend in what they're passionate about. Oh how amazing is it to have someone who is secure enough in themselves to build you up and champion you into what you were made for! Be that person who tells everyone how amazing your friend is in front of them... Be the embarrassing person who holds up a big sign in the music recital and makes everyone look at you... Be the person who calls later that night to tell your friend what an amazing job they did at organising an event. Whatever your friend is into, whatever dreams they are pursuing, be their biggest cheerleader! 

Number 7
Be willing to apologise. No matter how much you care about someone and want to be the best friend you can, sometimes you're gonna mess it up. Maybe you accidentally tell a secret they shared, maybe your music recital sign was a little too embarrassing and it put off their performance. Maybe you were tired and snapped about something that happened long ago, or maybe you just became too busy and forgot to be a friend for a while... Whatever it was, don't be too prideful to turn up at the house and say sorry. No text apologies! Are we still in high school people?? 
It might be that your friend needs a little more time to work through things until they will let you back in, and that's okay. Be sincere in your words, follow it with your actions and give them the time and space that they need.  

I thought this image captured an old friendship so well!

True Cost Part 2 - Extreme Makeover, Closet Edition

My last post took the rusty lid off the Pandora's box of fashion, exposing some of the deception, manipulation and tragedies behind our clothing, so if you haven't read that one yet, do that first, because this one is only meaningful in light of the huge problem. 

With this post I'm aiming to introduce a little hope into the equation... Not everyone is buying into this industry. For years there have been people questioning, fighting and getting a little creative as they wage war against this beast. I want to honor them and tell you what they've done as well as challenging you to think about what you could do.

Everybody needs to take responsibility for the garment workers, we live in a global world and we can do much better than this! We have an international trading system that is systemically dysfunctional, completely out of balance and needs to be addressed. I recognize however that the fashion industry changed very very quickly to be like this, and after a big change in any industry it takes a while to smell and feel the dirt that comes from something that is polluting...and now, we've come to the point where the danger cannot be denied and I have a lot of hope that things will begin to change.



Here are a few companies and people that have taken on the challenge, identified with the humanity of the garment workers and done something...

People Tree, a sustainable and fair trade fashion company that sells online all over the world. They source all of their material through organic means and work closely with their workers who they call partners. They start with the people and the skills they have and then design clothing from that space instead of the other way round. Check them out at http://www.peopletree.co.uk/ 

Larhea Pepper, a Texan cotton farmer who has changed her whole farm around in order to produce organic cotton. They have forsaken mass pesticide spraying and just spray the weeds by hand... This ensures that the land doesn't have excess pressure on it from the chemicals and the cotton produced is much healthier. Larhea made this change after her farming husband died from a cancer they believed came about from working too closely with dangerous pesticides for many years. 

Green Carpet Challenge, An initiative encouraging celebrities to take part in more mindful forms of fashion, using their high profiles to raise awareness. More information at http://eco-age.com/green-carpet-challenge/ 

Swallows, A fair trade fashion and development project based in Bangladesh. This is special because not only do they provide work for people in Bangladesh and a sustainable fashion option for consumers, but they also have a Swallows school in the area that gives education to 320 children. http://www.peopletree.co.uk/about-us/who-makes-our-products/swallows

Patagonia, a popular outdoor wear company that have begun taking responsibility for where their clothes come from and are asking questions that challenge their customers views on consumerism.

This is just a few of many groups taking action to improve the quality and integrity of the clothes we wear. But that's just what they've done, everyone will have a different response... For me, it makes sense that I no longer buy clothes from mainstream companies that haven't taken any responsibility for their part in the problem. I try firstly to not buy clothes if I don't have to, this is partially to fight the lie that says I need more all the time, and partly to not be a part of making more stuff. Buying second hand is always a great option too. There are lots of ethical options for clothes as well, for NZ unfortunately most of these will be online but that can be navigated. 

There's a lot of deeper reasons behind why we need to be responsible, why we need to take a stand... a lot of them depend on what your beliefs about God and the value of humanity is, both things I will touch on in the third and final part of this blog on clothing... But until then, ask yourself, what are some practical changes you could make that would, in some small part, join the war against greed and selfishness? What could you do that would be a small act of solidarity with millions of oppressed and desperate garment workers?

True Cost Part 1 - Out of sight, behind our closet doors

This piece of writing is not pleasant to read. I tried to make it like that because the subject matter is not possible to sugar coat. It’s been hidden far too long, rotting and growing out of control, so shining a light on it will always be ugly and unpleasant.

The fashion industry crisis is remarkably complex yet simple. It is a matrix of economics, multi layered exploitation, globalisation and capitalist mindsets. Yet at its most basic level, it is an industry driven by greed, desperation and ignorance.  The only reason I am even attempting to articulate anything about it is because I think all people have been created good and have the potential to do good, and a lot of the time it is honest ignorance that fuels this beast. So maybe if people knew, it may lose its power. 

The following statistics are reliable, sourced from a documentary and double checked. If there were any disparities, I took the least shocking number...

·         

•  93% of American clothing is outsourced from factories in the developing world

•  Bangladesh, the most common origin of clothing, has a minimum wage of $3 per day

• There are approximately 40 million garment workers in the world today, 85% of these are women

•   In the past 16 years, there has been 250,000 farmer suicides in the developing world due to the pressure put on them to produce cheap cotton and resources for large companies. This is one farmer every 30 seconds, the largest recorded wave of suicides ever in history

• Globally, we buy 80 billion pieces of new clothing a year, a 400% increase from 2 decades ago

•  Fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world, second only to the oil industry

Here is the simple version of the problem.

In the past, clothing was mostly made locally, or at least within the country it was sold in. Clothes were seen as something you would buy, look after, and expect to last for a good amount of time... Then, with the evolution of globalisation and the industrial revolution, we saw something emerge now known as Fast Fashion. 

Similar to the fast food industry... low quality, quick and cheap. 

Instead of having two seasons of clothing, winter and summer, there was new styles coming out every week, moving ruthlessly towards an industry that only benefits large companies.

Those at the top of the product chain (That’s you and me) can choose who makes their clothes, and it became whoever would give the cheapest price. So multi-billion dollar clothing companies are employing dirt cheap labor in developing nations such as Bangladesh  because then they can sell it cheaper back home and still enjoy a ridiculous mark up on the products. 

These companies then come back and say “We can get this type of shirt made for $4 in another city and if you don’t do it for us for $3 then we’ll take our business and go somewhere else”. These factory owners are desperate for the business of Western clothing lines, so they have no choice. The material itself and the resources taken to create the clothes is not getting any cheaper, but our clothing prices in the West are dropping each year... The only place these margins can be squeezed is at the garment workers themselves.  With longer hours, lesser pay and worsening conditions, the risk and burden of Fast Fashion is being carried by those who are most vulnerable.

Don’t just think women in sweat shops... Think billions of tonnes of landfill, think 50 million L of contaminated water from leather factories pouring into the local water source in India every single day. Think cotton farmers forced to treat their precious land like a factory, putting pressure on it that is rapidly becoming evident it cannot sustain. Think women having to take their children to family or friends because they cannot work enough hours to feed them. Think increasing levels of birth defects, cancers and disabilities in the villages near where cotton pesticides are spraying. Think millions and millions of vulnerable people being oppressed, enslaved and killed... in the name of Fashion. 

There are two major industry events that I think are important to be aware of, because they represent the risk, the sacrifice and the suffering behind the clothes we can get so cheaply today.

 Weeping for  missing and dead loved ones outside Rana Plaza

In April 2013, workers in the Bangladeshi garment factory, known as Rana Plaza, noticed structural problems with the building. It was an old factory and money had not been invested in maintaining the building, since there are no enforced Health and Safety or building laws in Bangladesh. After pointing out their concerns and having received an order to evacuate, factory owners forced all the workers back into the building and demanded they continue making clothes. Later that day, the building collapsed, as predicted, trapping and killing 1129 workers. 

Garment Factory Rana Plaza collapses, killing 1129

Their voice of warning was drowned out by the noise of consumerism and they paid the price. For me, the most tragic part of this story is that 2014, the year following the Rana Plaza collapse, was the highest income generating year for large companies based in Bangladesh. Their deaths were seemingly in vain and now two years later Bangladesh still lacks any form of collective rights, no trade union rights, a very low minimum wage, no maternity leave and no pensions.  There is absolutely nothing preventing history repeating itself.

Garment workers take to the streets protesting for living wage

 

Police respond to protesters with violence in Vietnam

Between July 2013-2014 there was growing unrest and protests in Vietnam as workers began to demand better working conditions and a living wage. The protests took to the streets as garment workers refused to work and demanded to be heard. The police, supported by the government, responded in violence and shots were fired, people beaten and killed... Again, in the name of cheap clothing.  Their demands were too high, not reasonable said the officials opposing the protests. Friend, please understand, these Vietnamese workers fought and were pushed down again over their request to raise their   wage to $160 a month, just over $5 per day.

There is page and pages I could write, illuminating the struggle of millions around the world whose future is sewn into the hems of our clothing and shipped overseas.  I could write about the seductive deception of advertising, the way we are lied to about what we need and want, then taken for a ride by multibillion dollar corporations. I could write about the exponential environmental impacts of fashion and how even the earth itself is suffering from our greed.

 But instead I will leave you with the haunting words of Shima, a young Bangladeshi woman and mother who since the age of 12 has been a garment worker. She was in the Rana Plaza collapse and had previously spoken up against her factory owners about working conditions, a move that caused her to be beaten with electric cords and cut with scissors. Shima was forced to take her precious young daughter Nadia to her parents’ house far away and leave her there because she so desperately wanted a future for her that was better than her own. She is beautiful. She is strong. And it is for people like her that we need to take a stand.

“People have no idea how difficult it is for us to make their clothing. They only buy it and wear it for a while. I believe this clothing is made by our blood. A lot of people die in factories. I don’t want anybody wearing something that was made with blood. I never wanted this.”  - Shima

                            Shima with her daughter Nadia before leaving her with relatives to return to work.                                 

 

The True Cost

In these past two years, I have become increasingly aware of and concerned with the origins and the ethics of the clothing we wear, a journey that was catalysed just recently when I watched a documentary called ‘True Cost’, a film about the many hearts and hands behind clothing and the impact of such an industry on our poorer neighbours and our environment. 

Now that I have seen, I am responsible.  As a Christian, as a human, as a young person... Now I am accountable for my response.

 And part of that is that I want to make other people aware of the cost of our clothing. The challenge as a writer is, how do I present this information, this story, this scandal,  in a way that makes people stop and think, but that leaves them empowered and passionate rather than condemned and hopeless.  I’m not sure. And maybe I won’t get it right, but I want to try anyway. So this will be a three part series of blog posts, covering the horror of it, the hope of it and then the responsibility of the church with a little bit of Jesus theology mixed in, since He seemed to have a few things to say about this. I believe it is the responsibility of everyone, but I write from the perspective of the church partly because I am a part of it. But mostly because, as the body of Christ, the God man who lived among the poor, fought for the dignity of women and children and those in poverty, then charged us to do the same, I believe we should make up the front battle lines on this issue and right now that is not the case.

So, over these next couple of weeks, as I post each part of this, take some time to read it. Please don’t scroll past, please don’t just look at the pictures and miss the words because they’re long... Allow yourself to feel the holy tension between what is and what should be. This is an uncomfortable truth, so don’t be afraid to feel that way. 

We can’t continue to keep our eyes closed anymore. This is too important. 

With love from the front lines, I’ll see you soon

Finish Well

These next two months are a funny time of year, November and December... The downward home run of our calendar.

As a student, exams are over and we're all talking about our summer plans. In church we're seeing smaller numbers as people leave for a few months and year long groups are starting to finish up. Winter clothes are going away and the summer clothes are coming out again...
The Dunedin streets are emptier and there is the occasional couch or bed frame being carried to next years flat, because lets be honest, what student has a car that can actually carry anything?


It can be an exciting time and a much needed break from the work through the year, but there is also a very real danger lurking in these next two months...

It's so easy to think of ideas and plans but put them aside till next year. It's easy to let commitments and responsibilities you've had all year slide a bit.
The new years mindset that says "Oh, it doesn't matter, I'll start again in the new year..." Start praying again, start exercising again, start making an effort in difficult relationships again, start being organised and replying to email again, and the list can go on.

But my friend, November and December are still very worthy months to live fully in, people are still worth loving and God is still worth pursuing! Finish well.
Look forward to the new year and celebrate what will begin then, but don't miss these next two months, keep running, finish well.

The Land of the Workers

I lived amongst a great people, a vast multitude of workers.  In this dusty land we worked day in and day out, building and mending, creating and planning. We traded in the market place, counted our achievements and kept careful record of all we had done. All I knew was what I had done and who I was in comparison to my fellow workers. I would keep a careful eye on their creations, even whilst working on my own.  Some could carry heavy loads or run far distances, some were beautiful and confident and some seemed to have many friends. I would make delicate artwork and speak wise words, but there was someone always just down the street who could do the same thing. I would learn of far away mysteries but there was always someone who understood more than I did.

 Over time, my place in the land of the workers seemed to always be under threat, even though no one ever said anything. If I failed, if I slowed down, if I said the wrong thing, I would be banished. Cast out into the streets amongst the beggars, those endlessly sad people who would spend their days waiting upon someone to drop a crumb of worthiness into their hungry hands. I would lie awake at night measuring my own achievements against my neighbours, those who had the title of friend but were my biggest competition. I would calculate whether what I had done that day would be enough to keep me in a position worthy of these people. I was always tired and my eyes grew weary from always looking around to the work of others. In fact, sometimes my own work was neglected because I looked too often at what the hands of others were creating. 

One day there was a great commotion in the streets, the King was coming! Instead of preparing a feast for Him, instead of laying down a carpet for His feet or singing songs of welcome, all the people worked harder, made more, stayed up later and got up earlier.... For the King would want to see all our hard work, He would count up our achievements and tell us if we were good enough.

The day arrived and the streets were bustling with people working as hard as they could, looking busy and saying important things. I took out my best artwork and continued working on it as He came down the street, trying my best to look like this took all my energy and that everything I had was being put into this work. When He came by, His feet stopped beside me and those royal hands moved aside my work without even looking at it. He crouched down and smiled into my face. I started babbling about all I had done, asking Him if He wanted to see it, giving Him the long lists I had prepared of all that I had achieved. His gentle eyes suddenly became sad and I didn’t know what to do, for I had just offered the King the best of my work and it had only made Him sad! I told Him I would work harder, I could do better... but He silenced me.  He led me inside my house and did not even look at all my treasures, He drew the curtain over them in fact, so it was just us. 

He asked me how I was doing, so I told Him what I had been working on.

He asked me about what I loved, so I told Him of achieving.

He asked me what I wanted, so I told Him of being better.

Then, in the twilight of that summer evening, He told me the stories of where I came from. He spoke of dancing and dreaming, of laughter and rest. He spoke of days where people would sit and talk without working, of days that children were taught how to play before they were taught how to work. The King told me of His love for me, how He thought of me constantly, how He longed to spend time with me but I was never available, I was always working. He told me how when He walked through these streets, He was looking for eyes to catch His, for someone to walk beside Him, but no one did because we wanted to impress Him with our work. I was told of how my ability to create and build, to fix and plan was put there by Him, He taught me, but it was never supposed to be like this. As He left I watched Him, saw how He lifted up those begging in the dirt, gave them hope and how they followed Him. I saw how the children would long to run after Him but their busy parents held them back, saying there was too much to do.

In the weeks following, my work didn’t feel the same. My hands ached to embrace stillness and wonder. My eyes stopped straying to the work of others, I didn’t care anymore if they were doing more than me. When a neighbour showed me her clay vase I was able to compliment her on her craftsmanship without silently planning to make something better. My mind dwelled on the words of the King, that I was made for more than work... My life was always meant to be a celebration, a dance, like the river that flowed through the dusty land.

The workers who had not met the King would look sideways at me as my hands slowed down, as I spent time with the beggars and the children, leaving my work sitting for hours at a time. I heard their whispers that I was wasting my talent but I knew that in fact I was learning the purpose for my talent. They would tell me of their achievements and I started learning how to look past their hands and see their eyes, beautiful stories hidden in them of struggle and survival, of a longing for something more... If I looked there long enough, the work would be forgotten and a connection that was made long ago could be found.

I spent time with the King every day, we would sit and talk and He would tell me of His plans, of His desires. He would whisper to me about the fears of the beggars and the struggles of my neighbours and I knew He trusted me to talk to them, to love them and offer them comfort. He taught me how to speak the language of rest and freedom instead of work and comparison. I learned how to work with joy, to work for a purpose but to not be defined by it.

I’m still learning.

Sometimes I long to just go and live in the palace with the King, but I know that there is many who are stuck here in the land of the Workers, so I must remain until they too know to speak the language of freedom, so we can leave this place together.

My month without Facebook - What I learned

A month ago I decided to go without the super monster of Facebook for the month, a bit of an experiment to see what happened and some time to figure out how I feel about this whole social media thing...

So here's what happened

1. Usually people remembered to tell me about important things and still invite me to events. Sometimes they didn't. And that was okay.
All of the really important things I managed to catch and it was actually really nice seeing people remember to talk to me in person or text me about something 

2. After the first two days I forgot about Facebook almost completely. I didn't feel the need to go on all the time and I didn't feel like I was missing out. In fact, come the end of the month I didn't actually really want to go back on it at all, but that will take a bit more figuring out as to the logistics of that.

3. I wrote more letters and called more people. This was something I had planned to do anyway during this month, so it wasn't a surprise, but not having a stalker view on people's lives for the month meant that when I called people or wrote them a letter, I could ask about their life and be genuinely surprised when they told me things rather than saying "Oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook".

4. I studied better. Nothing more needs to be said on this one, we all know what it's like.

5. I had time to think about how to use Facebook rather than let Facebook use me. I do have a lot of thoughts on this but I'm not going to write them here, if you want to talk about it then we can do it in person

6. I was surprised by the number of people who after their initial confused reaction were pretty excited and said that they wished they could do something like that... which by the way you can.
I was also surprised by the number of conversations that went something like "Hey, did you see on Facebook that... oh, you don't have Facebook. Sorry." Which in writing doesn't sound funny at all, but it was often said in the same tone of voice that you might use if you started telling a puppy joke to someone then realised their puppy had died the week before.
Weird.

7. I missed a couple of birthdays. That kind of sucked. But then I realised that if I only remember someone's birthday because I see it on Facebook, either that person isn't really that important to me, or I need to be a better friend and write this stuff down somewhere else! Bring back the birthday diary!

So, what happens now?
 I don't really know.
 I am thinking about going off Facebook for good, but I need to sort through stuff before that since a lot of my work, volunteer and study communication happens through Facebook.
But I might not.
I know I'll definitely go on here less. And I won't have Facebook on my phone or tablet because I use those things when I'm with people and it would be much better to use that time to talk to people!

Dear Facebook, It's complicated....

I've been in a relationship with  Mr Facebook for 6 years now, on and off at times and we've had some rocky months but overall, we're in a pretty steady relationship.

Unfortunately, it isn't a very healthy relationship as I just found out. He stalks my life, knows all my friends and as I just found out, is also in relationship with 1.44 billion other people... wow, that's awkward. He also isn't really into quality time so whenever we hang out all I ever hear about is the highlights of all his other friends lives.

I'm assuming you're also in a relationship with Mr Facebook too, so I thought I would let you in on some information maybe you didn't know...

• The average smartphone user checks Facebook 14 times per day
• Several people have been murdered for unfriending someone on Facebook (I feel particularly at risk since I unfriended 400 people last weekend)
• Facebook tracks what sites you visit, even when you're logged out (I told you, over obsessive relationship)
• According to studies, 1 in 3 people feel less satisfied with their lives after visiting Facebook
• A third of all divorce filings in the US in 2011 contained the word Facebook in the reasons for divorce
• 8.7% of Facebook users aren't real people

These past few weeks I've been wrestling with the question of how do I use Facebook and other social media sites in a way that builds people up and honors God but doesn't waste my time and suck out my creativity. It's an interesting dilemma and probably one that we haven't had to face at the this degree ever before.

I believe in real relationship and I want to fight for authentic conversation, for real connection. I'll go to battle for quality time and face to face friendship. I have seen in my own life and in the lives of those around me how Facebook damages the willingness and necessity to connect with the people around us in real time.
However, Facebook is also a useful tool for keeping in touch with overseas friends, managing the various groups I'm involved in and organizing events.

I've been inspired by some friends recently who have deleted their Facebook accounts completely, choosing to rebel against a culture that tries to be connected at all times to the rest of the world. I admire that. They're people that are really great to spend time with because they value the real stuff.

The nature of the things I'm involved in makes it very hard to delete Facebook completely but I've made a decision that for the next month, Mr Facebook and I are going to take a break, clear the air and think about our priorities.

How can I use Facebook as a tool for encouraging and celebrating people and bringing glory to God through the way my life is seen there? How can I use Facebook as an outlet for my creativity and wisdom rather than letting it numb my brain and mindlessly scroll through other people's lives?
What does it look like to fight for quality relationships and have a part of those friendships be on Facebook?

These are the questions that I want to figure out over this next month while Mr Facebook tends to his other 1.44 billion devotees...

Until then, Skype me, call me, have coffee with me, come for a run with me....
Grace and Peace,
Aliesha

What is that in your hand?

This is a story about a stick.
And about a nation that had been slaves for hundreds of years.
It's a post about an unwilling liberator and about the things you hold in your hands.

Enter Moses, political fugitive in the desert after escaping with his life from the tyrant Pharoah, king of Egypt (unfortunately also his step grandad... awkward). Moses was taking his father in laws sheep for a stroll through the wilderness when he caught sight of a bush that was on fire but wasn't burning up and becoming curious he went to check it out...
Read the story yourself in Exodus 3, but in short Moses was assigned by God Himself the task of going back into the melting pot of civilization he'd escaped from and rescuing the nation of Israelites who had been slaves there for 430 years and leading them into the land God had promised to them. No big deal.

But Moses wasn't too chuffed about the idea and gave God a nice big list of reasons why he was not the guy for the job and God should probably just try someone else.
 To which God replies "What is that in your hand?"
Moses looks, "A shepherds staff"

A shepherds staff was a wooden stick, often with a curved top, a tool to help guide and protect the sheep and to support the shepherd. It was something Moses used everyday in his work.
Then God goes onto show him incredible signs and wonders that he would do when Moses used the staff, like turning it into a snake then back into a stick... He tells him that He will do miracles through Moses in Egypt to convince Pharaoh to release the people, even to force them to leave!

After this encounter, Moses heads back home and gathers his wife and kids and puts them on a donkey ready to head back to Egypt (well, probably not ready, but he's going at least). Then there is this little verse... "In his hand was the staff of God".

Somewhere between finding the burning bush and preparing to leave for Egypt, the perspective of Moses changed.... What had been just "a shepherds staff" was now the "staff of God". What happened?
God showed Moses the potential for the tool he already had in his hand. He showed him how what he was using everyday could be used for a purpose much much greater than what it was now.
What had been used to herd sheep would now be used to lead a million captives into their promise.

What do you have in your hand friend?
What tools, gifts, talents, resources and connections do you already hold?
And what would happen if you let God show you the potential they have to bring Him glory and usher in the kingdom of heaven to your world?
Would you see them differently?

Keep it Simple

This past year I've been on a journey learning about simplicity and what it means to live without excess and clutter, both internally and externally.

So this post is ten things that I've discovered that simplify life a bit. Some of them I've almost mastered, some of them I'm just scratching the surface of but all of them I believe to be useful and good.

Number One: Try not to multi-task. 
You may get slightly more things done, but you'll be distracted and none of them will be top quality. Doing one thing at a time will help you learn to live in the present, being fully where you are. What you do, do it mindfully.

Number Two: Eat slowly.
How often do we shovel food down our throat and jump up to leave and can't even remember what we just ate? Eating slowly will both help you to enjoy and savor the gift that each meal is and you'll feel much better afterwards because your body was designed to eat slowly. It will also give you more time to talk with the amazing people you get to eat with!

Number Three: Capture the first 5 minutes of the day.
The way that your first few minutes of your day go has a pretty huge impact on what the rest of it will be like... If you are someone who prays, use those first minutes to give the day to God, thank Him for the chance to live a whole new day and tell Him how awesome He is! If you aren't the praying type, give it a go!  Haha, or make a list in your mind of things you're thankful for, what things you're looking forward to that day or sing a happy song?

Number Four: Go technology free occasionally.
Now I realise that in today's world of communication, online classes and emails, this can practically be a pretty hard thing to do. So just take small steps, go for a walk without your I-pod, leave your phone and laptop in the lounge when you go to bed, hang out with a friend and leave your phone in your bag turned off...   Switching off for a bit can help break the lie of our generation that we need to be constantly connected with the rest of the world

Number Five: Do an honest assessment of your possessions.
I do NOT mean throw out everything except your hemp pants and Peruvian shawl...
But take a look at the things you own... Do you use them? Do you even like them? Is there someone in your life who would benefit from it more than you? Would you miss it if it wasn't there?
Last year I put a whole lot of my stuff and my clothes in a box and put it out of sight in the hall cupboard just to test this theory... After about 4 months I had barely noticed the absence so I took the whole box down to the goodwill store without even opening it!

Number Six: Make time each week to spend time with someone important to you, just for the sake of being together. 
There's not really much to be said about this one.
Your people are important.
Make sure they know it.
The end.

Number Seven: Go through town without your wallet
Currently this one is a forced lifestyle for me as I have lost my wallet and everything in it.
But if you are going with someone else into town or you just have to walk through the mall to get something else, but you have no need to buy anything.... Removing the access to your money is extremely freeing! There's no temptation to buy food or cheap sales stuff because you can't.

Number Eight: Don't over think what people say
Apparently this isn't such a problem for guys.
But for all my girls out there, you know exactly what I mean! But I've found that if you're unsure about what someone really meant or what they think... Just ask them! This will solve 99% of your problems! Good old fashioned talking it out.
And if you don't want to address it in person, then either let it go or work on your conflict skills. I know, ugly honest.
And please please whatever you do, don't talk about it with every other person you know before going to the source... This only serves to make the problem bigger, take longer to figure out and offends people. Every single time.

Number Nine: Learn how to say No.
For those of you who watch a season of a TV programme every second day and can manage to sleep till lunchtime quite easily... This one is not for you! You, my friends, should instead learn how to say yes to some things!
But for those of you who are like me, I struggle to say no to anything because I just want to do everything! Taking an honest look at how you spend your time and what your capacity is can be incredibly helpful. Sometimes just stepping back from one or two roles, cutting back a few hours with a certain work or project can really free you up to rest, be with your people or get some exercise in! If you're doing more than you are supposed to, you're wearing yourself out and also taking the place of someone else who would really thrive in the role that you're doggedly sticking to even though it's killing you.

Number Ten: Tidy up.
I feel like number ten should be a super awesome creative one, to finish off, ya know...
But this humble, often overlooked skill has changed me!
Put your clothes away when you take them off, do the dishes while the dinner is in the oven, make the bed when you get up...
They're small things, often inconvenient. But when your environment is clean, then your mind has more space to think, to be creative and to do things that matter!

There's a lot of inner work that God has done in me, giving me a heart that values simplicity and has learned to slow down in life, but these are just some easy practical things that have made the journey easier!

Open Doors

This past month I've been on placement in Timaru hospital, just over 2 hours north of my city. Yesterday I arrived for my shift slightly early and was just standing outside enjoying the sun and praying for my shift, the patients and staff.

As I was there, a young boy of about 4 years old ran up to the main door, presumably to come and visit someone. The automatic door was just shutting after the last person had walked through when the child ran up. He tried to get through but was too small for the door sensor to recognise, so the doors kept closing.
The boy was jumping around in front of it saying "please open, please open" but it kept shutting.
Just before the doors shut completely, the child's father came up behind him and the door sensor recognised the larger person and opened for him. The boy didn't realise that his dad had come up behind him so he thought he had opened the door himself and with a whoop of excitement he ran through completely unaware of his dad.

It was a cute, amusing scene to watch, but as soon as the two went inside, I realised that God had got me to the hospital early specifically so I could watch this interaction and learn an important truth from it!

In life we come up to a set of doors that are closing on us, it happens all the time. It may be a bad health diagnosis, a struggling marriage, a corrupt government. The doors might be a friend being ravaged by an eating disorder, a family member walking away from God or the unexpected loss of a job and financial security.
We run up to the door, desperately trying to stop it from closing in our face, longing to cross over to the other side where there is healing, breakthrough or rest.
But we're too small, too insignificant, too powerless from stopping those heavy doors and they continue to shut. We can plead, jump around in front of them and get frustrated but nothing happens.

But when Dad, when Papa God comes up behind us, when the weight of His power, glory and love is backing us, those doors have no choice but to open! Cancer has to die, love has to win the marriage back, nations and governments have to bow down! Addiction is always broken off, souls always turn and repent and security and provision always flows!

The doors open before God. By their very nature they cannot remain closed.

The danger then for us, is that we rejoice at the opening door, at the change in circumstances and we run through to enjoy the outcome without looking behind. If we turned around we would see the Father, the One for whom the door opened.

My friend, don't run too far ahead of Dad. Wait on Him, walk through the door together knowing the power of the one you walk with.