Chocolate and it’s NOT SO SWEET side.

A couple of years ago I remember just starting to teach the kids about slavery in  the early days of American History.  We talked about the underground railroad and Harriet Tubman.  We talked about what it would be like to be an abolitionist.

At one point I remember saying, “ If I lived back then I would have been one OF THEM.” 

My thoughts were - If I lived back then….

I would have stood up.

I would have fought.

I would have used my voice.

I would have been a zealot.

I would NOT have stood by and WATCHED.

I couldn’t have stood by and KNOWN and done NOTHING.

I would have been moved to ACTION.

I would have been a rebel.

BIG SURPRISE…I know.

I kinda had an…..

“If only I had lived back then…” mentality.

I figured that slavery was a thing of the past.  Slavery was something that seemed far away and ancient.  Something that I only thought about as an “old world” problem.  A lesson in school to teach….not a real life current issue.

I could not have been more wrong.

Slavery is alive and well…all over the world.

Which to me seems like a global basic human rights issue…It seems like there is something terribly horrific about the fact that in 1st world countries we worry about our credit card debt and the newest trend…while, for the most part,  we ignore the fact that it is PROBABLY enslaved poverty-stricken people that MAKE most of our CRAP we feel we NEED to live.

Sick  .

And we are ALL part of the problem.

But…

We CAN also be part of the solution.

There ARE things we can do to HELP.

Little things…things that DO MATTER.

Things we HAVE CONTROL OVER….IMMEDIATELY.

Things like our MONEY and HOW we spend it.

In our home…one of the things I am starting to do lately is try and buy as many FAIR TRADE products as possible. 

“FAIR TRADE is a system that makes sure that poor farmers and workers in developing countries get a fair price for their goods/crops.  Enough so they can put food on the table at night, send their kids to school…”…Harriet Lamb in Chocolate: The Bitter Truth

Fair trade is also a system that keeps children OUT of slavery.  It is a system that MAKES SURE(or tries) to keep children from being sold into slavery because of UNFATHOMABLE POVERTY.

Fair Trade is something that we can participate in TODAY.

It is something we can DO and be a part of.

Because  …In the good ole’ USA- We all have MONEY.

Which means…we have POWER.

I mean…In this day and age I may not be able to GO TO AFRICA and personally save enslaved children with the MERCY PROJECT…But I CAN make sure that the stuff I buy doesn’t come from enslaved children.

One of those things is CHOCOLATE.

We all buy it…all of us.

In SOME way, shape, or form….we buy it.

And we buy a lot of it.

Especially NOW..around Halloween.

MILLIONS..if not BILLIONS of dollars are spent to buy candy that people hand out without a thought as to WHERE it came from.

Even in our house…we don’t celebrate Halloween, but don’t think I don’t get in on a good candy sale!!!  I DO!!!

We ALL buy it and eat it….

which means you either participate in the child slavery or you use your money to STAND against it.

Because ……

True….

Kristen at Rage Against the Mini-van writes: “A report from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture about cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast estimated there were 284,000 children working on cocoa farms in hazardous conditions. Some of them have been taken from their families, or sold as servants. U.S. chocolate manufacturers have claimed they are not responsible for the conditions on cocoa plantations since they don't own them. This includes Hershey, Mars, Nestle, and the US division of Cadbury . . . who collectively represent pretty much every snack-size candy bar that will be available in stores this Halloween. “

SAD.

Who knew???? 

This has been happening for GENERATIONS.

Heart Breaking….

Why not use your money to MAKE SURE that this doesn’t happen?

Watch the video below and MAKE. A. DIFFERENCE.

Don’t be part of the commercial chocolate companies nasty little secret.

Buy Fair Trade.

Always.

Teach your kids what the fair trade symbol looks like.

Explain to them what it is.

You will be a modern day abolitionist.

 

Watch this video and educate yourself…

you will be shocked.

Here are some other links you might enjoy:

My dear friend Heather..and her other options for halloween

Wanna know more about FAIR TRADE???

Educate yourself.  Empower Others.

You never know when…

you

could

be

them.

Food for thought...........

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. Gen 1:29

Could it be MORE clear?????????

Could he have given MORE SPECIFIC directions????????

Is he ever WRONG?????????

These are the questions that I use when explaining to my children that "BIG BROTHER" is TRYING to take away the rights of some farmers.

And we all KNOW that "some farmers" quickly trickles down to YOU AND I.

It was a sad day yesterday as we watched the polititians VOTE on S510 or as they like to call it: The "Food Safety Modernization Act"

One after another voted "aye" ...while few stood their ground and voted "no".

It was sad to watch this in real time while trying to explain to the children WHAT was going on.

"Why is it illegal to GROW food?"

"Why are they voting for that Mama?"

All questions that little minds should NEVER be faced with.

EVER.

Growing, raising, trading, and selling food is a GOD-GIVEN right.

It is something that is a TIME TESTED tradition passed on from generation to generation.

Something that can really help humans to appreciate and WONDER at something that has been done from the begenning of time.

There is something wonderful that happens when you plant a seed in the dirt and with little effort ...it GROWS.

There is an appreciation that is gained... an APPRECIATION for LIFE.

Something that you cant BUY when you get your cucumbers in the vegetable isle at Publix.

These are lessons that GOD intended for us to learn, pass down , and cultivate.

Lessons that can't be REPLACED in the name of "food safety".

I mean really....an organic farm is illegal because they wont CONFORM to the FARMLAND security.

AND

A government run farm is legal...even though they use pesticides, hormones, and mistreat their "livestock".

Never.

THANKFULLY...
The answers to those questions they asked were easily answered.
My ANSWER:
We live by Gods laws....not man's.
No matter what BIG BROTHER says.
EVER.
We use GODS example...we use HIS rules.
ALWAYS.

VICTIMS of a system?????????? No.

Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind…Bob Marley

………………………………………….

Babylon.

Oppression.

The Government.

Corporations.

The MAN.

Whatever you call it….

Its all the same.

A SYSTEM.

A system set in place by those who have no care for those “below” them.

A system that is governed by PROFIT .

A system where PROFIT is the ONLY objective.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

The  American system only wants to consider the positive aspects of reality. Men and women are subjected from childhood to an inexorable process of adaptation; certain principles, contained in brief formulas are endlessly repeated by the Press, the radio, the churches, and the schools.  A person imprisoned by these schemes is like a plant in a flowerpot too small for it: he cannot grow or mature….Octavio Paz

…………………………………………………………………………………

For years Jason and I have felt the HEAVINESS of a system designed to keep people like us “out”.

By “out” I mean….

making it hard for someone “like us” to get a loan, buy a house, a car, or even get a job.

A system SET UP to keep those who WON’T conform…OUT.

A system set up to keep the PRESSURE on.

Pressure to live like “everyone else”

Pressure to do what “everyone else” does

Pressure to think like “everyone else”

Pressure to keep up with “the Joneses”

THAT is alot of pressure that is FED to us throughout our LIVES –with little knowledge that it is evening happening.

We just grow up EXPECTED to CONFORM.

Expected to just fall in line……left, right, left, right.

But..

Conformity is a CHOICE.

I am aware that we have made a CHOICE…knowing that this CHOICE would keep us on the outside of the SYSTEM.

We still made the choice. 

I LOVE the choice we made.

But it is still a DIFFICULT LIFE sometimes.

Always going AGAINST the GRAIN.

Always feeling like there is a STRAIN, because the choice we have made doesn't necessarily mean there has been ALOT of money, or material things.

Our happiness has had to come from LOVE, LAUGHTER, and FAMILY.

Lately ….

I have been noticing something interesting.

I have noticed that NOW…because of the economy and recession…others have noticed this SYSTEM.

People who have never felt it before.

They are feeling  the heaviness of OPPRESSION in the  USA.

The HARDNESS of a system that will…

kick a family out of their home(because they couldn’t PAY),

take a family’s car(because they were a little behind)

force a family to ASK for welfare(when they never thought that was even a POSSIBILITY.)

AND

Keep a MAN from getting a job to take care of his family.

They are feeling the “system”….and its HEAVY.

Its heavy until…..

you realize that you can OPEN YOUR EYES and live on the OUTSIDE.

you CAN LIVE  in a world based on FAITH in GOD….not in material things.

REMEMBER:

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"

                                                                                        Matt 6:19-21

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Instantly Lightens the LOAD………….AMEN.

 

Honoring the CHANGE…….monthly.

¹ There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace.

                                                            Ecc 3:1-8

…………………………………………………………………………….

Every month I fight a monster that swells inside me.

It is NOT PRETTY.

It is not FUN.

And believe me…it does not come and go without its’ fair amount of GUILT.

“Mommy guilt” I call it.

I feel guilty every month because I am not at 100%(for a few days).

During THOSE days…I am not the FUN teacher,

the COOL mom,

or the CARING wife I normally am.

I am TIRED, CRANKY, IRRATABLE, and SNAPPY.

I try.

But I suck.

I can’t seem to be PATIENT or KIND.

Trust me…the “fruits of the spirit” are BURIED DEEP inside me during this time.

I want to overcome it.

But…I can’t.

I want to BE NORMAL.

But …I can’t.

I want to WANT to be near all the SMALL PEOPLE running around..

But…I can’t.

ALL I hear is the arguing.

Somehow, the smacking is AMPLIFIED.

Even watching “America’s Funniest Home Videos” is a chore.

THAT is BAD.

THAT is not ADMARABLE.

But

It is TRUE.

It is not a side of me that I am proud of,

BUT

I am being honest.

I need to remember that I need to GIVE MYSELF those days.

I need to HONOR my body during those days.

I need to remember that in a few years there will be 3 FEMALES in this house in the same “boat” at he same time!!!!

And if we know what is good for us I will SCHEDULE in “those” days.

The days when I allow myself to “let things slide”.

Days when I let the laundry go, stay in my Pj’s, and CHILL.

For the time being….I want to remember that these days are precious.

These days are numbered.

Cranky or not.

These days are PRECIOUS.

 

 

Truthful Tuesday…..

Here it is.

Here is my TRUTH for this Tuesday.

THIS is what didn’t get done today.

This is what “fell behind” today.

This is what I didn’t have the energy for today.

And I DEFINANTLY don’t have energy for them TONIGHT!!!  

Truthful Tuesday: Week 1

Sooo…..on the blogosphere there is something neat going around.

Its an idea.

Its called, “Getting Real” or “Truthful Tuesday”

It is just what it sounds like:  a TRUTHFUL Tuesday.

A day when you post about some “UGLY” part of your life.

Its about being honest and being REAL.

Sometimes when you write a blog,and people read that blog,  they don’t realize that you post 1 TIME per day (if your lucky).

So it is a SMALL piece of your life that you are posting.

A

SMALL

PIECE.

Not in any way is it a WHOLE VIEW of someone's life.

Its a SLICE…and a slice that THEY CHOOSE to show, at that.

In honor of this idea, I am starting a “Truthful Tuesday” today.

As I sat last night and tried to figure out what would be a good TRUTHFUL TUESDAY post.

I mean TRUTHFULLY…..there aren’t many things that I haven't been open about. 

But here goes…..

Its 9:00 am and the kids are STILL in there PJ’s.

no chores done.

They are watching “America’s got talent”.

Soooo….

THERE it is…

The UGLY TRUTH.

It is what it is…..

We will get to it(by 10) …but as of right now….

It is TRUTHFUL TUESDAY!!!!