Clothes, Clothes, Clothes!

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Thank you all so very much for your help, I could not have done this without your support!


It has been a while since my last blog update. We were in a homework lock-down for the past few days in order to complete all of the homework we have for the rest of the semester!

I am relieved to not have to think about homework much in these last few weeks before we go, but I wanted to share one of the topics with you that I wrote a paper on. For our Cross Cultural Studies class, I wrote on how Globalization has had an effect on the garment industry and if/how Christians should respond. This is a very important topic for me, as it is a major reason for me returning to school, to further a career in helping fight garment slavery. 

I won't write the whole paper out for you, but I wanted to share a few trends with you that I learned and that still break my heart after years of learning about this industry.

Fast Fashion

 

Devo: Joseph's Bones

Have you ever really thought about the bones of Joseph?

Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob and was sold into slavery by his brothers. You may have heard the story before, if not then you can read it in your bible in Genesis 37 - 42 or online here. When Joseph died, he left instruction with his family to take his bones to Israel, the land of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The process of getting his bones to Israel was a little difficult however and involved 400 years of slavery before Joseph's descendants were able to leave Egypt. If you don't know that story, you can find it in the beginning of Exodus... and then watch this movie because it is wonderful, it is beautiful and it has the most amazing soundtrack that you will ever hear!

Anyway! Back to Joseph's bones. It's not really the bones that are important, but what they represent. When the Israelites left Egypt, they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness because of their disobedience, before they were allowed into the Promised Land. 

These events are a great picture of the Christian Life! Before we accept Christ, we are enslaved by our sins (Jhn 8:34), but after we believe in Him, we are released from bondage (Jhn 8:36). 

However, there is a downside!

Once you are saved, you enter into the Kingdom of God (Jhn 3:5-8) and then you have to wait for His eternal reign (Jas 5:7-8). God gives us something to do while we're waiting (share His words with others Mat 28:18-20), but it doesn't always make it easy. Just like the Israelites had to wait 40 years in the wilderness to enter into their Promised Land, we have to wait in our wilderness to enter into our Promised Land (Heaven). 

Have you ever had that feeling? Like you don't quite belong? Could it perchance be the sense of eternity in your heart? We're not there yet, and we know it deep down! We get fed what we need to get by, like the Israelites were fed their manna and quail every day (Ex 16), but there's that sense that something more is missing, that there's an excitement we don't have yet. We want to taste that milk, honey (Ex 3:8) and those giant grapes and pomegranates (Num 13:23)!

But Laura, wait, weren't you going on about Joseph's bones earlier?

Well, yes! The Israelite people were carrying Joseph's bones with them all throughout the wilderness. The bones were carried in a coffin... an ark in other words (I got this part from Beth Moore's Patriarchs study, and then double checked it on BibleGateway.org to make sure). 

Actually, the Hebrew word for ark and coffin is the same, it is arown.

Testimony: Everything

One of the dramas we perform is called the "Everything" drama. In the drama, Jesus created a girl and they had a close relationship with each other, they were happy just being together. But then people came into her life who were using things to try to distract her from Jesus: lust, money, drunkeness, vanity and suicide. As her life reaches a dark point, she decides to run back to Jesus, but has to struggle against the baggage now in her life. Jesus shields her from the baggage tormenting her and defeats them. She and Jesus are then happy together again.

 (If the video does not work, you can view it by clicking here)

Our HMS crew performed this drama at one of the youth groups in Edmonton last night. It has been one of my favorites for a while!

When I was in Jr. High I saw this drama performed by Vanguard at a Bible Quizzing Tournament. At the time I was struggling a bit with my faith because I didn't feel that I had a very close relationship with God. This drama helped me to remember the way I used to talk with Him as a child, with no doubt that He could hear me and that He would speak to me. 


I began to realize that there was hope, that I would be able to have that relationship restored, and began my struggle back to Jesus. Like in the drama, I realized that I needed to let Jesus take on my emotional baggage in order to become closer with Him. There wasn't anything I could do to restore myself to Him, I just needed to surrender and trust Him to do the work Himself.

Now He is my Everything!  

 

 Isaiah 53:5-6 

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed. 

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all. 

Devo: Overcoming Fear

I have been purposefully choosing to not let fear be a main factor in my life's decision making for the past year. However life for a global worker can be completely fraught with fear if you're not careful. This is the short list of potential fears!

• Eating chickens feet
• Offending someone's culture
• Finances
• Safety
• Getting lost
• Losing your passport
• Persecution
• Language barriers
• Lack of comfort
• Packing all that stuff into one backpack!

With so many things to fear, how do you possibly control it? Here are my thoughts on fear, and controlling it:

Why?

Well, the main reason is... God commands us not to fear!