friday on foot… a lesson in good gifts

I spent a lovely Friday morning on foot.

When I woke up and made a little sense out of my task list for the day, I realized I could get all of my errands done right here in my own little town… and on foot.  What a treat!  That isn’t always possible since I live in a place where the standard mode of transport — especially during winter — is the car.

But you miss so much when you’re driving around.  The tendency during this season of Advent is to be too busy, running around as fast as you can checking things of the ever-growing “to do” list.  I’m not a big fan of feeling that way, but I have the great ability to create that kind of environment around me if I don’t deliberately find ways to slow things down.

Getting out of the car is a great way to slow things down!

I first walked over to the Post Office to mail a Christmas package.  The line was definitely longer than usual, and a considerate gentleman offered to give a very impatient lady the two stamps she needed so she wouldn’t have to wait in the line to buy a whole pack.  She protested so loudly that everyone turned her way to listen to how she couldn’t possibly take the two stamps and take advantage of his generosity.

Pride is such a spectacle, isn’t it?  As detestable as it is, why is it so hard to recognize it in our own lives?  We are all prone to it.  Apart from Christ, it is who we are.

She finally accepted the “free” stamps, attempting many times to pay the man in return for the gift.  Her gratitude was somewhat reluctant.  And aren’t we sometimes that way with Christ?  Reluctantly accepting His gifts and vowing to find a way to pay Him back… as if we ever could.  The price of Grace has already been paid.

I left the Post Office and walked up past the town Christmas Tree to the Bank and the Library and back down through the Village Green to the local Toy Store.

I remembered that I still needed a couple of teacher gifts, so I walked in.  What a fun little store!  It was full of color, noise, life and whimsy.  I found the two gifts I needed and made my way to the counter to pay.  The ladies working in the store cheerfully wrapped my two packages.

The colorful packages beg to be opened, and my children have already tried.  But not all gifts look that pretty.  Sometimes gifts come wrapped in lovely or whimsical paper with shiny, curly bows.  Other times they are wrapped in burial cloths, stains, and heartache.  In Christ though, they are all gifts.

Difficult to comprehend, but true nonetheless.

Of His many gifts to me this year, many have been wrapped in less than desirable packaging — in mediocrity, in discipline, in struggle, in death, in pain.  Yet in Christ, they are precious.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming own from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

James 1:17

Before walking home, I stopped into the neighborhood bistro for a bowl of soup and cup of coffee.  I sat at a little wooden table nestled between an open window and the crackling fireplace.  Between bites of soup, sips of coffee, and words on the Kindle, I lost track of time and nearly forgot to pick up my children from school.

A twinge of guilt came upon me.  Who am I to have the ability to spend my time so leisurely?  And then in my spirit I heard His voice saying, “Sit still for a bit.  This is my gift to you, one that you should not let your pride or expectations steal away.  I’ve already paid the bill, so that you are free to enjoy Me every moment of every day for all of eternity!”

kingdom come

My children and I always talk about how we live in an Upside Down Kingdom. (Any other Ann Voskamp readers out there?)

Life here on earth doesn’t look very much like God’s Kingdom unless we, the ones who love Him, live upside down lives. Lives where the least is the greatest, the humble are lifted up, the poor are rich, the last are first, the servants are the leaders.

When someone cuts in front of you in the lunch line at school, God’s Kingdom comes when, instead of being angry, you extend grace to the other person and then delight because in Christ being last in line never means being last.

I meet a lot of people here who remind me that while the Kingdom of God is coming one day when Christ returns, it is also coming today when the lovers of Jesus stand and serve one another, manifesting His love and grace to those who need it. And don’t we all need it?

Yesterday as the men met together planning and dreaming of what God may do in Mukono, a woman named Betty worked long and hard preparing a delicious meal for a school full of children, the workers at the church, her own family, and us.

She didn’t order a pizza or warm up something in the microwave. You can’t do that here. Instead she stirred large pots of beans and rice and sweet potatoes and matooke and pumpkin.

She roasted chicken and made stew over little charcoal fires in a building off to the side of her house.

She worked for hours on this one single meal, and to her side was her 2-month old baby, Peter.

I watched her wipe the sweat from her brow. I wanted desperately to jump in and help her cook, but I didn’t how to do it the way she does. So I cradled little Peter and we talked about how similar our lives are despite how different our cultures are.

And we talked about how different are lives are because we do come from different cultures.

But in Christ, we are sisters, a connection that not even the fiercest powers on earth can separate.

She stirred, I swayed with Peter. The servant was the leader and I watched the Kingdom Coming.

And I begged God to let His Kingdom come in me and through me…

“Your mercy come
Your justice come
Your will be done through us on earth
Your healing come
Your peace will come
Your will be done through us on earth.”

~Shaun Groves, Kingdom Coming

edited, originally posted here.

 

returning.

My husband and I returned from our trip to Africa last week.  Returning always causes me to go through an adjustment phase… a new normal seems to form.  And this time, the wicked combination of jet lag and Daylight Savings coming to an end has left me feeling particularly tired.  Please don’t laugh if I tell you that I can’t seem to stay awake past 9 p.m. these days.

Despite the fatigue, I am slowly returning to my usual rhythm of life… for instance

• One morning this week I woke up and realized that Thanksgiving is next week… wow!  I love Thanksgiving… it’s easily one of my favorite holidays!  We are having some dear friends over for Thanksgiving dinner this year which excites me greatly, and I am looking forward to cooking up a feast, but I probably ought to schedule a trip to the market…soon!

• And then, of course, Christmas is around the corner.  I began my gift shopping yesterday because I am NOT the girl who loves to shop with the crowds.  Normally, I would be finished with the bulk of my gift buying by now, but the trip to Uganda set me back a little.  I feel less frazzled and slightly more put together  knowing that I have at least “started” the process.

• I’ve also been finalizing my Project 333 Winter Wardrobe, which I guess will technically start up on December 1st.  My Fall Project 333 Wardrobe was so useful that I’ve decided to keep it going.  I’ve actually had to purchase a couple of new items for Winter — a simple black dress for those winter parties, a new winter dress coat because my old had just gotten way too big, and some boots because ballet flats just don’t make the cut in an Ohio winter!  Overall, I LOVE this new found wardrobe simplicity!

If there is one theme that is reinforced every time I travel to Uganda, it is this:  Less is often much, much more!  It is so easy to complicate everything we do — indeed, everything we are — but we don’t have to live life with such a fast-paced, consumeristic, multitasking mindset.  We don’t have to buy more, do more, or eat more to enjoy the perfection, and true purpose, of this season.  It’s probably very good, and by His design, that this is fresh on my mind as we go into the holiday season with it’s tendencies towards abundance and indulgence.

Sometimes keeping life simple, small, and singularly focused is infinitely more pleasant and can make a far deeper impact.

Small isn’t what keeps us from that grand vision.

Small is what keeps us for that grand vision.

~ Lysa TerKeurst

“Don’t Despise the Small”

fighting for slow.

hush away the hurry
put to rest the worry
come to quell and quiet me
in this moment given
slow and fully live it
drink up all the passing peace

Shaun Groves ● “Awake my Soul” ● from his album Third World Symphony

I feel like I’m fighting for slow.  There are only 18 days until we leave for Uganda, and still many tasks remain before our feet can step onto that plane.  Things like legal documents, malaria medications, instructions for my wonderful parents who will be taking care of my kids, preparing ministry bags, getting my camera & computer equipment ready, collecting notes, cards, and photos for the 172 sponsored children we will be meeting.  Much has been done, but much still is left to do.

But I don’t want to rush.  Not in Autumn.  Not ever, really.  I like a slow pace where days are filled with work, reflection, and ritual… where there is space between the work… where life is intentional and authentic and I have time to think and gaze and be.  And sip coffee.

I keep listening to Shaun Groves’ new album, Third World Symphony, and I always seem to repeat that fifth track — Awake My Soul.  The lyrics grip me… “hush away the hurry… put to rest the worry… come to quell and quiet me… in this moment given… slow and fully live it.”

And that is what I keep asking of God —

… that He would keep my eyes open wide, fixed on Him in this moment
… that He would help me pace myself
… that I would drink up all of His passing peace
… that I would be able to look around me at this amazing season and soak in the sights, sounds, smells

If you have a little more than 4 minutes to slow down today, this video, with excerpts from Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts, emphasizes the beauty and importance of the moments of our lives.

I just may take the long plane ride to Uganda to re-read this book.

celebrating seven.

Seven years ago I found myself caught up in His whirlwind, circumstances swirling me around and around.  But God had a plan for me… for our family.  When the wind stopped, we found everything we owned packed up into an eighteen-wheeler bound for the Midwest.  We took our time getting up here, saying good-bye to family and friends along the way, slowly inching our way to what would become our new home.

I can’t say that I went rejoicing.  I didn’t want to leave Houston.  Texas is where we began.  It’s where I thought we’d stay.  It’s where we had built our house… the one we had planned to raise our family in.  It’s where we added the auburn headed little boy, making us three.  And it was much closer to my hometown in Louisiana.

But God is wise, and His ways are higher than our ways.  He sees the entire picture… He created it.  So seven years ago I packed up my life and left behind a career as a chemical engineer, the house that we’d built, many friends that were dear, a church that felt like a home, and the little comforts in life like Bluebell Ice Cream, Community Coffee, and Lupe Tortillas!

When we arrived at the little Cape Cod in Ohio, we were relieved to have the ordeal behind us… to finally all be together in the same town.  We were willing to begin again.

And moving to Ohio was the catalyst for a lot of beginnings.  Far from our families, far from our friends, far from our church home.  Everything started over.  New places, new people, new food, new words, new ministries, new ways of looking at life… a new culture entirely!  One that (at the time) was noticeably void of sweet tea and Southern hospitality!  Since then, Chick-fil-A has moved in and with them came both sweet tea and a glimpse of Southern hospitality!

I’m not sure I’ll ever feel like I am “from” Ohio… I’m a Southern girl!  And no matter how long I live here, I am afraid my Louisiana roots will cause me to stick out a bit.  But with gratefulness to God, I gladly call it “home” for now…

I’ve gained significantly by living in Ohio, and it’s a place I’ve grown to love.  In fact, I wouldn’t trade an October in Ohio for a bowl of Bluebell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream… and that is saying A LOT!

______________________

about the Photo ::

Ohio is a beautiful state in its Midwestern farmland-like way.  Sometimes we head out of the city into rural Ohio, and there we are met with rolling hills, pastures, and acres and acres of farmland.  This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago when the kids and I took a drive and happened upon a Strawberry Patch.  We grabbed a basket and headed out into the fields to pick berries for jam.  Alongside an elderly couple and a group of Amish Teenage boys, we enjoyed the warm sun, gorgeous blue sky with it’s puffy clouds, and some pretty tasty strawberries!  If you look closely at the picture, you can see the Amish boys, small against the vast Ohio farmland.

days that flee.

School is out.  The sun lingers long in the Midwestern sky.  Children play outside until darkness forces them in.  The windows are open, fresh air spilling into the little Cape Cod that we dwell in.  The camera stands ready, preserving the days that flee too fast.

There are so many things to be thankful for today… so many things that tell of His grace, His mercy, His love for us.

• Like the beautiful… amazingly cool… invigorating weather!  It’s my favorite kind, and at this time of the year, it’s a gift!

• Like catching up with a good friend… rekindling a friendship that we’d both inadvertently let slip into mere acquaintance… asking for His grace to be more intentional as days move on.

• Like finally being able to order that lens that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time… It should be arriving today, and I’m ready to play with it!

• Like picking berries in bright green fields and turning them into sweet homemade jam.

• Like talking the little ones into shaking jars of cream so that the homemade jam can be paired with homemade butter on fresh baked bread.

• Like leaving the city, driving long into the countryside to play… to explore the state we now call home

Here’s to Him for giving such a lovely week… to happiness in the details… to extravagant grace in the ordinary days of life…

the little notebook

“Ideas can come from anywhere and at any time.  The problem with making mental notes is that the ink fades very rapidly.”
~ Rolf Smith

Do you carry around a notebook?  Capture ideas on-the-go?  Use the Evernote iPhone app?  That’s a good one, huh!  Maybe you’re a Moleskine fan?  Or a back-of-the-napkin type?

For me, capturing the thoughts & ideas that float across my mind over the course of a day is important.  I’m very forgetful.  I usually don’t the have the ability in the very moment the idea hits to process the thought completely.  After all, there is always some little person who needs something at exactly the same moment revelation strikes.  I kid you not.  But that is everyday grace, isn’t it?

So I carry around a notebook… nearly everywhere I go… to jot down thoughts, quotes, ideas, shopping lists, etc.

The new camera bag is brilliant, and I am quite pleased with how well it is working for me.  I am actually carrying that camera everywhere… which was entire point of getting the bag, right?

However, there isn’t an empty space large enough to fit the notebook I normally carry around, so while I was in the store yesterday, I went looking for a smaller substitute.

After quickly browsing the “notebook” aisle, I found a few that would work – including the famous Moleskines – but I couldn’t pass up on these:

They remind me of the places I’ve been.  Not that I want to be somewhere else right now.  I like where I am.  It’s where God has me and it’s full of His grace.  But once-upon-a-time — before my name changed to “Mom” — I travelled all around the world, saw all of these famous landmarks.  Now my life flutters within about a 5-mile radius, and it’s even more adventurous than the days of planes, trains, hotels, and business associates in far off cities.

That’s how His grace works, isn’t it?  In Christ, the greatest adventures in life occur when we are walking in His presence in obedience to Him.  We can be content with the present — resting daily in Him — right where we are because “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

And in His presence there is fullness of joy!  No lack.

We can dream His dreams for us… desire His desires… pursue His purposes.  And He is the adventure… He is the reward.

The notebooks came in a pack of three — London, Paris, and New York.  Part of me did wish they had one for Kampala.