Remembering Abraham's Faith

I first experienced the religious festival, Eid al-Adha, when I lived in Bosnia.
I was "warned" a few days before this holiday to prepare myself for the sight of animals being sacrificed in the streets. I lived in Sarajevo, which is a city, not a village. However, I was still a little taken aback when I passed several hanging, bleeding, animals on my way to the bakery.
Eid al-Adha is the Muslim holiday when they remember Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. For those of you who don't know this event in history, God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice. This is forshadowing of God providing Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. God provided the sacrifice (like the ram in Abraham's case), so that we wouldn't have to pay.
So, I'm posting a few pictures of this event for you (compliments of the BBC). The first one is men praying in New Delhi, the second is a camel being sacrificed with many on lookers, and the third is a boy in Senegal washing the goat sacrifice before the slaughter.

The Easy Way

It's easy to hate someone you've never met.
It's easy to lack compassion when you haven't experienced.
It's easy to be apathetic when you close your eyes.
It's easy to provide an answer even when you don't have all the facts.
It's easy to be depressed when you only have your own troubles.

I highly recommend the documentary Promises. It documents children living in Israel. You have twin boys who are secular Jews, a boy studying as an orthodox Jew, 3 children living in a Palestinian refugee camp (that has been there since 1946..so it's a refugee city), a Palestinian boy living in Jeruselum, and a few others. These children can tell you exactly why their country is in strife and they have very passionate feelings and beliefs. They hate each other. But, then they meet.
It is very easy to come up with your non-negotiables in life if you don't rub elbows with people unlike yourself. If you are pretty sure about most of your beliefs (I mean the ones that aren't in the Bible), maybe you haven't experienced life with people who suffer or haven't become friends with people who should be your moral enemy. All I'm saying is things aren't always so cut and dry. We are a sound bite culture. We think we should have an answer for everything. Life with the struggling and in the suffering world isn't easy, but it's where the Gospel comes alive.

Bring It On!

Ever since I was young I've loved a good weather emergency. I can remember the thrill of going through the house unplugging the electrical dangers and then getting in the ready position. I realish news reports that warn we should hurry to the store to stock up on food, or admonishments to stay inside and off the roads.
So today, Doug and I are giving high fives every time the news reports that Marion county is getting closer to the 10-17 inch snow warning. And ice...wow, things are gonna get crazy!
I remember when I was really pregnant with Maegan and home alone during a tornado warning (or watch...whichever is worse). I went to our basement, turned on the news, and fell asleep in our laundry room on top of the washer. (The laundry room didn't have windows.) Even that was pretty exciting!
So, I say, bring it on.

Craigslist: marketplace for child trafficking

The Internet with all of its conveniences has unfortunately become a major
platform for facilitating human trafficking, prostitution and sexual
exploitation of children. Currently, approximately 400,000 women and
children are being prostituted in the U.S. annually. Surprisingly only
10-20% of prostitution is street-based. Behind closed doors, hidden by the
anonymity of the Internet the exploitation of children is surging.

Craigslist, an Internet company well known for enabling users to
conveniently advertise everything from jobs to housing, has now become a
popular marketplace for the sale of human- beings. With its free postings
and relative anonymity for its users, Craigslist's "Erotic Services" site
has become a vehicle for the trafficking and exploitation of women and
children. There have been numerous reportings of children falling prey to
traffickers advertising on Craigslist and victims as young as four years
old have been sold on the Erotic Services site.

Craigslist in the media

Recent headlines include the January 11, 2007 Cook County, Illinois arrest
of three adults, two of which were posting advertisements on Craigslist for
girls ranging in age from 14 to 16 years old to perform sex acts. ABC 7
Chicago reported that "some of these girls were forced to turn 10, 12
tricks a day resulting in tens of thousands of dollars for the pimps." (See
full article on ABC7Chicago.com: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4928094). In response to the mounting evidence that its site is being used for these insidious purposes, Craigslist often refused to comment or claimed lack of resources to effectively monitor postings.
The Craigslist "Call to Action" campaign, urges Craigslist as a
multi-million dollar company and face of other philanthropic causes to take
responsibility for the role its site is playing in facilitating child
trafficking and exploitation. In light of the New Year, we are asking
Craigslist to make a New Year's resolution to follow in the footsteps of
MySpace and Google and implement better preventative policies and
monitoring efforts to protect its site from being used as a resource for
child traffickers. Through several speaking engagements, a national press
conference to take place in the spring and a petition directed at
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster, Love146 hopes to raise awareness about this
issue and encourage Craigslist to take action.
You will notice that at the bottom of the petition we have given Craigslist
a deadline of January 1st to proclaim there intent to implement the proper
safeguards and monitoring, otherwise we plan to boycott use of their site.
While Craigslist claims to have a philanthropic mindset, it also has a
bottom line and pressure from its users may put pressure on its financial
stability. We have already sent our first mass mailing of the petition
from the Love146 office with a message to Craigslist and CEO Jim Buckmaster
that the time to act is now.
What YOU can do!
Please join us in our efforts by mailing the petition(preferably certified
mail) and e-mailing it to the Craigslist staff: jim@craigslist.org,
craig@craigslist.org, conrad@craigslist.org, abuse@craigslist.org.
Click here to download the petition:
http://www.love146.org/uploads/CL_Petition_11_2007.doc
Click here to download the petition and factsheets:
http://www.love146.org/uploads/Craigslist_campaign_2007.pdf

Snake Bites

I got reaquainted with a story from Numbers today. I was reading about the acclaimed Nicodemus who sought out Jesus late one night. In a small room somewhere in Jerusalem, Jesus told Nicodemus that to see the Kingdom of God a person has to be born again. Nicodemus didn't quite get this, and just wanted to know what he needed to do to accomplish seeing the Kingdom. So, Jesus took him back to the story of the Israelites in the desert getting bitten and killed by snakes. "So the Lord sent fiery serpants among the people, and they bit the people; and many died." So the people begged Moses to plead to God for mercy. Basically, tell Him we'll do anything He wants, just get these snakes to go away!!! So Moses prayed for the people and the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." So, Moses made the snake pole. If a serpant had bitten anyone, when they looked at the pole they lived.
So, the story hit me differently this time. Usually when I think about this event I think that all the people who had been bitten where healed and all the snakes went away. Not so. The pole was erected so that WHEN the people were bitten they would live. God didn't just wipe out all those horrible snakes. He made a way for the people to be healed. Ah, I don't know if Nicodemus got it, but I did. Have you been bitten lately? Have you thought, why doesn't God just eradicate all this horrible stuff of life? Or why doesn't he just give us a nice balm to put on our snake wounds and keep the snakes from biting again? I don't know. I just know that we are going to get bitten time and time again....but when we look to the Cross, we live!

oh, the drama

Maegan is 4. But, man, sometimes she sounds just like a teenager.
In this picture Maegan is very mad because of how I dressed her. Particularly that this "dress" is too small and shouldn't have pants under it. For 30 minutes, before leaving for church, I tried to convince her that she looked darling. (That was when I was being patient about her protest.) She continued to stomp around the house saying "I will not wear this, I will not. It is embarrassing! It's not my choice, I don't choose to wear it!) Then I began my ineffective speech about how I spent good money ($5) on this "dress" and I refuse to waste good money. I went on to explain that she was being ungrateful and her behavior was an affront to the many children who would love to wear this ensemble. Can you believe this message didn't change her mind? She returned with "I just can't do it, I can't wear this...it's stupid! I want a different mommy and daddy who will let me wear my choice." Now, the compromise. You can have your choice...but after church. This isn't because I wanted her to look a certain way at church, but because I didn't want to give in.
Well, in the end I let her take off the embarassing, stupid dress shirt. But she still had to keep the clothes on underneath, which was it's own sort of punishment. Pants are like punishment to Maegan because that is what boys wear.
I've got to stop fighting the stupid fights. Perhaps it was my behavior (the angry, impatient part) that was an affront to God, not hers.

Check out my Slide Show!

Peace be with them

Our efforts are making a difference! Last weekend, one of the first contingents of the hybrid U.N.-A.U. peacekeeping force left Rwanda for Darfur aboard a U.S.-contributed carrier. Here are some pictures of the troops on their way to Darfur.

Dream for Darfur Torch Relay Video

Dream for Darfur

The event was awesome. I believe we had around 300 attend and all major news sources were present. Nuvo will post the event video on You Tube, so I'll post that link soon. You can read about the event in the Star and see great pictures they took...http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071015/LOCAL18/710150387/1006/LOCAL

friends in the book

I had an awesome experience last Sunday. I was invited to participate in Sunday School at Beth El Zedek Synagogue. The class of high school sophomores have been studying about the genocide in Darfur since they were a class of 8th graders. So, my visit was for the purpose of talking about Darfur,showing them a documentary, and talking about Oct. 14th.
I arrived in time to catch the tail end of Mr. Rothenberg's lesson. It seemed the topic was about suffering and not presuming to understand God's will. All, I know is that I was extremely excited about hearing what was being taught. My only experience with Jewish teachings in from the Bible. I've never had the pleasure of being in a Jewish classroom. To me this is special because we have the same God and the Jewish teachings are part of my faith. Jesus was a Jew. Jesus loves the Jews and longs to see all except Him as Lord.
The students were kind of squirrely during the video, but after the video they really perked up and asked me some hard questions. "What is our government doing about Darfur?" "When are we going to stop just sending journalists in to Darfur and send doctors, or even people with guns?!" "Can we really do anything to help the people in Darfur?"
While walking out of the synagogue, I followed behind a mom carrying her 3 year old son. She was telling him a story, the story of the Israelites. She told about the long journey through the dessert to Babylon. As she re-told the story I was greatly moved. I thought, this is what we are told in the Bible! Parents tell these stories of God's mighty power to your children and to your children's children. Talk about My story when you wake and before you sleep, as you walk along the road, as you live your everyday life. For that moment I saw the Word come to life and I felt a kinship through that Word.

Indiana for Burma

Provocate.org is delighted to present two major events this week about the current situation in Burma. Some day, perhaps soon, a democratic Burma will bear the faint stamp: “Made in Indiana.” Burmese dissidents and constitutional scholars are drafting a new constitution in Bloomington. Ties between the state and crisis-ridden Burma will intensify if things turn badly, too: Indianapolis is the major destination for refugees from Burma, and we will get a lot more if the goons in Rangoon respond as brutally as they have in the past. You could see a sign of Indiana-Burmese links Sunday evening, when on very short notice a couple of hundred Burmese (plus many other well-wishers) turned out at the Circle Monument in support of the dissent in Burma. (You can see some photos from the rally at www.provocate.org.)

Thursday October 4, 3:30-5:00 PM at the International Center of Indianapolis (32 W. Washington St. Indianapolis) we will have a discussion of "Burma in Crisis." Featured will be Burmese activists and scholars who have helped draft the new constitution for their country. They will help clarify the context and implications of the events we see on the streets of Rangoon.

This discussion of Burma on Thursday will be worth clearing your Thursday afternoon schedule to attend. A unique event Friday will be worth coming home early from vacation.

Friday October 5, from 6:00-9:00 PM the Harrison Center for the Arts (1505 North Delaware St. Indianapolis) will host "Burma Beautiful/Burma Brutal: Images & Ideas from a Country on the Edge." This will be a multimedia presentation of images and videos from Burma, which will serve as a backdrop for informal conversations about topics such as the prospects for peaceful change, political dimensions of Buddhism in Tibet and Burma, challenges of Burmese communities in Indiana, and other topics. Featured will be:

· Photos and art from Burma by Indianapolis artist Jude Odell

· Images from “The Sold Project,” a documentary in production by Indiana 20-somethings exposing the human side of sex slavery in Burma

· Photos from refugees camps on the Burmese-Thai border by Emily Jacobi, an Indianapolis photo-journalist

·Video montage of current street protests by Geo-Pol analyst Pedro Cardoso

· Burmese scholars and dissidents from IU’s Center for Constitutional Democracy in Pluralist Societies, who are drafting a constitution for a democratic Burma

· Members of the Chin and Karen ethnic minorities from Burma now in living Indianapolis

These are both rare and exciting opportunities to learn more about how the world is directly touching us in Indiana, I hope to see you at both.

John Clark

ServLife will present a free concert for the city of Indianapolis on Wed. Oct 3, 2007 at the Gene B. Click Junior Achievement Education Center. The featured band is The Robbie Seay Band (Sparrow Records). RSB will be performing with opening musician, Brandon Heath. Go to the link to download 2 free songs from Robbie Seay Band.

http://www.servlife.org/wp/index.php/content/free-servlife-benefit-concert-in-indianapolis-with-robbie-seay-band-brandon-heath-oct-3/

"'Well done' is better than 'well said'"
Larry Mitchell

kids these days

Usually the phrase "kids these days" is said with a sad shake of the head and with the understanding that kids are spoiled, selfish, and just not as good as we were.
A new friend recently told me that "kids" have been at the forefront of all vital change and the leaders of civil rights movements that have impacted the fabric of our society. I got to meet some of those kind of "kids" today.
Four officers of Westfield High's Amnesty International club hosted a junior/senior assembly to bring attention to the genocide in Darfur. Cameron Welch, a junior at Broadripple High, and Ally Denton, a senior at Lawrence Central took time away from school this morning to speak at this assembly. Cameron and Ally shared why they care about the people in Darfur and what they are doing to be a voice for the voiceless. They are both a vital part of the Save Darfur Coalition of Indianapolis. Cameron, 16 yrs. old, is planning a 50 band, 3 day festival in July 2008, out on his uncle's 300 acres in Franklin. Ally is starting a Save Darfur club at her school today at the local Starbucks. I wasn't even sofisticated enough to drink coffee at that age!
I'm so motivated by youth today. Our October 14th Torch Relay is going to be mostly attended by high school and college students. They are ready and willing to make change happen.
Maybe we should be saying "adults these days".

enjoy

Summer Fun

This summer has been very fun and relaxing. I'm a sucker for the great outdoors, so any time the weather was reasonable we were outside. Our favorite place to go is Holliday Park, off of Springmill Road. The playground has something for all of us, and there are great hiking trails that lead down to the White River. Yes, I let my kids splash around in the dirty, polluted water. After all, those are some of my fondest memories from my childhood. Perhaps the water was cleaner then.
Here are some pictures for some of our adventures.

hunger

I heard a guy talking on the radio about the difference between spiritual and physical hunger. When we are physically hungry we eat and are satified. The hunger goes away and we stop eating. (I won't go into how most of us really don't know physical hunger, and we eat despite being hungry.) Continue radio guy's talk...When we are spiritually hungry we feed on God's Word and that causes us to get hungry for more. Most of the time when we don't feed on God's Word we lose our appetite. The lack of "food" actually causes us to avoid the life food we desperately need. So, sometimes force feeding needs to take place. You know, I think I've heard that people who have gone without food for a long time actually stop feeling hungry. They get sick though. I get sick when I go without God's Word. I think people get sick of me too. (Ask Doug, poor guy).
Recently, on a retreat, I believe God told me...go after self-control and discipline. Normally I pray for patience, passion, love, selflessness. It was a very matter of fact time with God. It was like He said, yes, I know you love me and are passionate for things I'm passionate about. Now, how about that self-control and discipline.
You know, when I spend time with God I'm happy. After I eat a healthy meal, I feel great and have no regrets. When I work out, I enjoy it and know I've done a good thing. But, man do I try to not do those things. Wierd.

Carry the Torch for Darfur

Please mark October 14th on your calendar. Dream for Darfur, STAND, and Save Darfur are working together to bring attention to China's role in the Sudanese genocide. There is a torch relay that has already begun just outside Darfur on August 8th. The torch relay will begin in the US on September 9th in New York City and end in Washington DC in December. Our torch event is Sunday, October 14th. We are still working on getting a location.
Don't be dismayed and think "there is nothing we can do". China is hosting the Olympics next year and they want to be be good hosts that are promoting peace around the world. This relay is meant to put the spotlight on China and get them to influence Sudan. They can and I believe they will.
The UN and the US have authorized peacekeepers to help protect the people in Darfur. However, the Sudanese gov't only wants other African peacekeepers in their country and that number is very limited. They need protection now! And, the rebels/gov't groups are destorying lives in Chad and the Central African Republic because there is no protection at the borders.
Please visit Mia Farrow's website to read her travel journal and see pictures.
www.miafarrow.org

confession of a mindless driver

THURSDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, U.S. researchers report.
That finding held true whether the driver was holding a cell phone or using a hands-free device, the researchers noted


Dear Friends, I am going to try my hardest not to talk on my cell phone while driving from this point on. The car was my best place to return and make calls. The kids are quiet and restrained. However I've had a few close calls while driving and talking...hence the confession. (Parents, perhaps you should stop reading now.)
Last week I was talking to my friend Milissa about Maegan's recent medical tests. Due to the topic my mind was a little absorbed. So, at 56th and Georgetown I stopped at the red light and then proceeded to run the red light. Obviously, we made it through that mistake all right.
Saturday evening I was talking to my friend Alison about Maegan's recent medical tests. Once again, I was a little distracted. First evidence, I went way out of my way to get to Christina's house. Then at 86th street I started to run a red light, stopped, backed up, moved forward and almost hit a pedestrian who stood in amazement at my lack of attention. So, I can't do it. You all may be wonderful at multi-tasking....but that's what I thought.
So, I'm going to try driving while drinking Fat Tire instead of making phone calls from now on :)

Check out my Slide Show!

messy love

I just read this......
"King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted."
What a crazy mess. I imagine that passage and see a crazy, wild, intense slaughter that was out of control messy. My first thoughts were very revealing to me of my heart. I thought, "why in the world would they do it like that? They could have done a certain amount of sacrifices and that would have been good. God knows the heart." Exactly that, God knows the heart. Sometimes I think of my giving a little as "well, God knows my heart and that I love Him or He knows that I care about others." People get upset when they read James, because he says people will know your faith by your deeds. No one is saying your deeds earn your place in heaven. Salvation comes by faith in Jesus and no other way. However, the people slaughtering like crazy, mad people knew the fear of God and the ark He was inhabiting. They remembered the story about the guy who dropped dead because he touched the ark. They remembered how they won battles when the presence of God was with them, and lost when He wasn't. Their hearts were wild with the fear and reverence for a Holy God. So, there were countless animals (think money and livelihoods) sacrificed before the ark. They had rules telling them how much and what to sacrifice for other events...but this time, they weren't going by the rules, they were pouring out the sacrifice with all they had.
Next time I think of spending my time, money, and love in a way that doesn't really put me out, I hope the phrase "well, God knows my heart" will in turn reveal my heart to me.

mark your calendar

Would like to know more about the genocide in Darfur? Would you like to know how you can help the Darfurians all the way over here in Indiana?
Please come to Common Ground Christian Church on August 13th at 7pm. We are going to get educated about the genocide and see some videos that will bring the message home.
Common Ground is located at 6151 N. Central Ave, Indpls, IN 46220 in Broadripple.

first boy cut

Today Spencer had his first "boy cut". Up until now I didn't know how to ask them to cut his hair. I'm familiar with girl terms like layer, bob, bangs, etc. Doug is only familiar with buzz cut. Not on my watch mister!

brown baby

Maegan has been talking a lot about me getting another baby in my belly. When Spencer was in there, she wasn't real interested at all. When he was born she didn't seem to notice. Up until he could walk, she would just walk around him and toss him a smile here and there. So, all this talk about me having another baby is interesting to me. Doug and I don't have plans to have another one soon (Doug doesn't have plans for us to have another soon or at all.)
So, yesterday Maegan said, "I need a sister, and her name will be Laura." We thought this was cute and interesting, I even started to think...maybe this is some kind of prophecy coming from our 4 year old. Doug just rolled his eyes at that thought. So she continued about the baby named Laura and went on to say she would be brown. ?.
The prophecy idea kind of went out the window. I asked Maegan what color Mommy and Daddy are. She said creamyish. I said creamyish + creamyish = some shade of creamy. So, a brown baby isn't likely to make it's way out my belly.
Maybe it's an adoption prophecy. ;)

do you want to join us

I've been part of Save Darfur for awhile. This has involved making phone calls and writing letters to politicians. I actually have 'Bush' as a contact on my cell phone. Yes, you can actually call the White House. You can call all sorts of legislators.
This past Monday the first meeting of the Indianapolis Coalition to Save Darfur took place at Common Ground. Eighteen strangers shared their desire to know more about what is happening in Darfur (and now Chad and Central African Republic) and we are going to plan some events in the community to raise awareness.
I will be posting our next event, which is coming in August. We are going to have an "educate ourselves" night at Common Ground, which will include screening the documentary "Darfur Diaries".
Please go to the following link to view a very good video about Darfur.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid716091889/bctid716320015

i crazy

This past Friday Doug and I rolled into Chi-Town on the Mega-Bus. All the passengers had their faces plastered against the windows to get a glimpse of the Chicago people. So, as Doug and I observed the spectacles we both took notice of a line of men sitting along the wall of a building. In my mind I mused, this must be the likes of a Wheeler Mission. Then Doug said casually, "that must be the line for the iPhone." I stared at him for a moment waiting for enlightenment.......then I chuckled and said "this I must blog!"

Just in case you aren't aware, the iPhone price starts at $499.

Ironically, as we approached our hotel we had to make our way through a line of people who looked like they'd been camping out for awhile. We peered at these people from the 37th floor wondering if they were waiting for concert tickets, or waiting to get the autograph of someone famous. As we made our way out to get some Gino's Pizza (not worth the hour wait), passing by about 5 media trucks, we saw it.....the blackened windows of the Apple store. People were gathering to take pictures of their new line friends, random people stopped to take the picture of the first guy in line, Starbucks set up shop to pass out free coffee.

Well, I got caught up in the action and had to be there when Apple opened their doors to the fanatical techies. It was great! I wanted to want an iPhone. I would have loved to camp out all day, make new friends, get interviewed on TV, and drink free Starbucks. Doug and I stood amazed as people clapped for the consumers walking out with their little black bags. Other people took pictures of the people taking pictures of the people buying their iPhones.

All in all, we had a great weekend in Chicago. The only thing we didn't accomplish was eating at Fogo de Chao. It came down to fear for me. I was afraid of what I might do at a place where they brought me non-stop meat.

Seriously, this is why I avoided going. We cancelled our reservation Friday night, then we planned to go Saturday...but somehow I avoided it. I'm afraid of something that delicious.

ammendment to prior post

My sister told me today that just last week she hid from a salesperson. Her beloved dog gave her up though. Tessa, the dog, barked at the dear salesperson then barked at "mom" (who was plastered to the wall). Tessa will have to be taught to do the stop, drop and roll.

did you ever?

I was just thinking about something fun my mom used to do with my sister and I when we were wee kids.

Back in the day, before online shopping, sales where made by stopping in at people's homes. Housewives were assaulted by all sorts of salespeople dropping in to woo them with their products. My mom hated and feared these visitors. Mostly because she can't say no. So, my fond memory involves our stop, drop and roll to the kitchen exercises. Pretty much any time the door bell rang we all froze. Mom would yell, in a whisper, "get down!" Liz and I would drop to the floor, crawl to the kitchen, and dare not move until the intruder went away. I know the salesperson would often see us through the door window, but mom didn't care...it was our right to refuse to answer their call. I think it was also our right not to hide, but to answer and just say no.

I was kind of surprised to hear that not to long along my mom regularly entertained a Jehovah's witness. My mom probably hid from her too, the first few attempts. But, then mom felt badly for the poor lady. So, that began regular visits for tea with mom. Mom didn't mind too much though because she loves to chat and it probably really irritated my dad. ;)

all right, already!

Man, you all are persistant! I keep getting calls about my "big announcement", most of you thinking that I'm pregnant. Even though, I did post that I'm not pregnant and I never said I had some big announcement. ;)
So, my slight reference to going through change (not "the change" either), was not meant to keep you in suspense. Now, I feel like I've got you all charged up and anxious.
Doug decided to take a break from being an elder. He is calling it a sabbatical. (you are saying....that's it?!) Yes, that is it. For us, though, it was a big decision. Doug has been saying for some time now that he feels like he is "winging it" spiritually. He has been running in so many leadership directions (pastor, elder, house church leader), that he feels he has been doing it out of his own strength. I kept dismissing his feelings, because I see all the good he does and the wise counsel he has to give. So, I know God is still using him. But, I now see how it is good for Doug to take a break. He is very excited about getting refreshed by God and focusing on leading our family.
I also saw that for me I started to worry about what people would think. Would people think we aren't trusting God enough to keep on leading and get refreshed at the same time? Would people think Doug is stepping down from being an elder because he has done something not elder worthy? Would people think we want to become self absorbed and not serve others? Doug's answer was, "I don't care what people think." It is worth risking what people think in order to seek God and what He wants.
Who knows....maybe we'll end up going across the world to start an orphanage after all....;) ah the parents will love that comment!

father's day

Father's day "weekend" was a lovely time spent with family. Doug even made out with a present this year. I got him a hammock chair for the side porch. I've enjoyed it a lot already ;)

Sunday evening, on the way home from The Haute, I began to think about my friends who were having a lonely father's day. I have several friends who have lost their dad's. Of course, this led me to think about what life will be like when doug and I lose our parents. Children without their parents feels unnatural...no matter what the age. Our parents are the ones who love us unconditionally and are concerned with our well being more than we are. To be in this world without our mom and dad will be a lonely place. We aren't guaranteed anything, so absorbed every moment you have with your parents.

so, I'm too sensitive

Doug thinks I'm ridiculous. I think there are different drinks and foods for different occasions. For example...
Last night Doug met some friends to discuss a very serious and somber situation that one of our friends is going through. Their plan was to meet at Starbucks. Doug was ultra excited that he was going to have one of Starbucks new calorie buster creme creations. So, I began to imagine these men sitting around drinking coffee (a drink for a serious discussion), counseling our friend regarding the passing of a loved one, while Doug slurped away on a fruity dessert drink. Dessert drinks are for celebratory times, am I wrong?
So, do you know where the counsel of men decided to hold this serious, prayerful discussion.....Marble Slab. If that's not bad enough, it turns out one of the guys (not to mention names...Mr. Kibs) allowed his long horn belt buckle to partake in the conversation too. Men have their ways, so what do I know.

yikes

well, I had to change the music already. I warned you it played random music, so I hope you weren't subjected to anything too bad.
I was listening to my blog and a song, that is very familiar and has been around a long time, started to play. I never really listened to the lyrics of this song before now. But after reading the title, I heard the song in a whole new light. I won't list the title here because I would blush.
This whole music on my blog thing is like watching a movie or tv show with my parents. Suddenly everything is seen in a new light. I should watch everything imaging my parents are with me.

music

I've added a feature so you can listen to great music. If you like to find new music I have a couple of websites for you.
www.last.fm
www.pandora.com
These websites allow you to enter your favorite artists and/or songs, then they introduce you to new music that falls in the same genre.
So, I will have great fun changing my music link regularly. I want one of those disclaimers that says "music heard here is not necessarily the viewpoint of the blogger"....because it plays random songs. So, you may accidentally be subjected to a curse word or a lyric that challenges your values. Not, that I plan to embed the artist know as 50 cents.

sorry for the suspense

I've been told that there are a few of you (Debbie) that are checking my blog in eager anticipation of a fantastic announcement. In my post about change I mentioned that something is changing but couldn't say yet.

I wish I had something truly special to announce like...."we are selling everything and starting an orphanage in South Korea" or "I'm a surrogate mother of triplets". Sorry!

free money!

Well, we had a garage sale today. It was fun purging our home of stuff that is not needed or seldom used. Actually, I love selling stuff so much that I put stuff out that I still like and use. We found ourselves just scanning the place thinking, "what else can we get money for?"

The funny part is that it feels like free money. We act like we are bringing in cash that is extra. The fact is that we spent a decent amount of cash (well, probably paid with a debit card) on the stuff to begin with. Now, because we really don't need it, we sold it for basically nothing. So, today we should feel kind of sick about all the money lost, not the $300 something that is sitting in a nice pile on the table. But, no mourning here....we are going out to eat tonight with our free money.

change is good.?

I usually thrive on change. I usually find change to be exciting, something new to look forward to. I've told people time and time again that I love change. I like to change my hair and rearrange furniture (well, I'd like to, but Doug isn't game). I keep finding new places to store stuff in our house, and I like to change my opinion frequently.

However, in the last week I've had a mental break down over all the change happening around me. No, not because I can't find where I've moved stuff in the house. There are lots of significant changes happening. I can't name it all because some of it is personal to others, or some of the change hasn't been announced yet (no, I'm not pregnant).

It's just a strange place to be. Right now, I feel like I'm completely removed from everything that was my status quo. I'm sure months from now I'll have a blog that tells how enlightened I am and the good plans that are unfolding. But, right now it's all a little disturbing....to tell you the truth.

sophie the mag light

Maegan has a new best friend. Her name is Sophie. According to Maegan, Sophie loves God, takes naps, and her job is to "find day". Sophie is also Doug's weapon of choice. Before sleeping in Maegan's doll crib, Sophie slept under Doug's side of the bed. This was a perfect spot just in case Doug needed to club an intruder in the middle of the night. Now Doug is going to have to venture into Maegan's room, change Sophie out of her nightgown, and then club the intruder.

Sophie is Doug's Mag light. Maegan hasn't ever gotten into playing with her dolls. But, for some reason she has adopted the oversized flashlight as her best friend. She dresses the flashlight in clothing, talks to it, and uses "Sophie" to find the day. Ahhh, imagination!

(pictured above: sophie dressed in a comfortable shirt and summer skirt)

just say no to drugs

When is the last time you went to the doctor or local ER and left without drugs? I went to the ER yesterday (second time this year) because my back gave out. I don't know how else to describe it. I laid on the kitchen floor waiting for Doug to arrive so he could save the crying baby from his crib. A total of an hour on the dirty, tile, kitchen floor. So, off to the ER. I've learned ER doctor's don't like to answer questions directly, spend more than 5 minutes with you, or ultimately say anything that could implicate them in a lawsuit at a later date. So, the prognosis..."your back is injured, I treat all back injuries the same, I don't know...another doctor might have other advice, but I say take these pills and don't call me in the morning." So when the nurse brought in my narcotic, I said "I don't have pain when I'm lying down, so maybe I should just not move and then not have pain. Or, can I just try some Tylenol? "Well, sure", she said, "but I think these will make you feel better and help you sleep." So, because my husband loves pills (I love you honey) I took the pill and got the prescription filled. I mean, who doesn't want to have Oxycodone on hand for kicks or for street resale (which the ER doctor jokingly suggested we do with the pills that I'm not going to take).
So, I took the pill and 4 hours later had a freak out session. I hadn't been able to sleep yet and it was 11:30pm. I couldn't feel my fingers, my lips were tingly, I was itching all over, and I was in a state of panic. I was saying things that weren't reasonable like "I've got to get out of here, I think I'm going to stop breathing (even though I could breathe fine), I think I'm about to freak out." So I made Doug call Brad, our pharmaceutical hook up, to make sure I was going to make it. We decided to watch TV until I "came down" from the sky. I was craving Outback cheesy fries, but settled for potato chips. I had to watch something funny and really wished "Thank God You're Here" was on. I spent a few minutes in hysterical laughter as I said "Thank God You're Here" in different accents. Doug got out the camcorder to film, because he thought it was funny. I didn't. I don't know why anyone would want to feel that way. Drugs are awful, don't try them.

Darfur Rally

Today was the "Rally for Darfur" at the State House. Alison and I made our appearance, dressed in blue and carrying our sign "Blessed are the Peacemakers."
We heard from Darfurians, now living in South Bend, who have started their own organization in order to be a voice here in the grand USA. Likewise, Americans who have been to Darfur are being sent back on a mission. The Darfurians are asking them to come back here a be a voice for them. They figure that if we, in America, hear about their suffering we will surely help and join with them to cry out for help. Surely we will.
But, you ask, what can we possibly do?
Hit where it hurts. Go to the mattresses. The war of the pocket book.
Divestment. Let me try to explain and then give you a link that will help explain more. (Please don't stop reading now!)
Some years ago, Bill Clinton (don't stop reading now) passed a law making it unlawful for American companies to invest in companies that support the Sudanese government (their oil companies). However, many large investment companies invest our money in other countries' companies that support the Sudanese government.
In a nutshell, Fidelity makes large investments in the Sudan oil industry by the way of China, which serves to help fund the genocide in Darfur. The call is to pressure Fidelty to immediately divest its PetroChina and Sinopec stocks now held possibly in your mutual funds. I found out today that we have our mutual funds invested in Fidelity, from when Doug was with Arthur Anderson. So, we are going to change that. If you don't want to change, at least call and tell them you want them to divest.
Find out more at www.FidelityOutOfSudan.com

i guess these prayers count too

How do you teach a child to pray? So far, my method is to pray with my daughter, Maegan, at meals, before bed and at random times during the day. However, there are times that it seems like I should tell her what to say or correct what she is saying. For example, much of the time she prays for certain cartoon characters to change their evil ways. Like Swiper Fox...."please God, help Swiper to stop swiping." She has asked that God make certain Disney movies to "not be scary anymore." I've tried to explain that God can't change things that aren't real. She doesn't care, she continues to pray with perseverance. Her latest mission, to make dinosaurs nice and not have big growl teeth but teeth like mommy, daddy and Spencer.
I'm encouraged by all this though. She could just repeat everything I say, but instead she has a mind of her own.

a really great book

I've taken up "Irresistable Revolution" again. This is how I read. I start a book, totally get into it, then I put it down to finish a couple months later (or never if it isn't really inspiring). Maybe I just don't want it to end.
Today I was reading about Christian extremists. So, what popped in your head? Enthusiasts blowing up clinics, zeolots carrying signs declaring God hates gays? It's a sad commentary that your first thought wasn't the extremists for grace, mercy, forgiveness, peace, and love? There are those people out there. Mother Theresa for example, she was extreme. But, I do know other extremists that aren't making headlines. They are regular people, but their love is extreme because it is the love given straight from God.
I would say that is one of my fears. Not being the extremist I'm called to be, but just living safely.