I turn 35 today. What a wild, lovely, desperate, lonely (at times), redeemed 35 years it has been.

In the past year, my heart has been increasingly burdened on behalf of the refugee crisis. I’ve seen photos that haunt me, heard stories that shake me to the core, stories that challenge my courage.

If my blog has meant something to you, would you consider donating five bucks to one of these organizations for my birthday? Whether you’ve been along for the ride since this blog began in 2011 or whether you’re a brand-new follower, you are welcome here, no strings attached. I just thought my birthday might be an appropriate platform to solicit your help.

Here are the two organizations I’m promoting. I hope you’ll watch one or both videos to get a feel for them.

Preemptive Love Coalition (donate here!) | I love their core values: Love anyway.* Show up. Get out of the way.

Whitney Gerdes with International Association for Refugees (donate here; choose “Gerdes” from drop-down menu!) | This dear friend and former coworker is the woman who opened my eyes to … so much. I can’t begin to explain just how much Whitney has made me a better person just by knowing her, listening to her, letting her wisdom seep into my heart. She is a powerful, humble, FUN, and incredible person. And she followed her calling over to Europe to do trauma-based education with refugees. Would you be willing to give five dollars to her work?

* Love anyway. 

This is PLC’s heart. This is Whitney’s heart.

This is what I want for my birthday. Will you let me know if you give? It would give me a birthday thrill.