Lately at church we have been talking about reaching out to the community.
Giving back. Getting missions up and running again.
Being a church that 'does stuff' instead of a church that, like so many, just 'says stuff'.
A church that gets dirty in the mission field.
A church that feeds the hungry.
A church that helps the homeless.
A church that is an example of Christ's love.
With all the reaching out, I have to wonder, are we reaching too far?
Last week after church I saw one of our church members, a fairly regular member, leave via bus.
And while that's not headline worthy, I wondered about this;could no one take her home?
Offer her a ride? Did anyone else notice that she was waiting on a ride?
With all this reaching out into the community, have we forgotten to reach out to each other?
It's one thing if she wanted to leave by bus.
But in my opinion, it's quite another if she left by bus because no one offered her a ride or even noticed the fact that she was still hanging around, waiting on a ride an hour after the service had ended.
If I have my way, by next week she won't be riding the bus alone anymore.
6.20.2010
6.10.2010
where is God?
With all the news coverage about the oil spill (at our office, we're lucky enough to have CNN on ALL DAY, which is torture on a sensitive soul like me), if you are anything like me, you've wondered:
Where is God in all this?
I'm pretty sure God is here, in the muck, yuck, and utter disaster of a situation.
I'm pretty sure that He has a plan about this; that He is in control.
But, in the midst of this turbulent (and in my opinion, sad) time, as desperate as I want to see miracles and want Him to stop it now, I think there is a lesson in all this.
During my morning reading this week, I came across a sentence that resonated with me:
'He has never forced us to choose Him...'
(Max Lucado, Grace for the Moment)
And, in the midst of all the crazy, irate, over the top blame game that seems to take up all the problem solving energy, as opposed, to say, actually solving the problem, I think God was there during the moment they decided to go ahead without the back up plan.
But, to Max's point, I don't think God forced His will; (after all, He made us with free will) but, I do think that He was probably a whisper of conscious in someone's ear, some person who made the decision to go ahead, anyway, regardless to thought about consequences.
And so, as much as I want this to stop, I think God is teaching us a lesson about His power. And the abuse of ours.
Where is God in all this?
I'm pretty sure God is here, in the muck, yuck, and utter disaster of a situation.
I'm pretty sure that He has a plan about this; that He is in control.
But, in the midst of this turbulent (and in my opinion, sad) time, as desperate as I want to see miracles and want Him to stop it now, I think there is a lesson in all this.
During my morning reading this week, I came across a sentence that resonated with me:
'He has never forced us to choose Him...'
(Max Lucado, Grace for the Moment)
And, in the midst of all the crazy, irate, over the top blame game that seems to take up all the problem solving energy, as opposed, to say, actually solving the problem, I think God was there during the moment they decided to go ahead without the back up plan.
But, to Max's point, I don't think God forced His will; (after all, He made us with free will) but, I do think that He was probably a whisper of conscious in someone's ear, some person who made the decision to go ahead, anyway, regardless to thought about consequences.
And so, as much as I want this to stop, I think God is teaching us a lesson about His power. And the abuse of ours.
6.08.2010
good times. fleeting times.
So, this weekend...this weekend was a great deal of fun.
Beyond the library (I know, I know, hold me back-Liz is about to get CRAZY!), we spent time with our family and enjoyed it.
This may be a no-brainer to you; this may put a question mark in your brain, but, sometimes,
I really don't enjoy family time.
I am okay with me, B and Darling Child, but sometimes, when other family is involved, I'm not so psyched. And before you start gasping, it's not because I don't love them; it's because...
hold your breath-I don't always get my way.
I realize I should be bigger than this.
I realize that now, especially, since I am a mother.
I realize that I would never want to see this sort of behavior in my child.
What I have also realized is how good it feels to be around family.
It's the feeling like the warm sun on your body, soaking up the rays, the golden warmth you feel right before you start to burn and crisp up.
It's the ice cream that isn't too sweet or cold;it's the ice cream at that perfect, fleeting, temporary moment right before it begins melting and running down your hand, the sweet, sticky drippings threatening your flip flops.
It's that moment, that last Saturday morning before summer ended; the one you got up early for just so you could savor it, just so you could remember the feeling of being free and young one last time.
That was what this last family event was. Just like those experiences. No drama, no sarcasm,
not too lengthy, not too short, not about any one person, but about all of us, relating to one another.
Perfectly good times with imperfectly good people.
And fleeting. So, so fleeting.
But perfect.
Beyond the library (I know, I know, hold me back-Liz is about to get CRAZY!), we spent time with our family and enjoyed it.
This may be a no-brainer to you; this may put a question mark in your brain, but, sometimes,
I really don't enjoy family time.
I am okay with me, B and Darling Child, but sometimes, when other family is involved, I'm not so psyched. And before you start gasping, it's not because I don't love them; it's because...
hold your breath-I don't always get my way.
I realize I should be bigger than this.
I realize that now, especially, since I am a mother.
I realize that I would never want to see this sort of behavior in my child.
What I have also realized is how good it feels to be around family.
It's the feeling like the warm sun on your body, soaking up the rays, the golden warmth you feel right before you start to burn and crisp up.
It's the ice cream that isn't too sweet or cold;it's the ice cream at that perfect, fleeting, temporary moment right before it begins melting and running down your hand, the sweet, sticky drippings threatening your flip flops.
It's that moment, that last Saturday morning before summer ended; the one you got up early for just so you could savor it, just so you could remember the feeling of being free and young one last time.
That was what this last family event was. Just like those experiences. No drama, no sarcasm,
not too lengthy, not too short, not about any one person, but about all of us, relating to one another.
Perfectly good times with imperfectly good people.
And fleeting. So, so fleeting.
But perfect.
6.05.2010
small town library.
Today I went to the library.
Uneventful in the fact that I am telling you about an errand (this sort of info is worthy of a Facebook update, right? :) but, eventful in that it was fun.
Yes, fun.
I hadn't been to our library since the year we moved here; now, with the economy and all the financial goals we are trying to achieve in our personal lives, the library, the small, small town library is going to have to absorb all my book needs instead of Amazon. (I would insert a sigh here, but I'm trying to be positive.)
So-the interesting thing at the library was not the space (small, tiny, and about 5 stacks on each side of the library doesn't count as 'space'), or the people (all the librarians are sweet, child friendly and well, look exactly like librarians) or the feeling you get upon entering (warmth and a sense that the place is trapped in the late nineties), but all three.
All three of these things, when combined paints a typical small town scene...similar to the one that Garrison Keillor paints once a weekend on his "News From Lake Woebegon" segment of "A Prairie Home Companion"...so quaint, so real so gosh darn relate-able that you feel as if he knows, first hand about these experiences, and because of that, you also feel a quaint fondness for the stories he tells; it makes you feel like home; this is the way I felt at the library.
Amongst the books on tape (and now, CDs!), amongst the well loved and well worn Children's books, amongst the diet books and the now dated reference materials, I finally felt at home in this town; that I knew a thing or two about life,and that, finally, I was content with where we lived. Although it is the smallest and the most rural area I've lived in, I now, finally, love it.
An eventful thing, actually.
Uneventful in the fact that I am telling you about an errand (this sort of info is worthy of a Facebook update, right? :) but, eventful in that it was fun.
Yes, fun.
I hadn't been to our library since the year we moved here; now, with the economy and all the financial goals we are trying to achieve in our personal lives, the library, the small, small town library is going to have to absorb all my book needs instead of Amazon. (I would insert a sigh here, but I'm trying to be positive.)
So-the interesting thing at the library was not the space (small, tiny, and about 5 stacks on each side of the library doesn't count as 'space'), or the people (all the librarians are sweet, child friendly and well, look exactly like librarians) or the feeling you get upon entering (warmth and a sense that the place is trapped in the late nineties), but all three.
All three of these things, when combined paints a typical small town scene...similar to the one that Garrison Keillor paints once a weekend on his "News From Lake Woebegon" segment of "A Prairie Home Companion"...so quaint, so real so gosh darn relate-able that you feel as if he knows, first hand about these experiences, and because of that, you also feel a quaint fondness for the stories he tells; it makes you feel like home; this is the way I felt at the library.
Amongst the books on tape (and now, CDs!), amongst the well loved and well worn Children's books, amongst the diet books and the now dated reference materials, I finally felt at home in this town; that I knew a thing or two about life,and that, finally, I was content with where we lived. Although it is the smallest and the most rural area I've lived in, I now, finally, love it.
An eventful thing, actually.
6.03.2010
oil spill, et all.
Oh boy.
Dangerous and almost sad times we live in today.
How do I even begin? How can I even say how astounded and outraged I am?
Don't think there is a word developed yet for this feeling.
Beyond the pointing fingers, beyond the blame, beyond the powers that be...
We need to access our power as people to find a solution; to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Ever.
It's bittersweet having a child in times like these; I am over the moon with joy-
I sincerely did not know the definition of joy until Darling Child was born; and yet now I question the world I am leaving Darling Child; now I question everything.
Darling Child and the rest of the inhabitants of earth deserve better than this.
And certainly those sea turtles, pelicans and birds do.
My hope is that Darling Child grows up and actually knows what a sea turtle is.
Dangerous and almost sad times we live in today.
How do I even begin? How can I even say how astounded and outraged I am?
Don't think there is a word developed yet for this feeling.
Beyond the pointing fingers, beyond the blame, beyond the powers that be...
We need to access our power as people to find a solution; to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Ever.
It's bittersweet having a child in times like these; I am over the moon with joy-
I sincerely did not know the definition of joy until Darling Child was born; and yet now I question the world I am leaving Darling Child; now I question everything.
Darling Child and the rest of the inhabitants of earth deserve better than this.
And certainly those sea turtles, pelicans and birds do.
My hope is that Darling Child grows up and actually knows what a sea turtle is.
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