couple of things

A while back, I heard a comedian say that all he has to do to come up with funny or strange stories is look around. All of his material was based on what he has seen and his experiences. As I was thinking about that, I realized that lots of columnists and journalists do the same thing. All they have to do is look around, there is so much to write about. I hadn’t really thought about this until recently, and I have found it very interesting. I have been in a weird adventurous mood lately, and today I decided to try to challenge myself. Starting today, I will write every day. The catch in my challenge: I must write about things that concern many people - issues/problems, history, etc. This way, I force myself to look around in a new way; what’s really going on in the world? We’ll see how it goes.

~

I’m a list person; if I need to focus on getting something done, I’ll most likely make a list on the best way to do it. That’s just how I think. For my project, I decided early on that I need to make a list of issues that are at least somewhat pressing or that are not subjects that most people know a lot about. The thing about my list is that I know that there are probably many issues that are really major, but I don’t know about them. That is where you come in. The following is my list, so please read through it, and if there is something that you think I should have added, drop a comment in the comment section, or if you don’t have a google account, facebook or e-mail me.

food
water
AIDS/HIV
clothing
houses/shelter
homelessness
slavery
abortion
comfort/things taken for granted
education
diseases/sickness/health issues
abuse
drugs
orphans
widows/elderly
teaching people things about agriculture so they can get more out of their land


That’s all folks! I hope I was clear, and didn’t ramble too much. Thanks for reading!

Cheerio,
Lauren

I haven't decided yet

Hello, probably no one! :)

I have several options at this point. I can make this into a blog only about my project, or it could be just random but 'finished' writings, or it could be just a journal. At this point, I'm just figuring things out, and today I'm going to use it as a journal and post what's on my mind. That said, here's a few paragraphs about what's been on my mind today. :)

A friend of a friend posted a question on facebook to the effect of "If God is in control of everything, why would he allow things like Hurricane Katrina?" I am not involved in the conversation, but I started thinking about it and decided to write what I think on the subject. (I think more clearly when forced to write out my thoughts.) Here's what I came up with.

God didn't create evil. He created all things good, but then he gave us free will - giving us the option to either follow his will and live in a perfect world, or create evil and suffer the consequences. We chose the latter. The consequences of choosing evil over a perfect world were that although he does care about us and hear our prayers, we must 'lay in the bed we made,' so to speak. Meaning we now live in a fallen world where God will not stop every bad thing from happening.

That's all I had time to come up with, and I hope that it makes sense.

Cheerio,
Lauren

Project idea. (First time put anything down on paper about what had been going through my head.)

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking and praying about how God can use me to make a difference. I’ve come in contact with a lot of groups that are making a difference in the world, and I want to do something too! Unfortunately, I’m not quite like the people that I’ve heard of in one crucial way. I’m not extremely passionate about one issue. I have heard staggering numbers about things that are going on in the world like there are 27,000,000 slaves in the world right now. Or that one well in an African village can cut the death rate in half. These are issues that can and should be changed. But I just don’t have a special passion about one issue. Then I realized that I do have something that I’m passionate about! It’s the fact that people, (Americans specifically) are so clueless. We are one of the richest nations in the world, yet so many people either don’t know about the issues, or they don’t know how they can help, or both. We could make a difference if we wanted to.

So, how can I change that? I’m just a kid. I’ve never really traveled, and I don’t know people in high places that could help me. I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way for me to make a difference is to start a website. My idea for the website is that it would become basically a go-to for people that want to get more informed on current issues. (Like poverty, food and water problems, malaria, AIDS, slavery, etc.) There will be articles on the issues that are really pressing that a lot of people don’t know about. Since I obviously can’t do all that research and writing on my own, I’m going to contact groups that focus on specific issues and ask them to write or just provide an article about the problem, and what they are doing to help. Have an issue of the month/week and then give lists/articles of groups that are making a difference. The main purpose of the website is to have one place for people to go to where they can read up/inform themselves on current issues and if they feel called to help, show them how. So many people just don’t know that they can make a difference.