child sponsorship

i came home from my first ballet class in ten years yesterday, barely able to walk from my jazz class the day before where, to my surprise, i pulled off several split switches (not me in that photo; i can no longer jump 4 feet off the ground), and i was so very excited to have reclaimed something great of my childhood and was equally excited to take a couple photos and blog about it, but my mood was deflated as if my pretty blue pickup truck had just gotten sideswiped by a semi-truck. i considered stopping writing, and briefly entertained the idea of deleting the entire blog, because what purpose did it really serve anymore? it was originally started an outlet for me to organize my wedding thoughts and keep in contact with my bridal party.

so this is more of an eljay post, but i guess it gets a spot here because a) emily keeps up with my life and b) kiesha asked me to write a new blog. so kiesha, jessica, katy, chelsea, marne, bailey, and anyone from our group that might be reading this...you have to leave a comment to say you were here, because it will give me some encouragement to keep writing!

in my last growth group, people had a lot to say about tithing - that they wrestled with it, and prayed about it, and despite their financial woes, and in the end it provided its own unexpected rewards, but i just chalked it up to crazy protestant talk... (although i believe it is catholics that are more fervent about that ten percent). but i guess it's god's turn to "put it on my heart." i've sponsored a child in zambia through world vision for a few years now, starting back when i was a college student with no income, but wanting to put my st*tchpixie earnings toward something. i'd wanted to sponsor a child in high school, and attempted to rally friends to commit to $30 a month between us, but my parents brushed it off as something that i was not expected to do. so i rebeled in college and did it by myself, without an "after school job" to speak of.

so i sat down and made these donations tonight that i thought were very st*tchpixie-appropriate:


10% of st*tchpixie earnings have always been saved towards sponsoring a child, but i feel like my target audience for my product - vegan/left-wing/feminists is often at odds with the admittedly christian organization. i remember being at craft fairs, and people's faces would brighten up at seeing my 10% sponsors a child signs. then they'd ask me what organziation i went through, and i was heartbroken about the reactions i got when i said world vision with all its christian connotations. regardless of what background people come from, i think a lot of them are hostile toward such organizations and brush them off, saying that very little of your dollar actually goes toward helping the child and it gets eaten up in administrative fees. but i found the expenditure breakdown from two big organizations, so you can see for yourself that they're not out to rob you of your money.