Thursday, February 21, 2008

Righteously indignant and a little pissed off...?

I think I've just found my unofficial calling.  I've tried a few different kinds of ministries, and for all kinds of reasons, they've never been a match.  But now, I think I've finally discovered the people group that I am specifically called to minister to in an unofficial way:  those shunned, disrespected, thrown-out-of-for-some-ridiculous-reason, offended by, or just not loved by the organized church.  

Just yesterday I received two emails from people I love telling me stories of how the church, "God's" people, have trashed and thrashed them.  Any of you who know me know that I don't get all that many emails on any sort of regular basis, so to get two in one day is fairly significant, but the fact that they both told the same story just really irritates me.  How did the church come to this?!?  Where do we get off telling anyone that they are not worthy of God?  How can we possibly talk about love when we are so judgmental?!?  We are the epitome of hypocrisy when we talk about acceptance and grace, but we only let certain types of people into our little cliques.  Are we so pure that we can claim, just like the pharisees and sadducees of Jesus' time that we don't need grace because we follow all the right rules?

Here's what I think:  I'm just as messed up as the next guy, depending on the day, maybe even more so.  I put on a happy face when in my head I am saying terrible things about my coworkers.  I think things that I am too embarrassed to admit.  Sure I don't act on them, but I think, and Jesus backs me up on this one, that thinking the act is the same thing, maybe worse.  Some would say, "well at least your not acting on those thoughts," but in all actuality, aren't I the worst of the hypocrites?  I can't even be honest enough with myself and those around me to admit my thoughts; at least if I did act on them, I'd have the gaul to admit my problems, I'd have the audacity to claim honesty in my life, instead of this duality.  So if I'm just as bad, guilty, sinful if you insist on Christianease, I think I should work on loving, celebrating the good in, and welcoming all those around me, saved or otherwise.  I think this is the meaning of grace.  When God calls us to be in his image, to give grace as He gives grace, I'm pretty sure He's not telling us that we're all that great; I'm pretty sure that in fact He's slamming us in the most appropriate way:  He's telling us that in the same way He gives us grace when we don't deserve it, every time we don't deserve it, that we should extend the same undeserved grace to those around us.  We are pathetic, grasping, undeserving people, every day, all the time.  But He choses to overlook that; the Creator of the universe choses to look only at the potential good in us: our choice to admit our wrongs and claim the only thing that could save us.

This is my mission field:  those who have been abandoned by those who have no excuse for not loving, for not giving grace.  And I'd rather swing towards the liberal in my acceptance than ever be accused of being judgmental or hypocritical; I would rather take the chance and not be right, then not give the chance at all...  I chose love and grace.  

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Jake's almost laughing...

Let's see if we can get this video to work...  It's well worth the wait if we can!

There and back again...

So I did a little traveling recently.  Hoped a flight to Hawaii to spend some time with the Cudas and meet my nephew Jake, born just before Thanksgiving.  Yeah, I'm pretty much a spoiled brat, I get to go to Hawaii in the middle of February in Minnesota.  People don't understand though:  most people go to Wisconsin or Iowa to visit family; I have to go a little farther, but it does so happen to be a most popular vacation site!  Don't worry, it rained half the time I was there, if that makes you all feel any better.
I flew in on Tuesday, met up with Mom (Nanny Grandma), Heather (who decided that she needed a little break from Korea and all her students, and who also decided it was time for a good dose of vitamin D), my Dad (who just doesn't like to be left out of any family gathering, regardless of where it's located), Mandy, Scott, and Jake.  

It's funny, people always want to know what I did while I was in Hawaii...  Well, what do you do when you go see your family?  We sat around, talked a lot, played cards, watched
 "Lost," oohed and aahed at Jake, ate lots of food, and I guess I did find my way down to the beach a couple
 of times, but mostly just to sit and watch the sun rise (that whole 4 hour time difference can be a killer).  Here's Mandy and Jake hanging out after she got home from work one day...  And Dad and Jake at the beach...  And Heather and Dad at a yummy Mexican restaurant in Kailua...  And my Mom and I driving the Z... okay, not actually driving at that instance, we were parked in the driveway, but we had been driving, and we were still sitting in it ;)

Jake is so amazing.  So he's about 3 months old now, and he's definitely smiling, but he's not quite laughing; he's "aahing!" but not quite giggling.  And he totally reacts to Mandy.  I got this great video clip, that if blogger will let me, I'll try to post, where he kinda smiles at me, I get a little bit of a reaction, but then he looks over at Mandy, and this huge grin spreads across his face, he shows off his adorable dimples, and he just about wets
 himself he's so pleased to recognize her.  He's such a good baby, he's sleeping so well, eats so
 well, lets just about anyone hold him, and he 
hardly ever cries.  It's strange, I've never been a
 baby person, I was never the sister that babysat, in fact all my sisters hung out with kids way more than me, but I love being an auntie.  And I think I'll love it even more as they all get 
bigger!

I flew out from Hawaii Sunday night, and I flew into Portland, OR Monday morning (again that crazy time change thing...)  Kate, Finn, and
 brand-new baby Henry met me at the airport.
  James and Kate are sort
 of hilarious in this aspect:  they seem to take great pride in having their kids out and about, farther and farther, earlier and earlier.  We joked about how Finn had been in 11 states by the time he was 6 months old, or something like that.  Well, Henry had been out and about almost every day since he was born; I met him at the airport when he was four days old!  I haven't spent much time with newborns, in fact hardly any at all, so it was amazing, and very educational to spend those three days with the Rohls.  Here's Kate and Henry; looking pretty amazing for having just given birth and just being born!!  Henry is adorable, not in the direct way that slightly older babies are, but in the 
wrinkly-old-man sort of way.  And I don't mean that as an insult at all; he's quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen, but more so because he's so small (not literally, he weighed over 9 lbs when he was born) and warm and smooshy and bean-like; he doesn't even stretch his legs out yet, he's all compact and soft, and half the time, it took everything in me not to scoop him up every second.  I love older babies because they interact
 so much more, but there is something about a newborn...  Does this make sense to any one other than me?   Here's Auntie Meg and Finn, hanging in the living room, sipping some juice...

James and Finn are a hoot together too.  James is a great dad (here he is below with Henry), and Finn is growing into quite the little character!  James posted a little video I happened to catch on the camera on YouTube; if you search "Finn Oh Man," you should be able to find it, it's hilarious!!  Finn is walking,
 running, playing, talking quite a bit, and comprehending way more.  He's great fun, and he
 makes you feel pretty special, that you're the best auntie ever, though I'm pretty sure he makes all his aunties feel like that!  A true ladies' man, in the best sort of way:  already knows how to make you feel like you're the best!
So yeah, five days in Hawaii, three days in Portland, all went by too fast.  But time with family is always a blast, and with all these new people hanging around, it's always a great adventure!  

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

For those with cats...


This video reminds me of Linus (and Sally). Meg wanted me to post it---it was sent to me via email, and I have no idea who did this cartoon.