getting Beauty straight

Here are some notes I took at the 24-7 Prayer Gathering in Minneapolis in May. The talk was by an artist, Linea Spransy, and I rediscovered these notes in my journal on Sunday. They're worth sharing:
We are people who should be blazing with hope!
We can turn around and bless God with a unique language that we have.
Beuty-outside of God's will takes the form of seduction.
The downfall of many artists is egoism. Lucifer was the most beutiful. Beauty is not always good.
Beauty: the love language of God.
Our little plans get lost in the spaciousness of God's creation.
Crime goes down when there's beauty around-think of city sections.
People, when they wear beautiful things, their behavior changes.
Beauty pulls beauty out, light attracts light.
Egoism ends in a withdrawal from the spiritual community. The antidote to that: we belong to a family, seeing value in other people.
Egoism has become a virtue, a very false virtue.
Imagination is inexorably linked to compassion.
Selfishness reomoves us from reality.
Our culture has cut us off from reality-can't you see it everywhere?
We see ourselves as a whole, not a part of a whole.
Our culture is connected to comfort insted of heroicism.
Laying down the art itself...take your life, your lifestyle & live it the way God says to live it, creatively, deeply creatively, and with virtue. Virtue is a really exciting idea and it's hard.
Oh! For a church that is virtuous!
Oh! For artists who are virtuous and not self indulgent!
Constantly check our ego at the door, constantly check our desire to do what's easiest at the door.
The bass note of gravity of this is the sacrifice it requires.
So we lay our lives down as living sacrifices.

wilder

finished reading Laura Ingalls Wilder
my thoughts linger in the simplicity of life
back then

of chores, of "good mornings", of warm quilts,
long walks, hard work, hearty food,
winter evenings, simple Christmases
and shy love

the men then were wilder
(not only Almanzo)
the curse of Adam burdening
forcing sweat, work, toil
limping too

but joy comes, and singing,
and the playing of the fiddle,
beautiful horses,
big dreams

Big Dreams
Beautiful Dreams

shattered

Here is the scene that awaited us as we arrived to open the church this morning (minus the orange things we added after discovering the scene):

Yup. Someone threw a rock through the glass door. Shards were strewn all over the floor. It was a really impressive sight, with the shiny glass catching the light, like jewels. It was beautiful. What had happened was serious, though. Someone didn't like the door the way it was and decided a gaping jagged hole would suffice better than your average glass door. Did it have to do with the fact that the door opened into a church? Hmm. Maybe.

Something our pastor said about the event during our service hit me in a right way, too. He led us in prayer for the person who did the damage & said it's not okay for someone to feel like they have that on their record, that the bad guy (yes, the devil, and he is bad) wants people to feel burdened by things like that, to make them feel unworthy or guilty, and THAT'S NOT OKAY.

Got me thinking that I'm glad I go to a church where there's a disturbance like this. The shattered glass door reminds me that the faith I hold to is a threat to some people, like I wrote in my journal, the gospel & Jesus are not the fragrance of life to everyone; to some it's the smell of death (I stole that from brother Paul). Perhaps it's because the church is making a difference & people are being set free from addictions, from bad relationships, from mediocre, and our church was due for some sort of disturbance. However that works, anyway, after discovering the shards & brokenness, my morning was so GOOD. Worshipping with a bit of the tension of the morning's discovery hanging in the air was the missing ingredient for an offering for a King who often gets mediocre praises from me. I was so inspired during the sermon & afterwards & had to write ideas down so I wouldn't forget them.

And then it struck. Like a Rock breaking into the church. Who's our Rock? The Lord is our Rock & our Salvation. And when that thought dropped into my head, I saw that morning's events as a prophetic statement that God (our Rock) is bringing breakthrough into the Church.

Yes! Take it, take it! Not just for the congregation I attend, see it for yours too! We're family! A gift for you!

May we be shattered, our protective doors be shattered, into a beautiful mess to welcome in the risky King who has life and wind and breath and grace in Him.

And an end to guilt, for sinners. Like the taxcollector in Luke 18, praying, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner."

peculiar treasures

This morning I had coffee with my friend Jamie, a very good friend. Since I've been married & out of the college culture, it's never failed, every time after being around Jamie I think, "She's a treasure." To borrow from Robin Jones Gunn (I read her books in high school) Jamie & I are peculiar treasures. It works so well. I'm the Christy, she's the Katie because I have brown hair & Jamie's hair is red (refer to the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn).

I love her life. Jamie lives downtown in a little studio apartment within walking distance of the library, the university campus, and so many coffee shops. She's...how do I explain four years of friendship? Challenging. Out of the box, adventurous, spontaneous, curious, interested in cultures, fashionable, sassy, Jamie face, who's also one of the people who has taught me the most about communication. Also about loving people. She works with people who have addictions & counsels them. I couldn't do that, but I appreciate her ability to & her heart to help people break their addictions. She's in a good position to see the brokeness & to help process, advise & intercede. Sometimes the brokeness overwhelmes me, but Jamie encourages me to see that it is so do-able to help people. I see Jesus in her.

Now that I don't see her every day, my glimpses of Jamie mean more, I think. Gotta take advantages of the friendships in front of your face right now. When friends move away I don't want to regret times I could have spent with them and didn't.

Working on those friendships, bit by bit.

This braving the Beauty business...makes me think. God's the most beautiful, He's the beauty I seek...and He brings us into relationships. Not only with Himself, but with other people. I want to be a good steward of the people He puts around me, the close ones, the neighbors, the one...like how Jesus would leave the crowd and go after the one person who was alone, struggling, lost. I'm seeking to be better at that.

Here we go, rocketing into a fun-filled adventure.

the domestic life post

Unashamedly, I am very domestic. This post will aid to reveal the depths of that. To start, here's my recipe (thanks Liz & Erin!) for chicken pot pie, perhaps the biggest culinary success in our household:

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

1 pre-made pie crust (for top & bottom)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 14 oz. can chicken broth
1/2 cup milk (I prefer soy, yes indeed)
2 cans of canned chicken
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables or 1 lb. bag (cooked)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, cook for two minutes, stirring frequently until tender. Stir in flour, salt, & pepper. Gradually stir in broth & milk. Cook & stir until bubbly & thickened. Stir in chicken & mixed vegetables. Remove from heat and spoon into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust. Seal the edges and flute. Slice holes in crust. Cook 35 to 4o minutes. The last 15 minutes put foil around the edges to prevent burning. Let stand five minutes before serving.

And there you have it. Someday, perhaps, I'll share my family's sourdough pancake recipe. It's top secret, but what the heck?

Besides making chicken pot pie, this week I've been reacquainting myself with the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Right now I'm a few chapters into Little House on the Prairie. Ah, the domestic life...

i get to sit behind a desk now

We're back, yes we're back home! Strange to call this place home, since we were gone for 3 1/2 weeks, visiting the places where we grew up, other "homes." I concluded five summers ago that people define home to me, so I suppose I have several homes to claim.

It's good to be back in a routine. Both Andrew & I are working today, bless the Lord! It is good to be behind a desk again, sorting out bills, stamping letters, printing checks, and organizing my work space! I sound very type A...

Andrew & I have another baby to meet as soon as we can: little Caleb, Cory & Bekah's new son. I'm very excited to have babies in our lives!

There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed, is there?

Now that we're home, I'm excited to do some decluttering (since I brought so much stuff home with me from my home of origin...things like books, things I accumulated in Japan, treasures), reading, walking, and artistic things.

Maybe I'll post a couple of photos from the trip, soon.

a bride, babies & encouragement

This last weekend we were in a wedding. It was slightly stressful, but worth it (?) for the outcome & to be involved in the lives of our dear friends. I love weddings & going to them to show support for the merry marrying couple. I'm a die hard who believes in staying until the bride & groom are off to their next destination before leaving a wedding celebration, no matter how many hours pass. I like to see them off & wave & make noise & be included in the farewell. It's important to me to celebrate these milestones & the serious intention & love shown in the guts it takes to enter into a marriage. Love it! :)
Here's a picture of Emily, the beautiful bride, before she married her best friend, David. I love her joy. :)

Yesterday two of my friends gave birth to their firstborn children. Lysha (married to Chris) gave birth to a girl, Zoey, and Amy (married to Luke) gave birth to a boy, Samuel. Andrew & I went to the hospital to visit them yesterday afternoon. Lots of our friends & acquaintances are having babies this month, an interesting phenomenon to us. I'm encouraging Andrew to expose himself to the newborns who will be in our lives (another one to come: Caleb, Corey & Bekah's son who's due soon). My intention here is to get him used to babies so when it's our turn, he'll be readied. Babies should be celebrated, too, I think, and it was an honor to be able to visit two in the same day at the hospital, hours after their mothers travailed to have them. God is amazing, by the way.

Here's a picture of Andrew & me having coffee in the hospital...seriously! This hospital was like a resort...best coconut soy latte I've ever had. Andrew got a punch card because of all of the visits we'll be making to our friends who are having children at this hospital. We may even go there for dates, it was that good...And then, there's encouragement. Three days in a row, starting Tuesday, I've had talks with people about Campus America (goodsearch.com it) the prayer initiative that I'm involved in & excited about. After each rendezvous with Joel & Krista, Ray & Becki, & Leslee, respectively, I'm left filled... :) Filled and thoughtful & thankful & wondering how God can love me so much. I'm glad, humbled, grateful, curious about the rest of God's plan.