My 20th for the 27 Million

"Slavery is Wrong. You know it. We know it. As a country, we've officially known it since 1863. But here's something you might not know -- Slavery still exists. We want every man, woman and child to know that there are 27 million men, women and children, just like them, living in the shadows. In brothels. In factories. In Quarries. Working as slaves. In 161 countries. Including our own. We are here to shine a light on slavery. No more bondage. No more sex trafficking. No more child laborers. No more, starting now." - End It Movement

For a few years now, I've known that slavery still exists. I've raised awareness, given money, even tried my hand at writing a few songs about it (and, believe me, it's just as difficult and depressing as it sounds). But I always have a desire to do more. Yet what can I do? I'm not rich, I don't have much influence, I've never been particularly courageous.

Then I learned about the International Justice Mission's FreedomMaker. The International Justice Mission, or IJM, is one of several organizations working to end slavery. They also seek to bring justice to widows in danger of having their property stolen from them and those in prison who have been wrongly accused. FreedomMaker is a tool which anyone can use to start a campaign to raise money for IJM and support their work to bring freedom and justice to the oppressed. People have "given up" special events, telling people to donate money to the organization instead.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm giving up my 20th birthday. Because there are a lot more important things in this world than me getting presents. And this is most definitely one of them. I felt it was important to extend an invitation to you. If you're willing, and if God is leading you, I would appreciate your help - whether that's with donations, spreading the word about my campaign, or just raising awareness about modern-day slavery. It's time to end this, and I would be honored if you would be a part of that with me.

You can view my campaign at www.ijmfreedommaker.org

Reasons 5004-5052 today,

(Finishing Proverbs!),

Looking at who He is

And praying that my heart

Continues growing to look a little more like His:

5004. He detests differing weights (Proverbs 20:10)
5005. He detests differing measures (Proverbs 20:10)
5006. He made ears that hear (Proverbs 20:12)
5007. He made eyes that see (Proverbs 20:12)
5008. Dishonest scales do not please Him (Proverbs 20:23)
5009. A person's steps are directed by Him (Proverbs 20:24)
5010. In His hand the king's heart is a stream of water (Proverbs 21:1)
5011. In His hand the king's heart is a stream of water that He channels toward all who please Him (Proverbs 21:1)
5012. A person may think their own ways are right, but He weighs the heart (Proverbs 21:2)
5013. To do what is just and right is more acceptable to Him than sacrifice (Proverbs 21:3)
5014. He is the Righteous One (Proverbs 21:12)
5015. He takes note of the house of the wicked (Proverbs 21:12)
5016. He brings the wicked to ruin (Proverbs 21:12)
5017. There is no wisdom that can succeed against Him (Proverbs 21:29)
5018. There is no insight that can succeed against Him (Proverbs 21:29)
5019. There is no plan that can succeed against Him (Proverbs 21:29)
5020. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with Him (Proverbs 21:31)
5021. He is the Maker of the rich (Proverbs 22:2)
5022. He is the Maker of the poor (Proverbs 22:2)
5023. His eyes keep watch over knowledge (Proverbs 22:12)
5024. He frustrates the words of the unfaithful (Proverbs 22:12)
5025. He will take up the case of the poor who are exploited because they are poor (Proverbs 22:22-23)
5026. He will take up the needy who are crushed in court (Proverbs 22:22-23)
5027. He will take up the case of the poor who are exploited because they are poor and will exact life for life (Proverbs 22:22-23)
5028. He will take up the needy who are crushed in court and will exact life for life (Proverbs 22:22-23)
5029. He will exact life for life (Proverbs 22:23)
5030. He sees those who gloat when their enemies fall (Proverbs 24:17)
5031. He sees those whose hearts rejoice when their enemies stumble (Proverbs 24:17)
5032. He sees those who gloat when their enemies fall and disapproves (Proverbs 24:17)
5033. He sees those whose hearts rejoice when their enemies stumble and disapproves (Proverbs 24:17)
5034. He sees those who gloat when their enemies fall and disapproves and turns His Wrath away from the enemies (Proverbs 24:17)
5035. He sees those whose hearts rejoice when their enemies stumble and disapproves and turns His Wrath away from the enemies (Proverbs 24:17)
5036. It is His Glory to conceal a matter (Proverbs 25:2)
5037. He rewards those who give food to their enemies when they are hungry (Proverbs 25:21-22)
5038. He rewards those who give water to their enemies when they are thirsty (Proverbs 25:21-22)
5039. Those who seek Him understand what is right fully (Proverbs 28:5)
5040. He gives sight to the poor (Proverbs 29:13)
5041. He gives sight to the oppressor (Proverbs 29:13)
5042. Whoever trusts in Him is kept safe (Proverbs 29:25)
5043. Many seek an audience with a ruler, but it is from Him that one gets justice (Proverbs 29:26)
5044. He has gone up to heaven and come down (Proverbs 30:4)
5045. His hands have gathered up the wind (Proverbs 30:4)
5046. He has wrapped up the waters in a cloak (Proverbs 30:4)
5047. He has established all the ends of the earth (Proverbs 30:4)
5048. Every word of His is flawless (Proverbs 30:5)
5049. He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him (Proverbs 30:5)
5050. He rebukes those who add to His words (Proverbs 30:6)
5051. He proves a liar those who add to His words (Proverbs 30:6)
5052. His Name is dishonored when those who become poor steal (Proverbs 30:9)

Counting 10,000 Reasons to worship Him: 

(Sylvia's already made it to - past - 10,000!  So amazing to think of who He is like this!)

<a href="http://maryschieferstein.blogspot.com/search/label/10000%20Reasons" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitidrfBKBWTHSBiWyh3WMRKjHFgYKk-RxjYB9-uePQb1-uI3t3bjysPnR65zloJJ0LgTqhT5kW70Rk8VOC2utXFUWhGRPIxNCqzZ_9YQryYPMJdj2XpiX0oawLUiMnmxFOeMkmjk3IIA/s320/10000ReasonsButton.jpg" /></a>

Counting in community:

Thankful for
 - A relaxing weekend
 - Time with family
 - Convicting sermons
 - Recounting a bit of what God's done in my life
 - Seeing old friends
 - A break from the computer
 - Much-needed rest
 - Intercessory prayer


 

Join Me?

I knew they were going to ask.

It was getting close to my birthday.

I knew they were going to ask what I wanted.

The trouble was - I didn't really want anything.

I'm at that stage in my life now where, if I want something, I go get it myself.

I'm at that stage in my life where there's not much I want,

And I have everything I need.

And then I saw on Facebook that someone had given up their birthday.

They had given up their birthday to help those in need - simply by making a page online.

In that moment, I knew what I wanted for my birthday:

Freedom.

Freedom from oppression for 27 million slaves in the world today.

Freedom from fear for widows fighting to keep property that is rightfully theirs.

Freedom from prison for those who have done no wrong.

Freedom.

What better present could I ask for than to know that, in some small way, I have made a difference?

'Cause all of my passion?

All of my desire to end slavery?

What's it really worth if I don't DO something about it?

I am called to seek justice.

Will you join me?

Please click here to view my FreedomMaker page.

Let's seek justice.

Together. 

Celebration!

After a hard week of fighting with myself

Finally laying on the couch, exasperated,

She comes in and says, "God is so Good!".

Any other week, these words would be coming out of my mouth.

I pause the worship music I'm trying to drill into my head,

Set my laptop on the floor,

And turn toward her as she tells of God's Faithfulness.

After she's finished and I'm off the couch,

I go up to her and hug her.

"I needed that,"  I said.

And then she asks about me

And I tell her

And she encourages.

After I get the laptop back on my lap,

I somehow find the motivation to get through my email,

Then I open the document and open the Word,

And I start counting,

And I'm so close . . .

Thirty more,

Twenty-five . . .

And I just do it.

I go up to the next hundred,

And I look at my roommate.

"Five thousand," I tell her,

Arms in a victorious pose,

Smiling silly.

Five thousand aspects of God's character,

Five thousand reasons to worship God.



Reasons 4893-5003 today,

(Finishing up with  Job - basing my counting off this series),

Celebrating who He is:

 

4893. No one is able to stand against Him (Job 41:10)
4894. No one has a claim against Him that He must pay (Job 41:11)
4895. Everything under heaven belongs to Him (Job 41:11)
4896. He can do all things (Job 42:2)
4897. No purpose of His can be thwarted (Job 42:2)
4898. He is angry with those who have not spoken the truth about Him (Job 42:7)
4899. He restores people's fortunes (Job 42:10)
4900. He gives people twice as much as they had before (Job 42:10)
4901. He blesses the latter part of people's lives more than the former part (Job 42:12)
4902. The fear of Him is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7)
4903. He gives wisdom (Proverbs 2:6)
4904. From His mouth come knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6)
4905. He holds success in store for the upright (Proverbs 2:7)
4906. He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless (Proverbs 2:7)
4907. He guards the course of the just (Proverbs 2:8)
4908. He protects the way of His faithful ones (Proverbs 2:8)
4909. He makes straight the paths of those who submit to Him (Proverbs 3:6)
4910. He disciplines (Proverbs 3:11)
4911. He disciplines those He loves (Proverbs 3:11)
4912. He disciplines those He loves as a father the son he delights in (Proverbs 3:11)
4913. By wisdom He laid the earth's foundations (Proverbs 3:19)
4914. By understanding He set the heavens in place (Proverbs 3:19)
4915. By His knowledge the watery depths were divided (Proverbs 3:20)
4916. By His knowledge the clouds let drop the dew (Proverbs 3:20)
4917. He will be at His people's side (Proverbs 3:26)
4918. He will keep His people's feet from being snared (Proverbs 3:26)
4919. He detests the perverse (Proverbs 3:32)
4920. He takes the upright into His confidence (Proverbs 3:32)
4921. His curse is on the house of the wicked (Proverbs 3:33)
4922. He blesses the homes of the righteous (Proverbs 3:33)
4923. He mocks proud mothers (Proverbs 3:34)
4924. He shows favor to the humble and oppressed (Proverbs 3:34)
4925. He hates haughty eyes (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4926. Haughty eyes are detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4927. He hates a lying tongue (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4928. A lying tongue is detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4929. He hates hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4930. Hands that shed innocent blood are detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4931. He hates a heart that devises wicked schemes (Proverbs 6:16-18)
4932. A heart that devises wicked schemes is detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-18)
4933. He hates feet that are quick to rush into evil (Proverbs 6:16-18)
4934. Feet that are quick to rush into evil are detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-18)
4935. He hates a false witness who pours our lies (Proverbs 6:16-19)
4936. A false witness who pours our lies is detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-19)
4937. He hates a person who stirs up conflict in the community (Proverbs 6:16-19)
4938. A person who stirs up conflict in the community is detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-19)
4939. To fear Him is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13)
4940. He brought forth wisdom as the first of His works (Proverbs 8:22)
4941. He brought forth wisdom before His deeds of old (Proverbs 8:22)
4942. The fear of Him is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10)
4943. Knowledge of Him is understanding (Proverbs 9:10)
4944. He does not let the righteous go hungry (Proverbs 10:3)
4945. He thwarts the craving of the wicked (Proverbs 10:3)
4946. His blessing brings wealth (Proverbs 10:22)
4947. His blessing brings wealth, without painful toil for it (Proverbs 10:22)
4948. The fear of Him adds length to life (Proverbs 10:27)
4949. His way is a refuge for the blameless (Proverbs 10:29)
4950. His way is the ruin of those who do evil (Proverbs 10:29)
4951. A false balance is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 11:1)
4952. A just weight is His delight (Proverbs 11:1)
4953. Those of crooked heart are an abomination to Him (Proverbs 11:20)
4954. Those of blameless ways are His delight (Proverbs 11:20)
4955. A good man obtains favor from Him (Proverbs 12:2)
4956. A man of evil devices He condemns (Proverbs 12:2)
4957. Lying lips are an abomination to Him (Proverbs 12:22)
4958. Those who act faithfully are His delight (Proverbs 12:22)
4959. In the fear of Him, His people have strong confidence (Proverbs 14:26)
4960. In the fear of Him, His people's children will have a refuge (Proverbs 14:26)
4961. The fear of Him is a fountain of life (Proverbs 14:27)
4962. The fear of Him is a fountain of life, that His people may turn away from the snares of death (Proverbs 14:27)
4963. His eyes are in every place (Proverbs 15:3)
4964. His eyes are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3)
4965. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 15:8)
4966. The prayer of the upright is acceptable to Him (Proverbs 15:8)
4967. The way of the wicked is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 15:9)
4968. He loves him who pursues righteousness (Proverbs 15:9)
4969. Sheol and Abaddon lie open before Him (Proverbs 15:11)
4970. Sheol and Abaddon lie open before Him; how much more the hearts of the children of man lie open before Him! (Proverbs 15:11)
4971. He tears down the house of the proud (Proverbs 15:25)
4972. He maintains the widow's boundaries (Proverbs 15:25)
4973. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to Him (Proverbs 15:26)
4974. He is far from the wicked (Proverbs 15:29)
4975. He hears the prayer of the righteous (Proverbs 15:29)
4976. The fear of Him is instruction in wisdom (Proverbs 15:33)
4977. The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Him (Proverbs 16:1)
4978. The ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but He weighs the spirit (Proverbs 16:2)
4979. He has made everything for its purpose (Proverbs 16:4)
4980. He has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble (Proverbs 16:4)
4981. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 16:5)
4982. By the fear of Him people turn away from evil (Proverbs 16:6)
4983. Man's ways can sometimes please Him (Proverbs 16:7)
4984. The heart of a man plans his way, but He establishes his steps (Proverbs 16:9)
4985. A just balance and scales are His (Proverbs 16:11)
4986. A just balance and scales are His: all the weights in the bag are His work (Proverbs 16:11)
4987. Those who trust in Him are blessed (Proverbs 16:20)
4988. The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Him (Proverbs 16:33)
4989. The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and He tests hearts (Proverbs 17:3)
4990. Those who mock the poor insult Him (Proverbs 17:5)
4991. He who justifies the wicked is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 17:15)
4992. He who condemns the righteous is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 17:15)
4993. His Name is a strong tower (Proverbs 17:10)
4994. His Name is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe (Proverbs 17:10)
4995. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from Him (Proverbs 17:22)
4996. A prudent wife is from Him (Proverbs 19:14)
4997. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to Him (Proverbs 19:17)
4998. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to Him, and He will repay him for his deed (Proverbs 19:17)
4999. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is His purpose that will stand (Proverbs 19:21)
5000. His purpose will stand (Proverbs 19:21)
5001. The fear of Him leads to life (Proverbs 19:23)
5002. The fear of Him leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied (Proverbs 19:23)
5003. The fear of Him leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm (Proverbs 19:23)

Counting 10,000 Reasons to worship Him: 

(Sylvia's already made it to - past - 10,000!  So amazing to think of who He is like this!)

<a href="http://maryschieferstein.blogspot.com/search/label/10000%20Reasons" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitidrfBKBWTHSBiWyh3WMRKjHFgYKk-RxjYB9-uePQb1-uI3t3bjysPnR65zloJJ0LgTqhT5kW70Rk8VOC2utXFUWhGRPIxNCqzZ_9YQryYPMJdj2XpiX0oawLUiMnmxFOeMkmjk3IIA/s320/10000ReasonsButton.jpg" /></a>

Counting in community: