KONY 2012

I have for years had an overwhelming heart for Africa and the battles there.  I am not sure why or what to do about it, but I believe God has placed it there.  I pray for the people there and have such a heavy heart over the incredible atrocities that take place in so many of the countries there.  The events and actions so many people there have to go through or have had to go through is beyond my belief.  I wanted to share this video that I saw a couple people share on Facebook today.  The goal of this video KONY 2012 is to make Joseph Kony known.  To make his crimes known.  Joseph Kony is the leader of a group known as the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army).  They abduct young boys and force them to fight and kill and maim.  They abduct young girls and force them into a sexual slavery.  The goal is to bring him to justice and to save this army of invisible children.  The video is about 30 minutes long.  I know it's kind of long, but how long did you scroll through Facebook today?  How much time did you waste watching some crazy reality show that you had never seen before, but got sucked in to?  Please take the time to watch and to learn and to hopefully be moved to action. These are rights we should fight for.  We may live in different continents and countries.  We may have different governments or beliefs or ways of life.  We are all humans.  We all deserve to have the ability to receive an education.  We deserve to feel like we can keep our children save.  Our children should be able to be children.  We should stand up for those who can not stand up for themselves.  The narrator and producer of the film said at one point in reference to atrocities in the past, "We cared but didn't know what to do - too often we did nothing."  We can't afford to do nothing.  There has to be something. 

Check out KONY 2012 to sign a pledge and receive other information.  Be informed about what is happening in our world.  Because it is our world.  We are all creatures of God and we need to show the love and compassion that God has shown us to others.  We need to stand united and make a difference.  It is possible.  We can't know and do nothing.  What happens if one day that same war is at our doorstep? Who will fight for us?  We will want our prayers and our cries to God answered.  We need to be that answer now for those who need us. Pray for these people.  Pray for change.

Book Love

You can find it here...

 I am not sure if I am the best person to accurately review this book and give it the credit it is due. I mainly would start with if I could give this book more than five stars I would and exceedingly so. Ordinarily if you were to offer a book up to me that was full of historical data and so forth, I probably wouldn't jump at it, but after starting this book all I could think was more please! The detail and information provided in this book was amazing and excruciating and mind boggling and beautiful all wrapped up in 400 or so pages. Following Louis Zamperini through is amazing and harrowing life in the pages of this book was a privilege and honor. Reading this has moved me more to read my grandpa's tale of survival in World War II and as a prisoner of war. (As a side note he, my grandpa, was ever so briefly mentioned in this book, which I thought was very cool.)

So read this book. It has everything great you have been looking for...action, sports, war, death, life, sadness, love, happiness, forgiveness and even peace. I smiled as I read this, felt nervous and shocked as I read and was reduced to actual sobbing tears at one point. I checked this out from the library, but believe I will purchase a copy to be read again and shared in the very near future.