I Don't Want to Do Dressember Anymore.

I’m gonna be really really honest right now.

I don’t want to do Dressember anymore. I’m tired of wearing dresses. I. Am. Lazy. I don’t want to look nice anymore. I don’t want to take pictures and come up with quotes and captions. I don’t want to beg for money or try to make people care about a cause they would rather just ignore. I don’t want to think up creative ways to promote it. I don’t want to check my page constantly to see if someone gave. I don’t want to do it anymore.

But then I read about little girls that get rescued. I see a video from IJM of little boys who are no longer slaves—they’ve been freed from a life of working on fishing boats as child labor, enslaved and forced to work despite the danger of the job and the likelihood of drowning. I read an update from A21 about a woman finally being rescued from a brothel, and about the restoration she’s experiencing.

It. Is. Worthy.

I’m a follower of Jesus, and so I truly believe that all people are worthy of dignity, of love, of freedom. Jesus died to give people freedom, he died because he loves people, he died because he saw value and worth in human life. Because I follow Jesus, I wanna be like that. I want to expose people to freedom. I want to show people love. I want to affirm people of their worth and value. It’s almost easier to do this for the slave that lives in India than for the student next to me in class or the person walking by me at Target. But I want to be someone who lives out these beliefs, and, for me, Dressember is a way I can spend a month focusing in on that.

This year, I know I might not raise enough money to meet my goal ($1,000 is a lot of money!). I know that I might not get as many interactions online or even in person to talk about Dressember. I know my posts might not get shared as much, or that people aren’t as fascinated by this anymore, or that the cuteness of me doing Dressember in high school has worn off. But I’m going to keep doing it. Something I’ve learned pretty recently is that sometimes you won’t see the impact you make, that sometimes it takes years to see the fruit of your labor. But you have to keep laboring, keep working, keep doing, even when you want to quit. The rewards—if the labor is for a worthy thing—are incredible in comparison to the work. So I will keep on doing Dressember. And I’ll keep on doing it for as long as I can, for as long as there are still people in slavery. Because I believe that the children being rescued are worthy. I believe the restoration to young women is worthy. I believe the promotion of freedom, dignity, and love are worthy.

Do you? I’m sure you value freedom, dignity, and love. I really don’t want to guilt trip you into giving to my campaign, or to make you feel bad if you don’t have anything to give. But I do want to promise this—any amount you can give, any sacrifices you make so you can give--the results are worthy. The life-changing work that the Dressember partners do is worthy. People are worthy.

I don't want to do Dressember anymore because I don't want there to be slavery anymore. Can you help make that happen?  

Below is the link to donate to my page. Please donate as you feel led, remembering that the freedom, dignity, and love that people will experience as a result of your gift are worthy. 

https://dressember.funraise.org/fundraiser/karla-johnson