Hapa Handmade :: etsy shop

Most of you have probably noticed that I started a little Etsy shop recently. [If you don't know what Etsy is, you're about to enter into a whole new world of all things handmade, creatively re-done and just straight up clever ideas!] Over the holidays last year, my grandmother and her sister taught me how to knit and crochet and I basically just haven't stopped having a knit or crochet project in my hands since.

First it was frustrating as I learned how to stay consistent with my stitches. Then, I felt adventurous in finding patterns I thought I could follow. And all of a sudden, the obsession turned into a freeing way of expressing creativity (most of which I didn't even realize was hiding in there!).

So, I thought I'd share the shop with you all here.

Two of my dearest friends, Angi and Davinah, kindly offered their stunning creativity in calligraphy, photography and design to create my logo:

Isn't it pretty?

Oh, and since almost everyone asks why it's called "hapa" handmade, I'll explain the inspiration:
Since it was my Japanese grandmother who invited me into the world of yarn, knitting needles and crochet hooks, it seemed fitting to choose a name that reflected something of my Japanese heritage. Ever since my siblings and I were kids, we have taken much pride in our identity as being half-Japanese (and half-white mix from my mom). We learned early on a slang word for people of our kind: "hapa." It basically means "half", but is often used to refer to half-Japanese or half-Asian mixed heritage people. So, there you go. Now you know the background to my shop name. :)

Pasadena Farmer's Market :: Locations & Times

Just thought I'd share the info on local farmer's markets...

We have three options in Pasadena:

1) Tuesday :: 8:30am-12:30pm :: Villa Park Center, 363 East Villa Street, Pasadena :: 626.449.0179

This is the one I have gone to for the past month. If you wait until noon or so, 

they often will give you better deals because they don't want to take produce back to the farm. :)

2) Wednesday :: 3:30pm-7:30pm :: El Molino Avenue & Union Street (northeast corner)

3) Saturday :: 8:30am-12:30pm :: Victory Park, 2900 block of North Sierra Madre Boulevard, at the intersection of Sierra Madre Blvd and Paloma Street (in front of Pasadena High School)

Farmer's Market

One thing Randy and I have learned is that a better way to promote more ecological living and fair trading is to buy local. 

 For example: buy from a Farmer's Market! 

The produce hasn't had to be shipped thousands of miles 

(which eliminates the waste of gas and environmental harm), 

 your options are more focused on what's in season 

(rather than importing things we want that are only in season in other countries),

you're buying directly from the farm/farmer 

(more directly than through any supermarkets I know).

I've included pictures of our most recent farmer's market visit. 3 bags of carrots, one honeydew melon, 4 squash, 2 bell peppers and 3 baskets of strawberries. 

(All for under $20!)

Heavenly Treasures :: Fair Trade Federation Member

I must apologize for being behind on my discipline of blogging every week about a Fair Trade product or company. I'm sorry!


But, here I am again, attempting to highlight a company that is well worth purchasing from.


Heavenly Treasures practices the motto, "Every product represents a changed life." Having been acquainted with the founder's son (ahem, actually dated him, but we've all moved on now!), I got to see up close and personal what these people are about. 

With micro enterprises in countries like Bolivia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, India and many other places, they are fulfilling their mission of providing a "livelihood project" for underprivileged people to make a consistent living. How? These micro enterprises offer jobs to (mostly) women, in which they are taught how to make a certain handicraft, which is then sold for a fair price through Heavenly Treasures. Much of the business has run off of donations in order to keep a high standard in the payment and treatment of these women. 


I love this:
 100% of the sales proceeds are reinvested back into the livelihood project.  The funds are used to ensure an ongoing market and source of income. When possible, funds are designated for special needs, equipping seminars and equipment.

Throughout college, since the shop is literally down the street from APU, I would go and shop for family members when it was their birthday or Christmas was coming. I mean, who wouldn't appreciate a gift that comes with a story? I could literally tell my grandma that the person(s) involved in making her apron (or scarf or whatever) have a consistent income and better life because of this organization. Isn't that cool?

Kathy Gaulton, the founder, is a woman to be admired for her endurance, business sense, compassion and love for God. What's so fascinating about her story is that she worked in the secular business world for a few decades before she took all that she learned and built Heavenly Treasures out of it. What a beautiful picture of God taking the skills and experiences of her past and using it to create a wonderful way to minister to and aid some of the most needy around the world. 

Check it out: HeavenlyTreasures.

Photos from here and here.

European University Students :)

Well, you have probably already heard, but Randy and I are going to Europe this July!


We are so excited that Randy was asked to teach on Biblical Global Justice at the international conference taking place in Cologne, Germany. Students from all over Europe will be joining us at CONNECT 2012 -- a conference put on by Students for Christ, Europe (basically SFC = the European version of Chi Alpa). Not only will Randy teach several sessions on BGJ, but I will also have an opportunity to teach a session. I am able to choose my topic (sweet!) and Randy and I narrowed it down to this:

Engaging God in the Everyday

God created us so uniquely, so why do we take a “one size fits all” approach to connecting with Him? This session will enrich your spiritual life by exploring various forms of prayer and helping participants to better understand their own spiritual temperaments.

I am eagerly thinking and praying about how to bring some of the most impacting aspects of my training over the last few years to these dear students. Would you pray with me in advance for their hearts -- that they would be open to pursuing connecting with God in different ways, that they would be drawn by the Holy Spirit to this session, that God would speak very clearly to my heart as I prepare and give this teaching.

Prayer is such a powerful, yet simple thing. It's amazing to me just how transformative experiencing prayer can be. Though it gets talked about as this mysterious, ethereal experience (it is mysterious -- don't get me wrong)... It really is a very simple concept of posturing oneself in an attitude of openness to connecting with God. It can be one in which you pour your heart out to God verbally, mentally or physically... or it can be a completely silent experience (both internally and externally) in which the action and verbage is coming from the Almighty God. You may walk away feeling a distinct something from that time of connecting with God or feeling absolutely nothing. But no matter what you do, say, read, write, sing or think, coming to God with a desire to be open to connecting with him is the only necessary thing. 

The heart behind a topic like "engaging God in the everyday" is to bring a few more ideas to the table on what engaging with God could actually look like. Too often, we (rightly) speak in vague terms about prayer and leave it at that. Yes, prayer is vague (because it can take such different forms for different times and people), but there are actually concrete ideas on how to approach prayer. This is what I hope to encourage students with.

Do you go crazy in an empty room trying to pray? Try taking a walk and conversing with God about what you see or what comes to mind. Do you get distracted by walking by people and things that might make your mind go on a tangent? Try sitting with a journal in hand so that as your body writes what your mind is thinking, there is more coherence in your body as you pray. Or maybe grab some crayons, paper and magazines and create a drawing or collage of things that express your heart. Maybe a recitation of a prayer from the early church would be helpful for you to memorize and pour over, allowing your heart to soak up the rich meaning in such carefully chosen words. Maybe reading Scripture with a prayerful attitude, personalizing it to where you are would be a helpful starting point. Maybe approaching a passage of Scripture intellectually, studying and digging into the symbolism and language brings you to a place of closeness with Christ Jesus. The sky is the limit!

In case you're interested in finding out more, I plan on using some of these books as references to prayer practices:

Prayer

Sacred Pathways

The Only Necessary Thing

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook

Lindsay's Practicum Completed :: Joining the ESDA

Well, after a year and a half of rigorous training and lots of classes on how to be a spiritual director, I am happy to announce that I have completed my training! :) As of last month, I have finished training and am able to "do" spiritual direction as a vocation.

What is spiritual direction, you might ask?
"Christian spiritual direction is primarily a ministry in which one Christian (the director) helps another (the directee) to discern God’s presence and activity in the directee’s life and also the directee’s reactions and responses to God’s activity. It is often said that the real director in spiritual direction is God, while the human spiritual director is more of a witness, one that points to God’s activity on behalf of the directee. Spiritual direction can also be done in a group context, in which a group of Christians together prayerfully seek to discern God’s activity in the life of a fellow believer." -- ESDA

A few of the things I love about this ministry are:
*there is a high expectation that a spiritual director will understand and initiate proper self-care (physically, emotionally and spiritually) so that the ministry to others will not be hindered by burn out, exhaustion and other things that can accumulate from an over-filled life/schedule/etc.

*there is also an ethical mandate to stay in some sort of supervision, i.e. peer accountability, in which the spiritual director can work through issues that surface through the process of giving spiritual direction with another trained spiritual director or directors.

*the possibilities of using this training (largely in listening, discerning and asking questions) are endless -- I hope to meet one-to-one with people, with groups, offer retreats, and serve the church in whatever ways seem appropriate.

Now that training is complete, I have joined a group of Evangelical Spiritual Directors, ESDA. From their website (in collaboration with the Evangelical Center for Spiritual Wisdom), they offer a list of how to find a spiritual director in your area. I am now officially on the list of spiritual directors. If you're interested, check out the list here.

Homeboy Industries :: Jobs not Jails

Randy and I stumbled across Homeboy Industries a few years ago. We fell in love with their chips right away because they are so tasty! And then we read the label and we knew we'd never buy any other tortilla chip brand again (as long as we have the option). Their motto? "Jobs not jails"... Thanks to Ralph's down the street, we have easy access.

**Available in most Southern California area Ralphs, Food 4 Less and other fine stores in the deli section.

Here's why:

"By offering multi-level solutions, Homeboy Industries recognizes that moving beyond gang life is a process, and that re-directing lives in a positive direction strengthens not only the individual, but also that person’s family, providing a more constructive, healthy environment for their children, and, by extension, to the community at large."


What they offer:
*employment services
*case management
*tattoo removal
*mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence services
*solar panel installation training and certification program

Really, what better business model can we support? They sell fine products and have a wonderful mission -- serving both those that want to eat (like u) and those who need help getting out of hard situations (like the ex-gang members and others). They even have a Homeboy Bakery line that our favorite coffee shop Intelligentsia sells.

Not to mention, this whole thing started because a Jesuit priest saw a need in the communities around him in which so many young people were being pulled into gangs and violence. Check out Father Greg's story here. You just might be inspired. :)

[photos from here and here]