Halloween 2007

Although Halloween signifies the beginning of all of the winter holidays that I hate, I usually really enjoy this day. Dressing up has always been a highlight. This year I attended a huge dance party dressed as a pink fairy. It was a cheap costume I threw together a few years ago and since I didn't get around to shopping for a new costume, I decided to pull it out again. Wish I had taken a picture to post. I learned that men respond really well to pink. Maybe it signifies the epidome of femininity or....maybe I just showed too much skin. Either way, I got a lot of attention that night and a couple of dates out of it. One from a Chipendale dancer and another from a pimped out guy wearing a box full of candy tied around his hips that was conveniently situated right over his package. I don't know which one I trust less. :p


Prior to the party, I took some of my African friends trick or treating and dressed them up in all the mismatched costumes I've collected over the years. The loved it. Unfortunately, the only pictures i got were from my cell phone. They're not the greatest, but you'll get the idea.



The booty.



I had a bit of a challenge convincing this boy to put on that wig and that dress.



Elvira


This little one is a butterfly who's wings I pulled off and put in the trunk of my car so they wouldn't get destroyed. But, I'm sure you could already tell that from the red wig, pink bows and yellow boa.

The Children of South Africa

Dallas and I attended a movie preview tonight promoting poverty awareness in Africa. It was a documentary about a small orphanage in South Africa that burned down. The children there were known for their singing, and they were eventually able to go sing in New York and raise enough money to rebuild their home. The film focused particularly on one girl and her family. Her parents had both died leaving behind 7 or so children. Of the older children, only one had a job, and they couldn't support the younger ones with food and schooling, so they put them in this orphanage. The movie was extremely touching. In fact, I had tears streaming down my face the entire last half of it. The girl's brother was dying of HIV, and eventually they had to bury him next to his parents.
As I pondered the reality of these circumstances and reflected on my trip to Kenya two years ago with a humanitarian group, I felt a strong desire in my heart to focus more of my time and money on causes such as these. There are so many ways to serve in the world. It's almost overwhelming, but even making a difference in one individual life is priceless.
Tomorrow, I will go visit the African refugees that I've been assisting lately. Maybe I'll take them a pizza.. Even though I feel guilty for contributing to such unhealthy eating, the Africans love pizza. I guess I can justify it when I think about how much worse they were eating back home.
They are such sweet people. Why is there so much injustice in the world? I ponder the question quite often. More significantly however, is the question, "how can I make a difference?" Now I feel like all of my trips this winter would be best spent focusing on service. I'll check into that and see how I can serve.
I thanked God this evening for all the good people in the world who are reaching out to assist the less fortunate in whatever ways they can. There's a lot of people doing good things in this crazy world of ours. I'm so grateful for them.