My family commemorates things with food. Christmas is no different. We spend all afternoon preparing a meal fancy enough for Prince William and big enough to feed the whole block. This year's menu featured shrimp, scallops, crab legs, fresh fettucini with an asian ginger sauce, a salad with pears, avocado, and gorgonzola cheese, grilled pineapple and asparagus, and grilled chicken and venison sausage (for the non-seafood lovers). There was more on the menu, but it was cut once we realized only six people would be eating! Once everyone was served, we held our glasses in the air and toasted to good family, friends, and food.
The meal was delicious to say the least. I ended up sitting at the table for an extra half hour, too full to move. There was one thing that I realized that night when I was reflecting back on a seemingly uneventful Christmas day. Our Christmas dinner is a lot like eternal life. Stick with me for a minute...
As I said, my family centers on food. I fully believe that the majority of my parents extra spending money gets put towards food. Other things are sacrificed so we can eat well. My parents are also endowed with the gift of hospitality. You put together a love of food and the gift of hospitality and you get many, many wonderful dinner parties.
Growing up, my dad refused to give myself and my older brother crab legs. He didn't want us to develop a taste for expensive food. Makes sense. You don't want to spend tons of money to satisfy a child's taste buds.
Ten years later, my little brother came along. My parents were slightly more established in their careers and ate much fancier things. My little brother grew up with my parents making him try crab legs, shrimp, filet mignon, you name it.
As we sat down for Christmas dinner last night, my little brother licked his lips, put his hands together and said, "My favorite meal!" He has tasted and he knows how much he loves crab. The kid can even distinguish between different kinds of crab.
My older brother, on the other hand, hated his meal. He hasn't lived with us in almost 7 years. He doesn't go out to eat like we do. He doesn't have fancy dinner parties. His palate is not accustomed to expensive food like my younger brother. He left the table having barely eaten, while the rest of us were stuffed to the brim.
How is this like eternal life? I think it's about goodness. There is a passage in Scripture that speaks about the inability for people who don't believe to understand and appreciate Christ the same way believers do. If you haven't tasted crab legs, you probably will not like them at first. My little brother still remember the first time my parents made him try them. He was disgusted. Oh how far he has come! I am a Christian. I have experienced the presence and love of God. It is good. I desire it. I deeply appreciate times when God meets me and pours out his love. For those who don't believe, this concept is lost. One day, I want to sit around a table with my family toasting to the goodness of God, not just the goodness of food.
20.12.11
Christmas Prayer
I needed to read this during this Christmas season. May it bless you and challenge you as much as it did me.
I think about my family, my relatives, the neighbors, people with whom we will spend this day. Dear Jesus, as I look at their faces and remember their stories, there are feelings of gratitude and some fear and anxiety. Thank you for these loved ones and please forgive me for the ways I have been less than accepting and loving. Please heal the wounds, division and conflicts that stand between us and help me to remember how dearly you love them. I only want to remember that you have come to save us all.Amen.
4.12.11
Occupy
"The seed of revolution is repression." Woodrow Wilson
I may be late in digging my teeth into the "Occupy" movement, but I have finally had time to do some reading up on the whole thing. There are plenty of times when people get upset about something, they strike, and then it gets resolved (Thank you Wisconsin for the exemplary example). I don't think this movement is one that will end that easily or that quickly. The basic premise is this: 1% of the population owns and controls virtually everything. The rest of the 99% of us, screwed. We have no say. Yes, we vote, but in reality, the politicians we vote for are just pawns being moved my the corporations we don't see. It doesn't actually matter who is sitting in the chair. The larger question is: Who is pumping the money? I realize that this may be showing my somewhat negative feelings towards our country, but I think we can all admit that there is a problem.
My aunt is a prime example. A few years ago she got a brain tumor because a company was dumping toxic chemicals into a local lake. Dozens of tumors began breaking out in their county. She got her tumor removed successfully and has been in perpetual debt because of it. She still struggles physically from the after-effects. She was in a large lawsuit against the company along with the others effected. The case was temporarily postponed. They company continues to put off the trial. As they do, those suing have to continue to pay their lawyers. The outcome is clear: the prosecutors will run out of money eventually and the case will be dismissed. Justice? Not one bit.
The same aunt has made numerous payments toward her mortgage. These payments have somehow been lost by the band holding it. Her home has neared foreclosure numerous times because these payments have not been recorded. Illegal foreclosures are common. Nothing is being done.
When I look at pictures and watch videos of the movement I cannot help but think of Across the Universe. There is a scene in the film when they walk down a street with signs, chanting funny things. I digress...
I don't think I will ever be one of those people who quit their job to 'fight for the cause.' I'm not moving to Wall Street. I do, however, support their cause. I am proud to live in a country with people who do not want to sit around while injustice rules. I am thankful that people are choosing to exercise their Constitutional rights. Pushing them to their limits will reveal the extent to which we actually hold these rights. I believe that the police, the government, the corporations, will fight back, exposing the true state of our country. The system is corrupt. We don't need another law. We need democracy. A true democracy, not a puppet one.
What if your mother developed cancer from drinking the water from her sink? Your little brother? What if your family paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills while the company just paid the trial off, leaving you bankrupt? You would probably feel a little bit angry. It has been hard to watch my own family members experience the aftereffects of corporate greed.
Get informed. Read up on what is going on in the world. Please. Believe that you can have a voice. http://occupychi.org/about-us
I may be late in digging my teeth into the "Occupy" movement, but I have finally had time to do some reading up on the whole thing. There are plenty of times when people get upset about something, they strike, and then it gets resolved (Thank you Wisconsin for the exemplary example). I don't think this movement is one that will end that easily or that quickly. The basic premise is this: 1% of the population owns and controls virtually everything. The rest of the 99% of us, screwed. We have no say. Yes, we vote, but in reality, the politicians we vote for are just pawns being moved my the corporations we don't see. It doesn't actually matter who is sitting in the chair. The larger question is: Who is pumping the money? I realize that this may be showing my somewhat negative feelings towards our country, but I think we can all admit that there is a problem.
My aunt is a prime example. A few years ago she got a brain tumor because a company was dumping toxic chemicals into a local lake. Dozens of tumors began breaking out in their county. She got her tumor removed successfully and has been in perpetual debt because of it. She still struggles physically from the after-effects. She was in a large lawsuit against the company along with the others effected. The case was temporarily postponed. They company continues to put off the trial. As they do, those suing have to continue to pay their lawyers. The outcome is clear: the prosecutors will run out of money eventually and the case will be dismissed. Justice? Not one bit.
The same aunt has made numerous payments toward her mortgage. These payments have somehow been lost by the band holding it. Her home has neared foreclosure numerous times because these payments have not been recorded. Illegal foreclosures are common. Nothing is being done.
When I look at pictures and watch videos of the movement I cannot help but think of Across the Universe. There is a scene in the film when they walk down a street with signs, chanting funny things. I digress...
I don't think I will ever be one of those people who quit their job to 'fight for the cause.' I'm not moving to Wall Street. I do, however, support their cause. I am proud to live in a country with people who do not want to sit around while injustice rules. I am thankful that people are choosing to exercise their Constitutional rights. Pushing them to their limits will reveal the extent to which we actually hold these rights. I believe that the police, the government, the corporations, will fight back, exposing the true state of our country. The system is corrupt. We don't need another law. We need democracy. A true democracy, not a puppet one.
What if your mother developed cancer from drinking the water from her sink? Your little brother? What if your family paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills while the company just paid the trial off, leaving you bankrupt? You would probably feel a little bit angry. It has been hard to watch my own family members experience the aftereffects of corporate greed.
Get informed. Read up on what is going on in the world. Please. Believe that you can have a voice. http://occupychi.org/about-us
28.11.11
Because of Love
Release all the breaks you have placed on your life.
Let go of the hurt, pain, fear, inadequacy...
Choose to be:
Humble enough to laugh at your mistakes,
Wise enough to know when to admit you're wrong,
Trustworthy enough to be respected by peers,
Simple enough to gain the affection of children,
Strong enough to fight for what you believe in,
And generous enough to give out of your poverty.
Then, you may say that you have truly lived.
Maggie Mosher.
Let go of the hurt, pain, fear, inadequacy...
Choose to be:
Humble enough to laugh at your mistakes,
Wise enough to know when to admit you're wrong,
Trustworthy enough to be respected by peers,
Simple enough to gain the affection of children,
Strong enough to fight for what you believe in,
And generous enough to give out of your poverty.
Then, you may say that you have truly lived.
Maggie Mosher.
7.11.11
Speaking
It's time for another post. I have less than 6 weeks left in my college career and it's slightly terrifying but 100% exciting. I have 12 more pages to write before then, but it will get done. Starting last Monday, I committed to waking up at 6am each day and going to Starbucks. It is amazing how peaceful and productive mornings are. Waking up early has changed my life.
God has been speaking to me a lot about one particular thing. A few weeks ago he put a passion in my heart for more of him. He showed me how we often settle for mediocrity in our Christian lives. I was heartbroken one Sunday when the girls in my small group were surprised that God still heals people. Our God is not small. Our God is more than we can imagine. We have placed him within the context of what our minds can imagine, and he only works within those bounds. God wants to speak to us, but we don't believe it - so he doesn't. God wants to heal, but we don't think he can and we are afraid of what will happen if he doesn't - so he doesn't. God want to guide and direct our lives, but we can't imagine what living outside the bounds of our consumerist society would look like - so it doesn't happen. Why? My question is why would we live that way?
In Amos 8:11-12, God speaks warns his people who are living in cold-hearted exile. He told them:
"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord God, "when I will send a famine on the land - not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it."
I see so much truth in this passage. I do not believe that God has sent a famine, I think we live famished lives. God is waiting. We don't listen. We have settled for 'average' are rarely enter into the blessedness of what God desires to give.
His mercies are new every morning. It is my prayer that every one I know can wake up and allow God to speak and move outside the confines of their imagination.
God has been speaking to me a lot about one particular thing. A few weeks ago he put a passion in my heart for more of him. He showed me how we often settle for mediocrity in our Christian lives. I was heartbroken one Sunday when the girls in my small group were surprised that God still heals people. Our God is not small. Our God is more than we can imagine. We have placed him within the context of what our minds can imagine, and he only works within those bounds. God wants to speak to us, but we don't believe it - so he doesn't. God wants to heal, but we don't think he can and we are afraid of what will happen if he doesn't - so he doesn't. God want to guide and direct our lives, but we can't imagine what living outside the bounds of our consumerist society would look like - so it doesn't happen. Why? My question is why would we live that way?
In Amos 8:11-12, God speaks warns his people who are living in cold-hearted exile. He told them:
"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord God, "when I will send a famine on the land - not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it."
I see so much truth in this passage. I do not believe that God has sent a famine, I think we live famished lives. God is waiting. We don't listen. We have settled for 'average' are rarely enter into the blessedness of what God desires to give.
His mercies are new every morning. It is my prayer that every one I know can wake up and allow God to speak and move outside the confines of their imagination.
14.10.11
Disfunction
I have been learning lately that life is really messy, but it is incredibly wonderful. There is something particularly comical about the disfunction that seems to be surrounding me. I work with high schoolers, I am on a team of 20something girls, I attend a Christian university, and I come from a family with many splits. The likelihood of something dysfunctional happening to me each day is extremely high. Every once in a while I have to take a step back and just laugh. I think life would be incredibly boring if it wasn't filled with moments of mistakes and failure.
I have also realized that it isn't just those around me that are dysfunctional, I am too! Today I will embrace the strange, quirky, someone irrational parts of who I am. If I failed to be compulsive about washing dishes and if I didn't go to the bathroom an upwards of 15 times a day, I would cease to be me. I am a person. I make mistakes, I cry, I get scared, I avoid eye contact so I don't have to talk to some people, I push snooze four times and still wake up earlier than necessary, I am lactose intolerant, I use special pens for writing in my journal, and I am okay with that. Today I will not think about who others want me to be; rather, I will just be me. I will have grace on my own shortcomings and realize that I must have grace on others. I don't want to live a perfect life anyway! That would be way too boring!
I have also realized that it isn't just those around me that are dysfunctional, I am too! Today I will embrace the strange, quirky, someone irrational parts of who I am. If I failed to be compulsive about washing dishes and if I didn't go to the bathroom an upwards of 15 times a day, I would cease to be me. I am a person. I make mistakes, I cry, I get scared, I avoid eye contact so I don't have to talk to some people, I push snooze four times and still wake up earlier than necessary, I am lactose intolerant, I use special pens for writing in my journal, and I am okay with that. Today I will not think about who others want me to be; rather, I will just be me. I will have grace on my own shortcomings and realize that I must have grace on others. I don't want to live a perfect life anyway! That would be way too boring!
10.10.11
Healing
This past week has been really difficult. I have a lot more time alone and God is using it to His advantage. He has been healing me, well, starting to at least. I have been learning to live with brokenness; it stinks.
This weekend was fall break and I got to go home for two nights. I took advantage of the time and got together with some of my favorite people. Me and the small group I am a part of were able to get together Sunday afternoon. God is using them to help heal me. He is showing the value of community and confession. I have tons of irrational fears, and so do they. He is using them to speak truth into my life. I am not alone, they understand. Here they are:
This is Sarah, she is super silly. Clearly.
Brittany is gorgeous and sweet and loving.
This weekend was fall break and I got to go home for two nights. I took advantage of the time and got together with some of my favorite people. Me and the small group I am a part of were able to get together Sunday afternoon. God is using them to help heal me. He is showing the value of community and confession. I have tons of irrational fears, and so do they. He is using them to speak truth into my life. I am not alone, they understand. Here they are:
There is never a dull moment with Danae around.
I love these girls dearly. We were not meant to live life alone, and I am so thankful that I don't have to. I am working through a lot recently, but I have support and encouragement. Loneliness plagues our generation, reach out and find people who will be there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
