Where to Shop?

I have been recently thinking a lot about human trafficking and child slaves working in factories or fields at young ages against their will, never getting an education or to play or be with their family. It kills me and brings me to tears just imaging it and I have never even seen it in person. I would be a wreck. I took a SURVEY to see approximately how many slaves work for me based on the products I have. They said 65. Im sure I have employed more. Throughout the bible we see how we are called to care for the poor, oppressed, orphans, widows. How God says in Deut 15:4 "There shall be no poor among you". See Exodus 23:10-12, Deut 15:1-18, Lev 25 where God speaks about how the Sabbath gives a day of rest to the slaves/aliens, releasing slaves in the Sabbath year and returning land to the original owners in the year of Jubilee.

Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master[a]and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Eph 6:9 

I also got about half way through "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without hurting yourself and the poor". I think I mentioned I got it at the library not to long ago. A few weeks ago Wes and I decided it would be good to do with our missional community. I recommend it as a read alone or in a small group setting. It is convicting and challenging and will make you think more about why and how you give money/resources away, even if it was a good intention.

All this to say, we can make decisions to purchase from fair trade vendors. What is fair trade? It is really just shopping fairly… providing fair, decent wages for the workers who make them. I especially like organizations who are providing the gospel to the artisans like Amazima and Mercy House Kenya (Fair Trade Friday). I am sure there are more, Ill have to research a little harder. There are also other vendors or stores that sell products that are only fair trade items like Noonday online or from one of their ambassadors. Since moving to Seattle I have seen several places advertising fair trade. I don't know if this is a movement across the US or if people in Seattle are more likely to pay a higher price in order to do a good deed. Even if religion is removed, people here like to do things that they know promote social justice or are environmentally friendly. It is funny how it is culturally accepted and encourage to show off your composting bins, have recycling bins available, carry items clearly marked with "fair trade" or "handmade locally". All humans seemed to be wired to feel like we have to do good, work our way up to something, and/or have a set of morally right parameters in our head we need to abide by. (Great thing about Christianity is that in this way it is totally different than all other religions including atheism… its about what Jesus did, not us). Needless to say I have found a couple of fair trade stores close to me. If you live in Seattle, check out  Shop the World in Ballard, Ten Thousand Villages in Roosevelt and Fair Trade Winds in Wallingford.

Going forward what can we try to do even if don't buy all clothes and products at the places listed above… awareness is key…maybe we can all ask ourselves some of these questions I found online. It could be costly to be so frugal.

• Why is this item so cheap? Is it an end-of-the-season clearance (yay!) or was it made in a sweat shop?
• Can I buy something similar (like a gift) while also supporting a life in another county?
• Why not buy less for more? Maybe it’s worth paying a bit more for something I know is fair trade.
• Educate yourself with information like this from Behind the Label (an inside look into the apparel industry).

Anyways I thought of this all today because we went out to Ballard for dessert for my birthday and saw one of the shops I listed above. Yes I turned 29 today. Crazy. Feels so old. I would have been happy staying 26 or 28 even. Next up is 30 which is practically 40. Wes and I decided we needed to get away sometime around Aug-Oct next year when we both turn 30. This is due to the fact that we went to Hot Cakes in Ballard and I spent the entire time trying to enjoy my chocolate molten cake and ice cream explaining to Leighton why she couldn't have any while Wes was outside entertaining Sadie since the restaurant is small, she is a busy body and we had no snacks/toys. Very relaxing, right? See the face and little finger pointing to the dessert below. It was so hard to not share with her. I have never with held a taste or bite of yummy dessert I was eating in front of her (except when she was too little to talk/understand how good it was). I kept having to explained that "Dad and I asked you to eat your dinner so you could celebrate Mom's birthday with cake and ice cream." She didn't eat ANY of it. Super hard as a parent to always stick to what we say, I know. But I told her repeatedly at Hot Cakes that I had to stick to what I said so she would know that whatever I tell her is the truth and I don't go back on my word. Of course all she heard was "mommy is saying no". It didn't seem to bother her too bad though (it was harder on me to turn down that sweet face) as she just read her book and kept pointing to my food. 

Other highlights from the birthday…. it rained for the first time in forever. Wes was helping someone move most of the day so I spent it inside with the girls. By 1pm we had to get out of the house. We walked in the mist that was still happening. The family got me flowers, card, and a Seahawks shirt for football season. Leighton gave me a grizzly bear action figure since grizzly bears are my favorite animals. Wes made  me a breakfast sandwich which Sadie took over half way through. Oh parenting… 

Wouldn't trade it though because I get snuggles before bed!