Becky's Blog

I'm Moving!

2011-04-15T21:45:00.002-05:00

Becky's Blog is moving to Wordpress!

I'm very excited and very grateful to my friend, Nibby, for all of his work and his willingness to teach me all kinds of things. I'm really excited about the new site.

Basically, things might be shaky for a day or two while the domain changes over!

The site will still be beckydurham.net and you'll arrive there automatically if you type that/keep that link.

The RSS feed will change, so if you've subscribed or are using it in a widget, you'll need to update from the new site.

Here we go! Thanks for reading!

John 9: The Meeting

2011-04-15T06:00:00.007-05:00

(This is part 4 of a four part series on John 9)

Remember, the man had never actually seen Jesus. Jesus applied the mud and sent the man to Siloam, so when Jesus approaches, he wouldn't have recognized him. "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" Jesus asks.

The man is excited, I'm sure--show me where he is! He had no idea that his miracle worker is before him.

Jesus went looking for the man, and to me, that's a very important part of this story. The man, who had been tossed aside by his community, all alone in his post-miracle joy, is found by Jesus.

Jesus, who has crowds following him everywhere he goes, went looking for just one guy--a guy he had already helped! When no one else wanted to stand with this man, when no one else wanted to acknowledge him or what this dramatic change in his life really meant, Jesus was there. This one person mattered to Jesus.

No gimmicks, no steps to salvation, no scare tactics. A simple question: Do you believe? A simple answer: Lord, I believe. Jesus' miracle has changed this man forever...and gotten him exiled from his religious community. But he can see! And he is befriended by Jesus! And he devotes himself to his new Lord through worship.

This man didn't know Jesus when he woke up that morning. He had no idea that he was going to watch the sun go down that evening with new eyes. It was Jesus who came to him and healed him (healed him before he confessed Jesus as Lord, by the way). It was Jesus who found him later and let him in on the Messianic secret.

That man mattered to Jesus. People matter to Jesus. You matter to Jesus.

I love this story because it's a beautiful picture of Jesus, our leader and savior and Lord, and his ministry, work and purpose. It's a beautiful picture of the kind of work to which we are called--seeking and serving those who need help and healing and then being there as they believe and worship and follow, too. As we follow, may we serve like Jesus. As we believe, may we worship like the man.

John 9: The Investigation

2011-04-14T06:00:00.003-05:00

(This is part three of a four part series on John 9.)

Part 1

Part 2

John 9:13-34

Any joy this man must have felt about his unexpected miracle was unfortunately short-lived. I can imagine him racing back to the place of his healing--not crawling, not healing, not haphazrdly limping. I imagine him running back to the place where he met Jesus.

Except now Jesus isn’t there. He finds himself surrounded by neighbors.

I feel like this man spends this part of the chapter with people acting like he’s not actually there. They all seem to talk around him. Maybe that was how they usually treated him--maybe his blindness made him less of a member of the community.

The neighbors had been unable to agree on whether or not he was actually the man born blind, so they hand deliver this man to the Pharisees. These religious leaders call for an account of what happened. When the man shares his story--his testimony--they focus on one thing.

The mud. The man who healed the blindness did it by making mud.

The Pharisees argue. They accuse. They fault-find.

The man stands by.

The Pharisees bring in the man’s parents.

I wonder if the man’s heart jumped a little bit--his parents were here. His parents who had raised him, who had lived with his blindness as long as he had! Finally! Someone who can validate his story. Someone who will be just as excited and joyful at his healing as he felt inside!

I wonder if his parents acknowledged his presence? They certainly did not acknowledge the miracle. Not wanting to lose their standing in the Jewish community, the man’s parents all but turn their backs to him--”You’ll have to ask him. He’s of age,” was what they would offer.

The Pharisees don’t want to be challenged, so they send him away with harsh words--you’re a sinner and you don’t count. Get out. Just like that, the man is excommunicated.

This man has been blind for as long as he has been alive and now, today, he has 20/20 vision! He must be ready to pop with excitement. Instead, he found himself in the midst of a trial about his character, his healing, his validity. The verdict? Guilty.

When you or I are miraculously changed, when amazing things happen in our lives, when we have an encounter with Jesus that leaves us full of wonder and joy...

There will be people like the neighbors who refuse to affirm and encourage.

There will be people like the Pharisees who argue, interrogate, accuse and exile.

There will be people like the parents who refuse to acknowledge the miracle.

Things will happen in your life that are grace-filled, miraculous and exciting. Overjoyed, you’ll turn to celebrate and you’ll run right into a Pharisee or loved one who wants to take it from you. They key is this: you can’t control the things that these people say to you or say about you. You can control your reaction.

At no point does this man waiver in his certainty about what happened to him. He has yet to see Jesus with his new eyes, but he knows what Jesus did. The man does not know what kind of a man Jesus is, but the man knows this: he was blind, now he’s not and Jesus was the one who made that happen.

You and I can hold on to what we know is true, too. You are a child of God, created in God’s image. The are the recipient of lavish, extravagant, eternal grace. You have a calling and a purpose. When people attack, interrogate and try to diminish you, remember those things and stand tall.

You might feel alone, but you’ll find that you’re not alone.

(Tomorrow Part 4: The Meeting)

John 9: The Miracle

2011-04-13T06:00:00.002-05:00

(Part two of a four part series on John 9.)

Part 1

John 9:4-12

This is a miracle that is fun to act out with children. Especially children who are boys. Basically, Jesus heals with spit. It’s gross and glorious at the same time.

I always thought this was funny--Jesus, why are you going out of your way to make mud with your spit? Obviously Jesus could have simply touched the man to restore his site. He could have just spoken the words.

Jesus is making a point. It’s the Sabbath and he’s kneading spit into dirt--that’s not allowed.

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (v. 4-5) For Jesus to heal on the Sabbath is just and necessary.

This is, of course, what is going to get the Pharisees involved in this whole situation. Who is Jesus, this Jewish Rabbi with a dirty band of followers, to break Sabbath law?

Here’s what I love about this whole story: The blind man in question? The one who’s at the center of this discussion? I imagine that he’s just minding his own business, going about his regular day. All of a sudden, he finds himself in the middle of an object lesson.

And then this Rabbi? He puts spitty mud on his eyes and sends him to wash in the pool that is called “Sent.” (Sent like the man...sent like Jesus). And the man is healed.

HEALED! At the most unexpected time!

I mean, the man had been blind his whole life. I realize that to consider much about the man’s background and attitude, we have to read a little bit between the lines and apply basic human nature principles to the situation (which is common in the Bible--authors weren’t really concerned about whether or not the 21st Century Reader understood what the subjects were thinking), but I imagine the last thing the man expected was that he would be able to see at the end of the day.

His whole life, he’s been blind.

It is the Sabbath.

Unexpected.

A miracle, for sure.

I consider the number of times I’ve sat or stood by a friend going through an unspeakable heartache, cried with someone so frustrated by life’s curveballs, hurt with someone dealing with something he or she is sure is terminal. I have a line that I use a lot: “Just hang on. Things can change when you least expect it.”

A couple of weeks ago, a friend asked for prayer because he was finding himself suddenly homeless. He was distraught. There was no way out. Nothing good would ever be again. This was it.

“Just hang on. Things can change when you least expect it.”

The next day, an update: a friend had asked him to make the trip to her hometown and stay with her family while he gets back on his feet. All was not over. Help came from the most unexpected place.

I believe it because time and again, I’ve been the recipient of such wonderful, miraculous, unexpected grace. I understand the blind man’s joy and surprise.

If you’re in a dark place and it seems hopeless, hang on! Miracles are usually surprises.

Tomorrow: John 9: The Interrogation

10 Things I'd Like To Learn

2011-04-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

1. How to play the guitar

2. Italian

3. How to raise saltwater fish

4. How to run a race (I'm working on it)

5. How to bake sweet potato fries without burning them

6. How to knit without making 5,000 mistakes

7. How to straighten my hair like Cindy at Shine does

8. How to gracefully stop my bike

9. How to cash a book advance check (ha...)

10. How to say witty things when they count and not just think of them much later

John 9: The Question

2011-04-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

(There are a lot of reasons I have this blog, but one of the main reasons is that it is an opportunity to improve my writing skills. I try to use a variety of different styles and topics and formats. I’ve not done a series blog yet. I decided to use one of my very favorite passages of Scripture and create a four part post about it. As always, thanks for reading.)

This is the first of a four part post on John 9.

John 9:1-7

The disciples are walking with Jesus. The blind man is minding his own business. All of a sudden the disciples

turn the blind man into a group object lesson.

“Hey, Jesus. Here’s a blind guy! Did his parents sin or did he sin?”

It’s so interesting to me that this is the question. It really causes me to have a lot more questions:

1. He was born blind, right? So how could it be because of his sin? Because of the sin that God knew would be in his life? That makes my head hurt.
2. It’s completely not fair that he would be punished for his parents’ sins, right? (I know, it’s a cultural belief. I’m just sayin’.)
3. How do the disciples know anything about him in the first place? Where do they get off using him as an example?
4. What are they trying to prove? What’s the point of their whole discussion?

Of course, it’s a cultural question. The common belief is that bad things happen to bad people. You are blind? It must be someone’s punishment! Jesus’ response is counter-cultural: No one is being punished. “He was born blind so God’s works could be revealed in him.”

This is quite possibly my very least favorite answer given by Jesus anywhere in Scripture.

What? This man has spent his entire life without his sight to give God glory?

Just like I wrestled with Soren Kierkegaard about the justness of God “using” Isaac and creating intense agony in Father Abraham’s heart in Genesis 22, I wrestle with this. It just doesn’t seem fair. This man has spent his whole blind just so that Jesus could heal him today?

One of the things I decided early in my walk with Christ was that I trust God to always be just. I don’t have to understand God’s ways, I don’t have to always have an answer for what’s happening, but I can always trust that whatever God is doing is right.

Are there situations or conditions in my life, in the lives of people I love that exist so that God can be glorified? I don’t know, but I think so.

“...Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Cor 12:7-10

Could it be that sometimes, God is glorified when we are weak? Yes.

Could it be that God can take a “bad” situation and do something amazing? Yes.

Have I seen this in my life? For sure. I have had dark moments, struggled with hard scenarios and lived with all kinds of pain--and I look back at them now and I can see clearly how God moved and redeemed.

For now, this man is the subject of discussion. In a moment, his life will be changed forever.

Wednesday: “John 9: The Miracle.”

Saturday Afternoon View

2011-04-09T13:36:00.002-05:00

(At Audubon Park)

--Posted using Blogpress

Not The Only Solution

2011-04-08T07:58:00.009-05:00

Last night, I was glancing through my twitter stream and I saw a particular blog post was being re-tweeted at a high frequency. The author was @hughlh (known in real life as Hugh Hollowell) and he tweets things like:

@hughlhTo look at my twitter followers, you would think I was Presbyterian. (Not that there is anything wrong with that...)

Anyway, I was wondering what was up with all the re-tweeting, so I clicked on the link in another friend's tweet. The post on his site is called "What Can The Church Do To Eliminate Homelessness?" and you should go read it now. It struck a chord with me.

The post ends this way:

The question we really want to ask, but nobody has the guts, the cajones, or the simple intestinal fortitude to ask is
“How can the church end homelessness – and yet keep all of this? “
Simple.
We can’t.

That's a hard truth for me to swallow.

As a Church, we spend a lot of time asking questions like how can we end homelessness/the AIDS epidemic/the war in Darfur/child slavery/the exploitation of women?

But the truth is, at the end of our question, there's always an implied "...and yet keep all of this?" Of course we want social justice! Of course we want to end poverty! Of course we care about widows and orphans--as long as it doesn't mean giving up all the justice, riches and family we enjoy!

I'm just as guilty. I wrote the other day about how I'm throwing up my hands about gas prices. A woman stood in front of me needing gas. I mentioned that our church sometimes is able to help people in need, but what about me personally? Yes, sometimes I do personally help the people I meet in or out of the church who need help. Depending on the situation, I've shared food, items or cash with people in need--and Jason and I do give to the church's benevolence fund.

But...

If I had cash to pay our utility bill in my purse and a young mother came in needing cash to pay her utility bill, I would feel bad for her and I would pray for her and I would give her a list of resources and places to call, but I won't go pay her utility bill instead. I want to help her, but not at such a great personal cost. Jason and I don't make enough money to pay two utility bills and if I pay hers instead of ours, I'll be the one calling the places on that resource list.

Tomorrow, the Youth Group will teach the Kids' Club children the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 (Luke 9:10-17). The Disciples were perfectly happy to send the crowd away when they got hungry. Jesus didn't allow for that. The Disciples were hungry themselves and didn't want to be bothered by the hunger and needs of the masses. But Jesus had another way: "You give them something to eat," He commanded/suggested.

So, I ended my last entry this way: "I'm praying for people who are going without today because they have no choice. It's the only solution I have right now."

It should read: "...It's the only solution I'm personally willing to allow for right now." Because it's not the only solution and it's not the solution to which Jesus calls the Church or the Disciples.

Fuelin' Up

2011-04-06T15:15:00.004-05:00

As I got out of my car, I groaned and the guy fueling up on the other side of the gas pump smirked. "It hurts, doesn't it?" He asked.

I mentally calculated how much a full tank of gas was going to cost at $3.65 a gallon. I traded complaints with the guy on the other side, who informed me that filling up his huge pick up truck was going to cost close to $100.

I sighed as I watched the number climb. I resisted the urge to stop the pump, because I knew I needed the gas and if I didn't fill it up today, I'd be back soon enough to top off. I remembered being in college in Evansville and driving to Henderson for gas because it was only 88 cents a gallon.

It's so frustrating, isn't it? Gas is so expensive. /complaining

I'm not feeling political about the price of gas. However, I will say this:

1. The rising cost sure is making me conserve gas more. The higher the number at the pump, the more efficient I become with my errands and trips. For example, I used to head to Evansville once a week or so. Now I evaluate the importance of the trip before I go.

2. I try to buy all of my gas at the nearby CountryMark station. CountryMark uses American refined oil from the Illinois basin--so it's local, even.

But here's the thing: as much as I complain? I'm still able to go to the gas station and fill up my car whenever I need to do it. I may do my best to conserve the gas in my tank, but if I need to go somewhere--work, the doctor, coffee with a friend in Evansville...I'm going, and if I don't have enough gas to get there, I'll stop on the way. This won't be true for much longer if gas continues to climb--there will come a point where I just can't afford a full tank whenever I need it. For some people, that's a reality of right now.

"I just need to get my mom to Evansville for her doctor's appointment," the young lady told me in the church fellowship hall the other day. "She has to go. I've been everywhere, no one has funds." Our church does try to meet needs like this--we have a very limited amount of funds for this. It used to be that we could give someone a $20 gas voucher for a local gas station and that would be a lot of gas...not so much now that gas is $3.73/gallon (today's price in Henderson).

I feel much concern for the people that are hurt most by the rising gas prices--there are people who no matter how important their errands and trips are, they cannot afford it. And I run into them every day and their stories are difficult. And it's hitting more places than the gas station--been to the grocery store lately?

I'm praying for people who are going without today because they have no choice. It's the only solution I have right now.

#RunRevRun

2011-04-05T23:00:00.001-05:00

So...this happened:

http://runrevrun.net/

http://runrevrun.net/authors/

Oh, believe me, I was/am probably as surprised as you are. God does unexpected things when I'm not really paying attention. I'm excited about what this site can do and that I get to be a part of it. I'm also a tiny bit terrified that I'll be the worst health and fitness blogger in the history of ~~forever~~ blogging.

My first original post (the second one is scheduled to post tomorrow):

http://runrevrun.net/2011/new-beginnings/

Two pieces from this blog about relevant topics used to help populate the site with content:

http://runrevrun.net/2011/02/run-run-run/

http://runrevrun.net/2010/04/five-ingredients/

It's a new site and we're still working on building it and our author list. My co-authors span a wide range of locations, professions, denominations and types of fitness interest and they are all very talented and some of their articles are already up and some of their articles are coming soon!

You can follow us on twitter

You can "like" us on facebook

We also have an RSS feed (fancy!)

10 Podcasts

2011-04-04T22:02:00.000-05:00

I listen to Podcasts (that I download from iTunes) regularly. I love them for two reasons: there are so many of them that are interesting, entertaining or informative and they are free, which is my very favorite price!

Ten Podcasts I subscribe to and listen to regularly:

1. Stuff You Should Know (from howstuffworks.com)

2. NPR's "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" (the very best thing on radio and in podcasting, in my opinion)

3. Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips

4. This American Life

5. APM: Dinner Party Download

6. Stuff Mom Never Told You (from howstuffworks.com)

7. Modern Manners Guy

8. TEDTalks

9. NPR: All Songs Considered

10. God Complex Radio

My Dad

2011-04-03T20:21:00.003-05:00

I just got off the phone with my Papa. He checks into the hospital at 12:01 a.m. for first thing in the morning knee replacement surgery.

If you (yes, you!) could pray for him and for his doctors, that would be awesome.

Update (11:00 a.m.) As expected, everything went just fine with the surgery. Dad's in recovery. Thanks for praying!

Spring Is Here

2011-04-02T15:42:00.002-05:00

Jonas and nephew Nolan biking at Angel Mounds this afternoon. This "before" picture is a lot less muddy than their "after" picture.

Saturday Morning

2011-04-02T09:53:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling a lot of things this morning:

(let's get the less wonderful ones out of the way first)

Disappointment: The child tried to pull a fast one last night. Typical 12 year old kid stuff, but still disappointing. His parents are pretty sharp however and we figured it out kind of quickly. He gets to do some chores this morning and we get to sit back and watch him.

Hurt: About a situation that is out of my control.

Concern: For people in my life who are struggling with health issues or grief issues or just all the pain that sometimes rains down.

(and now the upswing)

Successful: I survived another April Fool's Day without falling for the usual pranks and trickery (sorry to my friend Melissa who posted that she's pregnant and I immediately replied that I don't believe anything posted on April 1 and then accidentally led all of her friends in a conspiracy against her....and she's actually going to have a baby in November.)

Excitement: About a new (extra-curricular) project/team that I joined this week. There are some really amazing possibilities that go along with it and it will challenge me as a leader and as a writer. More details about this in the next week, I hope!

Nervous: The above project will challenge me in some other ways too, and I'm anxious about whether or not I'll be able to meet those challenges (but hopeful that I will)..

Peace: It's Spring Break and I'm taking some time off.

Joy: About the quiet, beautiful, unplanned day ahead. Nothing I need to accomplish. No chores that need to be done (by me, anyway).

Hopeful: That even though I'm pretty inadequate, God still calls me to do some really unbelievable things.

Grateful: For my family and the wonderful friends and supporters God places in my life.

Loved.

In Case You Were Worried I Might Be Even A Little Bit Cool

2011-03-31T11:04:00.003-05:00

Remember the show "Supermarket Sweep?" No? It was just me watching weird cable game shows when I was 10?

Well, in Supermarket Sweep, contestants were in teams of two. They would answer quiz questions about products and their score would determine their standing in the big game at the end--the Supermarket Sweep!

One player from each team would race through the supermarket, filling his or her cart with any and everything he or she could get in them and then run them back to the register. The other contestant unloaded the cart while the other player was shopping. The team with the highest dollar amount would win the game. The key, really? Knowing which items were expensive. For example, I remember players throwing hams and turkeys into their carts every time.

My point? I would totally win at Supermarket Sweep. First of all, I'm an awesome grocery shopper--I know which things go in which aisles and sections. Second of all, I always spend more money than I think I did (can I get an amen from my husband?). Third, I totally practice every week when I shop for our backpack kids!

(We send backpacks full of food home each weekend with kids at a local elementary school--because some kids don't have food when they aren't in school and some kids don't have parents who meet their needs by feeding them.)

In Supermarket Sweep, you have a limit of 5 of any item. In backpack shopping, I shop in units of 5 (we have 5 backpack kids). It's perfect! I think about it almost every time I do this shopping, but especially this morning because the store was practically empty and I really wanted to challenge a fellow shopper.

You can catch old episodes online, you know, if you're into that sort of thing.

Wander

2011-03-30T20:13:00.003-05:00

One of my very favorite hymns (if not my very favorite), is Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The tune is beautiful and the words hit me where I live. Especially:

"...let that grace now like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God, I love..."

I'm also "prone to wander." It's restlessness...selfishness...immaturity.

I'm not a runner--I don't run away from things in my life. Physically, geographically, when facing problem, I'm pretty steady. This wandering? It happens in my heart. I'm like the author of the song--I'm prone to wander...prone to leave the God I love."

The God I have followed on so many amazing, miraculous, adventurous paths...

The God who has blessed me beyond measure with love and friends and comforts...

The God who has called me and kept me...

The God who loves me even though I'm so very often unloveable...

I'm grateful that God finds me even in my wandering. Even when I'm the one who is heading everywhere but on the path God has called me to follow. This holy season is a time that I am reminded of my wandering heart and a time when I'm called from restlessness and distraction and back into the footsteps of the one who is leading me, despite my best efforts to take the long way.

Sufjan Stevens sings one of my very favorite versions of Come Thou Fount:

10 Books On My Home Bookshelf

2011-03-29T00:00:00.003-05:00

I have two sets of bookshelves. One is in my office and is full of all kinds of things--lots of books included. The other set is at home, right next to my bed. These are the books I am reading right now or I read often.

Ten books on my home bookshelf:

1. God by Karen Armstrong

2. The Firm by John Grisham

3. Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli

4. Here and Now by Father Henri Nouwen

5. A Light In the Attic by Shel Silverstein

6. My Thin Line NLT Bible

7. Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

8. Love Is An Orientation by Andrew Marin

9. Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer

10. Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus

Solution

2011-03-27T21:16:00.005-05:00

I'm not entirely sure how I got involved...well, yes I am.

It started with a phone call in my office early last fall. A man I respect, one who sat in on the second job interview I did with Presbyterian Church nearly eleven years ago, was on the other end of the line.

"Ever hear of Big Brothers, Big Sisters?" He asked. "I think we can do it here. Will you help us?"

Mercy, I was already too busy. But it nagged at me.

So I went to the first informational meeting, attended by about 30 community leaders. Mostly, I went to support the man who had called me...but there was an exciting energy in the room, facts and figures were tossed around, the plan was proposed, I was intrigued.

And then I missed the organizational meeting--I was on vacation.

Another friend who was interested in the program called me, "I understand if you're too busy. I get it that you have so much going on, but just in case you're still interested, the next meeting is..." I went to that one. And another one. And then they put me in charge of recruiting volunteers. And I attended more meetings.

With an amazing group of people who are committed to seeing something change in Henderson...

A town that leads the state (we're #1!) in Juvenile petitions.
A town with a frightening drop out rate.
A town that has an undeniable drug problem among adults and our youth.
A town that needs a proven program for our young people BEFORE they get arrested, addicted, written off.

I've seen lots of groups of people who were going to change things here come and go. I've participated in seminars attempting to address this problem. I've read the reports, sat with people who shook their heads and lamented the situation, I've heard many solutions pitched.

None of them are like this. Most of those groups never made it out of the first set of meetings. Either the participants couldn't agree on the problem...or the solution...or the method...or the hoped-for outcome.

This group--the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Henderson County advisory board? It's different.

When we pitched the program to the City Commission (in hopes of receiving their support, both moral and financial) the other night, one of the commissioners asked, "How long have you been organized?"

"Since October?" our spokeswoman Darlene Marshall-Ware looked at the other 10 of us board members seated behind her. We nodded--that sounds about right.

"You've done all of this in less than a year?" He asked. (Actually, less than six months if you're doing the math.)

It has been amazing to be even a small part of this group that will bring such an amazing program to Henderson County. We have raised almost $30,000 in cash and $16,000 in kind, are in the process of hiring a part-time program director and will begin matching Bigs and Littles this Summer so that the program can begin running with the 2011-2012 school year. Grant writing and presentations to groups who can support us continue.

There are about 7,200 students in Henderson County between the ages of 5 and 18. If even just 10% of those kids need a mentor (and lets face it, the number's bound to be a lot higher), that's 720 kids who need 720 mentors.

Bottom line? There's a lot of work to do. I'm convinced I'm with the right group to get it done.

"There is hope, " Darlene told the commissioners. "We are part of the solution. We will not rest until every child in Henderson-Henderson County is successful."

I love this team and I'm proud of us. There will be more to this story, for sure...

Gleaner Article about our visit to Henderson Fiscal Court

Gleaner Article about our visit to the City Commission

Ever Wonder Whatever Happened to Lisa Loeb?

2011-03-25T17:09:00.003-05:00

I do. All the time. So I googled her.

She sells eyewear.

Why? (I mean, why do I wonder whatever happened to Lisa Loeb so much? I have no idea why she sells eyewear. I hope it's not a sad story.)

Because every three days since 1994, this song gets stuck in my head on repeat.

Bread and Fish For 5000

2011-03-24T12:47:00.003-05:00

A Melodrama (Luke 9:10-17)

(A note about spontaneous melodrama: one person reads the script and the "actors" repeat lines and act out their parts. Ad-libbing on the part of the reader is allowed and the actors being dramatic and hamming it up is encouraged. The script reader needs to remember to pause and wait for actors to deliver their lines.)

Actors: Jesus, James, Peter, Andrew, Phillip, The Crowd, The other Disciples

Props: Sunglasses for the disciples; crackers; tuna fish

Jesus and his Disciples were having an exhausting week. They had spent some time preaching the Good News, healing sick people and travelling from town to town. They even heard rumors that King Herod, who was not a fan, was looking for them.

Do you know who was a fan? Everyone else! Everywhere Jesus and the Disciples went, they were followed by a huge crowd.

Now, the disciples sometimes were a little irritated by the crowd and sometimes tried to shoo them away.

But Jesus welcomed the people to follow him and enjoyed talking to them about the Kingdom of God. If one of the people in the crowd came to him because he needed healing—say because he had a broken leg…and a stomach ache…and a paper cut on his tongue—Jesus would heal him.

One day, Jesus wanted to take his tired disciples to Bethsaida to rest. But the crowd caught wind of this plan and followed. The disciples were a bit annoyed. Jesus was glad to see the people and healed the ones who needed to be healed. Even the girl who came up to Jesus because she couldn’t stop sneezing. She took of her shoe and showed Jesus that her pinky toe had turned purple. And then she gave him a strand of her hair that kept falling out. Jesus gently touched her forehead and she stopped sneezing and was healed.

As the day wore on, the disciples became more tired. And a little bit cranky. And very hungry. You could hear their stomachs growling. And you could hear them arguing with each other a little bit.

Andrew said to Peter: You ask him.

Peter said to Andrew: No, you ask him.

This argument continued for a few more seconds.

Phillip said: I’ll ask him. Hey, Jesus? Think it’s time to eat?

Jesus answered, “Sure!”

The disciples were glad about this news. They were really, really hungry by this time. James even fainted because he was so hungry.

Phillip had an idea: Just send the crowd away, Jesus. They can get something to eat and we can go hang out at that new pizza place in Bethsaida.

But Jesus had a different idea. He said, “You feed them.”

James woke up, rose to his feet and said, “But we’re in the middle of nowhere!” and then fainted again.

Andrew took a quick survey of the crowd and told Jesus that he had found 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

The disciples started checking their pockets for money. They found all kinds of things in their pockets, but no money. One of the disciples took Jesus one of the things he had found in his pocket. “We don’t have money to buy anymore food. Do you think we could sell this?”

Jesus examined the object. Jesus shook the object. Jesus held the object upside down and examined it some more. Finally, Jesus shook his head.

Then he took the loaves and the fish and had the crowd sit down on the ground. Jesus took the bread and the fish and he lifted it up toward the sky. Jesus prayed. Jesus blessed the bread. Jesus broke the bread. Jesus gave the bread and the fish to the disciples to hand out to the crowd.

The disciples passed out the food and the crowd began to eat. They loved the food. It was so tasty. They started talking to each other about how good it was. One member of the crowd asked Jesus for his recipe.

The amazing thing was that even though 5000 people had shared the small amount of food, there was food left! The disciples remembered how hungry they were and began to eat the leftovers.

Then they all gave Jesus a hug and apologized for being so grumpy.

The end

Com-motion

2011-03-23T10:04:00.003-05:00

I love serving a church that cares about the community we live in and serve. Not only is the building used for all sorts of community and non-profit events, but every Wednesday night when we gather for dinner, we learn together about something happening in our community.

Sure, church goers from other churches sometimes scratch their heads--"You don't have a service on Wednesday night?" and possibly others think we're a little too unspiritual or secular, but this is an important thing that happens in our church and I think it's an important part of serving a community.

We may hear about the ministry happening at Matthew 25 or Habitat for Humanity or have the Mayer come speak about something happening in our community. Maybe we're learning about Emergency Preparedness with Larry Koerber or Nature Myths and Mysteries with Audubon Park Naturalist Julie McDonald (that one's happening tonight).

Last Wednesday night? ZUMBA!

By far one of my favorite Wednesday night programs ever! And possibly many of our church members who hung in the back and watched a couple of the braver members and I shake our hips and dance up a sweat possibly agree for the wrong reasons.

I may be addicted. I haven't been able to take a class yet--with Mom going into the hospital and full schedules the last few nights, I haven't had a chance--but I will. I use my Zumba moves at home. I use them in the car (you know, just the arm ones). A song with an appropriate beat came on the kitchen radio in the church kitchen this morning and I started moving my hips.

One day, I might be good at it. And someone will ask me, "where did you learn to move like that?"

And of course, I'll have to reply: "At church!"

Material

2011-03-22T14:23:00.004-05:00

So, when I first became a youth director/minister/educator/whatever the heck it is I'm doing here for the last 11 years, I wrote my own curriculum. I was fresh out of college, the proud owner of a degree in religion and a focus in Biblical Studies and I liked to write and study and plan and create. So every week at youth group, we used my original material.

Usually the studies were inductive (the best kind of Bible Studies for any group and age, I think) and focused on the what, the why and the what now. I took my first youth group through the Gospels this way and then through Genesis. I tried to come up with games and activities that were original.

I'm not saying it was great, but it fit our group a lot better than a lot of the material on my bookshelves at the time and it worked for us. And it was fun and I was engaged in our Scripture each week and had spent a lot of time considering it from lots of angles.

And then, I'm not sure what happened, but it was probably a combination of the following: I attended conferences where curriculum was presented, shared and pushed; my schedule got a lot more busy; more kids were coming to youth group; I got more comfortable using my budget; I worried too much about what other groups were teaching and doing and was afraid I wasn't keeping up (whatever that means); I got lazy...

Lately, I've been writing youth group material again. It's all because of my youth group.

When they launched their 1K Challenge project, called Kids' Club, they made a great decision. Rather than use anything pre-packaged for curriculum, they wanted to create their own program. Using the knowledge gleaned from their time in Sunday School, our children's ministry, Vacation Bible School and especially their own awesome gifts and creativity, they've done just that. The result has been inspiring, exciting and sometimes funny (the snack in February included "banana shingles" which became a favorite thing to say over and over again).

In order for us to be able to plan and teach the lesson each time, I always use the Scripture at Youth Group a couple of weeks before Kids Club. This Sunday night, we'll study Luke 9:10-17 and learn about Jesus feeding the 5000. Because I'm' following our made up Kids' Club curriculum, I don't have any curriculum to consistently follow to teach the Kids' Club text at Youth Group. So I've been creating these lessons. Currently, I'm working on writing a Spontaneous Melodrama on the passage to use Sunday night because I try to use elements and activities as we're learning that might help the youth better teach the children. Maybe if they like my melodrama, they'll tweak it and use it at Kids' Club.

All that to say: I remember now that writing material for Youth Group is fun. And I'm struck by the simplicity of it and how well the group responds to it. It's a good reminder for me that our students don't come to youth group for anything flashy or complicated. They come to be together, talk about God and God's plan for them and God's world and to grow in their faith and figure out how to share that faith with the world.

I pray that God will give me clarity and direction as I prepare to teach the youth group. I pray that they, in turn, will have clarity and direction as they share God's word and love with the children they lead.

10 Things I Wear

2011-03-21T23:33:00.001-05:00

Ten things I wear on a regular basis

1. Flip Flops (and hello,warmer weather!)

2. Contact Lenses

3. My Wedding and Engagement rings

4. Jeans

5. A Smile

6. Scented lotion (Secret Wonderland from Bath and Body Works right now)

7. Hair tie (on my wrist or in my hair)

8. Underwear (always, always, always, friends)

9. Jacket/Sweatshirt/Fleece

10. My Keys (around my neck because I lose them otherwise)

Sunday Morning Mashup

2011-03-20T09:43:00.008-05:00

Some things I'm thinking about this morning:

I'm trying to catch up on my news out of Libya--I've been a bit distracted. Hearing that we bombed another country yesterday pretty much ruined my morning coffee.

Jason and Jonas have been camping all weekend. I want them to get home.

Spring Break travel has started. I'm trying not to be jealous of all of you who are heading to warmer, beachier locations, but it's hard! I'm dreaming about sand between my toes and an umbrella drink in my hand right now.

I miss my church family. I don't miss the stress that comes along with Sunday mornings.

My dog is weird. Not sure if it's because he's been lacking regular attention and his walks with Jason, the full moon or the new Spring smells outside. When he's outside, he spends a lot of time pacing the deck and inhaling the buds that have fallen from the trees. Right now, he's facing the wall, staring at the outlet where my phone is plugged in. He looks like he's about to pounce.

I've been doing a lot of texting lately. Since Thursday afternoon, I've sent and received 326 text messages. For some of you, that doesn't seem like a lot. For me, it's a lot. Thank goodness that Deaconess has free wifi throughout the ER and hospital or I probably would have blown my data plan this month (AT&T limits all data plans now, if you still happen to be blessed enough to be on your old AT&T plan. Watch out for the upgrade!).

Speaking of my phone (we kind of were), I added the free All Recipes App, which has this cool spinner thing where you can choose your meal, your ingredient and the length of time you want to spend on cooking and (clickclickclick--that's it spinning), it comes up with recipes for you. That's been entertaining for me in the last couple of days.

I had lunch with Nibby and Kathy on Thursday, right before everything became temporarily abnormal. I love those two people. They always encourage me and challenge me and make me laugh.

I'm watching CNN this morning and I saw a really cheesy commercial for a Christian singles site: "Sometimes we wait for God to make the next move when God is saying, 'it's your time to act.'" Also, God is probably saying, "pay this company a lot of money to help you out."

I just looked over at my husband's laptop and there's a Victoria's Secret catalog sitting on top of it. Pretty sure it came in the mail on Friday before he left and pretty sure it has my name on it (also pretty sure I'm not sure how I got on that list, but whatever), but it still made me laugh.

I'm getting notices and announcements this morning about my high school class' 15 year reunion this summer. That does not seem possible. Because I'll be traveling back and forth from NWIndiana so much starting in May because my brother and Stefanie are getting married in August, I probably won't make a trip for the reunion in July.

This morning's Gospel Lectionary is about Nicodemus. This past Wednesday, people flooded my facebook and twitter streams with John 3:16 (because 3/16 is John 3:16 day?), which is part of the Nicodemus story. I'm doing some thinking this morning about how we cling to that one verse that is actually part of a larger conversation and I wonder if we don't usually take it out of context.

As I finish this, I check the clock. Sunday School at Pres Church Henderson is almost over and I can hopefully assume that everything's running normally over there. That's good for my (sometimes inflated) sense of who I am and how necessary I am to the workings of the church I serve. I think they can handle it without me and that's a good thing.

Have a wonderful Sunday, however you're spending it!

Home

2011-03-19T14:55:00.002-05:00

Mom came home this afternoon. Thanks for praying for her (and me). Please continue.

I appreciate all the messages, texts and caring words that have come our way. I also appreciate my church family understanding that I'm planning to use a personal day tomorrow (I've only ever done that on a Sunday one other time. But I gotta know when to hold 'em. Right, Kenny?)

Just Keep Swimming

2011-03-18T17:51:00.001-05:00

After a frustrating day at Deaconness, I find myself chilling by the big fish tank by the elevators. Nothing new to report. I'm tired. The bridge home is closed. I'm just waiting some more...

Someone, do/say/post/text something entertaining--stat!

Hospital

2011-03-17T22:58:00.004-05:00

I'm not really a post all my business online kind of girl, so I kind of struggle with this. I knew I wasn't going to go facebook with it, but I think of my blog readers as a community of beloved, loving friends (there aren't that many of you) who do sometimes pray for me and usually encourage me.

After about 8 very difficult hours in the Deaconess Gateway ER this afternoon, my mom's been admitted to Deaconess Hospital. I left her in her new room about 10:00 tonight and came back home. I'll return there tomorrow.

Pray for her, her doctors and her daughter, please.

I'm grateful for Rev. John and Pam, who arrived when I was just about to lose it to provide coffee, a warm jacket (for me--it was freezing in the ER) and some humor and prayer. I'm also grateful for Jason, Carly, Jeff, Jeff's fiance (Stefanie) and Jenny, who got a barrage of random text updates and phone calls all day because I really just needed someone to tell things to.

I'll update here tomorrow. Thanks for praying.

UPDATE: (2:30 pm). Still in hospital. No improvement. No news. Unleashed my assertive side and spoke up about trouble with hospital staff and they stepped up their game.

Seeing some of the ugly side of our broken healthcare system, by the way, crappy hospital staff aside.

Some Days Require Encouragement

2011-03-17T08:38:00.001-05:00

Thank goodness for 5th grade Riley's artwork yesterday afternoon:

"peace, love, happiness...Your great and FULL of fun! Thanks for everything...if I got a penny for every time you made me laugh I would be rich! (sic)"

Love that girl!

Spring

2011-03-16T15:37:00.001-05:00

Sidewalk chalk is my artistic medium. Obviously.

10 Grocery Shopping With Jonas Things

2011-03-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

Ten things Jonas said while we were grocery shopping last night:

1. No one's chopped up Larry the cucumber yet. You'd think that might happen. He lives on a kitchen counter and rides a water buffalo.

2. This melon is like my head.

3. Do you think I'm annoying? You might by the time we reach the check out. I'm going to stay with you the whole time we're here.

4. I'm a fruit fly!

5. Where's Tallahassee? Weren't Twinkies made in Tallahassee? Tallahassee is really fun to say. Tallahassee!

6. I don't go to the toy aisle. I just look at the Legos. Legos aren't in the toy aisle, they are in the collection section.

7. CHOCOLATE BUNNY!

8. Am I still funny or am I annoying yet?

9. Charlie Sheen...he's a loser. A loser doing drugs and alcohol. Hey, who's this guy? (Me: Charlie Sheen) Oh.

On the way home:

10. Hey, isn't this annoying? (as he crinkles the cellophane wrapper from his pack of gum) How come it doesn't annoy you? (My answer: God created me to work with kids and I can take a lot of kid stuff). I don't think God created me for anything. I don't think I have any gifts or talents like everyone else.

Which gave us a chance to talk about all of the gifts and talents he does, in fact, have. Like the sense of humor I enjoyed while we were grocery shopping.

Philosophical Art Supplies

2011-03-14T16:09:00.001-05:00

Plato is drying...

Conversation

2011-03-12T20:43:00.005-06:00

On the back deck tonight:

Me: Sometimes I think that even if I actually lose the weight I'm working to lose, my knees will be really big.

Jason: Uh-huh.

Me: And my wrists. I think I legitimately have really big wrists.

Jason: Uh-huh.

Me: I'm going more for voluptuous, not skinny, anyway.

Jason: Hike on the trail with me for a couple of weeks. I'll make you a lean, mean machine. (Note: he said this carefully because it's a bad idea for a man to suggest that his wife needs to become a "lean, mean machine" even in the middle of a conversation where the wife in question is suggesting herself that she is, in fact, not a "lean, mean machine." He's learned some good lessons along the way of being married to me.)

Me: Hm.

Jason: Your body will burn calories like never before. You eat a backpackers diet, hike 10 hours a day...

Me: Hm. I don't like tuna.

Jason: You can eat peanut butter instead. And all the little candy bars you want.

Me: Hm. I can't believe I'm even seriously considering this. I don't really like all that nature.

Jason: You hiked at Audubon yesterday. That was nature. It wasn't so bad.

Me: I saw a hole in the ground and I was pretty a sure a snake was going to jump out and get me."

Jason: Snakes don't jump out of holes. Besides, the only time you really have to worry about snakes biting you when you're camping is if you're gathering firewood and you get in the snake's business.

Me: See, I would never be the one gathering firewood. If I ever go on one of these trips, I'll have a pretty big contract. There will be lots of things that I will not do.

Jason: Don't worry. I'll do all the work. I'll even be the one carrying the tent.

Me: Speaking of sharing a tent--you should know that you will stay in your sleeping bag and I will stay in mine and there will be no [kissing].

Jason: That's fine. Besides, once you're four days without a shower...

Me: And that's where you lost me. Never mind. I nearly forgot about the not showering part.

Jason: If we go when the water's warm enough, you can get in the lake.

Me: Nope. I'm not bathing in a lake.

Jason: I skinny dipped in a glacier on the AT.

Me: That's nice. Nope. Not me.

Jason: You swam in the Hodge's Lake.

Me: And then I came home and took a shower. This has been a nice conversation. I'll just keep hitting the gym.

Jason: You'll go some day.

Me: Nope.

I And Love And You

2011-03-10T08:32:00.000-06:00

10 Reasons I'd Rather Not Be Famous

2011-03-08T00:00:00.003-06:00

1. I'm bad at self-promotion.

2. I don't like crowds.

3. I'm not photogenic.

4. I'd forever be caught without makeup and end up in US magazine.

5. I'd ramble on ridiculously when Dave or Jay interviewed me. Seriously, I can't even do an interview with the Gleaner without saying 7 idiotic things (that they usually, kindly, forget.)

6. I always lose my sunglasses.

7. I'd trip in my heels on the red carpet.

8. I keep too much stuff in my purse and a dog won't fit.

9. I'd probably say something smart a(lecky) to or about Paris or Perez.

10. It sounds kind of...obnoxious.

Comedy

2011-03-07T18:19:00.002-06:00

Guy Checking Me Out At Walmart*: How do you know when yogurt goes bad?

Me: Oh, well, I usually just look at the date.

Guy: No! It's a joke!

Me: Oh...ha ha.

Guy: How do they get teflon to stick to the pan?

Me: Oh, another joke!

Guy: Yes! Hey, tomorrow's Fat Tuesday!

Me: You're right.

Guy: So that's means that Wednesday is....

Me: Ash Wednesday.

Guy: Ding ding ding! And that means that Sunday is....

Me:........the first Sunday of Lent?

Guy: No! Spring forward! Daylight Savings Time!

Me: Oh, yes, I guess that's true this year.

Guy: As a great Christian Comedian once said, "Who's saving it and what's he saving it for?"

Me: Oh...or she...?

Mercy. Isn't it great how God creates us all sooo unique?

*In this instance, "Guy checking me out at Walmart" refers to a guy who was actually checking me out at Walmart, not checking me out! at Walmart.

Sunday Night

2011-03-06T21:12:00.002-06:00

It's Sunday night, at the end of an overflowing week.

This weekend has been so full of unexpected events (yesterday's trip to the Deaconness ER) and overly-anticipated events (Today's mission trip team meeting, a youth group interview with the local paper and the middle school group's Fat Sunday outing to Mr. B's) and at the end of it, I'm exhausted.

Life has been full speed ahead for the last two weeks, with so many things accomplished, completed and behind me. The week ahead should move at a much slower pace.

I'm hopeful, anyway. There are things to do and, if I'm not careful, I'll add more because I can and because I have a problem with filling empty spots in my schedule simply because they are empty. I struggle with busy-ness and I love busy-ness. I'm broken like that.

This is a holy week of sorts. Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and Lent begins. I try to be disciplined in my life, but I'm never as successful and focused at it than I am during the season of Lent. I'm anxious to begin another Lenten journey.

Because of the fullness of the past couple of weeks and because I have had little down time, I need to draw some fresh water from the proverbial well and get my thoughts in order. This will probably mean a slow-down in blogging. I've used all my queued up posts (except the "ten" set to post on Tuesday) and haven't had my regular weekend time to write and dream and contemplate. I'm all right with this because I love to write and know that it won't be long before I sit down to write again.

It's Sunday night. Monday's coming. Usually those words cause dread and disdain, but tonight I like the sound of it. Monday will come after a night of sleep and bring a slower pace.

Discrimination

2011-03-04T00:00:00.001-06:00

"Earlier this year, a girl at school threatened to hang me because I'm black." The middle school girl speaking was in my small group and was answering a question about discrimination.

I was speechless because I couldn't think of an appropriate follow-up question. "How did that make you feel?" didn't quite seem adequate. Duh--how did I think it made her feel?

There are some days when it seems like we have come so far as a society. And then there are days when you realize that we still have a long way to go. As long as our children are facing threats of violence because of the color of their skin, we still have work to do to fight discrimination and hate.

Day two of our weekend retreat was spent considering issues of hate in its many forms and our responses and the response of the church. John 4 brings us the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and a Savior who was willing to break down racial lines and invite her to not only give him a drink of water, but to become a bearer of the Good News. Jesus was a game changer, and Jesus calls us to do the same.

"If we don't stop discrimination, who will?" one girl asked. "If we don't help people who are hurt, who will help us when we are hurt?"

Good logic, there.

First They came... - Pastor Martin Niemoller

First they came for the communists
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

"Why don't we speak up when we see someone being hurt or picked on?" my minister friend David asked the students.

"Because we don't want to be picked on and as long as 'they' are picking on someone else, we're safe."

Exactly.

"Because it's easier to join in with the person who has the power than with the person who has power being taken away."

Exactly.

Centuries and millennia of racism, injustice, discrimination and bigotry summed up by smart students. We don't speak up because we are afraid of being the powerless victim.

We've come so far, we still have so far to go. Maybe the church becoming will take us farther up the road.

**Isn't that art display cool? It's part of the "Everyday People" exhibit now showing in the gallery at Audubon Park in Henderson, KY.

39

2011-03-02T20:43:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is Jason's birthday!

I want to write all kinds of adoring, wonder-full things about the man I love and admire, but our internet is out and I'm typing this on my phone. Sooo....

Happy birthday, Jason!

Masterpiece

2011-03-02T02:00:00.005-06:00

"I am God's original masterpiece."

I listened as each middle school student seated in my circle declared this. Some said it with big smiles, like they were finally able to tell a secret. Others stated it with all the certainty of shaking a magic 8 ball.

"Becky, you are God's original masterpiece!" one of the students offered to me.

"Thank you," I replied.

I'm encouraging these students to believe this about themselves, and there are many days when I'm not sure it's true about me, I considered to myself.

Our youth and the youth from four other churches came together in Henderson for a retreat this past weekend. The first day, we considered and studied and discussed ideas relating to how God creates each of us uniquely and purposefully.

It's a message that we can never hear too many times because we live in a world that causes us to continually forget that we are molded and formed by a God who loves us and creates us each for a purpose. We are not just a thing. We are SOMETHING, a masterpiece--an original masterpiece.

When I worked with the Fort Wayne Urban Ministry, we had children memorize Psalm 139:14:

I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me.
Everything you do is marvelous,
I know that for sure!

The problem comes when we forget to be sure about the wonderful way God created us.

We hear someone say something mean to us or about us.

We learn to measure ourselves, our bodies, our features against actors, models and magazine ideals.

We get cut when we try out for sports, we are belittled by a teacher, we notice that a friend is better at this or that...

..and we forget. We forget that everything God does and everything God makes is marvelous. We have to remind ourselves and we need to remind each other.

Don't ever believe that you are worthless. You were created by God--unique, beautiful, wonderful, amazing.

You are God's original masterpiece.

10 Cartoon Characters

2011-03-01T02:00:00.004-06:00

Ten cartoon characters I love:

1. Strawberry Shortcake

2. Smurfs

3. Inspector Gadget

4. Bugs Bunny

5. Alice in Wonderland (Disney)

6. Montgomery "Good News" Moose

7. Scooby Doo

8. She-Ra

9. Yogi Bear

10. The Pink Panther

In The Bushes

2011-02-27T20:00:00.001-06:00

Somewhere, some time, someone taught me the "...in the bushes" game. Take a hymnal and add "in the bushes" to end of the names of hymns.

Sounds stupid, but it's provided hours of entertainment for this punctual church employee who often finds herself waiting in church sanctuaries. Yes, it would be more spiritual to pray, but the truth is, sometimes I just sit and wait (I'm *that* unspiritual). And then I look for something to do, so I pick up the hymnal.

"Great Is Thy Faithfulness...In The Bushes"
"Jesus Loves Me...In The Bushes"
"Fight The Good Fight...In The Bushes"
"Every Time I Feel The Spirit...In The Bushes"

Well, you get the idea. I won't ruin the rest of the hymnal for you.

Some churches have stopped using hymnals in favor of screens and projected lyrics. In my opinion, one shortcoming of this system is that it makes playing "...in the bushes" pretty tough.

One time, Jason and I were waiting for a tent revival service to start. In an actual tent outside. Someone had brought the church hymnals out to the tent, so we took one and played "...in the bushes." As we were giggling, an older lady approached us and wondered what we were doing. We told her we were playing "...in the bushes" and then explained.

Her reply? "We always play it as, '...under the covers."

Hooray for church lady humor! Have a great week!

Remember: It Could Be Worse

2011-02-23T20:29:00.001-06:00

"How to survive falling through a floor."

Does it seem odd that this young lady apparently fell through a living room floor?

Commentary

2011-02-23T00:00:00.002-06:00

When I was at that wonderfully obnoxious age of middle school my parents used to say something along the lines of "We don't need a comment from you about everything, thanks!" I suppose I thought I was hilarious with my sarcastic, dry remarks about this and pointing out the obvious about that, and like most pre-teens and early teens, I figured everyone wanted to know what I thought about pretty much everything.

I now understand it from my parents' point of view--we have a 12 year-old who is very funny and has a pretty good wit and LOVES to comment on everything I do and say.

Gets old after awhile (can I get an amen?).

Yet, something interesting has happened in the last several years. We're collecting comments. There are times and spaces when you can and are encouraged to comment about everything!

Think about it. This blog has a comment section. Your blog probably has a comment section. Comments are fun! This week's Tuesday Ten had 4 comments (at time of writing this) and I was kind of excited.

Many of us are on Facebook. You can comment on EVERYTHING in Facebook. Some people do comment on everything (sometimes I get comment happy, so I'm guilty here). Some of my younger friends will post pictures and then as their status update: "new pictures! comment!"

There are a couple of friends who are likely to hear from me when something ridiculous happens in my life or around me. I feel an urge to comment on it and so instead of saying something out loud, I pick the friend who will find it the most amusing and share it with them via text. (I guess some things haven't changed from when I was kid--I do feel the need to comment on things. I've just learned not to say them out loud all the time.)

Our digital comments are welcome almost everywhere. From helpful suggestions to sarcastic remarks, we've been invited to comment on our friends' and acquaintances' every action and thought and post.

Is this a good thing? I think it is and it isn't.

It is because it means that we're interacting more with each other and learning more about each other and sharing thoughts and ideas and feedback. Sure, some comments aren't really worth much in the scheme of things, but building relationships is awesome. I have friends who are really shy in person, but are good with sharing on facebook through posts and comments.

It isn't because it puts us all in a place where we truly believe that it's okay to comment on everything. We believe that everyone wants to know where we think they should, what we think they should do, and how we think they should raise their children. Sometimes these comments are helpful and other times they aren't necessary. And it's getting harder and harder to discern because everywhere we "go," we're encouraged to comment.

Also, our comments are usually short and shallow. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about comments I'm offering digitally and you probably don't either. A one-liner, a promise to pray, a quick word of encouragement--typed quickly and probably forgotten. This commenting should not replace real interaction and longer conversations and the sharing of thoughts and ideas. It seems like a substitute for relationship, but it's only supplemental at best. Plus, written comments don't have the benefit of tone--and I hear it one way while I'm typing it and you read it another way once it's posted!

So I guess a good rule still stands: They don't need a comment from me about everything, thanks!

10 Things You Might Not Know About Me

2011-02-22T02:00:00.002-06:00

1. I took piano lessons from 5th grade thru 11th grade. No, I won't play something for you.

2. I have a Sharpie collection/addiction.

3. I don't eat seafood unless I'm on the coast.

4. My degree from UE is a B.A. in Religion.

5. I sleep with my iPod pumping noise to my earbuds which are in my ears all night long.

6. I have terrible eye-sight. My doctor thinks it's a miracle he can correct it with contact lenses.

7. I've had both of my ears pierced in two places...but I hate wearing earrings so I let the holes close.

8. I write most of these blog entries over the weekend when I have time to clear my brain out. It's too busy during the week to write coherently some times.

9. I talk to myself.

10. I love it that I'll turn 33 this year because I love the number 3.

Best Advice

2011-02-21T00:00:00.002-06:00

The best advice I have ever received has come to me in many forms and through many people over the years. From teachers to a college mentor to dear friends to Little Sally Walker*--the advice is the same:

Hey, girl, do your thing...!

Don't worry what everyone else is doing, you just do your thing and do it as well as you can.

If you spend time looking around at everyone else, if you take too much time thinking about or obsessing about what your competition or your "competition" is doing, if you give your energy to trying to be like someone else or do what someone else is doing if it's not what you're supposed to do--you will probably fail.

It is really tempting to look around, I know. It's easy to realize that someone is doing this job really well, or is really talented at that thing, or does really well with this thing. It's possible to look at a colleague, a rival, a friend and think about all of the projects they are completing or the good grades they are scoring or the happy events they are celebrating and become...

Jealous.

Distracted.

Anxious.

I've been there for sure! And it's not a good place to be. In fact, it's miserable.

God doesn't intend us to live looking around at everyone else. God intends us to live with Christ as our measuring stick and example (Eph 5:1-2) and to seek God first (Mt 6:33). If we're obsessed with what others are doing and especially if we're only just trying to imitate what they are doing because we feel inadequate or inferior, we aren't living the way God created us.

You have gifts and talents. You have things that you do really well--better than the people around you. You have unique offerings to bring to the job/project/party.

Do what you do well and do it the best that you can and don't get caught up in the successes and victories of people around you--unless you're ready to celebrate with them!

Hey, Girl/Boy, do your thing!

*If you don't spend a lot of time with elementary girls, Little Sally Walker is a song/game

Bacon Magic

2011-02-18T06:49:00.002-06:00

Jason loves it when I read cookbooks with pictures...

(Cheese Fries from "Cook This Not That" by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding)

He thinks that if I just add more bacon to these cheese fries, this dish will magically turn into dinner.

C is for...

2011-02-17T00:00:00.002-06:00

In an age when we attempt to pretend that we're so much more health conscience, I challenge you to try to find a Henderson Resident* who's heart doesn't skip at least a tiny beat when they wake up and realize that this morning is the morning--the Girl Scout Cookies are finally coming.

All 38,488 boxes of them. To the gym at Presbyterian Church.

Who's bringing the milk?

*I'm being hyperbolic. Don't comment to tell me you actually hate Girl Scout Cookies. I'll report you for being un-American. And a hater.

Omit If Desired

2011-02-16T02:00:00.002-06:00

In church on Sunday, we read Psalm 139 responsively. It was divided into four sections with a chorus sung in between each measure ("Search me, O God, and know my heart. Lead me in ways that endure."). I was at a microphone at early service because I was leading the music part.

There were four different readers for the spoken parts, with the congregation responding when the words were bold.

Eight year-old Sam led the last section. From my microphone, I could hear his voice "O that you would kill the wicked, O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me...Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?" Honestly? I cringed a little bit inside because I had a feeling that Sam was going to have a little trouble reconciling those words with all the rest of the stuff I try to teach him at church and about loving enemies. Also I cringed because the rest of the Psalm is so beautiful and those words are so ugly.

At the end of the Psalm, Rev John pointed out the asterisk at the bottom of the page--that came after a bracketed part of the Psalm--the part Sam had read.

*omit if desired

"Omit if desired..." John said. "We have people hurting all over the church and they're scared to tell anyone about it because we have omitted if desired. Lord, forgive us."

His point was clear. The Psalmist was human and the Psalmist struggled with things just like the rest of us. One moment life is beautiful and our lips are full of praise and the next moment we're beating our fists against the wall and cursing the world and its Creator.

Just know that there's a precedent for that behavior. Scripture is full of men and women who struggled with the same trouble and feelings that we do today. Saints from all ages have had times when they felt hopeless and sad and angry and forgotten and lonely and...

Church (and self): let's be honest about it and don't be tempted to "omit if desired."

10 Things I Want To Say

2011-02-15T00:00:00.004-06:00

Ten things I want to say:

1. If you wear pearls and expensive or dangly earrings to the gym, I'm probably judging you just a little bit.

2. I completely understand why some people prefer to text than make phone calls.

3. I've attempted to destroy the orange carpet at the church several times (sometimes on accident). If someone doesn't replace it, I'll eventually succeed. It's only a matter of time.

4. I type faster than you do.

5. Dear Post-It Note Creator: Thanks!

6. I'm not planning to have a baby. No, there's nothing wrong. No, I won't change my mind.

7. I'm not a fan of the song "Awesome God."

8. God loves you even if you're ____________. Maybe even especially because you're __________.

9. I would rather lose my wallet than my phone

10. When you call me "ma'am" a little part of me dies a sad death.

Outlet

2011-02-14T02:00:00.001-06:00

Question on MindBump: "If you were limited to having only one electrical outlet in your home, which device would you plug into it?"

Answer given by me: Coffee pot. Ask me a hard question.

It's not a bad answer. I mean, it's not like I live with someone who requires a machine to keep him or her alive. Actually, the coffee pot is the closest thing I have to a machine that keeps someone alive.

The things I can eliminate: televisions, radios, night lights, microwave, surround sound system, video games, hair dryer/straightener, paper shredder, cordless phone.

So that leaves...a lamp? The refrigerator? The washing machine? Laptop? Phone charger?

I mean, life sure is better with all of these things...I don't know which one to choose.

Which is why I have my new answer: I would plug a 12 outlet power strip into my one outlet.

(Yes, I'd also tell my genie that for my third wish, I want 1000 more wishes).

Before and After

2011-02-11T16:48:00.001-06:00

Letters

2011-02-10T22:27:00.007-06:00

And now for something completely different--

Me: (reading a church sign) "YOU are on Heaven's most wanted list." Wow...what did you do? That sounds pretty serious.

Jason: I think all the letters are embarrassed about these church signs.

Me: Yeah?

Jason: Yes. There's going to be an alphabet rebellion.

Me: You're going to help the letters rebel?

Jason: Let my letters go!

Me: An alphabet exodus?

Jason: Yes. I'm going to set the church sign letters free.

Me: Like in the dark of night, you're going to free all the letters from all the cheesy church signs?

Jason: Grand Theft Alphabet!

Stay tuned...

Metanoia

2011-02-10T08:50:00.004-06:00

Landon Whitsett, vice mod of the PC(USA), offers some thoughts on church growth. His thoughts are intriguing in a church economy where we seem more focused on getting "butts in the seats" and cash in the plate:

He blogs about this stuff at the Metanoia Project website.

10 Jonas Things

2011-02-08T00:00:00.003-06:00

Today is Jonas' 12th birthday! Here are ten wonderful things about Jonas:

1. He asks really good questions. He always has.

2. He can be a difficult child at times, but those difficult moments make the sweet ones that much better. Most of the time when I hug him, he stands with his arms crossed. Occasionally, he joyfully throws his arms around me out of the blue. One instance makes the other one more genuine and wonderful.

3. His refusal to cut his hair. I know it drives Jason crazy that his hair's all shaggy, but I love his spunk. This child isn't easily talked into doing things he doesn't want to do. Sometimes, that's really tough for us. In this case, it's just hair. Viva la revolution!

4. He has an incredible sense of humor for a 12 year old. I'm often amazed at how he makes funny connections and how witty he is.

5. He is the reason Jason and I met.

6. He'd rather play than...anything, really.

7. He has good taste in music most of the time. He has a natural rhythm and he loves to sing, bang on the piano and drum on the walls. It makes me think there's a song running around in his body all the time and he's just trying to get it out there.

8. He loves animals. They love him, too.

9. He puts pancake syrup on his scrambled eggs.

10. He's smart, creative and inventive. He has a great imagination and spending time with him is fun and funny.

To The Stars

2011-02-07T18:45:00.002-06:00

I was looking at a book about the moon with six year-old Jacey this afternoon.

"Ms. Becky, do you want to be an astronaut when you grow up?"

I smiled. What an adorable question. Six year-olds ask questions like that because they don't know any better.

And then it occurred to me: why does that have to be a silly question? Why wouldn't I want to be an astronaut?

Because I've put a limit on my dreams for myself. No longer can I dream about wild, adventurous, outer space type things--I better stick to what I know and I better not plan to be much more than what I already am or what makes sense for me to be. I'm in a box and it's silly to think I'll go outside of it.

I want to see myself like Jacey sees me. Like anything's possible.

Communion

2011-02-07T07:50:00.002-06:00

Eucharist
Sacrament
Lord's Supper
Last Supper
Table
Breaking
Pouring
Covenant
Promise
Love
Mercy
Gift
Mystery

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:26

I'm glad that for as often as I gather at the table with my church family, God always shakes me and doesn't let it become just another thing I do.

Run Run Run

2011-02-04T15:24:00.005-06:00

A few months back, I blogged about quitting my small, women's gym and joining the YMCA. I offer this update (that's all about me and exercise. God bless my readers.):

I am really, really glad I switched.

My small gym was wonderful, and I had a community there and I do miss that because when I'm at the Y, I'm mostly in my own little world with my earbuds in and my music on loud so I can't really hear anyone else. I've become coordinated enough that I can take the earbuds out of my ears while still working out and talk to someone who knows me and stops to chat for a moment, but that's about all the community that's happening at the Y for me. I'm okay with that, though.

I really do like the diversity of machines available to me, and I do try to use the weight machines each week and have even started running some on the indoor track (which gets my heart pumping like nothing else).

My favorite machine is the Elliptical Trainer. I love it. Probably too much because I don't actually want to use all the other machines that are available to me. It gets my heart pumping, it's takes just enough coordination to keep me focused, and it has a place to keep my iPhone so I can listen to music and read "Cross" on my Kindle App. I can input the data when I'm done into Runkeeper, which is good for someone like me who does better with some sort of accountability.

I'm using the machine about 5 times a week and am working my way up to an hour (not on the days I lift weights--then it's 25 minutes in the weight room and about 25 minutes on the elliptical).

There are two things I struggle with in my work outs: Making myself work as hard as I can (that's where Runkeeper as an accountability device comes in handy) and boredom.

I get so bored when I'm working out. I suppose this is part of being a multi-tasker. I don't want to JUST work out. I want to work out WHILE...

There are TVs everywhere, but the volume is down and the closed captioning is on and the ellipitical machines are all in the middle of the room away from the TVs, so it can be hard to see the words or keep up with what's going on. Plus people at my gym like Fox News and I really don't. It seems unnecessary to have three TVs in a line all turned to the same channel, but whatever.

On most days, I bring my phone in with me, so I have music, the apps I can manage while I keep up the pace and my Kindle app. Sometimes friends will text me while I'm there, which is a wonderful because it takes me a little longer to reply and and keep up the pace and I use up some of those minutes focusing on hitting the right part of the screen while in motion.

Occasionally, there's an interesting conversation on which I can eavesdrop, but not usually. Usually I'm turning the volume up to avoid hearing the boring conversations that are happening around me. Sometimes I'll know the person on the machine next to me and that person wants to chat. Sometimes that's a good thing.

On days I don't have my phone, I pray. This probably means I should leave my phone behind more often so I spend more gym time praying. But it's kind of a distracted praying because there's so much happening around me. I usually alternate between praying for individual friends and family members a minute at a time.

I suppose that really, I need to stop doing so much multi-tasking and be more in tune with my body and breathing in and out and moving my muscles. I think I'll get there eventually and maybe boredom won't be an issue. Right now, I'm just trying to survive that hour.

Still, I love the Y.

Do you work out? How's it going?

Tonight's Been Interesting

2011-02-03T20:28:00.001-06:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I Didn't Overhear the Exchange Rate

2011-02-03T00:00:00.002-06:00

So, when I was 17, I went to Israel with a group from my church made up entirely of people over the age of 35 (except for me--I skipped two weeks of school my senior year to go). While were were at Mt. Olivet (aka the Mt. of Olives), a gentleman with a Camel approached my minister and offered "several camels for your daughter" and gestured at me.

My minister leaned over to our guide and inquired how much camels were worth in American currency. Yes he did. And then he politely declined the offer.

That's all there is to that story and that's all I have for you today.

Enjoy your Thursday!

(photo by Aaron Sneddon of the Scottish Press; Obtained in Flikr Creative Commons)

Blessed

2011-02-02T00:00:00.009-06:00

A blogger that I don't know in real life, but I really like is Adam McClane. He writes a lot about church issues and his words almost always resonate with me. On Monday, he wrote "What Does Restoration Look Like?"

My heart breaks for those hurt by the church. Specifically, for people called to full-time ministry, but gravely injured by the people they were called to serve...The church treated them like a couch. One day they are the centerpiece of the metaphorical living room and the next day they were moved to the curb and left for the garbage truck to pick them up.

(read the rest HERE)

I have been working in church ministry full-time for nearly eleven years and I have known a lot of wonderful friends who have worked at churches or volunteered as staff in churches that have treated them badly. I have listened to some of the most horrendous, unbelievable stories about harsh, disrespectful, uncaring words spoken; about pay cuts and hour cuts (without a decrease in amount of work expected); about promises broken and unfair expectations and demands. I have known church workers who have been discarded by the people who were supposed to be their family.

My heart hurts for people who serve the church but are not cared for by their churches. I imagine that it must be a very lonely place to be.

I've had my share of difficult interactions with my church family, and there have been times when I have felt like I was standing alone with no one on my side. I have been angry, I've been exhausted, I've been irritated and I've been ready to walk out the door and not come back.

I feel very blessed that those moments and times have always been temporary and have not had a big impact on my ministry here.

My time with my church family (for they are truly a family to me) has been one full of love, support and encouragement. I feel beyond blessed to be in my eleventh year of service here. It's not always easy and it's not always life-giving, but I know God has called me here and since I know this is true, I am so grateful that I'm serving the people I do.

The church I serve pays me a fair salary, gives me a generous allowance to continue my education, gives me vacation days every year and pays for my family's health insurance. They remember my birthday and my family at Christmas. Members send me cards to tell me they appreciate me. They tell me they love me and appreciate the work I do. They support the youth group and the children's ministry. They pray for me. They encourage me to take my days off and they encourage me to take extra days off when I need them. I have heard them say that my family comes first no matter what and they back that up with their expectations of me. They give me freedom to minister the way God calls me and they trust me to make decisions and clean up my messes. I've never been told that I can't do something with the youth because it might break something, the building might get messed up or it will be too noisy.

On Sunday in his early service sermon, John asked the question: "Does anyone ever offer a blessing over you?" He asked in it such a way that the conclusion was that it's not very common for people to bless us in real life. I had to think that yes, people do offer blessings over me on a fairly regular basis. Friends who share their caring words and hopes for me, family members who do the same, church members who stop and take the time to speak words over my life.

Willie Ann is a saint of our church who has lived a life that inspires me. I want to live a life like her. I want to treat people with the love and respect that she does. I want to be filled with joy like she is. If you know Willie Ann, you know exactly what I mean.

I walked into the sanctuary on Sunday morning for the 10:30 service and was met a few steps inside the door by Willie Ann. This is common. Even when Willie Ann is not the greeter, she stands at the back of the church and kisses and hugs and speaks to everyone she can get her hands on.

Willie Ann has quite a grip, by the way. As I entered the worship space, she gripped my left wrist firmly with her thin, aged hand. "Hello, you little angel!" she exclaimed. "Good morning! I said and hugged her best I could without the use of my left arm. "You are God's gift to us!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks, Willie Ann," I replied. "It's always so good to see you." I tend to brush off kind words with "thank you" and "you're too sweet to me."

She gripped harder (ouch! by the way) and demanded my eye contact. "You are God's gift to us. The day you came here was our church's very best day. You work so hard and you are such a servant of the Lord. You are God's gift."

As tears filled my eyes, she kissed my cheek and released me and was off to offer her blessing to the person behind me. I hope that wherever you work and whatever you do, you have a Willie Ann who stands in your corner and reminds you that you're a gift.

I especially hope that if you serve the church, you have lots of Willie Anns--although I'm sure you're blessed if you have even one.

If you don't work at a church, but you attend a church, I hope you take the time to bless your staff. I hope you take a chance to offer a kind word and reconsider your bitter or harsh ones. I hope you take a moment to write a note, offer lunch or just stop to listen and care. I hope you don't hold them to a higher standard than you hold yourself and I hope you accept them as they are--faults and gifts together.

I'm grateful. I'm blessed.

(the picture is the stained glass window in the front of our sanctuary at Presbyterian Church in Henderson, KY.)

10 Games

2011-02-01T00:00:00.002-06:00

Ten games (board/card/dice) I like to play:

1. Cranium (and all the games in the Cranium family)

2. Fill or Bust

3. Apples to Apples

4. Trivial Pursuit (Especially Pop Culture)

5. Bezzerwizzer

6. Quao

7. Catch Phrase

8. Scrabble

9. Balderdash

10. Scattergories

Music

2011-01-31T00:00:00.003-06:00

I remember being in middle school and telling the parent of a family friend that one of my goals was to listen to every single song in the whole entire world. Every single song. She was an awesome mom, so rather than tell me that was pretty much impossible, she just kind of smiled and told me that was a really cool goal and she was glad I liked music.

Truth is that I love music. I've always loved music. I know that's not a really unique thing--lots of people love music and almost everyone likes some kind of music. I remember someone close to my age telling me one time that he never listened to music--not in the car, not at home, not anyway. He didn't really care for it. I remember how odd that seemed to me. "You mean when you're driving, it's just...quiet? All the time?"

I loved music when I was small. I loved listening to whatever songs my parents played for me, I loved learning songs during library story hour, I loved making up my own sounds and songs. In elementary school, I loved music class and our school's awesome music teacher who had a really creative curriculum. I performed with a special singing group when I was in fourth, fifth and sixth grade. I sang in children's choir, then youth choir and later in high school adult choir at church. In fourth grade, I attempted to play the clarinet. That did not go so well, but it did cause me to want to take piano lessons, which I started in fifth grade. I played the piano for several years. Somewhere in the midst of that, I started taking voice lessons as well. In college, Jenny and I had music day where we insisted that everyone sing everything they wanted to say.

Currently, I use music in programs at church. I am the song leader at our early service each Sunday morning. I play music, share music and spend a lot of time with earbuds in my ears.

I've never really been gifted at any musical instrument, but singing comes naturally to me. I sing all the time--and often I'll be humming and not even realize it until someone asks me to stop or what I'm humming. I am unable to whistle with any gusto at all, which is unfortunate. My maternal grandfather was an excellent whistler and it's a shame I don't share that talent.

I have an incredibly eclectic taste in music. You may have picked that up from my list of 10 recent downloads last week. Jack Johnson, Skillet, Chris Tomlin, Eminem, Carly Simon, Pink, several Broadway musicals, The Decemberists, Natalie Merchant, Brad Paisley, Chopin...the list is long. It was devastating to me in November when my iTunes library inexplicably deleted and I lost a lot of songs. I'm still trying to find some of them or recover some from the files and occasionally, I have to just give in and buy a song I know I've already paid to download because I love it so much and I really want it on my iPod.

Don't even get me started about Glee. The acting and storylines are kind of eh, but the music is wonderful!

Jason loves music too, but as eclectic as my taste is, he likes a lot of crappy music. He does like some good stuff and because I spend time with him, I've learned to appreciate some kinds of music I never listened to before. Not all of it, but some of it.

I play it loud in the car and I sing along. I don't understand when people keep their radio at a level too low to sing with. I mean, I get that it's awkward to sing loudly with other people in the car (not that it always stops me), but it drives me crazy when I can't hear the words to the music at all. Jason has a habit of turning down the radio when he wants to say something and then never turning it back up. So our road trips often go like this: he turns it down and talks. He stops talking. I reach over and turn it up. He turns it down and talks. He stops talking. I reach
over and turn it up...you get the picture.

Wow. This is one of those posts that I'm not sure how to end. You can't go wrong with a favorite quote:

"A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence." ~Leopold Stokowski

My Dand-e-lions

2011-01-30T18:43:00.008-06:00

Dreams

2011-01-27T00:00:00.002-06:00

I have had some weird dreams lately.

The other night, I dreamed that the church contained an office supply company that was using our upstairs rooms for a warehouse. I went to the break room and there were two friends (both of whom I had spoken to the day before, neither know the other) eating lunch and chatting it up.

Another morning, I dreamed that the floor of our house was covered in sand. We didn't know where it came from or what to do with it. Jason was trying to vacuum it. Jonas was throwing it. I was mixing margaritas (ok, that last part's a lie. But that would be a good thing to do if your house fills with sand, in my opinion). I think mostly I freaked out. Because the house was filled with sand.

This happens to me. I go through long stretches of time where I don't remember any of my dreams and then I have stretches where I remember lots of vivid dreams. They are usually odd--a mis-mash of people and places and times in my life.

I sometimes have dreams that are meaningful. I can always tell when I need to pay attention to a dream, although I can't actually describe what it is that makes the difference. I just know.

Sometimes people will share their dreams with me and wonder if I know what it means. I think the key to a dream's interpretation lies with the dreamer. There are feelings that only the dreamer felt; there are symbols in dreams that are only significant to the one who is dreaming about them; different words have different connotations, different people mean different things, different situations represent things that only the dreamer can realize.

When I dream a dream that I know is significant, I write down every single detail as soon as I can. Every color, every person, every word exactly as I remember it spoken, every detail. I usually remember these dreams pretty clearly, even after I've been up and around, but timing is important. I Look for things I noticed specifically in the dream: why did I notice that the room was painted orange? Why did she use that particular word to describe that object?

What do my dreams mean? I have some idea after doing some thinking about each. Both have shed a little bit of light on my own thoughts and feelings about things at church and at home.

I like dreaming--it's a more fun way to sleep, don't you think?

(Painting: Bumblebee Constellation by Emma Grace Hodge)

Do Nothing For 2 Minutes

2011-01-26T00:00:00.003-06:00

I am, for better or worse, a multi-tasker. I'm really good at it, actually. I often have two or three tabs open in Firefox when I'm online, I'll have iTunes open or even have a movie or tv show playing on one of the tabs (thanks to the wonders of Netflix and Hulu). If I'm watching TV, it's not uncommon for me to have my laptop open or my phone in my hands or a magazine. Even when I read, I'm usually listening to music. I find it difficult to do one thing at a time.

I know that's ultimately not a good thing.

I also know that it's kind of useful some times. I mean, I'm able to get a lot done. No one can say I'm not productive.

The benefits of multi-tasking are that I'm able to pay attention to more than one thing at the same time. I can carry on a conversation with a church visitor in the doorway of our after school program and keep an ear on the kids playing in the gym and be able to tell the exact second when chaos is about to break loose. I can get several things done at one time--like making fliers for an event and watch a movie with Jason. I can exercise and clean out my email inbox. A lot of things can happen at the same time, which means I have more free time in the end...so that's good, right? Maybe.

That said, Mashable had an article about a fun website over the weekend.

Do Nothing For 2 Minutes.

Basic idea? It requires you to do nothing for two minutes. If you touch your mouse or your keyboard, you get a FAIL message and the clock restarts (in red so you know you're a loser). You'll be glad to know that I've only ever seen the fail message because I wanted to see what happened if I clicked my mouse.

Yet, the first time I sat looking at the serene scene and the countdown clock I had the following thoughts:

I can't hear it. I wonder if I need to turn the volume up.

But if I turn the volume up, that's doing something.

Hey, this is really cool. I wonder if there's a way to share it on facebook.

Wow, two minutes is a long time.

I should totally blog about this.

I don't remember how to take a screen shot. But I'll need a screen shot of this when I blog.

What time is it? Should I start making supper?

I could totally do something on my phone right now. Or is this website so smart it can tell when I'm doing something on my phone?

I should really be doing nothing. Like not even thinking.

All that in about the first 30 seconds, by the way. My brain works fast--all that multi-tasking practice.

I spent the last minute and change just sitting. Just quiet.

It was nice.

10 Songs

2011-01-25T00:00:00.003-06:00

Ten songs I've downloaded since the year began:

1. "Revelation Song" Kari Jobe

2. "Blackbird" The Beatles (White Album)

3. "Just a Dream" Nelly

4. "Raise Your Glass" Pink

5. "Georgia Clay" Josh Kelley

6. "Just the Way You Are" Bruno Mars

7. "Roll Away The Stone" Mumford and Sons

8. "I Surrender All" Ascend The Hill

9. "Down By The Water" The Decemberists

10. "Ants Marching" Dave Matthews Band

Luke 5:1-11

2011-01-23T21:00:00.001-06:00

The audio of the sermon I preached on January 23, 2011:

The text of the sermon I preached on January 23, 2011:

For $35,000, you can buy a lot of things, including a Gothic-style church.

It’s hard to believe, but you can now buy yourself a full loaded, ready-to-set-up 47 ft. high place of worship—for about the same price as a luxury car. It has arches, an organ, a pulpit, an altar, pews and even a form of stained glass. For 35g, that’s quite a deal, really.

A problem for some of us: This building is basically a balloon. An inflatable, like a jump house you might order for a child’s birthday party. It’s like a cross between a Monastery and a Moon Bounce, which has to be pretty surreal. It comes in on the back of a pick-up truck—that’s how small it starts out—and is hauled to city parks, open fields, big back yards. It will go anywhere you need a church to quickly appear.

When you walk through this church, you see brown plastic pews, an inflatable organ, a pulpit and an altar both filled with air. Once you let your mind adjust to the space, you might find it cozy or comfortable—and surely the pews are a little softer than some of the pews I’ve worshipped from (not our pews, obviously—the pews here are like the most comfortable pews ever. Especially the ones up front because they don’t get used as often and they’re a little bit fresher). Speaking of the pews—it might be best if all worshippers leave sharp objects at home when they visit the inflatable church.

About this inflatable church, the creator Mike Gill says, “There was a time when churches were the center of community life, but sadly that’s not the case anymore. The only way to reverse this trend is to put church back where it belongs.

Mike Gill was thinking like Jesus. In our Luke passage, he is standing next to the lake of Gennesaret, poised to launch his ministry. He wasn’t looking for masons to build a brick cathedral or carpenters to construct a wooden chapel. He was looking for ways to reach the people who needed him and he was willing to do that from whichever pulpit presented itself.

As it happened, the pulpit that appeared was a fishing boat owned by Simon. At youth group a couple of weeks ago, we studied this passage and we decided that either Jesus was just completely compelling first thing in the morning or Simon and Jesus must have known each other before this moment—maybe Jesus had been in town for awhile and their paths had crossed. Fact is, Simon must have been exhausted from a night of fishing and grouchy from a night of fish-less fishing. To be willing to take a stranger out in your fishing boat after all that and after you’ve already cleaned your nets seems like a lot to ask of a guy.

Jesus hops in Simon’s boat and asks Simon to put out a little bit from shore. He preaches from the boat—brilliant both because it means he gets a little bit of physical space from the crowd that’s “pressing in” and because sound travels excellently over water. In doing so, Jesus creates a sanctuary on and by the sea.

Jesus teaches and then engages Simon, whom we can assume is simply sitting and listening to Jesus. “Put your nets down, “Jesus suggests. I wonder how well Jesus and Simon knew each other. Did Simon roll his eyes? Scoff out loud? Sigh loudly? Press his lips together and bite his tongue? Were words exchanged that Luke does not record? One, it’s too late in the day by now for fishing. Two, he had been fishing all night and NOTHING.

Ultimately, though, Simon is obedient. “Okay, Jesus. We’ve been fishing all night, but if you want me to, I’ll order the nets down.”

I’ve been on a fishing boat in the Galilean Sea before. It’s been awhile, but one thing I remember about it is that the boat was much bigger than I imagine when I read the stories. In my mind, I tend to see Jesus sitting in a vessel a little bigger than a row boat—just seems more quaint that way, I guess. But in fact, the boat would have been big enough to merit a crew to operate it and fish from it. They are fishing with nets, so that probably tells us something about the size of the boat!

The catch is so big that one boat’s crew can’t handle it and all the nets are breaking. The other boat pulls up to help. We don’t know what the fishermen said as they were hauling in the fish, but I bet it was animated and colorful. We do know what Simon said:

“When Simon saw all of this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” This miracle on the sea provoked Simon to worship Jesus—the guy who had commandeered his boat just a while ago.

Like the church I mentioned a moment ago, Jesus’ ministry was inflatable. He took his words, his work, his heart and he went to the people who needed him. He took church with him wherever he went.

It was probably one of the reasons his critics were skeptical. Why didn’t he minister at the temple? Why didn’t he teach his students in a more stable location? Jesus was mobile--“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head,” Jesus’ words are recorded in Matthew 8:20. Jesus taught his followers to be mobile.

At the end of our passage, Jesus calls these fishermen to follow him. “Don’t be afraid,” he says. “From now on, you’ll catch people!” And these fishermen left everything behind to follow him.

Family, friends, career, any luxuries they may have had at this point—following Jesus meant life just became a lot less stable, predictable and settled. Following Jesus meant going where the people were and rolling with the punches as they came along. That would have required a lot of flexibility and a lot of leaving behind. It would have required courage and faith and selflessness.

We sit here about 2000 years later in a building made of brick, stone, wood, tile and drywall. As a church, we are stationed here at the corner of Washington and Main. We have a phone number in the phone book and our address has been the same for years. We’re not alone. Last time I counted, there were about 70 churches in Henderson County—most of them have buildings.

As much as I love our church building, I can’t help but wonder if we took a wrong turn somewhere through the centuries. The Israelite people worshipped in a tent—God was on the move and they were following. Jesus and his disciples traveled from Jerusalem to Jericho to Caesarea Philippi, meeting with people wherever they were. The early church worshipped in each other’s homes and underground—moving in order to keep from being caught practicing something that would land them in jail or worse. Somewhere, sometime we started building cathedrals and chapels and churches. In doing so, we became less inflatable.

To be inflatable is to be incarnational. The church is the living, breathing, walking, serving, body of Christ in flesh in the world today. As Christians, it is our calling. To be inflatable is to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, the Greek for “breath” and the Greek for “spirit” is the same—pneuma. It is breath that fills us and makes us ready to minister and share God’s gifts with the world.

We come here to this building because after a week away from this space, we need to be together. We are a family and we need the community that we find here. We need to seek God together. As we worship and pray and spend time together, we are re-inflated. This happens not just for our own selves—so that we can feel better about ourselves, our lives, our weeks—we are reinflated so that we can MOVE. This building is a blessing, but we if we think that ministry is only to happen in this building, we have it wrong. This building is a place to meet and plan and dream and prepare together, but we’re not supposed to stay here and center ministry here. We are to take God’s spirit and transport it OUT THERE.

We might be like the first disciples. We may spend all night working and catch nothing on our own, but Jesus calls us to a more full life. When we say yes to Jesus’ call, we become pilgrims, travelling a road to our eternal destination. We aren’t called to be rooted and wait around. We’re called to follow. Follow implies that we’re going somewhere. When you play “follow the leader” as a child, there’s movement. When you follow someone to a destination, there’s movement. When you follow Jesus, there’s movement.

I like the idea of an inflatable church. Sure, it’s not exactly what I would have wanted on my wedding day or for another special service…but I like the idea of church appearing where it’s needed. I like the idea of church going to places where there is not already a church and serving a purpose.

My hope for us is that we become an inflatable church. Not our building, but our congregation—the people who are the church here at Washington and Main. What does that look like? Well, the possibilities are great when we move out of this building. Maybe we hand water out at a Help Henderson Event at the park. Maybe we serve at any number of service organizations here in town that need help. Maybe we simply meet with people where they are and share the stories we learn when we’re here—stories about a loving, grace-giving God who calls each of us to an amazing journey. It can happen in your neighborhood—even in your house. It can happen at work. It can happen at the park, on the corners, in the restaurants and even in the bars. God’s spirit longs to be anywhere there are people created by God in God’s image.

It’s not easy. This place, with our cushioned pews and strong walls is comfortable and safe. The earliest disciples knew fishing boats and seawater—that was a comfortable arena for them. Yet when Jesus called them, they each left the comfort behind and followed. Jesus faithfully led them, shared ministry with them, taught them. It will be the same with us. Leaving isn’t going to be easy, but we follow a faithful savior who doesn’t call us without a plan and a path.

This morning, as we hopefully feel God’s pneuma reinflate our lungs, let us dream together. Let’s dream of ways to do ministry that have nothing to do with this building. Let’s dream of ways to serve and follow that are mobile and moving. Most of all, may Jesus find us willing to leave comfort, goods and selves behind as we commit to follow and explore in his footsteps. May we be inflatable disciples and may we discover joy in inflatable ministry. “Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told the fishermen. “From now on, you’ll be catching people.”

Weekend in Pictures

2011-01-23T15:55:00.000-06:00

Jonas shoveling the neighbor's driveway

Shopping for Kids' Club Supplies with the Youth Group Girls

A moment of peaceful co-habitation in the kitchen

This morning's bulletin

Sunday School lesson doodles--sometimes we obsess about the picture

The program that monitors my google search strings alerted me to the fact that someone in Japan had translated my blog.

Friday

2011-01-21T11:22:00.004-06:00

I love Fridays anyway because they are the first of my two official days off (and even though I don't always take Friday completely off, I make the rules for how I spend it and when/where/how I work if I do). Since I started at the church, I've had Friday as my weekday off. I love being off on a week day when a lot of the rest of the working world is at work. It's a good day to run errands and get things done. I try to spend part of Friday doing things that I need to do. I go to the gym, read, nap, spend time alone--whatever I need to do to recharge.

This Friday is a snow day. Here's how I'm spending it:

Finishing my sermon for Sunday. I think I'll probably post it on Monday, by the way.

Reading Scripture (especially today's lectionary and Sunday's common lectionary texts).

Reading Anne Lamott's "Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith."

Playing with Tweetdeck (my Twitter stream).

Reading everything that shows up in my Google Reader.

Drinking coffee (I made the second pot about an hour ago).

Staring into space.

Listening to Pandora (a station around The Decemberists earlier; Praise and Worship right now).

Napping while I listen to Pandora (that's probably next)

Watching one of the shows I got on DVD for Christmas ("Criminal Minds" or "Grey's Anatomy," probably).

Listening to Jonas' jokes and watching him perform yoyo tricks.

Taking a (short) walk outside with Jason, who loves to be out in the snow.

Tonight I will "work." I'm spending a couple of hours with the high school girls from the church eating dinner and picking up supplies for our first day of Kids' Club next weekend.

Is it snowing where you are? Enjoy your day whatever it's bringing!

Snow Day Pictures

2011-01-20T18:31:00.006-06:00

Wintery

2011-01-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

I grew up in Northwest Indiana. The words "Lake Effect Snow" (caused by Lake Michigan) were pretty common in our winter weather broadcasts--in fact, so common, I barely thought about what it actually meant and was surprised that it wasn't a "thing" on the weather broadcast when I moved south (no lake=no lake effect snow). In the Region, it's not uncommon for the snow to start in November and hang around until April. Snow and ice are just part of the winter experience and it's unusual to go a week without some form of it.

In Henderson, KY, it's not unusual to have an 80 degree day in February. We get snow, but usually only in small batches and dustings and the words "wintry mix" are pretty common in our weather forecasts. "Wintry mix" basically means: nasty, wet, icy, sleety mess falling from the sky and causing people to drive idiotically.

When it does snow or sleet or ice (which it does do at least a few times every winter), we're never ready for it. It's like we're all surprised that the snow and ice that comes every winter would dare show up on this side of the Mason Dixon line again. Our weather forecasters say all kinds of scary things and create graphics that predict how many inches each region of the tri-state will get.

I don't mind winter weather so much. Sure, it's much more inconvenient--events get canceled, cars have to be started 10 minutes before you leave the house, parking lots have to be navigated carefully and I do worry about my elderly friends because winter weather is really hard for them. Yet, I do enjoy watching the snow slowly or quickly fall and I like walking around outside and making new footprints in the snow. I like the cozy feeling in our house when we're all in it because the places we are supposed to be don't require us to be there any more.

Today, we're supposed to get a big one! Our forecasters are calling for 2-5 inches of actual snow, the school board declared the other night that there is a good chance there won't be school today or tomorrow and the resource coordinator who oversees our backpack program suggested we might get the backpacks the church fills with food for kids each weekend might want to get them in yesterday.

If it happens, there will be pictures!

3 Months

2011-01-19T00:00:00.001-06:00

If I took three months off from my full time ministry/work (and did not need to worry about money...and could take my family along with me), I would do one of the following things...

Travel! I'd love to travel through Europe--England, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden (Hi Katie!), Spain, France, Italy, Greece. I'd love to go back to Israel. Doesn't that sound like fun? Three months to travel and explore? I'd love that.

Head for a beach retreat! Different from traveling in that I'd find a stretch of beach, settle in by the water and not relocate for three months.

Take classes! Do a semester of some kind of educational endeavor. It seems like it would be nearly impossible to add classes to my already full schedule, but I sure do wish I could go back to school.

Mission work! I'd love to be part of a mission adventure (I mean, my youth mission trips each summer are great, but it would be fantastic to be a part of an adult team and work for longer than a few days).

Volunteer! I do a lot of volunteering already, but I'd love to be able to concentrate on one big project or just give a little extra to the projects that I love.

Write a book! I'm not sure that my thoughts are organized enough to actually do this (hello! Have you spent a lot of time here? I tend to jump all over the place!), but it's fun to think about giving it a shot.

Read, drink coffee, travel to visit with friends, write here and there, play with the dog, spend lots of time at home, not attend meetings! Enough said.

What would you do with three free months?

10 Things I Love About Ministry

2011-01-18T00:00:00.001-06:00

God has called me to an odd profession, but also to one that I love. Ten things I love about my work and ministry:

1. I do something different every day. No two weeks look exactly the same.

2. I get to work with kids and teenagers at all stages of development.

3. Fun activities are part of the job! Water parks, mission trips, movie trips, dodge ball, zip lines, Catch Phrase--all required activities!

4. Those AHA! moments--watching someone make an incredible discovery about himself, her calling, Jesus, the Bible. It's incredible to be part of that.

5. I have a fairly flexible schedule.

6. Brainstorming and creating new ministries, activities, opportunities.

7. I have a really supportive church family who loves the students and children I serve.

8. Vacation Bible School is the bomb.com.

9. I work alongside a very talented, encouraging, mission-minded staff.

10. There are moments and days and weeks that are so hard. Yet, even when it's tough and I'm not sure about my gifts and my talents, God's grace sustains me. God has called me to this place and work and I can't imagine being anywhere else.

The TP Event

2011-01-16T20:42:00.000-06:00

The following story from my high school days is much loved by the students in my youth group (for obvious reasons) and not quite as loved by their parents (for obvious reasons). It's possible that I've told this story so many times that some of the details have been permanently embellished and I don't even remember. If this is the case, the other eye-witnesses are welcome to let me know.

It was winter of our junior year and four friends (myself, Sarah, Nicole, Becky J.) were spending the night together at Nicole's house. Nicole's neighbor happened to be a guy (Chris) whom we had known since elementary school. Now we knew Chris and his family were away for the night and we (in all of our high school girl, sugar induced wisdom) came up with an awesome plan.

We went to Venture and bought 48 rolls of toilet paper.

48 Rolls.

We took those rolls of toilet paper to Chris' house and had one of the most fun times I had at any point in high school. There's something so joyful about flinging rolls of toilet paper into the air, watching the paper weave through tree branches and fly over the roof. We took pictures (the one above was taken the next day by Nicole from her front yard) and raced back to Nicole's house. At that point, we made a phone call and left a message on Chris' answering machine, just in case he wasn't sure who the culprit was.

It was pretty amazing. And we were pretty proud of ourselves. We had a facebook exchange about it the other night and I think we're still proud of ourselves!

The next afternoon I was lying around the house, napping on and off, tired from all the overnight fun. The phone rang. Sarah told me that Chris had called her and his mom was upset. REALLY upset. He had to go to work, so he couldn't clean the mess up. He needed us to come over and clean it up. Sarah and I were the only ones who were available, so we grabbed some trash bags and met at Chris' house.

We worked for quite awhile, stuffing toilet paper into the trash bags. At that moment, going to Venture and buying 48 rolls of toilet paper seemed like a less awesome idea.

After about 45 minutes, the front door of the house opened. Chris' mom came out. We rushed to her, apologizing--we were so sorry! We were just having fun! We never meant to upset her!

Well, those of you who are a little bit less gullible than Sarah and I were on that sleep-deprived morning may already know where this is going.

"Oh, I thought this was hilarious!" Mrs. C. said. "What are you doing here? I told Chris he had to clean this up after he got off work!"

We.
Were.
So.
MAD!

He had taken us. With his mother's help, we took every bit of that 48 rolls of toilet paper into the house.

It was almost as fun to toss that toilet paper all over Chris' bedroom as it had been tossing it all over his yard. His mom added glitter so that Chris would not only be forced to throw away toilet paper for weeks as it appeared in various corners and nooks, but he would also have to vacuum regularly to try to get rid of the glitter.

(Picture credit to Nicole Bulkowski; Picture content: 48 rolls of toilet paper and Nicole, Becky and Sarah--Becky J. was behind the camera.)

Birthday!

2011-01-16T00:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to my Momma!

She's much too young to have children as old as us, of course!
(not that she EVER reminds us of that...)
(also, I'm probably going to be at least a little bit in trouble for posting this hastily snapped picture--taken at Cheeseburger in Paradise yesterday after the wait staff embarrassed her.)

Happiness In Six Words

2011-01-13T00:00:00.001-06:00

A writer's prompt site offered this challenge: Describe 'happiness' in six words. I don't know how to simply describe 'happiness' in just six words, but here are some six word strings I put together...and maybe all of them together start to capture 'happiness' for me.

God loves me like I am.

My husband is a funny guy.

Jonas is healthy, happy and living.

Our home is warm and safe.

My job's better than a job.

Kids are a gift from God.

Coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee

A good book and some music.

Loving, wonderful people share my life.

What are your six words?

Sirens

2011-01-12T00:00:00.002-06:00

When I was a junior in high school some important things happened in my life:

1. I got my driver's license (well, technically, I got it before my junior year started, but we all know that when the final bell rings on the last day of school, you automatically promote yourself to the next grade).

2. I got contact lenses. Finally, after years of begging, my parents decided I was old enough to stick pieces of plastic in my eye every day and not have to wear my thick, heavy glasses. My eyesight is terrible and I have happily worn contact lenses since I was sixteen years old.

Just before school got out for the summer, I had an appointment with my optometrist in the Highland/Munster area. It was an appointment to check my new contact lenses and make sure everything was all right. It took about 45 minutes to drive either way. I had only made the trip myself a couple of times.

I went to the office and had my appointment. I left the office and began the drive home. It was raining kind of hard.

On a busy street, the car in front of me stopped suddenly and I slammed on my brakes. I think I would have been okay, but the truck behind me did not stop at all and slammed into me from behind, pushing me hard into the car in front of me.

I screamed. And then I screamed some bad words. And then I pretty much freaked out.

As I attempted to pull myself together and was still trying to figure out if I was okay, there was a knock on my window. I opened the door.

"Oh, wow, are you okay?" a lady asked.

"I'm not sure...I don't know..." I was crying.

"Just sit right there. Don't move."

There were sirens as the police cars arrived and an officer came and stood with me and asked me not to move. Another officer followed my instructions and found my insurance card, registration and driver's license.

More sirens and ambulances arrived. None of this was helping me not freak out.

The EMTs were concerned about me. They carefully strapped me into a back board and loaded me into the ambulance. For the entire ride, they checked my vitals and asked me questions--my birth date, my grade in school, about my classes, about my contact lenses--I guess they just wanted to keep me talking.

"Hey, do you want me to tell him to turn the siren on?" One of the EMTs asked me.

"The siren's not on?" I realized.

"We're driving fast, but we don't need the siren. You're not in bad enough shape to need a siren."

This made me feel a little better.

We arrived at the hospital and I was examined and x-rayed and diagnosed: Whiplash accompanied by intermittent muscle spasms.

It was a very busy hour or so at the hospital, and it was a little bit overwhelming. At one point, I was lying alone in a room in the ER and I was crying a little bit because it was all so overwhelming and scary and all of a sudden, a rather handsome male attendant appeared at my bedside and kept me company until my parents arrived.

(Jenny--this is where *I* learned about the Damsel in Distress phenomenon.) (Also, I couldn't find the "Damsel in Distress" blog post from your blog to link to it.)

When my parents did finally arrive, they apologized. My brother had taken the message from the hospital before they both got home from work. When they arrived at home, he informed them that their oldest child had been in a car accident and was in the hospital. Which hospital? Well, it started with an "M."

Little brothers are a gift...

Well, the doctor prescribed some pills and put me in a neck brace (which I wore when I took the SAT the following morning--high on pain killers and muscle relaxers, by the way) and we left. We stopped to look at my parents' mini-van through a chain link fence. It was crushed.

I was fine. I wore the neck brace for a couple of days, took my pills and the pain went away. I was a nervous driver for awhile and would tense up any time a car got close to my back bumper. I scored in the mid-1200s on that SAT (not bad, all things considered). With the settlement money, I was able to afford a trip to Israel, which I did during the month of March my senior year.

It was the only time I've ever been in an ambulance. And I didn't even get sirens...

10 Ways I'd Spend $20

2011-01-11T00:00:00.002-06:00

If I found a $20 bill on the sidewalk, I'd probably try to find the owner. But if that were not possible, here's ten ways I'd spend it (selfishly because this is creative writing and the selfish list is more fun to write):

1. Cancun with Jason (the restaurant)

2. iTunes

3. A book

4. Bridgeview Coffee every morning for a week

5. Put it in the church backpack ministry account

6. Manicure

7. Socks

8. Cards and stationary

9. Half a tank of gas for the car

10. New ear buds (I go through a lot of ear buds)

How would you spend a found $20?

Truth

2011-01-10T00:00:00.002-06:00

"We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love." Ephesians 4:14-16

I'm a believer in speaking the truth in love. I think it's really important to have a council of friends that will speak honest words when honest words need to be heard. There are just times when you need someone that you know will tell you the truth, even if you'd rather it not be so.

I, myself, have the gift of being able to deliver bad news or criticism rather tactfully (My humble opinion of course). This probably stems from my desire to never hurt anyone's feelings or have anyone be upset with me. It also happens because my analytical mind tends to turn situations over and over in my head and examine all of the outcomes before I act. "How would my friend feel if I say it this way? If I tell her this is what's wrong? If I share this news with him?" Also, I believe that many times, people would ultimately rather know or learn the truth as soon as possible so someone may as well share it.

This can apply for minor situations (do you know that there are people who actually won't tell you that there's something in your teeth? That's ridiculous. If someone has something in her teeth or if her hair's all crazy or if her zipper's down or if she has a great big spot on her shirt, you should let her know--NOW!), but also for bigger problems and situations.

I know I'd ultimately rather know the truth, even if it's hard to hear. No one likes to receive criticism, but if that criticism causes you to improve a skill set, to be a better person, to live a fuller life, then it's ultimately a good thing to allow others to offer their honest opinions and criticisms. There are friends I trust to do this and friends I do not trust to this (much like when I ask Jason how I look and he automatically replies, "You look great" without even glancing up--I don't trust friends who always tell me I'm great, things are fine, everything's perfect to tell me the truth). I have friends that I know I can go to and seek honest opinions and assessments.

Because I hope for this from my friends, I try to offer it in return. It can be hard to speak honestly and to discern when it's time to speak honestly. Of course there are situations when it's better to keep quiet. A person that's about to go on stage to sing a solo doesn't benefit from your opinion that their voice is usually a little flat. A person who is asking for your opinion because she needs to hear kind words about herself does not need you to throw in criticism.

Sometimes, though, a person really needs to hear truth spoken with love and kindness. Dealing in truth, causes us to grow--as the author of Ephesians reminds us in the verses from chapter 4 above. Members of the body of Christ can speak truth to each other in such a way that it causes the whole body to grow and mature and become the body we're called to be.

When I discern it's time to speak the truth, I have a couple of rules:

1. Affirm the relationship. Make sure the person I'm talking to knows that I genuinely care about him or her and that I'm not standing in judgment.

2. Check my motive. Am I speaking up because I'm looking for my own benefit in the situation? Am I fault-finding so I'll feel better about myself? Am I saying something hard because I am trying to make myself look good? Am I secretly glad to be sharing bad news with someone? If my concern isn't the other person, I better keep it to myself.

3. Start with something positive. If I'm about to share something critical, I start with things that are genuinely affirmative. If I'm about to share bad news, I try to find something good in the scenario.

4. Acknowledge that some words are hard to hear.

5. I check my tone of voice. Proverbs 15:1 reminds us "A soft answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger."

6. Once I say what needs to be said, I want to stick around for as long as the other person needs to talk to me. Does he want more information or suggestions? Does she need to process what I've just said? Does he need reassurance that he is not a bad person?

Here's the thing: if we can learn to speak truth lovingly to each other and handle tricky situations that we might be tempted to run from, ultimately our relationships are stronger and more genuine.

I don't really do the whole New Year's Resolution thing (they have such a bad rep!), but I've decided that I'm going to cultivate friendships in 2011. I want to be a genuine, loving, honest friend.

Have a fantastic Monday!

Smile!

2011-01-07T06:30:00.000-06:00

There's almost nothing better than when someone genuinely and honestly smiles at me.

That's all.

Happy Friday!

He's a Good Ole' Guy

2011-01-05T19:48:00.000-06:00

Poor Sam.

It isn't easy getting older.

Our nine year old retriever is afflicted with arthritis in his back hips (thank goodness for glucosamine chondroitin which has made movement so much easier for him), doesn't seem to see as well these days and is becoming a bit senile.

He likes to keep watch under the kitchen table whenever we're eating a meal there--hopeful that scraps will fall and glad to keep an eye on all of us (or at least our legs) at the same time. Lately, though, when the meal is over an we all get up and eventually leave the kitchen, he forgets that he put himself under that table and could easily walk out. He believes that he is trapped under the table.

So Sam will lie, with his front paws and head sticking out between a chair and a table leg with plenty of space to stand up and walk freely, and offer a series of intermittent barks to remind us that he's trapped under the table and he needs one of us to come and set him free.

One of us (usually me, but we all take our turns) will become sympathetic and head back to the kitchen. "Sam!" I'll explain. "You're not trapped." We never actually taught Sam to understand English, so he just looks at me and tilts his head to the side, glad to have not been forgotten about by his friend. So then I make an elaborate show of setting him free. I'll grab his collar and pretend to be loosening chains or whatever he thinks is holding him there. Sometimes that's good enough for him and he stands up and heads for the living room. Sometimes he doesn't buy it. That's when I have to go to the other room, grab his leash and hook it to his collar and walk him out of the kitchen.

And then he gets excited because whenever I hook his leash to his collar, that means we're going for a walk or a ride in the car. He can remember that but he can't remember that there isn't actually a jail or dungeon under our kitchen table. When I unhook his leash, he gets so upset that we're not leaving the house that sometimes he goes back to the table to pout.

Oh, goodness. Raising a dog through all stages of his life sure does make one more sympathetic to people and pets who are aging everywhere.

Revelation

2011-01-05T00:00:00.002-06:00

I am occasionally and graciously asked to teach one of the Ladies' Bible Study lessons at our church. This is both a fun task, because it means that I get to spend some time with their lesson book (which is published by the PC(USA) and is usually incredibly well-written material), and a daunting task because some of these ladies excel in Biblical literacy and are more than capable of teaching this class without any of my help (which is what they usually do).

This year, the study material is on Revelation. This is really exciting. Once I read through a good part of the book, I was thrilled because it's a really well-written study.

I volunteered to teach this past Monday. I figured it would be good because I would have had all of break to work on my lesson. But then I didn't really get a break, and then I scheduled a lock-in for New Year's, and then everything related to the internet at our church broke and I spent extra time trying to fix it, and then all of a sudden it was Saturday and I still had not prepared my lesson.

Here's what happens when that happens: I pray. A lot. And ask God to illumine the text for me very, very quickly! God's always faithful!

I know there are a lot of ways that people read and use the book of Revelation. I don't agree with a lot of them, honestly. I think a lot of time is spent attempting to decode the book and to lay a future timeline based on it. I think a lot of time the text is taken horribly out of context and far away from the author's intentions.

Revelation is a book written for a church and a people who were already facing the trials of persecution and was meant to offer hope in these circumstances. As American Christians, we are pretty far removed from the struggles, tribulations and trials of the persecuted church. I think that worldview has a lot to do with how we want to read and interpret Revelation.

My text was Revelation 7-8:5. This is a beautiful, wonderful, full passage. In the midst of the opening of the Seven Seals, there is a pause while God's people, believers from all tribes, are sealed and protected. A multitude of many nations, tribes and tongues gathers in worship around the throne. The saints wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb and they paradoxically are brilliantly white. The Lamb is the Shepherd and all tears are wiped away. The final seal is opened and greeted with ominous silence and then finally--the judgment is unleashed.

As I sit safely in our bedroom, typing on my computer, secure in my freedom to both publicly follow Jesus and publicly lead others to do the same, I pray for my brothers and sisters facing persecution for their faith worldwide. I pray for those who are close to me and are dealing with problems and pain in their lives. I pray for myself when life seems overwhelming. I'm grateful for a God who seals and shelters and holds his people secure in the midst of trial and struggle. When the question (at the end of chapter 6) hangs in the air: "Who is able to stand?" I'm glad that the answer is "All of us are able to stand, with God's grace."

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen. (Rev. 7:12)

(artwork: Hubert Van Eyck Revelation 7:10)

10 Things Happening Right Now

2011-01-04T00:00:00.001-06:00

Ten things that are happening right now (and making this week kind of overwhelming):

1. We have more than 150 girls signed up for the Girl Scout Sleepover on Friday night.

2. I no longer have an after school assistant and need to figure out how to hire one as soon as possible.

3. The Presbytery's High School Mission Trip deadline was yesterday and I'm still trying to sort out my list.

4. Everyone made their New Year's Resolutions and now the YMCA is full all the time.

5. We need to figure out a new plan for the church website and people are requesting my help with this matter.

6. We're meeting my dad for lunch on Saturday and I haven't done that Christmas shopping yet...(oops...)

7. Jonas is with us all week, which is more awesome, less overwhelming.

8. Girl Scout cookies went on sale on Saturday.

9. School's back in session and the schedule returns to normal and I don't feel like I got a break. Probably because I did not actually get a break.

10. ACT Club starts back up at South Middle this morning!

Logophilia

2011-01-02T20:43:00.004-06:00

I love words. I drive Jason crazy because I insist on using big words in regular conversation and I think he thinks I'm being a know-it all. I can't help it--there are so many great words out there! Why say "blue" when you can say "azure" or "sapphire?" Why say "calm" when you can say "placid?" Why say "bright" when you can say "luminous?"

One of my sixth grade teachers (Mrs. Rhode) claimed that "If you use a word 5 times, it's yours!" I loved that almost as much as I loved learning new words. The thought that I could make words mine was really exciting and I started inserting new words I was learning into my sentences daily.

I love reading books and think that's always expanded my vocabulary. I love printed words on a page. I very rarely miss a printed word in my line of sight. I read all billboards and signs while I'm driving. I read posters and signs in hallways. I read advertisements and shopping bags and t-shirts. Rarely does a printed word get past me. If I'm without something to do, I find something to read--magazines, books, my facebook newsfeed, the kindle app on my phone, blogs, whatever's available. I sometimes turn the subtitles on a movie or tv show I'm watching because I like to read the words.

I read fast, too. I drove my parents crazy growing up because they would take me to the bookstore to buy the latest book I wanted (Babysitter's Club, Boxcar Children, Christopher Pike, etc.) and I would go home and have it read before supper. Ultimately, it was fine, because I never minded to read the same book over and over again.

We would visit my grandparents (maternal) every summer and in their house they had a combination pantry/library. On the shelves next to the canned peaches and green beans that my grandmother would put up every year, there were books that she had collected during her time as a schoolteacher and tutor. I never brought enough books with me to occupy me for the whole time we were there, so I would raid the shelves. One of my favorite books that I read every summer was a juvenile biography about the poet James Whitcomb Riley.

My love for reading and words turned into a love for writing when I was in middle school. I started writing short stories and poetry around 8th grade. I kept a box of loose leaf pages of things I had written and journal where I recorded my thoughts on a regular basis. I continued to journal through college and that eventually became this blog. Of course, this blog is pretty different than my junior high diary, which I found several years ago and had a wonderful time reading.

(I was a lot more dramatic when I was in ninth grade. That's helpful for me to remember as I navigate middle school and high school with some pretty incredible students.)

What got me thinking about words and my love for them? In youth group tonight I revealed to the group that I was on the Spell Bowl team in high school. I can't remember what exactly spurred this revelation, but I found out that Memorial High School has a Spell Bowl team. I told them that Spell Bowl was like the special ops of the Academic Team. I'm kind of pretty sure they didn't buy it. "That sounds kind of nerdy," Hannah said carefully. "You were smart!" Elle joyfully declared.

I'm not really sure how I should interpret that...

So then I spent the rest of the night spelling all the big words. Which reminded me how much I love words. Which caused me to write this first blog of 2011.

My name is Becky and I'm a logophile...

Favorite Pictures of 2010

2010-12-30T09:20:00.023-06:00

The year started almost immediately with surgery on my achilles tendon. The kids in our church's after school program drew and "bedazzled" boots for me.

Jason is a really good photographer--we need to get him some good equipment at some point. He took this picture in January at Audubon Park.

Love this picture because Jason is totally breaking his own "no dogs on the bed" rule. Sam is obsessed with stuffed monkeys.

Jonas and Jeff engaged in a hands-on Nerf war in February. Look how SHORT Jonas' hair is!

My 32nd birthday cake lovingly made by Jonas...he spelled my whole name and turned a 5 upside down because he broke the "2."

Elle and I on a pier in North Carolina during our high school mission trip. I chose this picture because I've known Elle nearly all of her life. She was the flower girl in our wedding! I love my youth group!

Jason on the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine. This picture represents a dream of his--and one long, hard hike!

Jason, Jonas, Chris Galbraith and I at Ruby Falls in Chattanooga. We took off for a short vacation and had a great time.

This picture is bittersweet. It was taken one week before Whitney left to be a missionary in Chile. I miss that girl.

Fine. I did it. I went camping. It was not horrible. I'm not planning to go again any time soon. Nolan, Jonas, Tyler and Jason around the campfire.

Jason and Jenny sharing their BOB-o'clock moment at her wedding. They both look so happy!

Jonas and Jason biking at Angel Mounds in late October.

Chippy/Chachi looking all prim and proper. She was our dog for five days. I'm really glad we found a home for her, but it was fun to have her visit us.

Jason meeting his hero, Mark Twain. The library resurrected him for a fun night in our church fellowship hall.

This picture is Jonas working up the courage to zip line. He did it and he's still talking about it.

My high school youth group girls celebrating Ellen's birthday and planning their 1K Challenge project. These girls are amazing in so many ways.

This picture is from our friend Stepheny's wedding. My husband had just been pressed into service for the past two hours--hauling and setting up a cake, taking pictures, setting up a sound system, serving punch--and yet there is a look of joy on his face as he helps the bride's small son eat a piece of cake. I love that I married that guy!

It's been a roller coaster year for Jonas. One year ago, we would have never gotten a picture like this (smile full of teeth and excitement in his eyes). I'm glad he's made it through one hard year and I'm proud of him.

Happy New Year to all of our wonderful friends and family! May you be surrounded by love, peace and happiness in 2011!

2010: One For the History Books

2010-12-30T08:06:00.004-06:00

PLEASE, let's get it in the history books!

2010 has not been the best year ever for our family. Oh, sure, there were good days and highlights, but overall?

Let's move on.

It's been a year with a little too much drama, too many health issues, too many goodbyes, too much turmoil. It's just been difficult overall.

What's interesting is that I've heard several people say the same thing. I had lunch with a young lady the other day who declared that this has been "the worst year of my life!" Another person who is close to me told me a few weeks ago that this has been a "very difficult year."

But New Year's Day represents a brand new start!

2011 will start at the church. When I was dating Jason, we spent two New Year's Eve's at his church (once we got married, "my" church became "his" church which was then "our" church). At Jason's church, they would gather around 8:00, worship, eat, each member would speak about the past year and the year ahead and then they would worship some more. Since then, New Year's Eve has been a time with friends and family. We've never had standing, definite plans, but we always find something to do.

This year, our youth group and the youth group from First Presbyterian Owensboro are having a lock-in. I think it will be nice to start the year at church with people I love (and thankfully Jason's coming).

Whatever you're doing when the ball drops, I hope you're with people who love you.

Mazel Tov!

2010-12-29T00:00:00.002-06:00

Congratulations to the happy couple, engaged on Christmas morning!

10 Favorite Posts of 2010

2010-12-28T00:00:00.003-06:00

Ten things I wrote this year that I kind of like:

1. "Stretch" (Nov. 15)

2. "Represent" (Dec. 1)

3. "Middle School" (Aug. 4)

4. "Creating Still" (March 22)

5. "Normal Flowers are too Normal" (Feb. 22)

6. "We're In This Together" (June 2)

7. "38 Things" (March 3)

8. "Why Becky Blogs" (Feb. 18)

9. "Can You Hear Me Now?" (July 14)

10. "Inspired" (April 19)

Christmas '10 In Pictures

2010-12-26T19:49:00.011-06:00

Merry Christmas, People in Jail!

2010-12-24T22:35:00.002-06:00

My husband is a nut.

And now half of Elm Street knows it.

We were driving home from Christmas Eve service in the snow and he pulled the truck over and declared he was going to do the George Bailey running down the street yelling "Merry Christmas, Bedford Falls!" bit. On video. So we both got out of the truck and he ran up Elm Street about half a block.

Here's the video:

Here's what happened (the sound is horrible):

Jason: (starts running) Merry Christmas, Bedford Falls!

About a million cars and trucks appear from out of nowhere.

Lady in one of the vehicles: What?

Jason: Merry Christmas!

Lady: What?

Truck stops near me, the driver likely figuring something's really wrong.

Jason: Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, people in jail!

Lady: What?

Jason: Merry Christmas, Becky! (jumps in truck.)

I'm sorry I'm laughing, but it was all I could do to keep quiet. As soon as he started running, all these confused people were suddenly there and they kind of ruined it...but I'll be laughing for days.

WARM

2010-12-22T00:00:00.000-06:00

Molly. Christy. Jennifer.

These were the names of the three ladies who shared their stories at the Women's Addiction Recovery Manor this afternoon during a Christmas reception they had to thank our church members for bringing the items for their Christmas dinner (for the 115 residents who live there).

"My name's Molly and I'm a drug addict..."

"My name's Christy and I'm an alcoholic..."

"My name's Jennifer and I'm a drug addict alcoholic..." each one began and was greeted by a chorus of "hello..."

Only three ladies shared, but each of the 115 ladies has a story that is uniquely her own. The stories we heard all had normal beginnings. Each took a devastating turn somewhere in the middle of life. All three are mothers. All three have loved, were loved, are loved. Each of the three spoke clearly and well. All now have a chance to start again with life.

Whenever someone stands up and tells his or her story, I'm immediately tuned in. I love to hear stories of lives lived. I love to know what brought a person to the place where they currently stand. I like to know where people come from, what makes them "tick," lessons they have learned along the path. Lives are complicated and there are choices made along the way that change paths and affect others. These women told mesmerizing stories.

I was overwhelmed by their gratitude to us. It was almost too much that they were having a reception to thank us. Several of the ladies hugged me and thanked me for coming, for bringing food, for listening and learning. "Oh, thank you..." I feebly replied. Yet, I was aware that this reception wasn't just for us. It was also for them--a chance to gather, to share stories, to hear each other, to do something as normal as having a Christmas reception.

I'm pretty aware that there are decisions I could have made, places I could have gone that would have caused my life to veer in directions that could have resulted in addiction, conviction, rehab. I'm aware that I'm not better than these women, that I don't have my life any more together than each of them did at one point during better days. I'm aware that although their struggles are diagnosed, admitted or discovered, I have struggles too.

"You're never too young...you're never too old..." Molly said. "Your life can change at any moment."

It's true.

"I feel like I have my life back," Jennifer stated.

My hope is that I was sitting in a room full of women who feel this way. My hope is that each one can finish her story triumphantly. My hope is that in this community, they will continue to encourage and listen to each other.

I also hope their Christmas dinner is incredible!

10 Toys from my childhood

2010-12-21T00:00:00.000-06:00

Ten toys I played with when I was a kid:

1. Rainbow Brite doll

2. Speak and Spell

3. The entire Strawberry shortcake village, friends and accessories

4. She-Ra's castle (to match Jeff's He-Man castle GreySkull)

5. Glo-Worm

6. Cornsilk Cabbage Patch doll

7. Pound Puppies

8. Smurf and Garfield Colorforms

9. My pink and blue pogo ball

10. My Little Ponies

10.5. Popples

Award

2010-12-20T18:09:00.003-06:00

"2010 Most Improved award; Jonas Durham; Henderson North Middle School; in recognition of a student who has made the most improvements this school year."

Moments of Grace

2010-12-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, Jason and I attended/ran one of our friend's weddings. She's not a close friend, although we love her dearly. She's a rather new friend--having moved to town in just the last couple of years. She has two children, he has one and they both have one on the way.

When she set her wedding date for December, I congratulated her on choosing the best time of the year to have a wedding. The church is always decorated beautifully, so there's no need to buy flowers or decorate. She excitedly told me about her dress and the planning along the way. She told me sadly that her dad wasn't going to be able to get a ride to Kentucky to attend. She informed me that she planned to be at work on the morning after the wedding (she works in our church nursery on Sunday mornings).

She innocently, sincerely told me she was picking up her cake on the way to the wedding. I immediately vetoed. "Let us pick up your cake," I told her. I couldn't stand the thought of a bride picking up her cake on the way to the church.

And that's when we went from being invited guests to amateur wedding coordinators.

When her photographer fell through, Jason and I volunteered to take pictures as well as picking up the cake. Rev. John, Jason and I became a trio of wedding coordinators--transporting cakes, setting up sound systems. shuttling the bride and groom around the building, welcoming guests, taking pictures, participating in the ceremony, advising on what happens next, cutting the cake (Rev. John ended up with that job), serving the punch, doing dishes, packing up supplies, cleaning up the sanctuary...

It's one of my favorite kind of weddings. Oh, sure, it's beautiful to attend weddings that cost thousands of dollars and are planned and coordinated and planned for months or years in advance--Every hair in place, every social grace observed, every step choreographed and practiced...Yet, it's even more beautiful to participate in a wedding like Saturday's event. Every moment is grace-filled and we are only there because of the love between the bride and the groom and the family becoming. It was beautiful to see the joy on the bride's face, the smile on the groom's, the joy in the room as the three children made their way down the aisle with baskets of flowers and a pillow, the sweetness of the vows and rings and candles, the excitment at the pronouncement of marriage.

I was honored to be part of their day. It was a fun, exhausting experience that was filled with life, love, kindness and joy.

Dear Santa, I came to see you and everything...

2010-12-17T22:36:00.007-06:00

When Jonas was eight, he started his letter to Santa this way:

"Dear Santa,

I've been good this year so let's get on with it..."

It's a good thing that Santa has a sense of humor...

Also, I've been trying to see Santa this year and get a picture, but every time I see him somewhere, there are all of these KIDS who want to see him and talk to him and sit on his lap and I can't really get close enough without shoving them...and that's probably behavior unbecoming a youth and children's minister.

The only thing that those stories have to do with this blog entry is that...

Tonight, Jason and I went to Santa Claus, IN! We have never been there in the winter before. We usually go once a summer to visit Holiday World and get our fill of lines and roller coasters and free (soft) drinks.

We went shopping at the famous Christmas Store. This store has a LOT of...Christmas. LOTS of it. Everywhere. But it's charming. We admired the lovely things, took a peek at Santa (covered in children and parents snapping pictures), and then left empty handed.

We walked around a little longer and then we drove through the Land of Lights.

The Land of Lights, is a drive through light display in the Lake Rudolph Campground that tells the story of Rudolph's tortured-turned-triumphant life.

The drive was accompanied by signs that told Rudolph's story, piece by piece. Of course, I read these out loud.

It was really cute and the money we paid to drive through went to a good cause.

We drove around a little bit longer and then headed for home. It was a fun way to spend the evening!

Gifts

2010-12-15T00:00:00.002-06:00

"Jonas, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? How about the new ______?"

"Nah."

"Maybe you'd like a ______?"

"No thank you."

Jonas has engaged in countless conversations like this since Thanksgiving.

Mamaw, Grandma Jane, Grandpa Mike, Aunt Megan, Jason and I...we have no idea what to get the boy for Christmas because his standard answer is "nothing."

I was sure he was just being difficult. He's been known to be difficult from time to time.

"You realize that if you keep telling people 'nothing' when they ask you what you'd like for Christmas, then you'll probably get 'nothing' or you'll get things you didn't ask for..." I reasoned with him.

"I don't want anything! I promise!"

See, I'm cool with him not wanting gifts, and I understand him not wanting to ask for things, but I know that his 'people' love to buy him gifts. And I also know that him not getting gifts when the other kids around him are getting gifts might be the recipe for a grumpy sixth-grader in the end.

So Sunday morning, he and I were talking about Christmas and commercialism and he said, "I don't want gifts or toys because I know that there are a lot of kids who won't get anything and that makes me feel sad. I don't know how me not getting gifts really helps them, but I don't want presents if they don't get presents."

Ah. Silly me. I just figured he was being difficult and so I never even explored this option with him. I never even considered it's because he was aware of bigger issues and that he wasn't being selfish or only thinking about himself. That's a parenting fail on my part.

So we talked about ways that he could ask his gift givers to partner with him in being a solution to the problem--at least for one or two people who are going without. He talked to his Mamaw about giving gifts to other kids instead of him. I told Aunt Megan that if she knows a kid at her school that will go without Christmas, Jonas would like his gift to go to that child. I'm thinking that my gift to him will be a Christmas dinner for a family connected to a local outreach in town.

I grateful for his generous heart and the example he's giving our family and others around him.

10 Blog Guidelines

2010-12-14T00:00:00.002-06:00

Ten guidelines I use for blogging:

1. I don't try to make my blog like anyone else's blog.

2. I try to keep my entries on the short side.

3. I don't want to repeat myself or say the same thing over and over just to prove my point.

4. I watch out for TMI and over-sharing (you're welcome).

5. I am careful about what I say and how I say it.

6. I am careful about what I share about other people. How would Jonas feel if he read this story about himself on my blog? Is Jason okay with me sharing that story? Would I be worried about this person or that person reading what I've written about him/her? When in doubt, I don't use names, keep the details vague or ask the person I want to write about if it's okay.

7. If I don't feel like writing, I don't force it.

8. If I can take a picture to go with the entry, rather than using one from google images or another online database, I do.

9. I try to give credit where credit is due. If I'm using another blog entry to jumpstart my blog entry or my thought processes, I work it into the post.

10. I write for me, not for you (I am grateful that you read what I write--thanks!).

Snow!

2010-12-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

The riverfront

Me--freezing.

"I like the 'Wizard of Oz...'"

Home!

Today, Monday, is a snow day in Henderson County. We got about 2 inches of snow, a lot of wind, and well below freezing temperatures.

Stay warm wherever you are!

Advent (Day 15)

2010-12-12T13:27:00.005-06:00

It's the third Sunday--the Sunday of Joy.

I'm finding joy in

--the snow that is falling rapidly.
--the children who will gather shortly for their final play rehearsal.
--Jonas, who sat next to me in church with his Bible open, reading along with the Scriptures and listening intently to the message.
--Jason, who loves snow more than any child I know.

May you find joy abundant today and in the days ahead!

We're With The Band

2010-12-10T07:52:00.004-06:00

The North Middle School Band Winter Concert was last night at Henderson's Fine Arts Center. It was really great! I'm always amazed at how much middle school bands improve between 6th grade and 8th grade. Or even between the 6th grade fall concert and the 6th grade winter concert. We were treated to a night of good music.

Our favorite clarinet player was nervous.

Him: You have to bring money, you know. The tickets cost $3!

Me: Yes, we know. If it's not worth $3, I'll stand up and yell to Mr. Grimm (the band director) that we want our money back.

Him: NO! I'll be so offended.

later...

Him: It costs money. You have to bring cash--they don't take debit cards!

Me: Yes, we know. We've done this before.

later...

Him: You'll have to wait outside when you take me. The doors don't open until 6:30.

Me: Yes, we know.

later...

Jason: How many songs are you playing tonight?

Jonas: Two. But I can't leave. I CAN'T LEAVE! I have to stay and sit in the front row.

Me: Yes, we know. We've done this before. When Daddy and I were your age, we were in performances for things too. We get it.

Did he think I was going to stand up after the sixth grade performance, demand our money back AND demand that Jonas Durham meet us at the truck right now?

Here are some videos from the performance. If you like percussion-y things, you should check out the school's Drum Line playing the Cadet Cadence. They were pretty good.

Here, the Sixth Grade Band plays "Jingle Bells." Jonas is the clarinet player farthest to the left.