👹 Summertime hysteria, gremlin walks + bedtime routines: Lil Treasures #281

It's a good day to call your government officials, babes!

Happy Friday, friends! 🫶

I’m kicking things off on a heavier note today - but it seems like as good of a time as ever to ruffle a few feathers for the folks who are making some horrific immigration decisions. It’s heartbreaking stuff, seeing children separated from their families and people treated in an inhumane way. My new internet friend Bailey Gambill reached out sharing her concerns, as well as a few ways we can step in and help today (with practical steps) and I wanted to drop them here as a way we can continue advocating. Bailey works in immigration for the Florence project in Arizona. Organizations like the one where she serves are doing incredible work, and right now are dealing with huge cuts and fighting against government officials who are trying to starve out immigration nonprofits, which leaves no one to provide due process. Bailey said,

“The only hope I have left comes from driving to court and seeing people give up their time and resources to protest ICE outside of the federal court. Those same people making sure anyone going to their court hearing knows their constitutional rights.”

If this issue rattles you like it does me, here are a few ways you can help today, copied from my conversation with Bailey:

1. Call your Senators and Congress people and let them know the government is required by TVPRA (Trafficking Victims Protection Act) safeguards to provide the funding to organizations nationwide that insure due process. Congress passed the TVPRA in 2000 and have renewed it many times over. It’s considered a constitutional safeguard for children entering the U.S.

2. For people who can or want to, donate to organizations. ACACIA is the organization that distributes congressionally earmarked funds to immigration orgs. So donating to them could spread the money out more. I work for the Florence project in Arizona, we receive ACACIA funds - if you donate, you can ask funding to be earmarked for something specific like detained children’s team or children’s released team or staff salaries or adult detained/released, etc. Anything earmarked has to be used for that express purpose. So you can make it general or specific.

3. As a Christian, I feel obligated to say pray. But it’s true. The kids I work with need consistency and their families and kindness and reunification with their families (something that’s not happening much right now)

4. Awareness - following the Florence project or ACACIA or we choose welcome or the orgs associated with those to stay informed and share so others know.

Thanks again to Bailey for these ways to help, and for continuing to champion those who don’t have a voice right now.

And without further adieu, this week’s treasures:

🤨 My heart might have been changed for the better, but unfortunately I am still working on controlling my face.

☕ Give yourselves permission to rest this summer, beloveds. And if you need some inspo for do so, let this gorgeous poem from Nicola Jane Hobbs steer you in that direction. I really loved the line, “let them see that resting is something women do.”

🍉 Get in losers, it’s time for resistance summer because as this essay puts it, hot girls ruin vibes and it’s time to stop exhausting ourselves by always keeping the peace.

💎 Here’s another bountiful roundup of Enneagram jewels for you to enjoy.

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month! If you’ve grown up in evangelical spaces and are shifting the way you think about your LGBTQ+ beliefs, I wrote a 4-part series all about how I became affirming if you would like to hear another perspective, complete with a list of resources.

And if you’ve read these essays before, there are new updates! And an audio version! You can subscribe below to read through the series or shoot me an email at hello@erinhmoon.com to get hooked up with a free sub.

🍅 Tomatoes have always been very important to me, and even more so now that I am tending to a future harvest of my own (Lord, let it be so). If we’re having a tomato summer, then I think we need this tomato cake!

🦩 Summer is here and if you’re a part of a church in your area, no doubt your Vacation Bible School is coming up soon! I have attended my share of days at the “Rickshaw Rally” or “The Good News Stampede” and can’t wait to share a few thoughts about it over on the newest Faith Adjacent episode, The Nos of VBS. Let me know if you have any super special VBS memories in the comments!

🛏️ If you’re tired of the nightly scroll and are looking to shake up your nighttime routine, might I suggest this idea?

🙏 Please go watch this clip of an Armchair Expert podcast episode (but only listen to another podcast just this once, okay) where an author named James Kimmel Jr was interviewed and talked about the topic of “Revenge Addiction” and how easy it is to fall into that mindset, but ALSO the things that happen to your brain when you decide to forgive someone. Powerful stuff.

👏 Lisa Harper shared this older clip of AOC talking about the problems of complacency and using faith as a political weapon and it brought me to actual tears.

💘 I’m feeling faint after watching Pedro Pascal quote Pride and Prejudice.

📺 Ben Moon and I recently got into the show Andor on Disney+ and now I am obsessed with it. I love it so much, I just want to sit inside of the middle of its beautiful cinnamon roll. I enjoyed this clip of Denise Gough (Dedra Meero, one of my favorite characters, I mean she sucks but also Denise ate that) talking about the powers of her downturny mouth in the show. This will be me for the foreseeable future, so drop your thoughts (no spoilers) in the comments if you want to chat about it.

🍟 After seeing this post, now all I want to do is gather up my besties for a day full of yaps and tender friendship tattoos.

DON’T FORGET THE MEMES!

Well that’s all there is to this week’s newsletter, beauties. Please know that I think you’re A DANG DELIGHT, and I can’t wait to see you again next week! Let’s all move move into this weekend with the same energy as the icons below. Byeeeeeeee!