Notes to My Siblings

Last week, I wore chacos. I had to wear a sweatshirt too, but that's not important. The important part is, it was warm enough for CHACOS. (If you don't know what chacos are, you need to look them up. They are the only summer footwear you'll ever need.) Today, there is three inches of do-not-wear-chacos-if-you-value-your-toes on the ground. And it's still coming down. I guess it's back to the boots. At first I was frustrated. I mean, come on. Why the tease of summer if it's only to be snatched away again?! But as usual, God was like, excuse me, there's a lesson here if you're paying attention... The snow is like our problem(s). We can either be frustrated by it, and consequently nothing will be happy today, or we can see the beauty in it, take it for what it is, and choose joy. And now for a string of Maxwell Smart-like "Snow is like your problems because...." (see the Get Smart episode "A Tale of Two Tales" if this makes no sens...

Patriotism isn't in the Bible. At least, not the way us Americans think of patriotism. Americans spend a lot of time alternating between hating and bragging on 'Merica. We like to analyze political campaigns, argue over what should and shouldn't happen in national policy, critique and even hate on our current leaders, and look to the next leader to fix whatever it is we think is wrong with America. It's great that we can say that America has a "Christian Heritage" (well, kinda...) when it comes to the Founding Fathers and all that jazz, and we should be grateful for it. But let's be real. Expecting a nation made up of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Agnostics, etc etc etc to live by Biblical principles is c.o.m.p.l.e.t.e.l.y. unrealistic. No human being, no matter how powerful, will ever be able to fix that. Which leads to the main point. Patriotism in the sense of ascribing allegiance to a man-formed country is not a concept ...

"...the ladies are all really hard workers. They see the value in earning their own living in an honorable way and taking care of their kids. They sew two times a week, and many of them work other odd jobs for extra income. They don't have electricity in their village, and they have to walk to the wells to get clean water. They are all working hard at sending their kids to school, and two of them are going back to school themselves to finish! They have learned to care about each other, and share and give..." "...they don't have electricity, and they have to walk to the wells to get water..." It seemed like that's all she'd picked up from my whole paragraph about my week in the Dominican Republic with the Cercadillo Project . Then, she says: "Maybe they should come to America. Would they ever consider doing that?" As if America is the panacea for all that ails the world. As if we have it all figured out. As if going without electrici...

My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer last week. Suddenly, our lives are going to be very different. While my head knows the Lord’s promises, and I can say yeah, God will use this for His glory somehow, my heart has been avoiding Him- except to fling questions at Him. Why my dad, God? He’s always tried to serve You and teach us to do the same. He hasn’t done any of the common things that people blame cancer on. Why him? This morning, I decided I’d just skip my Bible time because I really just didn’t want to talk to God today. So I read my mindless fiction book instead… And about two pages in, the bishop in the book was preaching a sermon on Paul’s instructions to give thanks in all circumstances. Blast. I suppose the “you can run but you can’t hide” statement is never more accurate than when we’re talking about God. At least God got my attention while reading a harmless book and I didn’t have to spend time in a whale’s stomach.  So this morning, I’m making a list of...