3A Blog

I have an email that perpetually sits in my inbox. OK, so there’s more than one in there. But there’s one that’s on purpose. It’s from 2/2/2010, right as I was in the process of founding Three Avocados. Subject: goal Body: to build an organization that can outlast me and continue to do good for the poor in developing countries long beyond my years. I will never forget the moment I sent myself that email. I was sitting at the stoplight at the intersection of Page & Scheutz in St. Louis. I was listening to “Legacy” by Nichole Nordeman. I had...

As you may or may not know, Three Avocados is based just outside of St. Louis, MO. And unless you’ve been living completely oblivious to the news, you’ve probably heard about what recently happened in Ferguson, MO, also a St. Louis suburb. On August 9th, Mike Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson. In the following weeks, there have been peaceful protests, riots, looting, and plenty of racist remarks flowing from both sides of the debate. As our city wrestles with finding truth, justice, and peace, I’m reminded of a sermon I once heard that focused...

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”…yeah, and like, other REALLY scary stuff, right?!?!?!? I think that quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt is great. And I really wish it was true for me. I’ve found a bajillion things to be afraid of. I’m scared of all kinds of terrifying things. Like, failing. And being wrong. And not being ‘good enough’. And people. And conflict. And rejection. And my list could go on and on. But I’m learning to get over those fears. I’m learning to open up and become vulnerable. I’m learning that facing my fears is...

The most staggering statistic to me in this infographic was that 48% of the world lives on less than $2 a day. I can’t even comprehend it. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to Uganda and meet some amazing people that fall into this category. They’re amazing beautiful people, but they lead an incredibly difficult life, too. But they are some of the most grateful people I’ve ever met. Thankful for rain, for sunshine, for food, for shelter, for things we take for granted everyday. Curious what $2/day is like? Check out livebelowtheline.com.   Original article: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/the-world-there-were-only-100-people.html

If you follow this blog at all, you know that I struggle with depression. It hits at unexplainable times and often has the effect of making me like I’m failing at [fill in virtually anything here]. If you follow our Twitter account, you know that I tweet a lot about never giving up. Honestly, so many of those tweets are meant for me. They’re thoughts I tell myself, that I decide to share with the world. Over the past two weeks, I’ve had bouts of feeling like Three Avocados isn’t doing enough. That we’re not making a big enough impact....