Let me tell you about my friend Kim. Kim is REAL. Yes, we’re all physical beings roaming the Earth, but I’m going beyond the literal sense. Kim is honest, and encouraging, and has nothing to do with facades or falsities. Imagine hunkering down in your coziest chair with a well loved blanket tucked around your lap. It’s that quiet, late hour and you find yourself contemplating the universe and your existence and WHAT IT ALL MEANS, and then you drift into mulling over the details of the day, the interactions, the nuanced moments. That is My Kimmie. She is there for the big picture questions of life, but she is also all about the details; a friend who knows you from the big and complex down to the minute and sacred is one to be cherished. Also, she laughs at my lame attempts of humor. So I’m definitely sticking by her side, because people that find me funny are among my favorites. We’ve been friends nearly two decades, starting out as awkwardly awesome middle school pals, who have now grown into awkwardly awesome adults with kids growing up together, husbands who have a bit of a bromance (don’t bring up mountain biking in their presence unless you want to chat a while), and sharing in the bigs and littles of faith, motherhood, craftiness, – and well, life.
This is a unique Friday Friend Feature here on Tugboat Yarning, as Kim has a SUPER COOL PROJECT that you could be an integral part in helping. Kim and a team from her church are planning a mission trip in March of 2017 to Ethiopia where they will be serving for ten days at a partnering church, linked through Compassion International. Read more about who she is and why she’s awesome below, and see how you can be a part of her mission project! (Pssst, it involves yarn!)
BIO: Wife, mother, social worker, counselor, follower of Jesus, friend, and everything in between. All of these intersect and mingle to make a picture of who I am. They are hard to separate and put into boxes because they influence one another.
CRAFT: I have several. My main day craft is helping others discover who they are, what context they live in, how those impact each other and how to be gracious to oneself and others. I guess it’s a craft of the heart? That’s super cheesy. Outside of work I crochet, paint, and like anything “crafty”.
LOVES: Good food, good friends, laughter, fireplaces and general coziness (it’s where I get my best work done).
LAUGHS: Just being silly and remembering that silliness is important in life too. Being able to laugh like a kid with friends lightens my heart.
KIM GOES TO ETHIOPIA PAGE: I’m hoping to have logistics about the actual trip I am going on, but I would also really like to use this pre-trip time to bring awareness to Compassion International and exactly how they work in communities around the world to alleviate poverty. It’s not just giving money or basic needs to people. It’s also about helping them find dignity and worth, a safe environment, basic needs, and building community because poverty can also be defined as a brokenness in the fundamental relationships in life. I am going on this trip as one small piece of a larger process. I am going to learn how to engage in poverty alleviation from people whose life work it is. This can be applied at home and is an investment in the long term process of poverty alleviation. I’m going to invest in the permanent, front line workers, and to restore dignity and worth to people and community.
GOALS: I would like to think of myself as a person who seeks to understand, who puts others first and who wants to reflect God’s love. I’m sure I fail at that every day, but I try. I think of it like the moon and sun. The moon is just a cold, cratered rock that is isolated from the world without the sun. But with the sun, the moon reflects the light even in the darkest of times and serves as a beacon of hope and comfort. I want to reflect God’s love in my life, but it does not originate from me.
CONNECT: You can read about my upcoming trip to Ethiopia on my Facebook Page, Kim Goes to Ethiopia.
Now that you’ve seen a glimpse into who Kim is and why I love her so dearly, I have something for you to do. Well, possibly two things. Do you feel called to join their trip to Ethiopia in March 2017? They are looking for additional travelers to be a part of serving in Ethiopia. I know in my experiences with mission trips, they always shape me in ways I never thought possible; the trips I’ve taken have added such depth to my understanding of the world and the people in it. Consider this opportunity to serve and see a new part of the world, then contact South Harbor Church for additional details.
Secondly, there is something you can do RIGHT NOW to help her mission trip, which will also cross off some people from your holiday shopping list! Simply go to her Facebook page, LIKE IT, then message her with orders for handmade hats. Easy peasy, no sneezy. If by any chance the trip is cancelled, the proceeds will go to Compassion International to continue raising up those suffering in poverty. Otherwise, each hat purchased will help fund their March trip! Below are a bunch of the hats she’s made (isn’t she crazy talented?!), and she does custom orders, too!
Do you have someone in your life that knows you from the big stuff to the tiny details? Make sure they know how awesome they are.
Looking for more ways to let the sun shine off me,
~M