As Is...

"Dream God-sized dreams" is a phrase I've heard for most of my life in the church. There's nothing wrong with dreaming big. In fact, I am often so overwhelmed with the requirements of life that I fail to look up and see the bigger story taking place around me. Yet, when these big dreams thwart individuals from experiencing the everyday glory of life, when the visions eliminate engagement in the "real" world, we've missed the point.

Krista Finch, in her spiritual memoir As Is: Unearthing Commonplace Glory, seeks to identify God's presence amidst the boring, messy, and ultimately beautiful parts of life. These are the moments we we normally forget to invite God to and as a result continually fail to see his faithful presence. Finch's descriptions and observations are easy to relate to, made particularly charming in her presentation.

Although this book could be read in a few short sittings, it is better enjoyed in snippets. A story or two at a time, savored and explored. Each one a reminder of the beauty, fear, and mess inextricably mixed with glory too often neglected.

My favorite story of the book closes with a quote that resonates with me. Finch states, "...hope is an odd cat. That's probably why we don't entertain her very often. Everything around us tells us not to invite her in. Hospitals can't heal, wars don't end, bonds won't mend. We've asked hope to come, and she has left us high and dry. Why would we summon that kind of company; the kind of company that shows up late, brings rude friends, or ignores our requests altogether? Hope just doesn't look like we think she should look. She changes her hair color and gets a new wardrobe just when we start to recognize her." (p. 116).

That's just what I found in this book; hope. Hope that God is active in the little details, the things overlooked and considered unworthy. Glory is found in those very moments.

An Introvert's Dilemna

I've noticed over the last several weeks and underlying longing to encircle myself with home, books, and the lovely comforts of all that is familiar and safe. I thought at first that it was simply catching up from a long semester with lots of my own school work on top of the responsibilities of being a mom. But, week after week, this tendency continues to assert itself, crowding out full enjoyment of almost any activity that takes me away from my "quiet spot." (Granted, my "quiet spot," home, is much less quite now that my three kiddos are out of school as well).

As I've been thinking about this draw to home, I've reflected on a quote from the book Traveling with Pomegranates. Here, Sue Monk Kidd makes a statement that resonates with me at the moment. She states, "At times like this, I feel the small curse of my introspective nature and its obstinate demands, how it wants to be allowed, wants my unhurried and undivided attention, how the moments of life insist on being metabolized and given expression. As usual, having failed to stop and tend to this unmitigated part of myself, it has stopped me." (p. 218).

Like the author, I'm tempted to push past my melancholy. To skip the searching and resting that my introverted nature requires at this time. But, in doing so, I deny part of who I am, who God made me to be. I push past my fundamental need to process, think, and absorb.

I've often wished that I wasn't an introvert, that I didn't have these tendencies. But I am, and I do. So, for today anyway, I give myself permission to stop and tend to myself. That decision sparks a sneaky little smile from my introverted self!

Summer Vacation!

My summer vacation began a few weeks back. That was a good thing as apparently I needed a full three weeks to be available for end-of-school activities for my kids. From Field Day, Reader's Theater's and parties, it's been a busy and fun few weeks, capped off last night by Aaron's 9th birthday celebrated at the Denver Aquarium. Much fun!

There's something truly wonderful about summer vacation in the eyes through the eyes of children. Who's not excited about 2 1/2 months off to swim, play and vacation? I consider myself very blessed at this stage of life to be able to join them!

Off to enjoy a lazy Saturday!

Celebrate!

The end of the semester is almost here and I have one (small) project left to submit. It's currently with an editor and should only take another half hour of my time once I get it back. So, I'm feeling in the mood to celebrate. Starting with a good book. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I have a good 2 1/2 months to enjoy!

Even better than the end of the semester is the call I received last night from the school's art teacher. At the art show next week, Nate will be honored as "Art Student of the Year" for 1st grade boys! It has been a hard fought year for Nate (and me). We've worked on so many things on the academic side that I never once gave a second thought to how Nate was doing in his specials classes (art, music, p.e.) I had no idea that this is an area of success for him. I'm so excited for him.

Great weekend!

I can't believe it's been over a month since last posting. It's the busy time of the semester. Even though I'm only taking 4 credit hours, it still gets stressful.

I turn in my Hebrew paper tomorrow and then just have one project due after that. I am so excited for summer (not taking any classes)! I love the relaxed time to hang out with the kids and just enjoy life.

Eddie and I had a fabulous weekend away. We're at a transition point in our marriage. We now have elementary school children and I'm working my way (very, very slowly) back into the working world. In the midst of that, we're figuring out who we are as a couple again. We've had some bumps along the way over the last couple of years. Some of them big. We don't want those bumps to become what defines us, so we decided to do something about it.

We went on a marriage retreat through Marriage Encounter. I will be very upfront and tell you it's not really a retreat at all, except in getting away from your own home. It's not the traditional marriage seminar. It was really good for Eddie and I to take time for our relationship. I'm tempted to say we had a "great time." But, that doesn't really describe it. It was a worthwhile time. If you want or need to open up communication lines in your marriage, I encourage you to check out the link above. They are sponsored by various different denominations, so you can even choose a faith expression that fits best for you.

That's it for now. Hopefully, I'll come out of the cloud of school here shortly!

Ecclesiastes 9:11

This last few months have been challenging for us. We've made some changes in our life and along with that have had a series of health issues impacting both our immediate and extended families. As I reflected on these things and the constant attention they are requiring at the moment, I thought of a verse in Ecclesiastes that I studied for devotional a few weeks back. I've included the devotional below.

I turned and saw under the sun that the race does not (go) to the swift or the battle to the mighty;
neither does food (belong) to the wise, or riches to the ones with understanding, or favor to the ones with knowledge, for all of them will encounter time and chance. Ecc. 9:11

In Ecclesiastes, The Preacher wrestles with the complexity of life in a broken world and poignantly expresses his frustration. His disillusionment drives him to lay aside personal pursuits and instead find hope in God’s providence.

The observations in this scripture address the collision of idealism and reality, of the way life should play out compared against the way it actually does. The Preacher has observed life and taken note of injustices. The first illustrations he provides are the swift runner and the mighty warrior. Despite their arduous training, neither is guaranteed victory in their area of expertise. So it is in the examples of those who hold wisdom, understanding and knowledge. Their insight gains them no assurances in life, not even the most elementary physical need of food. The cause of these seemingly incongruous scenarios is found in the concluding line. “Time” and “chance,” factors outside the control of individuals, are the wild card that demolishes the hopes of those with whom it crosses paths.

This scripture should give each believer pause. Western Christianity is inevitably impacted by the individualistic, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” philosophy that is a part of our wider culture. A strong work ethic and diligence in cultivating wisdom are important (9:10), but placing hope in our own ability to succeed will only end in frustration. Time and chance are inevitable factors in this broken world. They push against assumptions of what is right and just and will eventually topple our tower of expectations, leaving us broken in the rubble. There is no formula that ensures success, no blueprint to repel difficulty. Instead, there is God who holds the righteous and the wise in His hands (9:1). It is from this perspective, that of being held in God’s own hand, that we are able to see past the apparent futility of life and find both divine satisfaction and fulfillment.

Church Visitors: What NOT to do

Visiting churches, especially when searching for a new faith community, is a varied and interesting process. As we've visited a couple churches in the last few weeks, and talked to several others who are experiencing similar situations, I simply had to share some things you don't want to do. You may never see these in a book, but they're important nonetheless!

1. Don't add one-time visitors to your church-wide e-mail distribution list. A nice "Hello, thanks for visiting..." e-mail is fine, but hold off on adding people to a general distribution list. Too much information too soon!

2. Don't ask parents to give their driver's license numbers, weight and other personal information in order to drop their kids off in the kids' church area.

3. Never chase first-time visitors out into the parking lot to give them a laminated card for their children to make check-in easier next week. Just don't do it.

4. If you offer sports programs as part of your church, don't serve communion to elementary school children during the program without talking to parents first. This message is especially for those of us from Evangelical backgrounds. Respect parents and families and save this for a different time and place.

With all these things in mind, I do have to say that we have been warmly welcomed at each place we visited. I have enjoyed this process and look forward, for the most part, of more visits to come. In the meantime, it's nice to have a bit of a laugh!

How about you? Have you had any similar church visiting experiences that stood out to you? I'd love to hear about it.