Start Something That Matters

One of the most memorable moments of the Catalyst conference I attended in October was (briefly) meeting Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS Shoes and author of the new book, Start Something That Matters. During his on-stage interview, Blake mentioned a pain point of TOMS which set my head spinning. He has experienced difficulty maintaining a solid corporate culture as staff are becoming more culturally diverse and spread out across the world.

Click to learn more about TOMS.

I decided to write Blake a note telling him that I have experience in multi-cultural community development and would be glad to help. I gave it to him in the autograph line. Although he hasn't followed up (yet) the idea took root in my mind. If TOMS is experiencing inevitable culture clash as they work with international leaders in developing markets are other companies struggling with similar issues?

Turns out, according to business journals, news reports, and conversations with business leaders, this is a very common issue in business today as companies look to emerging markets for talent (no longer just labor).

My dad and I had already been working on how we might create a feasible model to provide requested leadership training to indigenous leaders in developing countries. Might a One for One model like TOMS' work for us too? Could we work with multi-nationals in emerging markets and then provide a pro bono or low-cost training to ministry or leaders of community development initiatives in the same area?

This was the initial catalyst for Anda, the business idea my dad and I have been working on for the last several months. It's a business with a heart of service helping local leaders in emerging markets positively impact their societies to the largest extent possible by providing character-based leadership training. Anda also seeks to help these leaders effectively work with those from the "developed" world who have a clearly defined set of standards and ethics which may be understood differently in the emerging market cultures.

I'm taking one step at a time with this and am not sure where it will lead, and in the process The TOMS story encourages me. My dream is that we will help leaders impact their own cultures by creating great businesses and great ministries which will create wealth where there has been poverty and healing where there has been brokenness.

If you're interested in this idea, check out our web site. Let me know what you think. I'd love suggestions of any kind.

And finally, check back Wednesday (the 14th) for an opportunity to win the book Start Something That Matters.

Clean Water

This week I was reminded how normal, expected, demanded conveniences of my American life are really luxuries. There was a problem with our water softener, and suddenly the water in our house was salty and undrinkable. Clean water is a necessity for almost everything!

Even as someone who does not have a high-paying job at the moment, I have every imaginable comfort. I live in a big warm house with a room to myself and a nice soft bed with quality linens. I have a bathroom with a toilet which takes away my waste so I don't even notice it. I can take long hot showers without worrying about using too much water and then use luxurious body creams and lotions on my skin. There is always food in the kitchen -- enough food for three quality meals snacks every day. If anything my concern is that I will have too much. Never too little.

In America we have the biggest selection of the highest quality goods and services at the lowest prices. How can I remain thankful and keep from succumbing to the notion that I deserve these things?

Friday, I went to a dance party which was to raise money for a clean water project in Africa through Partners International. I also thought about Deep Springs International, an organization which was begun by some college friends which is providing clean water in Haiti. How amazing that people in those communities can not assume that they will have the water they need.

Upon reflection, I am very thankful for water, a bed, a toilet, and food. I'm also thankful that I have been places where I didn't have some of these things (I have never gone a day without clean water). I'm thankful for those I've met who will probably never have them, and live in a more thankful posture than I do. I want to be like them.

One thought I have is that through giving we can demonstrate thankfulness for the bounty we enjoy.

In case you're interested in donating, here are links to the ministries I mentioned:
http://www.partnersintl.org/partners/wa/seis
http://deepspringsinternational.org/

I'd love comments!

Happy Birthday, Mumzy!

We had a wonderful holiday week and weekend. Allison came home on Wednesday and we attended a beautiful church service that night, and then we had 15 people at our Thanksgiving feast. We did a lot Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) including Allison and me going to a special class at my gym (which left us sore), baking lots of food, eating and sharing thanks, and playing football (my team one) and then Settlers (I won) in the evening. It really was a great day ;-).

The pumpkin pie made from pumpkins we bought at a nearby farm! It was exceptionally good, if I do say so myself:-)

We also celebrated my wonderful mother's birthday on Saturday. It is always extra-special to celebrate my mom's birthdays as several bouts with cancer have threatened her life. We are so thankful for her.

We had homemade lattes and cranberry bread in the morning and then Qdoba in the evening before Mom, Dad, Allison and I saw The Help in a local old-school theater. I was really glad to share the movie with them since they hadn't seen it before and I expected them to like it as much as I did. Overall, it was a great day.

Aren't they cute??

(Any bragging above is intended for the eyes of Pops and Allison only)

Black Friday FAIL

Allison and Adjua, maybe a little too excited?

Last night I stayed up until MIDNIGHT, so tired from my busy Thanksgiving. My sister Allison and I took Adjua, our Ghanaian sister, and several of her friends for their first Black Friday experience. We decided to go to Target when it opened at 12.

We prepped the girls with strategies for how to handle a stampede and instructed them about how to look for good sales. Since we were in it for the experience we didn't have a very good plan of what to buy.

We walked around the store in the midst of a crazy crowd. We selected a few small gifts and were in contact with the others via phone. At around 1, we began looking for the line so we could check out.

It took us about 10 minutes to find the end of the line, 2/3 of the way to the back of the store, weaving through each aisle and with a forecast of an hour to wait to check out.

We all decided it was time to go to bed. So we put everything back and went home.

= Black Friday FAIL

For the Beauty...

I wrote most of a post earlier about Thanksgiving but after singing this beautiful hymn in church this evening I decided to share the lyrics instead (or for now). I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the martyrs’ crown of light,
For Thy prophets’ eagle eye,
For Thy bold confessors’ might,
For the lips of infancy.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy virgins’ robes of snow,
For Thy maiden mother mild,
For Thyself, with hearts aglow,
Jesu, Victim undefiled.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

Words: Fol­li­ot S. Pier­point, in Lyra Eu­cha­rist­ica, by Or­by Ship­ley, se­cond edi­tion, 1864. http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/f/b/fbeautye.htm

Be Present

I had an absolutely fantastic trip to the East Coast last month to visit my friends in Maryland and then to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference. I am struck again and again by how blessed I am to have a whole network of amazing friends. Especially as a young single, there is great potential to be alone and lonely. I am so thankful for years in Maryland where God blessed me with the best group I can imagine.

The conference theme was "Be Present," which was perfect. I didn't blog about it, but I figured I should mention it. I think the conference organizers hit a cultural reality on the head -- with the wonders of technology we have the ability to be everywhere at once. The dark side of that amazing ability is that we can fall into the trap of never really being anywhere at once. What a way to waste our lives!

The cool thing is that it wasn't just a criticism, but the speakers brilliantly presented ways to be present in many angles: spiritually, in leadership, in service, as we plan our time, and on and on. If you're interested, ask -- I'd love to share more.

Fun Fall Activities

This week, my mom and I went to Greenbluff, an area with lots of farms nearby, twice. The first time, we got pumpkins and squashes of many beautiful varieties. The second time, we went to pick fall raspberries. Here are some pictures from our fall adventures!

Mom got to do her favorite thing: pick berries. Look how happy she is!

We picked many berries to use in our cereal for months to come .

We saw a pumpkin shot out of this crazy cannon!

Ohh, I hope it wasn't really mom in there after all!

We went through mom's first hay maze (yes, fun for adults too, and no, I didn't let her cheat).

Too much fun!

At this farm the goats have a cool habitat.

One of mom's other favorite things in life: alpacas. They are pretty cute!

And on our way home, these turkeys were in the road. I think we saw at least 12. Thanksgiving, anyone?

We welcome visitors! Anyone tempted?? :-).