First Day of School

Well, we made it through the first day of school...and it was good.

Nate has been making me nervous all summer, telling me that he was willing to go to Kindgergarten, but after all the hard work he did last year, he decided he wasn't planning to work on hard stuff this year. And let me tell you, if Nate doesn't want to work, life gets hard. Fortunately, he likes his teacher and his first day of Kindergarten was so much better than his first day of preschool. When I picked him up, he was talking a mile a minute!

Aaron seems to like his new teacher as well. She gives out pennies for good behavior that the kids can use in a penny candy dispenser...what more could 2nd graders want? Except for my son who decided he'd bring the penny home to save for Legos.

I received my class syllabus for my first seminary course. I need to have the Hebrew alphabet memorized by the first week of class. Can I just say that panic has set in for this year?! I'm so excited, but I also know that with my work schedule, the kids school schedule, my school schedule and other day-to-day stuff, it's going to be very busy. I'm sure once the routine is down, it will be manageable. I sure hope so!

By the way, are the boys cute in their uniforms?

Life as a Quest

I've been reading the book Spiritual Direction by Henri Nouwen. This is the second book of Nouwen's I've read and I really enjoy his approach and the way he writes.

Toward the beginning of this book, he states that spiritual direction is the process of asking life's big questions within a supportive community (pg. 5). He goes on to say that often it's difficult for us to answer the big questions on our own because our fears and pain mask the questions in the first place. He goes on to say;

"Once pain or confusion is framed or articulated by a question, it must be lived rather than answered. The first task of guidance then is to touch your own struggles, doubts and insecurities - in short, to affirm your life as a quest. Your life, my life, is given graciously by God. Our lives are not problems to be solved but journeys to be taken with Jesus as our friend and finest guide." (page 6, emphasis mine)

I tend to enjoy making lists. And, when I make my lists, I always make little squares to the left of each item. That way, when I complete a particular task, I can mark it with a nice check mark. The last couple of years have been a period of learning for me. Lists work great for getting stuff done in the office, at the house or when preparing for a trip. But as far as real life goes their use is quite limited. That's what I appreciate so much about Nouwen's quote. Our lives, rather than being a checklist of issues to solve, is a series of questions best answered when journeying within a supportive community, following close to our God.

Pet Peeve of the Day

I continue to receive e-mails that totally blast Barack Obama. They've gone anywhere from saying he wants to turn the US into a Muslim nation to the most recent claiming he snubbed soldiers while visiting Iraq in July.

I think e-mail is a great way to disseminate information. Truth-full information, that is. And, speaking of that, as Christ-followers we claim to follow the way, the truth and the life, and yet we send on e-mails defaming someone's compassion and character without once checking to see if we got our facts straight, plenty willing to believe the worst about "those liberals". Come on folks! Do a little research before entering more e-mail addresses and pressing "send".

Caveat - I know not all Christians vote conservative and those that don't are less like to send these on...so I do realize that I'm not speaking about all Christians

If you don't know where to start your research, try the Snopes website.

This is worth watching!

I've seen this a couple places, but hey, for those who haven't seen it, it's quite the laugh!

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Harry Potter Marathon

I've pretty much been out of the loop on blogging for the summer. Between vacations and managing all three of my kids at home, I'm keepin' busy. But, I do have to admit my guilty pleasure. I ready the first Harry Potter book about a year ago and have been meaning to read the rest. So, I popped down to my brother and sister-in-law's about three weeks ago and borrowed all theirs.

Then, I made a goal. You see, my kids start school August 11th and I start two weeks later. Once we're all in class, there won't be much time left over. So, I decided to read books two through seven before summer break ended. Needless to say, I met my goal in advance. I read them all in three weeks (and yes, I actually accomplished some other stuff in the midst of it).

I loved the books, especially books 4 & 7. The end was amazing. Julie over at One Hand Clapping has a great post she did after book 7 was released. She has some great thoughts and I agree with her (I think I read too fast to do much reflecting...I just wanted to find out what happens!)

If you haven't read them (and especially if you have kids who have or will be reading them), I encourage you to read them for yourself and then sit down for some great conversations with your daughter or son.

Off the Map coming to Denver

I'm excited about a conference coming to Denver in October. My church is a sponsor for Off the Map's Born Again Church Tour 2008.

Check it out and if you're in the Denver area, join us! You can buy tickets via this link.

Rights vs. Responsibility

I've been getting a lot of political e-mails lately. It's that time of year, I suppose. Most of the ones I'm getting have a lot to say about my rights. Specifically, about protecting my rights as a "Christian". The information I'm receiving tells me it is in my best interest to protect my right to be protected; to maintain distance between "others", with whom I disagree politically, in lifestyle philosophy, etc.

I had a conversation with a friend about one of these e-mails. She was concerned about a bill passed here in Colorado and felt that as an American citizen, a person should have the right to hire who he or she wanted. I wondered allowed what would have happened if we had that attitude when civil rights legislation passed. As I mulled over that conversation, I began thinking about my rights as an American citizen and my responsibilities as a person participating in the Kingdom of Heaven. I used to think that to participate in the Kingdom, it only made sense to do so within the political/social structure of the US. I don't think that anymore.


Well, quite frankly, I don't think it works. It doesn't seem to me that Jesus would be all that impressed with me, say as a business owner, only hiring people like me, who make me feel comfortable, happy and content. Or maybe, if I were renting a house, only renting to those I feel comfortable with (i.e. white, middle class, heterosexual). It seem to me that per Jesus' example, my concern should be much more about my responsibility to others rather than that of my personal rights. It is in his death and resurrection that I find reason to reach outside myself and what I "want" to a bigger picture of his Kingdom.

The problem for Christ-followers is that this approach is just a whole lot messier. It's rarely a cut and dried scenario. The safety of the known is so much more comfortable that the risk required as we take the responsibility of being messengers of the Kingdom, the ones who are to bring good news. How can we be those messengers if we've spent our time and energy protecting ourselves and our personal rights? I believe that it is necessary for the follower of Christ to step back from the American view of "rights" and fashion her life based on the responsibility given in the death and resurrection of the One we call Lord. It's a completely different scenario.