We interrupt the otherwise significant, thought provoking programming to bring you this.
Just because.
Archives for July 2014
Accountability
I’ve heard it said pray until you pray. There’s no time requirement, no special number of minutes or verbiage that must be used. But, there is something to praying until you find yourself really praying, not just stringing words together but actually communing with God. You can apply the same principle to studying God’s word—study until you learn something.
Here’s the thing.
I’m so bad at that.
I do. I’m much better at doing than being, at list making than peace making. So, this summer, I asked some peeps for some help.
Help. Please hold me accountable. I’m on summer vacation but I don’t want a vacation from God. And, making me feel way less isolated and unable, they wanted help too.
Every Wednesday morning at 6:30am, 7 ladies meet for coffee (and maybe sometimes donuts). We sit in the corner of a Dunkin Donuts and share.
Did you read this week what you told us you were reading?
Share one thing you actually absorbed from it, one thing that stuck with you, one thing that you remembered after you stood up from where you sat reading.
And, it’s working. Knowing that we are gathering midweek and reporting to our sisters is enough to hold us accountable and keep us on that path of walking with Him and not on our own which we silly ewes tend to do. There’s no preaching to each other—our lessons shared are sometimes deep theological truths that are hard to explain or very simple Sunday School ones like Jesus period. It doesn’t matter what they are as much as the fact that they stuck, that we didn’t get up from our comfy spot to fix cereal for our kids and then forget all about the time we spent with our Maker. And, there’s no judgment at all when someone says, “I didn’t open my Bible at all this week” or “I just can’t believe in prayer.” No one gasps or shakes their head. Instead, we listen and then we say in one way or another: We accept you where you are because He accepts you where you are. But, we aren’t going to leave you there because He doesn’t want to leave you there. Where do you want to be next week?
I just finished reading Micah. Today, I started Philippians—the church that started with one brilliant woman whose life changed by a stream when she met two men who loved the Lord. I am not using a guide or a commentary. I don’t have a daily reading plan I’m following. I just want to read it little by little, a little everyday until I feel like I’ve got something I can cling to that day. And, when I get that, I want to stop and dwell on it, sit with it and let it soak in.
Today, I only got through 5 verses.
As I start this new book, I decided I’m going to try to share my little kernel of truth everyday on my blog Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram—the places that serve as my corner in Dunkin Donuts with my faraway friends and blogosphere peeps. Would love for you to look for the images and hold me accountable if you don’t see one that day—a little “looking forward to seeing your pic today!” may be just what I need. And, feel free to join me. I’d love to see your pictures of what you’re reading too.
Warning: If it becomes another item on my to-do list, something that is feeding my Type A craziness rather than working within my personality to keep me walking with Him, you may stop seeing any images at all. We’ll see how this goes.
Common grace in the sand wasteland
It was our date—ice cream cones and searching for seashells. The sand burned our toes while the ice cream ran down our fingers. But, it was good because summer is good and somehow the things that might make us stomp our feet in frustration evaporate here.
As we scoured the sand sometimes down on our hands and knees, we talked about each shell’s story, wondering where in the world God had taken it on the journey that ended right there. We talked about how oftentimes the broken shells were even more beautiful than those who had supernaturally remained whole. Only the broken shells allowed us to see beyond the outside to their hearts, hearts often layered with color like a cliche sunset, hearts with rings marking tumbles in the surf like the rings mark the seasons of a tree.
We are no different really—broken pieces often jagged and rough, our hearts laid bare by the power of the waves that move us from one point to the next. Yet, there in our brokenness, we are lovely because of the One who holds us in His hand, gently moving His fingers over the rough places, making them divinely smooth.
She brought the shells home, a big bag of mostly broken pieces that people had passed by or stepped on. We’ll never know their story, but they are treasured possessions now that have been cleaned and sorted, kept safely and protected from little fingers that may harm them.
It was seemingly nothing extraordinary really. It was common grace evidenced on an afternoon date with ice cream cones and the sea.
Their vision is valuable {make it happen}
It seems only fitting to share this on Independence Day.
Ya’ll know that I had the privilege in March to lead a team to serve at the orphanage in China where our daughter was. With 12 other people from all over the United States, we held babies, taught preschoolers how to play London Bridge and blow bubbles, and built relationships with the staff (a process that involved a whole lot of leafy water) who serve the 300 orphans in their care day in and day out. When it was being planned, we were hoping we’d get to go back but were holding that loosely. But, before we even flew home from China, it became very clear that that first trip was a foundational trip in an ongoing work and we’d have to go back.
It didn’t take long to get that next trip in the works. I hoped to be able to recruit 9 team members—we got 14. And, those 14 are going to rock it in Shaanxi this fall. Among them are teachers, a neonatal nurse, occupational therapists, orphan advocates…and a professional photographer.
Ben Leaman has been volunteering for The Sparrow Fund with his wife Abbey for a few years now. They both were a part of the team in March, and they are the only ones from that team to join me again in October. As we dreamed together about this next trip and future trips, something incredible was born—a photography workshop that Ben could teach for 10 older orphans there to teach them photography basics but also speak to their hearts to show them that they are beauty makers and creators and that their vision is valuable.
Yeah, pretty exciting stuff, right?
The curriculum is written, and everything ready to go…except for all the hardware to make it happen. As Ansel Adams pointed out, you don’t make a photograph with just a camera. But, we do need equipment or we cannot offer this program. We can’t teach photography without cameras. So, we dreamed up something else—Valuable Vision sponsors, people like you who understand the significance of what we’re doing and want to come alongside a specific child to allow him or her the privilege of joining us to be mentored in photography and heart.
It sorta rocks. Through a tax-deductible donation of $200 to The Sparrow Fund designated for this purpose, you will be sponsoring one orphan to join the class. Your $200 will pay for the camera, camera case, and memory card he or she will use for the class (note that we have been given a discounted price for the equipment…yahoo for that). Your donation will also cover the in-country printing of some of the child’s shots for him or her to keep as well as the printing of a portrait for the child to keep as well as to be placed in his or her orphanage file—a shot that could be potentially used for advocating for that child as well if he or she becomes available for adoption. Once we’re home, sponsors will receive professionally printed artwork of one of your child’s prints (an 8×12 freestanding Standout) as well as your child’s portrait and a small gift purchased specifically for you during the trip (mystery gifts are super fun, aren’t they?).
However many sponsors we get will determine how many children can join the program with a limit of 10 sponsors/kids. And, I really don’t want to have any less than 10.
Do me a favor—go to this link where there is a button for people to click to become a sponsor. Consider sponsoring a child as a family and SHARE the link until all 10 sponsorships are to. tal. ly. full.