Phillies vs. Yankees... a major dilemma for some

For the most part, I won't talk about this publicly for fear of... well... Philly fans.  Those from Philly or know of Philly sports fans know that sports are taken extremely seriously in this town.  I mean - throw out any attempt of being respectful or to that matter... even civilized.  Philly teams are the one and only.  Everyone else... well, I think Philly sports fans would say... they suck.

Honestly though, having grown up in central Jersey, I was a hardcore NY Mets fan, with the Yankees pretty high on the list.  I didn't like the Phillies - I liked the Phanatic, but at the time, the Phillies were quite bad.  I remember I used to always want to go to Mets and Yankees games, but my dad would never take me because he hated driving into the city; so periodically he'd take my brother and I to Phillies games.  Still fun, but usually I'd be rooting for the other team. 

I must admit, having lived in the Philly area for the past 4 or 5 years, the Eagles and the Phillies have grown on me.  I mean, I'm no die-hard sports fan in general - I love playing sports - but as far as following - not nearly so much.  I like the Phillies, but I also like the Yankees.  The question now becomes, which one do I like more... enough so that I would root for one over the other.  It's a tough question, especially when all my close friends here seem to be pro-Phillies all the way.

So who really cares and why is this on my mind?  Well, I'm comforted by a NY Times article posted today that shows that I'm not the only one torn up on this issue.  The article is about my tiny hometown, and how it's smack dab in between NY and Philly.  Now, you see... the reason why I'm struggling with this goes much deeper... it goes down to my roots...

October 29, 2009 

Living, and Torn, Between Two Cities

If any spot could be torn apart by the World Series, it would be the town of Cranbury, N.J.
As far back as Colonial days, its Cranbury Inn served as a popular halfway stop on the two- or three-day journey by stagecoach between New York and Philadelphia, and these days both Yankees and Phillies rooters can be found at the inn’s bar.

“We swing both ways here because we have so many connections to both,” said Gay Ingegneri, who with her husband, Tom, has owned the inn for the past 14 years. “We’re definitely on the fence. Our emotions seesaw a lot.”

Exhibit A for this quandary of allegiance is Mrs. Ingegneri herself. She grew up in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania and spent four years living in Philadelphia when she was training as nurse, so she roots for the Phillies when they play any other team except the Yankees. But as the teams prepared to square off in the World Series opener Wednesday night, a childhood memory nudged her heart toward the Bronx.
....
But geographically speaking, there is no town that more capably serves as a midpoint between Yankee Stadium and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The town of 3,200 people is in both cities’ orbits, about 50 miles from both New York and Philadelphia, and residents travel to both by driving 15 minutes to the Princeton Junction station, which is on the Amtrak and New Jersey Transit lines. The town also gets television channels from both New York and Philadelphia.
...
for the full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/nyregion/29midpoint.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

Today, over 25,000 children died around the world

Doing some research on poverty issues... came across an article from March.

Over 25,000 children die every day around the world.
That is equivalent to:

• 1 child dying every 3.5 seconds
• 17-18 children dying every minute
• A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 1.5 weeks
• An Iraq-scale death toll every 16–38 days
• Over 9 million children dying every year
• Some 70 million children dying between 2000 and 2007

The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

The continuation of this suffering and loss of life contravenes the natural human instinct to help in times of disaster. Imagine the horror of the world if a major earthquake were to occur and people stood by and watched without assisting the survivors! Yet every day, the equivalent of a major earthquake killing over 30,000 young children occurs to a disturbingly muted response. They die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death. - A spotty scorecard, UNICEF, Progress of Nations 2000

Rest of article: http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-25000-children-died-around-the-world

THIS IS NOT OK.  How can we sit here and eat, drink, play?  I ask myself that as I comfortably sip my coffee in what could be described as a luxurious coffee shop (Cosi's) in downtown Philadelphia...

Just in awe of the perfect conductor

This weekend... I was reminded of how amazing God truly is.  This Saturday was our church's first ever interchurch parish women's flag football tournament.  We have been practicing and playing hard for this one day of playoffs and games.  I was literally on weather.com every day of the week (multiple times a day), and praying hard that God would change the course of weather that meteorologists were predicting... that is... rain, rain, and more rain... all day.

I started the week praying in confidence, believing God would come through; but I have to admit, by Friday night, I was starting to lose hope.  I still prayed He would change the course of the weather, but at the same time, realized that it's His call when and if He wanted us to be on that field.  Before I went to bed on Friday night, the situation looked worse than before... with a 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms!

So Saturday morning, I wake up at the crack of dawn because I was volunteering and running a 5K, and to my surprise, it's not raining.  They sky is gray, but not horribly dark -- a glimmer of hope we might play! It drizzles a bit on my drive, but not too bad.  I help out with registration and videography, and then at the last minute decide to run it (totally regretted it after i started as i thought about playing football all day and my body being tired...)... and then I bolt to the field where we're playing.

As I drive, there's some drizzle, but not horrible.  At one point, the sky actually looked like it was clearing.  As we warmed up, there was even sunshine... and I just stood there utterly amazed.  I was humbled by how big, how amazing, how gracious, how in control He is of everything.  I was reminded of how small we are; but at the same time; how much He cares and hears our every prayer.

Every day is given to us graciously by Him; but honestly, I tend to forget.  Yesterday, for me was so powerful.  I really felt how real, how mighty, and how awesome He truly is.  It ended up raining on and off throughout the games, but it was never a constant heavy heavy downpour, until we finished all the games and were packing up to go home.  Literally, as we began cleaning up our stuff and packing up our cars, the thunder began to rumble. 

AND, during one of the games, the downpour was heavy enough to cause a rain delay, where both of the teams, as they stood there getting soaked, had the opportunity to bond and get to know each other as sisters of one church.  It was a much needed time of fellowship for the sisters on the field as that game was getting pretty intense... perhaps overly aggressive.  But because of the sudden rain, it forced the 2 teams to come together as one... introducing each other... getting to know one another... and come 2nd half... it was a completely different dynamic.  Yes, it was still competitive, but it a very different attitude on the field.  You could see it.  Girls from opposite teams supported each other... It was a touching moment.  ONLY He could have orchestrated that... 

Yeah, my team lost in the finals, but it was so fun and so amazing to see His body come together through competing against each other.  Sounds almost contraindicative but it did indeed bring new and old sisters together, across parish lines, across ages, across occupations, across all boundaries.  What brought us together was a desire to play outside and get to know new and old sisters; but what ultimately bound us together was a love for Him, and that was indeed an amazing thing to see week in and week out.  I pray that this season was glorifying to Him, and that seeing His daughters playing and His sons coaching on that field, brought a smile to His face.  I know it did for me every day... and I'm thankful for the opportunity to be part of it.

I am just so in awe of Him...  how can I not love Him... how can I not believe how real and how in control He is.  Rain and all... it was a perfect day...  the season in general... was just such a blessing from Him. 

human trafficking thoughts from the spring...

I had typed up this blog post while awhile ago after I returned from Taiwan this past spring, and I guess I never actually posted it.  But since drafting this... I've learned that the young woman who worked at my grandparents left - not sure why although my family speculates due to her husband coming over to Taiwan and her wanting to be with him?  I'm not really sure though.

Also on the topic of human trafficking, I recently read Somali Mam's story in her autobio: The Road of Lost Innocence.  Oh man what a powerful story that gives a personal account of her experiences being trafficked and forced into prostitution.  I highly recommend the read.
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This topic has been on my mind for awhile now, but the concept of trafficking beyond what I used to relate it to – sex trafficking of women and girls – is something I’ve become more and more aware of with what I saw in the Delhi airport.  I think I blogged about it then: ….

So it’s a relatively common practice both here in Taiwan and other countries around the world for the wealthier to hire women from the Philippines, Indonesia, and other less wealthy countries to be their live-in maids, nannies, etc.  I had heard about these women who come over to work and make money, but never thought much of it, until this trip to Taiwan.  My grandparents have lived in the US for most, if not all, of my life, up until a couple years ago when they moved back to Taipei.  They still had a house there so they are now living there on their own. They hired one of these young women who is from Indonesia.  She is my age and has a young son in Indonesia.  She is great!  My grandmom is not the easiest to handle, but she does a great job with both her and my grandpa. She’s super cute, an awesome cook, and just a very thoughtful, considerate, and caring person.

So the big thing that irks me is that she was hired through an agency that takes a 50% cut of the amount my grandparents pay each month.  I mean, this agency probably takes care of her transport here, working visa, etc., and she doesn’t have to worry about housing or food because she lives here and cooks and eats with my grandparents, but it just feels wrong that for all the work she does, she gets so little.  It may go far in China and some other Asian countries, but Taiwan is not a cheap place.  She left her family to come to Taiwan to make money and send it home.  Maybe this is a lot of money relative to what these women can get in their home countries, but in my mind it just doesn’t feel right.

It just made me think of those men who were boarding that plane in Delhi to Riyadh to work on construction projects.  Is this any different?  I’m not sure how the contracts work for these women but I sure do wonder.  What happens if she breaks it and goes home? Was her passport confiscated when she got off the plane, just like the men heading to Riyadh? I have no idea – I’m totally speculating and perhaps thinking about this in a very Americentric way and perhaps I should not be.  Who am I to say that our way is right and their way is wrong.  I guess my point is that there is no my way versus their way.  I just feel there is a simple standard of treatment towards all humans that defines more of the “right” way – I don’t care where they are from or where they are going. Give people what they deserve, not what they are used to receiving based on where they hail from.  Help them help themselves – empower them to succeed.  What can we do to help?  How about start a competing agency that does it “rightER”? An agency that makes money but helps these women at a more fair standard.