Rescue

Some days, it is just enough to make it from sun up to sun down. Some days are long and stretch you thin. And then some days are just so full of joy and light that you feel as though you may burst. Both kinds of days are blessings and I am so glad to be learning that...

I had two packages to get into the mail. One has been ready to go for about a week, but I could never quite get it together enough to make it to the post office. Today, I wrangle Cub into some clothes (he is protesting clothing these days), make myself presentable and get all the way to the post office before I realize that I left the packages at home. I sigh and shake my head at the predicament...the waste of gas, and time, and I still have to get these things mailed...

I head back to the van. Strap Cub back into the carseat. It is hot. Across the parking lot, I see a figure coming in my direction, "Hey sister-". Sure he is trying to sell me some bootleg DVD's or body oils or demo's of his latest rap album, I ignore him. It's just too hot. In the driver's seat, I look up just as he gets to my vehicle. He holds up a flyer. I smile politely as I wave and shake my head "No, thank you." (Refusal can be polite. Southern home trainin'). I pull off. But, there was a Cross on that flyer. The struggle lasts about 3 seconds and I turn the van around, pull up beside him and roll my window down. "I saw the cross on the flyer..." I say. He gives me a big smile and tells me why he is standing in this parking lot in 90 degree weather. His life had been going nowhere. He used to be a drug dealer. When he'd gotten out of jail, he'd had no place to go. Somebody saw him on the street one day. A pastor. "I was driving through this neighborhood and saw you standing there. You got any place to go?" the pastor asked. "No." was the reply. "I have a place for you, if you want. Here's my number. You can call me." As night was coming on, the young man tells me, he made the call. And the pastor came immediately. "It is amazing what just a shower, some clean clothes and a shave will do for someone.", the young man tells me. He talks about the ministry, but even more than what he is saying I see an honest and clear person before me...I can see what love does to people. I put money in his plastic bucket. He gives me a flyer. And then I notice a woman asking for this ministry too. She is sweating. I drive back and purchase some bottles of water. "Stay hydrated." I tell them and they were grateful for the water. Cub and I go home.

Last week, a scripture came to mind and impacted me in a really new way. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10. Yeshua said that he came to seek and save the lost (The same words are in Matthew 18:11). I have always focused on the "save" part, but never the "seek" part. The pastor who rescued the young man I met was out seeking the lost. The rescued ones were in turn out seeking those who were ready to come in from the cold and those who want to help. And as I looked over the flyer, Luke 19:10 was printed at the bottom. I could have cried.

Love is active. It has no time for judgement or lectures. It is busy going about rescuing and sending people on the way of peace. This makes me so happy. Sometimes, love is what stretches you thin, but oh if it doesn't fill you with the greatest joy too!!! Photo above taken by Mary Chind

When the Gang's All Here

I love it when my family comes to visit. We all live in different cities...from New York, NY all the way down to Savannah, GA. There is so much magic, so much beauty when you are spending time around the people who have loved you and known you all your life. Even through hard times the thread of love between us is a life line...we get together, we cook, we argue, we laugh, we make each other mad, we forgive each other, we serve each other, we get to know each other, counsel each other, encourage each other, make allowances for each other...and we understand each other; even when we run out of words. My family has taught me this...love is life, service is joy, and honesty is a gift. Simple and amazing and wonderful and I don't take the moments we have together for granted. I am so grateful...

Do Over

So, I am making a large rug for my living room by stitching together several smaller ones. I will tell about this project in another post...but right now, I want to talk about something else. I stitched together 9 rugs. It has been time consuming and a bit laborious-not in a bad way, but it has taken time. Yesterday, when I had finally knotted the stitch on the last one, I was so very excited-until I opened up my fold and realized that I had stitched the very last one on backwards. All my knot work and loose threads were showing on the face of my rug. My first thought after the initially disappointing realization was "I wonder if it will look bad if I just leave it like that." I flipped the rug back and forth, squinting a little, tucking in knots and threads, trying to make the obvious defect seem "not quite so bad." I finally decided that the best thing to do, indeed what must be done was to unstitch that last rug and sew it back properly. I was less than eager as I sat down today with my scissors to undo my previous work. But as I worked two things became clear to me...how often our spiritual lives are just like this. It is so very important what we do in a moment. I am a firm believer in Grace. I cling to the love and mercy of my Abba in heaven. I know that He understands me and He forgives and cleanses away my mistakes, my sins. But I think it can become easy to mistake grace for no consequence. But there is always a consequence...it's physics. And though we can always ask for forgiveness (and of course, we are going to need to in life), there is something to be said for not having to. It is so much better to hold our tongue and keep our peace than to go back and apologize for words or deeds that can't be taken back. The time and materials I used yesterday are gone and I cannot recall them. We should strive to do things the right way the first time and thank YHVH for grace when we do not. And the second thing I realized was how instant and natural the desire to cover over a mistake instead of rectifying it. How soon do we learn this? What makes us so...lazy? I am glad I have decided to fix my mistake. Even if no one else noticed it, I would always have known it was there and leaving it would have cheapened all my other labor...the hundreds of correct stitches I made. It is not fun to go back and try to fix a problem you have made. But acknowledgement and effort bring a freshening and a maturity that is really impossible to come by any other way. Long one short; life, time, materials, relationships-be careful with them. Stay open and have the humility and the strength to try to ammend your mistakes. I think remembering these two things will make for a much sweeter life. Definitly better looking, homemade rugs!

While Cub Sleeps

Who Is My Neighbor?

Have you ever heard of "intentional communities"? Neither had I, until recently, when a friend of mine introduced me to the concept. Intentional communities are made up of people who are convicted to live a life of voluntary service in and among the poor and disadvantaged. It is far beyond charity, it is pure relationship. There is such a community in the city where I live, and yesterday, my friend invited me to come and see for myself, what it was all about. Friday nights are for community meals. So, between getting my house cleaned, doing my laundry and getting Cub down for his nap (twice) I managed to bake a batch of cookies and google directions to where I needed to be. From the address, I knew that it was in a "sketch" part of town. And when I pulled past the place, looking for a parking space, I have to say my first thought was "What the h-e-double hockey sticks am I doing here??" All I saw were faces of people, with whom, it seemed obvious, that I had little in common with. I got out of my van, slipped cub into my sling, grabbed my plate of cookies and set off down the sidewalk. I felt very awkward as I approached the house. I scanned the yard quickly for my friend. I did not see him and so I decided that the best thing to do was to make myself at home. I introduced myself to a lady named Joanie...she and her husband with their young children have made the decision to follow what they believe to be the call of God on their lives and live in a place and among people that are very different from their own culture, ethnicity and social background. And then there was a man there, with a beautiful little girl and he knew me from my days working in a health food store. It didn't take long for me to feel that I was among familiar people...that common ground is as easy to find as saying "hello". I ate good food, met good people, had a good time talking about scripture, gardens, chickens, backgrounds. I stayed there, with my friends, old a new, until it started to rain. Cub and I walked back down the sidewalk, got back in our van and drove back to our world. Back under our own roof and our four walls I felt a happiness knowing that "mission work" isn't always about traveling to some far away country. Sometimes the people who need to be reached are as close as the neighborhood you don't want to drive through and the person to change the most is the one in your bathroom mirror.

http://hyaets.org/about.html

"Unfurnished"

Starting my garden this year has taught me several important lessons, one of them being to make a plan and get started on it early. So, here, in the middle of July, I am trying to work out a plan for making Cub a quilt. I wanted to use some of his baby clothes, my worn nursing and pregnancy clothes and other such nostalgic fabrics. It is pretty ambitious for me...but another thing I have learned from gardening is that difficulty or inexperience are not always good reasons to not DIVE RIGHT IN! So, I have looked at several styles and patterns and I think I've settled on the one above. It is called "Unfurnished" and was designed by Ashley Williamson of Film in the Fridge for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. I love it! It is so lively and geometric. It is everything I think a quilt should be yet there's nothing, hmmm, grandma, about it (no offense Nana). And I think it will grow with Cub. What do you think? Where my quilters at? I am gonna' need some advice, I am sure! Check out more ideas here: http://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/

Slow Down

I am very much over my cell phone. Texting is wonderful and I admit that there is a certain sense of security in knowing that I have an instant and portable means of communication...but, maybe I want to send and receive a letter in the mail...maybe I want to remember phone numbers by heart. Maybe I want to sit in one spot and have a conversation without multitasking with a 3"x 4" pc of hot, radiating plastic stuck to my ear...maybe I want to take my time and appreciate yours just a little better...maybe...I will get one of those rotary phones, with a real ring instead of those dinky electronic beats...now wouldn't that be nice. Brrring-ring-ring! "It's the good life calling to tell you to slow down." :)