everyonesAwriter's Xanga

Making a Change

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 03:22:29 GMT

This is me, making the switch to a blogger account. I'll keep this to comment, and may even cross-post... but I'd rather you go visit and make comments there.

See ya! (hint: click on "This is me" to visit the new page)

Seriously...

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:02:41 GMT

Couldn't someone please just drop a baby in my lap?

Walking like I'm 90

Tue, 22 May 2007 16:33:32 GMT

So yesterday morning my back went out. And then proceeded to get much worse. Last night, my dear husband had to help me do simple things, like shift my weight in the chair. Today I made it to work (praise the Lord that Ben worked later today so he was able to help me get ready), and I have to go teach a workshop this afternoon, so I'm trying to move as much as possible to loosen up my joints. Not fun. Driving is okay because my car has great lumbar support.

We have a friend on our leadership team who has been out of...well, everything--work, church, life--for months now due to a horrible chronic back problem. He spends his days zonked out on drugs, lying out the couch, awaiting the appointment where he'll finally get his cortizone shot (the last one didn't work). So now each time I take a step and feel pain shooting down my legs and up my back, I just pray for Gary.

Between Pleasure and Promise

Sat, 05 May 2007 18:28:17 GMT

from my reading this past week:

Exodus 16: "[They] came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai...[and they] grumbled."

So how many times between the Pleasure (Elim = land of springs and date palms) and the Promise (Sinai = 10 Commandments, laying out the blessings/consequences of the Covenant) do we wander in the wilderness of Sin? Yikes.

Made of Something

Wed, 02 May 2007 17:23:16 GMT

For most of Creation, God took nothing and made something. Light, land, water, plants, animals...and the list continues. Then there's man. He took something, and made something more out of it. He added extra--His own breath.

No one is nothing. Everyone is made of something. Even if we don't like them, even if they frustrate us, or we frustrate ourselves, even when we don't like who we are... God made us out of something, then He added something even more special--His image.

This is what I have to remember when I don't like things about myself, my husband, my friends and even my enemies. There is something in that person that I love, and it is the same breath I carry, a fleeting image, a reflection of the moon on the water... And then I just pray to love myself, my husband, my friends and even my enemies even more, and then continue to work on that whole "like" issue.

This week--recognize the something in someone.

After

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:57:20 GMT

Three days
14 hours each

Lots of handshakes
Names I'll forget
Some I remember

Words of affirmation
Many 'ayes' later

Back to work
Ready for vacation
Glad I was there

The Mass-Murderer is Always an Outsider

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 03:23:01 GMT

Everyone who knows where "home" is for me has been asking how close we were to Virginia Tech. About two hours. The fact that I know the school's name is actually VPI&SU and can sing the entire Hokie Cheer (Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi; Tech, Tech, V-P-I; Sol-A-Rex, Sol-A-Rah; Poly-tech Virgin-i-a; Ray, Rah, V-P-I; Team! Team! Team!) probably explains that this week's massacre literally "hit home" for me. My father called tonight--the funeral home he helps at will be receiving the body of a 22 year old student once it's released. The family moved to the area so they could be closer, yet not hovering over their son while he attended Tech. Now he's dead. The father had to ask a co-worker for the name of a good funeral home nearby. I feel the shock of the students. I feel the annoyance over how the media is treating local police response. Understand this--Tech is the entire town of Blacksburg.

But I also am feeling very strong emotions over the response to the killer. Why is it that whenever we figure out who the murderer is, he is always an outsider? I've heard the comment, "He was a loner," over and over today. How many labels have we already placed on him?

He was a foreigner. A resident alien. A South Korean. A loner. A troubled student. A creepy creative writer. A quiet person. An outsider.

I want to scream out--HE WAS THERE FOR FOUR YEARS! No one bothered to reach out to him? No one could crack the code of his silence? 25,999 students walked by this 1 each day and no one got to know him?

We do this.
All the time.

In churches, when someone leaves or goes off the deep end, this is our response.

They were different. They didn't get along. They were strange. They were troubled from the start. They were an outsider.

But where were we for the days, months, or years prior? How many times did we walk by and not smile, not start a conversation, not pray for instead of talk about...

Yes, you can become an outsider by choosing to leave the inside...but usually people are outsiders because they're not allowed inside.

Feeling a bit Job-ish...

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:31:02 GMT

Job 7:11 (NLT)
I cannot keep from speaking.
I must express my anguish.
My bitter soul must complain.

May my sorrow turn to joy...before I bite someone's head off.

Reflection

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:01:46 GMT

The Easter holiday is a bit different for those in ministry. We do get to relax with some family and enjoy ourselves, but the week prior and weekend usually means extra craziness preparing for special services, extra information, lots of visitors, etc. What tax season is to a CPA, Easter and Christmas are to pastors.

This season I keep coming back to a favorite verse that Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7. Here's how I've memorized it: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And He will give you the peace that transcents all understanding, to guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." The New Living Translation reads: "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I daily have to die to the want of "understanding," to be reborn to the want of "peace."

My Resignation

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:17:40 GMT

So today, I resigned from the church.

NO, not Mars Hill.
The "other" church I work at during the week.

I'd say it was a step of faith, but it was actually more of a shove. I'll be there through a long training period with whoever they find to replace me, so depending on how fast their recruiting goes, I'll leave mid to late-May at the earliest.

Anybody want the job?