New Interests

"Books just wanna be free" is the motto of bookcrossing.com, a new website that Megen introduced me to a couple of days ago. Basically how it works is that you read a book and then register it on BookCrossing to get a special ID code for it, then you send it out into the wild and wait for someone to claim it and hopefully visit bookcrossing themselves to register where they found it and so on. It's like this massive community of book lovers all over the world releasing books to be found and enjoyed by others, for free! It's really fun, like a game, because you can go hunting for books in your area too. I'm excited about setting some of mine free...but which ones I do not know because I do love my books.
The other new interest is Blood:Water Mission. This mission was founded by one of my fave bands, Jars of Clay, to provide clean blood and water efforts in Africa...in order to help the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic to decrease. I urge you to visit this site and become more aware and involved. I didn't realize that only $1 provides 1 African with water for 1 YEAR. How incredible and easy is that. A dollar. Just one. Get involved!

"The Blood:Water Mission is a non-profit organization founded by the members of the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning band, Jars of Clay, to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. Blood:Water Mission exists to promote clean blood and clean water efforts in Africa, tangibly reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic while addressing the underlying issues of poverty, injustice and oppression. Blood:Water is building clean water wells, supporting medical facilities, and focusing on community and worldview transformation, both here in America and in Africa. We recognize that numbers and statistics are hard to grasp, and that sometimes a step back is necessary to conceptualize the enormity of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Yet we also know that simply standing from a distance with arms thrown in the air is not a solution. We believe in pressing inward, in building relationships and bridges with communities in Africa. We believe in hearing personal stories and walking alongside brothers and sisters who have demonstrated strength and faith in the midst of desperate and tragic situations. We hold fast to the conviction that we are all responsible for being good stewards of our time, our resources and our compassion in a broken world. Every person has something to give in return for what has been received. Please join us on this journey."