the glory of advocacy.

today was Social Work Day at the legislature. it was an incredible opportunity to come together with other social work students from Texas and visit our state capital to advocate for the oppressed. in between doughnuts and coffee, we listened to speakers tell stories of clients that had "fallen through the cracks;" these stories were meant to remind us why we were in Austin in the first place. 

one story went like this:

  a woman named Kelsey had been found on the streets of Indiana nearly frozen to death after spending the night in 14 degree weather. an emergency shelter took her in, and inquired why she had not sought shelter from the only other shelter offered in the area. it was determined that the main shelter turned her away because she was a transgendered person. because she came in wearing pink jumpsuits and lipstick and makeup and would not present herself as a man, she was denied shelter at the faith-based organization. 

THE WOMAN NEARLY FROZE TO DEATH!

many other stories of clients and advocacy projects were shared and my heart continued to stir over how it is that I am to shine God's glory?? I'm currently reading Desiring God by John Piper, and he explains that God created us out of His glory so that in our creation, we might glorify Him! sounds bizarre and might be hard to grasp (so read the book?)... but, during this morning meeting, my brain was buzzing with thoughts of how it is that God allows these things to happen for His greater purpose and yet He is so full of love that He created us to in turn shine His glory?! 

SO, how do I shine God's glory in these horribly dark and painful places? and as I'm thinking this, the speaker says something like this, "we are here to be their voices, to advocate for the rights of all people." well, there ya go: how do I shine God's glory? by loving His children and being the voice for the oppressed!

after the morning meeting, we all walked over to the capital and students took turns at the microphone speaking on behalf of an advocacy project or social justice issue or oppressed population that they are passionate about and want to raise awareness for. after listening to a few students and clapping at the "God Bless" at the end of every speech (and taking about 100 pictures of toe-touches and statue-climbing), a group of us went in to explore this beautiful capital building of ours! we went to meet our representative and discuss poverty in Waco, but he was out of the office. eating BBQ I presume (umm, it smelled like brisket). and then after several more pictures and almost destroying state property and pledging allegiance to the flag to gain forgiveness from texas, we headed on over to eat some grub grub at Gruero's nommmmmm

2 beers and 13 tortillas later, we were cruising back down Congress to hit up Urbs (Urban Outfitters for you non-hipsters/normals) and then snatched some coffee-ness at The Coffee Bean. the guys were cute and nice and thought I was really funny (a plus), but the drinks were some doody! finally, it was time to face traffic and try not to commit murder-by-road-rage with my riding buddies... at last, we pulled in to Waco asleep at the wheel and now here I am: watching the Mavs womp the Knicks and putting off homework for as long as possible.

change of plans for tomorrow: vball practice tomorrow night. hah.

--game night Thursday!!--

WE ARE THE VOICES OF THE OPPRESSED