Afterlife

During this time of the year, I always ponder life, death, afterlife, heaven, eternity, angels, eschatology, new heaven and earth - - you know, the simple stuff of theology. :)
Heard NT Wright on the Colbert Report (I was rather shocked to see NT Wright on Colbert). And he was promoting his book 'Surprised by Hope'. I am looking forward to reading it because he mentioned that in the book he has touched on some of these issues.
There are many different takes on what happens after a person leaves this life and moves on to what's next. None of which have really satisfied me.
There is experiential evidence that suggests the essence of a person somehow remains present. Also there are scriptural references to mediums and how some possess the ability to contact the dead. Forbidden though it may be, it sounds feasible. What's that about?
Some say we enter immediately into the presence of the Living God. Others say we stay in a sleep state only to wake up with all other humans on the day God ordains.
Purgatory? Is that an option?
Oh, I know. We become angels. We check in. We get fitted for a set of wings and we're handed a fancy harp. Wait. First, we get an orientation at the "pearly gates" by "St. Peter".
At least this is the story that people screw up their children with...

Gaius Baltar

I am a tad irritated about what BSG is doing with Gaius Baltar right now. This new riff that shows him as an emerging spiritual leader to colonies. I hope they are going to get somewhere with it soon.

Email forwards gone bad

So my dad's wife sends me forwards. Lots and lots of forwards. Mostly about supporting the troops. Sometimes they are jokey and sometimes "a touching story about a little boy who...." Often they are emails about John McCain or how Republicans are the heroes who save the day.
I just delete them and go about my day. But today, I got irritated. See, she sent one email soiling Michelle Obama and another bashing Barack.
Look, I wouldn't ever share my political views with her except for the fact that she seems to think that it is quite alright to send me forward after forward damning the democrats. So this time, I shot a quickie back that calmly stated, "I'm not offended," I said, "but you ought to know that we support Obama." I even ended it with a smiley face. :)
My hope was that perhaps at the very least, she would remove my name from her email list. At the very most, I was hoping for an "oh, I beg your pardon."

Instead, I got this weird email telling me how surprised she is - especially coming from someone who "holds the bible so dear".
Then proceeded to talk about the financial implications of the Democrats being in power and how it basically lays to ruin everything she and my dad have worked for their whole lives.

She ended with "These are the reasons me and your dad are seeking permanent residence elsewhere". BTW, they just bought property in New Zealand.

Does being a republican automatically make you a Christian?
Does being a democrat automatically disqualify you for heaven?
Does my voting for Barack mean the take-down of all my folks have lived for?
Is it my support for Obama that has driven them to move to the opposite side of planet earth?

Pam.

Which Office Character Are You?
	You are Pam. You are sweet and likable, but your shyness makes it hard for you to express yourself sometimes. Regardless, you are always there for your friends and will usually come out of your shell to help anyone.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Eternally Yours

I was sitting in a group recently, discussing the book of Colossians. Rather than moving throughout the rich, life-giving, -gems to live by- sections of the text, one person pointed out a concern - - then the entire rest of the time was spent in circles.
Someone brought up Paul's statement, "The Gospel has been preached throughout the world".
"Clearly", she pointed out, "the Gospel has not been preached to the entire world". Thus, you guessed it, we talked for an hour about salvation, and what about people who never heard about Christ, and Christianity is exclusive, and if God is a loving God then why would he send people to hell, and what is hell anyway.... You get the picture.

A thought came to me. I was reminded about C.S. Lewis' book The Great Divorce. I thought about how in the narrative, every person who ever lived has the opportunity to choose heaven, ie. reality and wholeness. They get on a bus, take the same route everyday, and stop at heaven's bus stop. Never to rarely do they ever choose to get off the bus and stay. But the option is always there.

And I am sure you have also heard the C.S. Lewis quote, "At the end of our lives we will say to God, Thy Will Be Done. Or God will say to us, Thy will be done."

So, Don't really know where I am going with this except to suggest, what if... just what if we were all given an eternal opportunity to choose life and reality and wholeness, - - heaven, and eternity spent with Jesus?

Why not? Is the God of the universe limited my time and mortality? Is it possible that there is a power point presentation as a person passes from this life to the next, where all is revealed and they are given a final (or eternal) choice to confess the Lordship of Jesus?

Could it be that this choice is eternally yours?

Barackattack!

My friend emailed me and asked me what I see in Barack Obama. This is what I wrote back. I'm sure I have more to add - but this is a start...

He is the visionary leader that this country desperately needs.
He wants to change the way Washington is run.
I have heard him say with his own mouth that he is a Christian believer and a follower of Jesus Christ.
He wants to work toward universal health care. ((have you seen the movie Sicko?))
The liberals seem to care more about the poor, the environment and energy.
He was against the iraq war from the beginning.

Unfortunately, Barack is pro abortion as well as pro-stem cell research experiementation on human embryos.
We are for life.

For us, we had to come to the realization that there is no perfect candidate. But there is a best candidate. And I think this country is ready for a fresh breath of creative leadership.
Sure he is young. I know he has few legislative accomplishments under his belt (he is a junior senator). But he is intelligent, articulate, authentic and married to the same woman since 1992. PS, Michelle Obama is a strong, intelligent woman and they have two young daughters (6, 11) who I have watched footage of Barack showing physical affection to. He is a loving dad.

storypeople

When I die, she said, I'm coming back as a tree with deep roots & I'll wave my leaves at the children every morning on their way to school & whisper tree songs at night in their dreams.
Trees with deep roots know about the things children need.

Community?

There is so much talk about community. I have been pondering community lately. I am a person that pursues others and enjoys friendships. I would describe myself as an emotionally healthy person with much to share in relationship. So you would think that entering into community would be easy for me.
For some reason, since I have been in Lawrence, I have felt disconnected and margined. Oh, I will be fine.
My concern with this is that if I am feeling this, how much more are others feeling it? Others who don't know Jesus, others who have failing marriages, others who have estranged family, others who just moved to town....

Everyday I think, "I should go over there and introduce myself." Or I say to Creighton, "We should have so and so over for dinner and playtime (kids)."

And then I do nothing of the sort.

I simply go in my house, close my garage door, make dinner for my kids, check email/facebook, call my sister or my dallas friends, and call it a day.

Obsession De Jour

Flight of the Conchords

Kids in church

In a real-life actual conversation I recently had with a local pastor, the topic of children in church came up. I kid you not, the pastor said, and I quote, "Kids these days need to learn how to sit in worship just like their parents and grandparents did. That includes gum and candy and crayons and books - whatever it takes."
Because the conversation had to end abruptly, I asked if we could continue this conversation at another time.

I want to filter through my thoughts about it here.

1. "Sitting in worship" does not equal worship.
Children have a completely different capacity for learning than adults do. Our droning on with words and more words- prayers, liturgies, sermons, announcements - fails miserably to connect with the heart of a child. To force a child to sit quietly for an hour + is not fostering in them a love for worship. And I doubt the child is actually worshipping.
2. "Gum, candy, crayons and books - whatever it takes", does not help the situation.
This type of tactic makes absolutely no sense to me. Not only does it say, "we know that we have nothing to offer the child, so just try to keep them quiet". But it also says, "Mom and Dad, you will also get nothing out of the service because you will be spending the bulk of your time just trying to keep them quiet".
3. "These days" are no longer those days.
Does this pastor seriously think that the way our (current parents of young children - because that is what he meant by "their") parents and grandparents did it is the time-tested and perfected way of doing things? Newsflash. We no longer have a cultural obligation to go to church. We would rather spend quality time with the kids at home than take them to a place where they will gain and learn nothing. Half the time I wonder if I am gaining and learning anything! If a pastor cares about evangelism, he/she will put themselves into the shoes of a potential visitor and try to imagine what the worship experience might be like now, today, 2008. For most...for many...ok, I will speak for myself: If I visit your church, and you force my 6, 4 and 2 year old to sit in the service with me, I will turn around and walk out. Straight talk. NONE of us will get anything out of it - myself most of all. And I will probably only leave there either mad at my children, mad at the church or mad at myself because I am a terrible parent who has no control over her children.

Carrotmob

Worthy!
Please check this out and keep yourself informed on progress at carrotmob.org


Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

Our first "hide in the basement because of a tornado" experience

We have lived in Kansas for nearly two years. This is the first time we have actually snatched sleeping children out of their beds and raced down to the basement.
It was around 1:30 a.m. We were still awake because we had hosted an end of the year dinner for the Wesley students. Oh, and because it was Thursday and on Thursdays we have to stay up and watch "The Office" and "Lost".
So as I was saying. It was around 1:30 a.m. We were heading up to bed we heard a noise so freakishly loud we thought our house was going to blow down. I shouted to Creighton, "grab some kids!" I got Cosmo and ran down to the basement and Creighton was right behind me with the other two.
We waited out the storm in the bathtub of the bathroom of the playroom, watching weather updates on the laptop.
Our house remained standing, praise God. However, we lost 1/3 of our fence and part of our fort!
The updated weather info confirmed that there was actually a tornado in our area, but it did not do any significant or life-threatening damage.

It sure was scary though!

Guess I need a job

Wow. We came to Kansas with the funding for my position all secure (I have been supported for the last 4 years by a foundation grant). They have informed us that due to an unforeseen decrease in giving, they can no longer continue said funding. :(

It sucks because now I have to find a job!

Perhaps I am done with church work.

Goliath Takedown

As the spring semester comes to a close, I want to give a shout out to Creighton for his mad video skills. Not only is he a fabulous preacher and leader - but he is a movie producer as well!

Our series this semester at Wesley was called iHuman. The life of David.

You can't talk about David without mentioning his valiant Goliath Takedown, so to bulwark the nigh, we put this video together. Enjoy!

Biblical Fidelity

The more I read scripture, the less I understand. The closer I get, the less familiar I become. I am committed to biblical fidelity, I'm just saying - I am kindof in a funk with the Word these days.
I would never break up, its just.... we need to clarify some things here. I need a DTR.

Who Made God?

It seems like there has been a trend in my life group this past year. A trend toward questions - tough ones. I have loved that we used -just the bible- for our discussion text the entire school year. However, as we read through the Gospels and other eye-witness accounts of Jesus, we always ended up with more questions than answers. For our Summer reading, the girls have selected an interesting book. Ravi Zacharias has co-penned a book called Who Made God? And Answers To Over 100 Other Tough Questions Of Faith.
I am really looking forward to exploring questions with them. I relish their honesty and the beautiful balance of their passionate pursuit of God and vulnerability about their questions.

Promo Video for Life Group Leaders

Mario is my hero!

It was an amazing last second shot. Chalmers kept his cool and threw up a three pointer to tie the game and send us into overtime. This was the momentum Kansas needed to gain composure and take the championship for 2008!!
3 cheers for Mario!!

Our visit with Nana

Nana (Creighton's mom) has been with us for a week. What a blessing. She came so that we could go on our marriage retreat and not worry about getting babysitters together for our time away.
I realize that I have begun to "lighten up" about her visits and just be thankful.

You see, she comes into my house and critiques my cleaning practices and my parenting skills. She makes comments about my cooking (or lack thereof) and my laundry (or mammoth piles thereof). She lets my children watch TV 24/7 and brings them movies, half of which I do not approve of. She cooks 4 course meals and makes everyone clean their plates. She's bossy.

Guess what. Who cares. I just need to chill out. She loves my kids and my kids love her. She reads them books and tells them bedtime stories for an hour before bed. She takes them to play at McDonalds and buys them nuggets and ice cream. She WANTS to spend time with them and know them. She wants them to know her. She makes time to come see them.

That is what truly matters.

District Committee Interview Tomorrow!

Pray for me! My district committee interview for ordination is tomorrow - - I am not sure what to expect. Some say they could be clueless, others say they could be hostile.
God help me trust you and place my work in ministry into your hands. I know that I am called to serve you whether a committee tells me so or not!

I just gotta laugh

He got out of my sight for literally 3 minutes. This child is so funny. Sneaky. Curious. First, he had shimmied out of his sweatpants and diaper. When I caught his-nakedness, he was in the kitchen confiscating a banana.
I diapered him and let him loose, only to misplace him only 3 minutes later. And this is what I found him doing:

The child had poured baby powder (squirted,really) ALL over my bathroom - the tub, the sinks, the towel bin, the kid-bath-toys, and most evidently, himself.
When I walked in he said is a precious, innocent voice, "Mom, wook, a cwowd!" Translation: "Mom, look, a cloud", referring to the puff of powder that shoots out the container when squeezed.
I just had to laugh. Oh, and commense a baby powder photo shoot.

Marriage Retreat!

Creighton and I are gearing up to go on a marriage retreat in Arkansas. I can't wait!! We will be there with 7 or 8 other UM clergy couples. I don't even care what we do - I'm just ready for some uninterrupted time away with my husband!

It's a Wonderful Life Group

A shout out to the amazing women in my Wednesday night life group!

We have been studying the gospels for the whole year and I am always inspired by their insights and authenticity and relevant questions.

If you ever wonder what I am doing on Wednesday nights at 9 - - I'm with them!

Losing my "Cool"

Even as I have aged, I have, over the years, continued to value style. I have tried to stay healthy and fashionably current, and to keep some sense of youthfulness.
Well, as I exited Target today, I had an "aha" moment. Wow, it is finally happening. I am losing my cool - - - ness.

Here is how it all unfolded.

I was looking great. I had on my new Silver jeans and my sweet diesel slides. Unfortunately, while we were in Target, my 2 yr. old barfed all over both of them. Great. How hip am I? Barf all over my jeans and shoes - pushing a huge cart of groceries and a ghostly-white sick child, while barking orders at the other two. "Hurry! Stay right with me! Pick up the pace! Hustle! Heads up in the parking lot!

So I am looking down at my soiled jeans and shoes, just trying to get my 3 children to the car. And as I look at my car, I realize........I am walking toward a mini-van. Yes, I just purchased a mini-van. A mini-van! Nothing says, "I don't care about my image", like cruising up in a mini.

As if that weren't enough, I start digging around in my bag for my phone (my new i-phone GEN1 because I'm cool) and remember that at some point during my shopping experience at Target, I hooked my phone onto my belt. I kid you not. I hooked my i-phone onto my belt.

Needless to say, this is a hard pill to swallow. The pill: middle-age.

Why is it so hard for me to accept that I am no longer the bomb-digity, cool-beans, it's all good, bag of chips??

Actually, middle-age-ness is a good thing. This is a time in a persons life when they get to say, "F-U to fashion" and wear business socks with birkenstocks and cargo shorts. Hey, if "momjeans" are more comfy - go for it.

I should embrace the middle ages.

This is the understanding that practical weighs more than vogue. Comfort outlasts appearance. Utility outplays trendy. These are good things. These are good things. These are good things. These are good things. Good things. Good things.

My New I-Phone

So Creighton and I finally broke up with Sprint after a 10 year relationship. It's complicated. We had been flirting with the idea of buying i-phones - and we finally did it.
What an amazing machine. We have waited for this for so long and, Whoah. Worth the wait!
But wait. Something very bad has happened. After having my i-phone for 3 days, Cosmo Seth (bless his 2 year old heart) decided to take it for a swim. Yes, he drowned my new $400 i-phone. Dead. Completely submerged in 12 inches of bath water.

With Sprint, we always kept insurance on our phones. This is so that if anything, and I mean anything, happens to the phone, you get a replacement for $50 - no questions asked.
AT&T does not do this with the i-phone.
Apple does not do this with the i-phone.
Needless to say I have now bought TWO i-phones. And the second one will remain out of the reach of children. You think I would have learned this lesson by now, huh??

Canon's first performance

Canon had his first Kindergarten performance. He was so excited! I didn't think it was a big deal and I actually almost did not take him. It was on a Tuesday night which is our worship night. When I told Canon we would likely not be going, he started crying! You would have thought it was an Off Broadway Show! So I lucked out with a last minute babysitter and Whitby and I attended. We sat in the front row and cheered our hearts out! He did great.
I'm pretty sure the child has a future in music or acting or some other kind of entertainment.

Crisis of Vocation.

Confused.
Tharned.
Unsure.
Contemplative.
Trapped.
Frustrated.
What do I want to be when I grow up?
Wish I would win the lottery.
Wish I played the lottery.
Done.
Undone.
Wrecked.
A wreck.
Wheels off.
A mess.
A beautiful mess.
??

I finally did it.

Today, I donated to the Barack Obama campaign. Up to this point I have supported Barack verbally but i finally put my money where my mouth is. And I am really glad I did.

https://donate.barackobama.com/math

Kid Show Critic

My newest new idea: Mind you, I have a new idea about every 83 seconds, and rarely follow through with them.
I want to become a kid-show critic. I could do short videos and post them on you tube as a critic for noggin, nick jr., disney playhouse... etc.
I have seen every show and have a strong opinion about each and every one of them. Parents need my input about what shows are good, lame, artsy, fun, silly, dumb-downing, or a waste of their child's time (and brain).
I am totally going to get right on this one.

My friend Bill on the Daily Show

;