Shutting down this blog

I just wanted to let you know that I am shutting down this blog and consolidating it with my Mom's Life blog, which is a fairly new blog, but is my new online home for posts about being a working mom, a woman trying to live my life with Christ as well as I can, a homeschooling mom and, most of all, a Christ-follower.  Some of the posts will still be the same outside-the-box musings to which you've grown accustomed.

I appreciate all those who've followed the sporadic posts on this blog and I hope you'll follow me at Mom's Life.  I'm hoping that this move will allow me to post more frequently.  With my business blog and trying to be active in the Indie Beauty Social Network (along with teaching, business, child-rearing, husband-training, etc.), managing two blogs with basically the same focus is a bit much.  My goal is to get all the posts (thankfully, there aren't many) moved over this weekend and I'll be shutting down this blog Sunday night or first thing Monday morning.

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Jesus Died...

I originally posted this on Facebook, but in light of all the hateful language I'm hearing lately on Twitter and Facebook from my fellow "Christians," I think it needs a broader audience.

For me.  For you.  For that neighbor who's very devoutly religious.  For the neighbor who's athiest.  For the Christ-follower.  For the Jew.  For the Muslim, the Buddhist, the Shintoist, the Hindu, the Wiccan, the Satanist and the Voodoo witch doctor.

Jesus died for the rich, the poor, the worker, the unemployed, the well-housed and the homeless.  Jesus died for the drug addict.  For the alcoholic.  For the prostitute.  For the pimp.  For the john.  For the mentally disabled.  For the mentally retarded.  For the welfare parent.  For the grieving parent.  For the foster parent and the adopted parents.

Jesus died for the young.  For the old.  For everyone in the middle.  For the female.  For the male.  For the husband.  For the wife.  For the parents.  For the babies.

Jesus died for White people.  And Black people.  And for Native Americans, Middle Easterners, Asians, Hispanics and the millions of people who don't quite fit into any of these categories.

Jesus died for Republicans.  For Democrats.  For Libertarians.  For Socialists.  For Communists.  For Independents.

Jesus died for the innocent.  And for the guilty.  Jesus died for the criminal in prison.  Jesus died for the criminal out on the streets.  Jesus died for the criminal any of us could be were it not for the grace of God.  

Did I forget anyone for whom Jesus died?  Yes, Jesus died for us all.

And praise God, Jesus went through Hell for me so even on my darkest, most frustrating days, he knows what I'm going through.

And double praise the LORD God, Jesus rose again so that I - and ALL those I mentioned who choose to follow him - can have eternal life!

Amen.

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Who's Responsible?

The world is reeling from the recent disasters in Japan - a 9.0 earthquake offshore, followed by a 23-foot tsunami, topped off by pretty rough aftershocks, iced (rather literally) by sub-freezing temperatures chilling the thousands of thousands of newly homeless people.  Take those mind-boggling crises and top them off with nuclear power plants that are in danger of meltdown, which would release radioactive fumes into the surrounding areas.  I won't ask what more can go wrong for these people; I'm afraid something else would happen.

I read an article today about the cumulative disasters that are plaguing the Japanese people.  The article quoted many people, including the governor of Tokyo.  "Shintaro Ishihara, told reporters Monday that the disaster was "punishment from heaven" because Japanese have become greedy" (courtesy MSNBC.com).  I know that Japan is not a heavily Christian nation, but it seems interesting that the recent rash of disasters is attributed to "punishment from heaven."  That made me start thinking about God's role in all this mess.


Honestly, I know that God is over all the heavens and the Earth, that God could have easily stopped the sequence of events that led to the earthquake and resulting tsunami.  I don't know why God didn't, and perhaps it's not for me to know.  Have the Japanese been living a greedy, materialistic lifestyle, as Ishihara claims?  Again, I have no idea, so I won't presume to judge.  Why does this idea make me so uncomfortable?


While I can't speak for the greed or lack thereof of Japan, I can speak to the greed of most Americans.  We want and want and want.  We are the richest country in the world and tend to horde so many of our resources for ourselves.  I suspect that my discomfort stems from the knowledge that we in America have enough of our own sins to make me aware that if God so chooses and if God truly does cause disasters as punishment, then we're potentially doomed.


But wait...  The Chinese character for "crisis" is also the one for "opportunity," and moments of God's grace are already appearing.  The news is on as I type this, and the meteorologist gave the weather for Japan.  The bad news is, it's snowing and just above freezing in the northern part of the country - the part hardest hit.  The good news is, a low front has moved just offshore and the wind is pushing any radiation out to sea instead of inland.  The US is one of three countries that are stepping up to offer a significant amount of assistance to Japan.  We get to step out of our $3.55-$5.50/gal-inspired pity parties and remove our focus from our high unemployment numbers and think instead of these people who are recovering from the unimaginable - no homes, no food, no shelter, lost/missing loved ones...  The danger of radiation poisoning and very cold temperatures just top off the misery.  


Let's take this crisis and turn it into opportunity - and opportunity to pray, serve and love.  Let's bury old prejudices from over 60 years ago and find ways to minister to these suffering people.  It doesn't matter what our history with the Japanese is.  It doesn't matter the shape of their eyes, the color of their skin or the language they speak.  It's about a people who God loves and to whom we are supposed to show love as well.  They need to feel this love, though - both in our actions and our words.  Let's do it!

Awesomeness

I'm a worrier.  I really try not to be, but my obligations and responsibilities run through my head and I wonder how I'll ever meet them all.  It was last night at bedtime, and they marched through the brain again.

Last year when my husband interviewed for his job down here, his boss said that he would be getting a promotion and pay raise by year's end, substantial enough that he wouldn't mind paying for his insurance out-of-pocket, that it'd be so much, he wouldn't miss that deduction.  Well, it's now almost a year-and-a-half later, and we're still without insurance and he's still waiting for the promised raise and promotion.

I groused last night as we were heading to bed, "Well, if **** [name removed] would cough up that promotion and raise he promised you last year, things would be much easier!"

Peter replied, "I'm in better shape now than I was at EPM.  If I were still at EPM, I'd be having to work every Saturday for months to make up for what we lost this week!  At least at this job, I get to spend more time with my family."

And doesn't that just say it all?  Sometimes we have to look at the advantages and blessings as we encounter them.  Later - about 3:30 in the morning, I'd guess, when my older daughter woke up - I was laying in bed, spooning my husband in the cool early morning air, those concerns beginning to creep into my tired brain.  Funny, though, but when I held him just a little tighter, the concerns disappeared, only to have memories of God's provision take their place.  Oh, what I haven't mentioned is, I'd prayed for God to supply our needs.  As I laid in bed, enjoying the awesome pure oxygen buzz I had going from the crisp, cool air coming through the open windows, I remembered things like that carton of milk that didn't go bad until pay day, lasting a full week beyond its expiration date.  And I remembered how, when things were looking a little desperate for my business, that large order would come in.  Bottom line, God provided then and will provide now.

One of the gifts God has given us is each other - our family, our relationship, our girls.  Will God provide for us now?  Yep, just as he's always provided in the past.

Walking the Labyrinth

I had a fabulous spiritual experience this morning. My new friend Sarah invited me to join her at Church of the Servant Episcopal Church in Wilmington to walk the labyrinth. While I was familiar with this spiritual practice, I'd never experienced it. 

Labyrinth - Photo courtesy of Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church

 If you blow the picture up and trace it, you'll see that there are no dead ends to the labyrinth; the line leads to the center, and after savoring time in the center to pray and meditate, the labyrinth then leads sojourners back out to the outer edge of the circle.  When walking towards the center, sojourners - for, yes, the labyrinth represents a journey - take the opportunity to clear their hearts and minds, enabling God to speak. 

As I walked the labyrinth, there were some things I discovered, as well as some things the Holy Spirit revealed to me.

Walking the labyrinth forced me to look down at my path.  As I walked the labyrinth, I had to keep my eyes down so I could see where I was going.  When I tried to look at other sojourners or enjoy the beautiful sanctuary, I risked getting off my path.  The same holds true for our Christian walk.  So long as we're focused on what we're doing and what we're supposed to be doing, then we will find our way staying true to our spiritual paths.

I didn't walk the labyrinth alone, any more than I walk this Christian journey alone.  Yet, my walk is my own.  As I walked the labyrinth, I followed, I led, occasionally I walked beside another sojourner, I may have, at times, met someone on the walk and once, I had to step aside so someone who was just starting the labyrinth could pass.

My mind could not fill with God until I emptied it of stuff.  In this case, I don't mean bad or worrisome stuff; I mean all stuff, even happy.  Right before walking the labyrinth was the first time Sarah and I had met in person, and the very first thing we said to each other was the other's name as a question, and in perfect sync.  Obviously, with our names differing by just one letter, it was rather amusing.  Again, a happy thought, but still one that created mental "noise" and kept me from hearing God as I should.

When I arrived at the center of the labyrinth, my mind was clear, open and being deliciously filled with God.  This may sound bad, but I could enjoy a prayer free of my children (my older daughter and I pray together twice a day, with her daddy joining us at bedtime prayers).  This children-free time with God enabled me to pray just for what I wanted to pray.  I didn't feel compelled to list all of her sick friends (most of whom are probably well on the road to recovery by now).  It was, plain and simply, my Mommy time with God.  No, it was my WOMAN time with God, a daughter taking quiet respite time hanging with her Father.  As I walked back out of the labyrinth, I felt lighter, calmer and less stressed. 

Have you ever walked the labyrinth?  What was your experience of it?

Church of the Servant Episcopal Church is located on Oriole Drive in Wilmington, about 1/3 mile down on the left.  The labyrinth is open the third weekend of each month on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.

Proud to be an American!

I have baby fingerprint smudges on the back sliding glass door as she stands against it watching her daddy grill.

There's homemade ice cream base chilling in the fridge.

I'm busy chopping celery and onion to put into potato salad.

A little kitten has adopted us... And our older daughter has adopted her right back, beginning to assume responsibility over the care of this kitten.

Between our home and the one next door, there runs a ditch with two places to cross - one near the street where it flattens out, and the other toward the back where an earthen bridge appears. Our daughter, the three girls next door and the two behind us use that going back and forth.

Last night, the father of the three girls invited their friends over to watch him set off the fireworks he'd bought, leading to a fabulous technicolor display amidst little girl squeals and giggles. I stood on our porch thinking, "This is exactly the type of place I wanted to raise my children."

This morning, we attended worship. It still bothers me to see the American flag fly in church - that whole separation of church and state thing, and I don't want our church to co-opt its will to that of the state in any way, as cautioned by Dietrict Bonhoeffer some 70-80 years or so ago.

I have all these things - fingerprints on glass, food in the fridge, safety in our neighborhood and church - BY GOD! By the grace of God and the sacrifices of so many brave men and women over the last 234 years, I have freedom to work, to live and to worship as I see fit. I praise God for all the ways that God has blessed me, and I thank God for allowing me to be born an American.

My prayer is that God will keep us free through the next two years and that the President will repent of his evil ways, even going so far as to step down. What is your prayer for America?

Humbled by Chance

Sunday I was having... personal issues of a spiritual nature.  We'd just finished our study of Francis Chan's Crazy Love in our Sunday morning small group, and we'd discussed at length how to show God's "crazy love" to others.  I have no problem with showing God's love to people; my problem currently is, how do I do more of it?

I want to minister to people.  I want to go out and feed the poor and help clothe the naked.  However, with two children at home with me and a home-based business, how in the world would I find the time to do this?  I don't want to risk my girls' safety, even though I might be perfectly comfortable going into situations of questionable safety.  Yet, I still want to serve others.

Then on Sunday afternoon, I came home and had a direct message on Twitter from a friend, needing to talk over some spiritual concerns she's been having.  We're still working together on those, but the fact of the matter was, it dawned on me that, through Twitter and Facebook, I have ways of ministering to people that others might not have.

In messaging my friend and asking her permission to mention our discussion on my blog, I shared what I'd been feeling angst about.  She replied that she had sensed something had been "off" in me when she messaged me.  Funny part is, no one - not my husband, my best friend or the Twitterverse - knew what was on my mind and in my heart.  I'd also sensed something had been "off" in her, just a vibe I'd picked up in her tweets and Facebook posts in recent days.  Our exchanges - what we said, when we said it - were anointed by the One who knows ALL about us both.

This is for all you ministers out there, both those who are ministers by calling and those who are ministers by simply being Christian.  Let these words encourage you when you're not feeling as if you're doing enough, and pray that God will open up your eyes to see where the opportunities to minister are.  You may have a particular ministry setting that's special to you.

What's your favorite place to minister, and if you have a target audience, who are they?