Lent - Making Room for God

I realized today that this will be my first real participation in the season of lent. Growing up in an evangelical church, we were more interested in Good Friday and Easter than Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. And I'd never practiced the discipline of lent - never given or taken something up for those 40 days before Easter.

Now that Wes and I have been involved with a more traditional church for the past few years, I am learning more about this wonderful season. And with us being more theologically minded, I really wanted to take lent seriously. There's no giving up "candy" or "soda" for me. This needed to mean something. It needed to be something that makes room for God.

I was trying to explain lent to some 1st and 2nd grade kids in our church. Eventually I ended up saying "Lent is giving up (or taking up) something that you like to do, but if done too much, could be bad for you, and by giving it up it will bring you closer to God." And our kids actually came up with some cute ideas like, "I will stop shopping at "Justice"" , "I will stop riding in the car and walk more", "I will give up my video games" and "I will stop fighting with my sister" etc.

So I have been thinking long and hard about what to do for lent. Wes and I are following this guideline to help us:

1. What kind of person do you want to be?
2. What keeps you from being who you want to be?
3. How does giving this up, strengthen your relationship with God and others?

After thinking about it for some time, I finally realized this:

I want to be present in the lives of those around me. Instead, I feel myself very disconnected from those around me, even though I am connected to hundreds of people through social networks like facebook and twitter. In fact, those social network sites are hindering my ability to focus on those around me. I can know everything my cousin is doing everyday because of status updates...but when was the last time I actually talked to my cousin? Ate with my cousin? Laughed with my cousin? Facebook gives me (us?) a false sense of closeness - not to mention I spend an average of 4 hours a day on it. Giving up facebook will give me space to make room for God and others. It will force me to watch a movie with my husband, instead of sit on the computer while he plays video games. It will force me to call up a friend for coffee (because I've suddenly opened up a couple hours of my evening!). It will give me time to read, write and pray.

I recently discovered a blog that I totally dig called Sorta Crunchy written by a mom who's passions seem to be very similar to mine. She is starting a Lenten practice called "40 days of community". This community of bloggers and readers will be participating in a few "challenges" but one of my favorites is this: Once a week, share a meal with someone you've never shared a meal with before.

WOW.

What a vulnerable but life-nourishing challenge! It is hard to eat with those you don't know well. It can be awkward! But what a great compliment to what I am desperately trying to do: spend quality time with those around me. We are also reading a book together called "Common Prayer" by Shane Claiborn (who I love tremendously) and we will be writing reflections on what we are reading. Please check out that post specially here.

Social Justice and The Church

Wes and I are taking a small group of high school students on a mission trip this summer. We are being very intentional about equipping them to really understand the poverty in our world, by having them meet once a week as a group, read assigned readings and write reflections and participate in team building activities (I'm in charge of that part). It has been a surprising journey...these kids are really exceeding my expectations!

We recently read a chapter called "Social Action" from the book "Adventures in Missing the Point" by Brian Mclaren and Tony Campolo, and since adult chaperons are required to do all the work the kids are, I've decided to blog my answers to the discussion questions at the end of the chapter.

1. How have you been involved in social action?

Wes and I recently took our young adult bible study group to Forest Home for their conference. The guest speaker was Tony's son, Bart (And boy did we enjoy him!). He spoke often of the difference between "social action/justice" and "compassion. He gave a great analogy to help us understand.

You are standing by a river and you start to see babies floating down the river. You rush to them, pulling as many as you can out of the water and tend to them. THIS IS COMPASSION. Social justice then is the act of waking up the river and finding out who is throwing babies in the river and stopping them.

And we need both. We need compassionate people, and we need people committed to social action. The closest I've come to social justice, in my mind, is through supporting a company I've blog about here before: Anti-Body. They realized that the system of trading in the world was messed up. So they fixed it. They stopped the cycle by only supporting and buying from small local co-ops in third world counties. But even further justice might be to go even higher in political situations to fight for the rights on those people as a whole. I'm good at compassion...I like that one...social action is hard. And scary.

2. what do you think about partnership between government and religion?

I think it's tricky! I think money can be used for good...but when a religious organization relies heavily on government funding, the thought of losing it can be more important that the work you set out to do. I found this to be true for heavily funded government organization I worked for a couple years ago. It seemed like keeping up with government standards was more important than children and families. They were so paranoid about losing the money that they sacrificed quality care. I think religious organizations have the potential to fall into that money trap and lose the real meaning of why the were there in the first place. (This of course isn't to say that ALL religious organizations with government funding are bad/money driven...but there is only one King in the Kingdom of Heaven that has manifested itself on this earth, and it is not the government).

3. What place should questions about why the poor are poor have in the conversation within Christian communities?

I think it should take place everywhere until it doesn't need to be said anymore because people are actually talking to the poor.....what I mean is...talking about it is the first step, and I think it should really be talked about seriously in the Church. We are the body of Christ, we are the Kingdom come, and we need to KNOW THE POOR. I always tell the kids that you'll call them hobos until you actually know them...then you'll call them Chuck or Annie, or Bill. You'll know why the poor are poor when you start asking them. And I'm not all that great at this yet! I'm still working on knowing their names...

4. To what forms of social action, if any, might God be calling you?

Ahhhh good question. This is hard, since I feel like more of a compassion kinda girl...(cop out? I dunno, maybe...) I think the things I get most "angry" about are a good place to start. Like child rights/labor issues, and paying fair wages to workers around the world.

Gadanke - Celebrate Your Story

I recently stumbled upon the blog of a wonderfully creative mom who has made it her passion to celebrate the stories we have inside of us through thoughtful handmade eco-friendly journals. These aren't just your average journal though...they contain little quotes, questions and prompts to help you tell your story. The journals range form little thankful books, to love letter books, to books about the place you call home. The are so cute and could really be treasured items for family members in decades to come. These are a few that are on my wish list and please visit her website here.

{The Little Things} ~ Listing Thankful Thoughts

{Love Letter} ~ A Minibook for Someone You Love

{She: Me, My Heart, My World} ~ Personal Journal 1.1

Justice Day

Today Wes and I went to an event in Escondido called "Justice Day". It was a venue to get to know some local agencies (and some abroad) that work for humanitarian organizations. Some helped rescue women from sex slavery in San Diego, some helped communities in third world countries create sustainable living through fair trade. It was such a blessing to become more and more educated with the organizations around us. The only sad part about that day was that there weren't very many people at this event!! Hopefully we can continue to spread the word and educate others about the intense pain in the lives of those around us - our neighbors - and the ways in which we can be involved in healing our world.

Here is a list of some of the vendors that we visited with, linked to their websites:

Fair Trade San Diego
Never Neverland
North County Solutions for Change
Generate Hope
Plant with Purpose
Hidden Treasures
City of Refuge
Grace Children's Home
Breaking Chains
Fill A Belly
Cross Your Heart Clothing
Steps of Justice

I will keep you updated on other events coming in the future, but overall my husband and I felt like kids in a candy store with all these great people and organizations all around us. There is hope for this world!

One Step at a Time

The other day my husband and I watched a documentary called "What Would Jesus Buy". I highly recommend this movie, especially since it's Nov. 2nd and I'm already bombarded with Christmas "stuff" all over the malls and television. It's a great way to consciously tune yourself towards the real meaning of Christmas and real gifts that matter to people. Take a look at Wes' blog post for a summary of the movie here.

While watching this documentary about our consumerism and over-consumption, I was convicted. Not because this information was new to me and I was discovering it for the first time...but because I have heard this, and know about it and have made strides to simplify, reduce and reuse and be consciously careful about where I shop and how the things I buy were made. But...

Well...I needed new shampoo because I had just gotten my hair cut and I really wanted shampoo for curly hair and...

Yeah. I am embarrassed to say, I gave in and bought some dumb, cheep "curl enhancing" shampoo from Target that undoubtedly results in poor wages and poor working conditions for someone else...but...my hair is really curly now...

Almost 2 years ago I watched a documentary called "The Fair Trade". This documentary recounts (Taken from the anti-body.com website) "...the story of successful fair trade entrepreneur Tamara Johnston-McMahon. Tamara, devastated by the tragic death of her fiance, makes a bargain with God to postpone suicide in exchange for a meaningful life. She quit her job at Dreamworks, her twin sister Shelby quit her job teaching art history at California State University at Los Angeles, and brother-in-law Steven quit his job at JPL in order to spend their days making soap for their start-up fair-trade body-care company Anti-Body."

Dolores happened to have this documentary at her store and I actually had Steven as a math teacher at APU (I had no idea he was connected to anti-body until I saw him the documentary). I had been aware of the fair trade discussion but didn't know exactly how it worked or how I could really do anything. You can just ask Dolores, but as soon as the documentary was over I rushed to their website and signed up for their email subscription. I didn't buy anything yet, but I knew this was a worthwhile organization and I needed to be connected to it.

It didn't take long though before I was obsessed with reading about fair trade. Anti-body particularly supports specific co-ops in other countries to support local communities and pay fair wages. They get the coconut oil, Shea butter and other ingredients from the co-ops so they can make the bath and body products. And let me tell you, anti-body doesn't do it for the money. It's a conscious decision to positively and fairly affect lives. Yes, it costs me more to buy fair trade...but that is because those who made it are treated with respect and dignity. Their communities are being strengthened and lives and being changed. That's worth a few extra dollars for me.

So I started small. I had challenged myself to take one room at a time, and buy only fair trade. The bathroom seemed easy enough. I wanted everything in my bathroom to be fair trade organic certified. My shampoos, soaps, lotions, lip balms - everything to be fair trade. I was actually doing okay for awhile. What gets me stuck though is when my identity begins to lie in my outward appearance. In reality, what do we need? Clean hair. Clean body. Maybe anti-body's shampoo isn't "curl enhancing" but it cleans my hair...and actually it's not too bad at moisturizing and keeping frizz down - but I got caught up in the image. I NEED my curls to be defined!! Umm...no I don't. I want clean hair. That's it. And I can get clean hair knowing that those who made it are better off because of it.

So I got distracted, but I'm back. I decided to use this blog as a way to promote fair trade products and organizations I run into (I'm partial to anti-body but you will see others as well :) ) I will do reviews of the products I get and let you into my life as I try a little at a time to support fair trade companies and local farmers. So, I start again with my bathroom, one thing at a time. Would you join me?

Together we can make a difference to reach out to the least of these, and make sure that when we touch their hands, that they are not tarnished by unfair working conditions - a person with no face - but that they are hands as God created them to be, with God's glorified face in their smiles.



anti-body.com
wwjbmovie.com

Working Towards Organization

Ok, so it's no surprise if you know me, to hear that I have a bit of an organizational problem when it comes to my personal space. I want my home to be comfortable and I want to relax when I get there - not clean things! I assume there are others out there that feel this way. And it's not that I can't stay clean...there ARE areas of my home that stay consistently clean for me. Take the bathroom for instance. It absolutely grosses me out to have a dirty bathroom, so I am very aware of putting things back into place there.

I guess what it really is, is that I NEED things in place for me to put them back. They have to have a "place". In the bathroom I have a basket for all my lotions and hair spays. And they stay there! In the living room I have a shoe basket...so all the shoes go there. If there is a set place, I can do it!

So I'm doing laundry today. And although I actually enjoy folding laundry (very therapeutic) I just kept letting it pile and pile until today I was forced to because 1. My husband and I have completely run out of every shirt pants and underwear we own and 2. My cat pooped on the clothes. (really? REALLY MOSHE?!). So I've spent my WHOLE DAY doing laundry.

I sit here and think to myself. HOW can I set something up to where this doesn't happen again? And then I realized that Moshe may have pooped divine intervention poop. I am now forced to throw one of the two hampers I have away because of his smelly gift, AND THAT MIGHT HELP ME! I think I let it go for so long because I can. Theres another hamper for it. But if I only have one hamper, its more noticeable quicker that I need to do laundry. And not only that but picking a designated day might work to my advantage too. SO.

1. Keep only one hamper in the bedroom.
2. Do laundry every Monday.

I realize that this isn't really the vibe of my normal blogs, but that's ok! I write what I'm wrestling with. And sometime that might be theological, sometimes a story about my nanny job, or sometimes about being a wife. Who knows. Plus it's worth it to get it out of my mind to save my marriage! ;)

Sunshine

We are busy. The "we" of my husband and I. The "we" of my church. The "we" of America. We are busy. About a month ago, our young adult bible study went on a retreat to Forest Home's Briefing conference. On the last night of the conference the whole camp did an hour of silence. Not just quiet time with music or reading your Bible.

An hour.
Of.
Silence.

I took this time very seriously, because I realized that silence is not just shutting your mouth, it is shutting off your mind. I think many people, (very much including myself) have this tendency to pray before bed and every 4 seconds into praying you are thinking about what to do tomorrow...then you remember that you were praying and on the cycle goes again. We just can't seem to quiet our minds long enough.

While I was engaged in the hour of silence, it literally took me 45 minutes to stop "talking" in my mind. It reminded me of a practice I took up in college for a class. We had to partake in a spiritual discipline, and I choose to go into our schools prayer chapel for an hour, 5 days a week. I could have gotten away with saying that I would pray for 15 minutes in the morning, but for some reason I chose a whole hour to spend time with God out of my day. Which feels like a lot! At first it was...but it became on of my most cherished memories of my college experience. I would read my Bible, pray, draw, spend time is silence, even dance sometimes. Soon, that hour went by so quickly that I wanted more. I felt connected to the Creator. I felt good about who I was and my identity in Christ. I loved God and I knew God loved me back. I desperately miss those times. I was rejuvenated and re-centered. And lately I've been so busy that I may have forgotten who I am and who my God is...

But anyway, back to the hour of silence, 45 whole minutes is what it took for me to unwind, and finally LISTEN. I kept saying "stop. listen." if I felt myself starting to even "talk" to God. This was a time to listen in silence. Not to talk to God, but to let God talk to me.

Finally after 45 minutes, and then after a few more of intense silence, God said this:

"Hello, my sunshine."

Oh, I smiled. I listened as flashes of myself as a child ran through my head. Those innocent qualities of a child. Those qualities that we know we have deep inside us, but that we've pushed away for so long. For me, I was a bright, smiling, crazy, laughing, singing, mischievous, little girl who knew exactly what she wanted, and those things are still a part of my soul. That is who I am when no one is looking. That is who I am with my family, my husband and my God. But even with those closest to me, I can forget who I am. There are so many identities to chose from...so many expectations in our lives that push us to take on those different identities and internalize a negative self image because our view of ourselves is based on our accomplishments or how others see us.

That is why true silence in the presence of the One who loves you most, good and bad, thick and thin (and many other cliches) is so crucial to feeling and knowing that YOU MATTER in this world. And it is so crucial to being able to DO THE THINGS THAT MATTER. If you are doing so many things and never taking time for yourself you will not do any of those things well. Do only what you can while still taking time to rest, because you can make a difference doing the few things you care about passionately.

So I challenge myself to take specific time out of my week to be silent. And I challenge myself to find my identity in Christ. Because, I am God's Sunshine.