Preface:
This is kind of a big deal. The World Race, sure. But specifically this that you're reading right now: my first ever blog post. Thus far in life i've lived by a strict 'no blogging' rule. As with most rules, I broke it a few times… occasionally following a friend's traveling escapades or photo stalking my married friend's babies. But nothing substantial until now. I have a feeling my view on blogging is only the first of many things WR is going to change about my life. Here is my first attempt.I've been told that I'm a dreamer. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment, sometimes not so much. But it's really just a nice way of saying I come up with crazy ideas. Which is 100% true. I want to live in Africa, I want to open a salon in LA, I want to climb Kilimanjaro… see? Crazy ideas. Often times the things we dream up don't end up happening. But then again, sometimes they do.
Last night my lovely friend and fellow dreamer Kirsten took me to a Krochet Kids fundraiser in Newport Beach. It was there that I was impacted by the power of an idea. You see, i heard stories of these 3 high school boys that learned how to crochet, and started crocheting hats to pay to take their prom dates up in a hot air balloon. (note: yes, that is romantic and yes, i will go with you) Soon the 3 guys were all away at different colleges and were realizing that they wanted to make a difference in the world. They took that desire and the skill they had – crocheting – and an idea was born.
"It was then that we realized the simplicity of crocheting to be its most profound quality. With hook and yarn people could make amazing products. Being paid a fair wage to do so would allow for them, for the first time, to provide for their families and begin planning for the future. By teaching these people to crochet, we would be empowering them to rise above poverty. We decided right then that we were going to do exactly that." (to read the full story – check out the Krochet Kids website here.)
Through their idea Krochet Kids now employs 87 women in northern Uganda and has created a "sustainable cycle of employment and empowerment" that can be replicated throughout the world.
You see, sometimes ideas are crazy. And sometimes they don't amount to much. But then there are those times – those beautiful, epic moments – that an idea is used to change the world.
That's what I believe about going on World Race – that it's a crazy idea but that God is going to use our team's desire and willingness to go to make big things happen. He is going to take us to the places we need to be and lead us to the people we need to meet. Sometimes we will succeed and sometimes we will fail. But in the end, when it's all said and done, we will look back at this time right now – the time that we each had a crazy idea to go out and change the world – and believe in the power of an idea.
Ideas carry hope. Ideas carry possibility. Ideas make people believe. But most importantly, ideas inspire action that can create change and make something beautiful.
Thank you so much for supporting us on this journey.
