The following are excerpts from Henri Nouwen’s book, Life of the Beloved. He wrote the book in response to a request by a secular friend to explain the spiritual life in terms that he and his friends could understand, avoiding theology and technical language. Nouwen’s response is “You are the Beloved.”
Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can, indeed, present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. (31-32)
Maybe you think you are more tempted by arrogance than self-rejection. But isn’t arrogance, in fact, the other side of self-rejection? Isn’t arrogance putting yourself on a pedestal to avoid being seen as you see yourself? Isn’t arrogance, in the final analysis, just another way of dealing with feelings of worthlessness? (32)
Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence. (33)
Aren’t you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don’t you often hope: “May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country, or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.” But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death.
Well, you and I don’t have to kill ourselves. We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children, and friends loved or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives. That’s the truth I want you to claim for yourself. That’s the truth spoken by the voice that says, “You are my Beloved.” (35-36)
As long as “being the Beloved” is little more than a beautiful thought or lofty idea that hangs above my life to keep me from becoming depressed, nothing really changes. What is required is to become the Beloved in the commonplaces of my daily existence and, bit by bit, to close the gap that exists between what I know myself to be and the countless specific realities of everyday life. (45-46)
To be chosen as the Beloved of God . . . includes others. Instead of rejecting others as less valuable, it accepts others in their own uniqueness. It is not competitive, but a compassionate choice. (55)
. . . we have to dare to reclaim the truth that we are God’s chosen ones, even when our world does not choose us. As long as we allow our parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and lovers to determine whether we are chosen or not, we are caught in the net of a suffocating world that accepts or rejects us according to its own agenda of effectiveness and control. (57-58)
When we keep claiming the light, we will find ourselves becoming more and more radiant. What fascinates me so much is that every time we decide to be grateful it will be easier to see new things to be grateful for. Gratitude begets gratitude, just as love begets love. (62)
For me personally, prayer becomes more and more a way to listen to the blessing. . . I realize that, although I have a tendency to say many things to God, the real “work” of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice that says good things about me. This might sound self-indulgent, but, in practice it is a hard discipline. I am so afraid of being cursed, of hearing that I am no good or not good enough, that I quickly give in to the temptation to start talking and to keep talking in order to control my fears. (75-76)
. . . my own pain in life has taught me that the first step to healing is not a step away from the pain, but a step toward it. When brokenness is, in fact, just as intimate a part of our being as our chosenness and our blessedness, we have to dare to overcome our fear and become familiar with it. Yes, we have to find the courage to embrace our own brokenness, to make our most feared enemy into a friend, and to claim it as an intimate companion. I am convinced that healing is often so difficult because we don’t want to know the pain. (93)
The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead, the means to it. (96)
What a wonderful mystery that is! Our greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others. (106)
We often live as if our happiness depended on having. But I don’t know anyone who is really happy because of what he or she has. True joy, happiness, and inner peace come from giving of ourselves to others. A happy life is a life for others. That truth, however, is usually discovered when we are confronted with our brokenness. (109)
The great struggle facing you is not to leave the world, to reject your ambitions and aspirations, or to despise money, prestige, or success, but to claim your spiritual truth and to live in the world as someone who doesn’t belong to it. (130)
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Just Courage - Haugen
I just finished reading a very challenging and helpful book. If you wonder about your part in battling injustice, read this book. If you wonder about how you might meet the needs of the least of these, read this book. If you wonder why your faith journey seems bland, irrelevant, and lacking adventure, read this book. It was written by Gary A. Haugen, who is the president and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM), and is titled Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian.
Here are a few excerpts to get you interested:
. . . it is my sense that many Christians are starting to suspect that they are stuck at the visitor’s center. They suspect that they are traveling with Jesus but missing the adventure.
In different times and in different ways, our heavenly Father offers us a simple proposition: Follow me beyond what you can control, beyond where your strength and competencies taken you, and beyond what is affirmed or risked by the crowd – and you will experience me and my power and my wisdom and my love. (17)
Mother Teresa said that she couldn’t imagine doing her work for more than thirty minutes without prayer. Do you and I have work that we can’t imagine doing for thirty minutes without prayer?
If not, perhaps we need a new life’s work. (23)
God calls us to make the transition from being those who have been rescued from the world, to those through whom God is literally rescuing the world.
As C.S. Lewis has written in The Weight of Glory, "it’s not that we have too much ambition for ourselves; it’s that we don’t have nearly enough. . .
If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
Given the grand and plain calling of Scripture to a bold, glorious struggle for rescue in the world, why do so many of us tend to miss the larger calling and settle for so little? (30-31)
If we answer God’s call to be the light of the world in the midst of great darkness and sign up to be the means by which Jesus is seeking to rescue the world – honestly, that simply feels intimidating. It sounds uncomfortable, scary, frustrating, exhausting and probably dangerous – and worst of all, it’s unknown and out of our control. This is not why we went to college, bought a nice house in a good neighborhood, put seat belts on our kids and locked our doors at night. I did these things to stay out of the darkness, not to move toward it. (34)
Certainly the work of justice brings marvelous rescue and joy to the victims of injustice, but God wants his people to know that the work of justice benefits the people who do it as well. It is a means of rescue not only for the powerless but also for the powerful who otherwise waste away in a world of triviality and fear. (41)
Take the cul-de-sac, for example, which is my metaphor for the world of suburban monotony and triviality that so many Western Christians find themselves trapped in. The literal cul-de-sac (i.e., a dead-end street), a feature of suburban housing developments, was designed to address homeowner anxieties about the dangers of automobile traffic in their streets. It was thought that the closed-off street would eliminate dangerous, high-speed traffic that might be especially threatening to children playing on the sidewalks and streets. Looking for a pathway to safety, human beings built cul-de-sacs. Ironically, several decades later, studies reveal that cul-de-sacs are the most dangerous residential configurations for children. It turns out that, contrary to our intuitions, children aren’t injured by forward-moving traffic nearly as much as by cars backing up – which is exactly what cars do in cul-de-sacs.
. . . Likewise many Christians and churches in the West, seeking safety from a dangerous world, a threatening culture and personal weakness have turned inward to the prosperous cul-de-sac, only to find a spiritual atrophy, mediocrity and boredom that is lethal to the soul. But thankfully, Jesus is beckoning us to a better way. . . It is the route to rescue from the very specific perils of fear and pettiness that threaten this present generation, and it is the path to life for hundreds of millions of people who are suffering in our world.
It is God’s call to
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:17 NRSV)
(44-45)
The sin of injustice is defined in the Bible as the abuse of power – abusing power by taking from others the good things that God intended for them, namely their life, liberty, dignity, or the fruits of their love or their labor. (47)
. . . the weaker person is suffering because of the very intentional abuse and oppression of a stronger person. This is injustice – and God intends that the nature of this specific sin should be very clear to us. (48)
The poorest people in our world suffer from a lot of familiar problems. They suffer from hunger, homelessness, illiteracy and sickness. And in response, all over the world, people of goodwill bring to bear familiar forms of assistance: we bring food and shelter and education and medicine.
But at the root of much of this suffering is actually a different problem – a less familiar problem – namely, violence. Many times the widow’s children are hungry because bullies have stolen her land and she can no longer grow her own food. The street child is homeless because sexual abuse in the home has forced her onto the streets. The young boy is illiterate because he is held as a slave in a brick factory and can’t go to school. The teenage girl has AIDS because she has been forcibly infected with the disease while held captive in a brothel. (49)
Violence is just different. Violence is intentional. Violence is scary. And violence causes deep scars. (50)
The vast majority of violence oppressing the poor is not driven by the overwhelming power of the perpetrators – it’s driven by the utter vulnerability of the victims. Give the poor a strong, consistent advocate who won’t go away, and the oppressors will simply leave them alone. (54)
The struggle for justice is special because it is not only the most neglected category of global ministry of the last hundred years but it also requires the very thing we most yearn for in our era: courage. (60)
The first step for many of us . . . is to truly receive our rescue from Christ. To return to that place of grace where our worth – our rock solid worth – is affirmed fully and without condition by our Creator, our Maker, the Lover of our soul who died for us and fully redeemed us. If we have not found how profoundly God cares for us, we will not be equipped to care for the needy world that lies beyond us. (106)
It’s not by sheer will that we become brave. It takes reformation of the heart. God doesn’t call us to try to be brave but to train to be brave. (108)
Do we want to be brave or safe? Gently, lovingly, our heavenly Father wants us to know that we simply can’t be both. (113)
Over and over in Scripture Jesus teaches us that his disciples will suffer for following him. Of course, we will avoid a lot of suffering because we are following him (the suffering of guilt, of self-destruction, of addiction, of hell). But there are other kinds of suffering we will encounter precisely because we are following him – and he wants us to be very clear about this.
Clearly, some suffering is a part of God’s will. It isn’t necessarily the suffering itself that is God’s will, but rather following the will of God in a fallen world will generate suffering in our lives. There are two things that are always the will of God and almost always dangerous: telling the truth and loving needy people. (115)
Here are a few excerpts to get you interested:
. . . it is my sense that many Christians are starting to suspect that they are stuck at the visitor’s center. They suspect that they are traveling with Jesus but missing the adventure.
In different times and in different ways, our heavenly Father offers us a simple proposition: Follow me beyond what you can control, beyond where your strength and competencies taken you, and beyond what is affirmed or risked by the crowd – and you will experience me and my power and my wisdom and my love. (17)
Mother Teresa said that she couldn’t imagine doing her work for more than thirty minutes without prayer. Do you and I have work that we can’t imagine doing for thirty minutes without prayer?
If not, perhaps we need a new life’s work. (23)
God calls us to make the transition from being those who have been rescued from the world, to those through whom God is literally rescuing the world.
As C.S. Lewis has written in The Weight of Glory, "it’s not that we have too much ambition for ourselves; it’s that we don’t have nearly enough. . .
If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
Given the grand and plain calling of Scripture to a bold, glorious struggle for rescue in the world, why do so many of us tend to miss the larger calling and settle for so little? (30-31)
If we answer God’s call to be the light of the world in the midst of great darkness and sign up to be the means by which Jesus is seeking to rescue the world – honestly, that simply feels intimidating. It sounds uncomfortable, scary, frustrating, exhausting and probably dangerous – and worst of all, it’s unknown and out of our control. This is not why we went to college, bought a nice house in a good neighborhood, put seat belts on our kids and locked our doors at night. I did these things to stay out of the darkness, not to move toward it. (34)
Certainly the work of justice brings marvelous rescue and joy to the victims of injustice, but God wants his people to know that the work of justice benefits the people who do it as well. It is a means of rescue not only for the powerless but also for the powerful who otherwise waste away in a world of triviality and fear. (41)
Take the cul-de-sac, for example, which is my metaphor for the world of suburban monotony and triviality that so many Western Christians find themselves trapped in. The literal cul-de-sac (i.e., a dead-end street), a feature of suburban housing developments, was designed to address homeowner anxieties about the dangers of automobile traffic in their streets. It was thought that the closed-off street would eliminate dangerous, high-speed traffic that might be especially threatening to children playing on the sidewalks and streets. Looking for a pathway to safety, human beings built cul-de-sacs. Ironically, several decades later, studies reveal that cul-de-sacs are the most dangerous residential configurations for children. It turns out that, contrary to our intuitions, children aren’t injured by forward-moving traffic nearly as much as by cars backing up – which is exactly what cars do in cul-de-sacs.
. . . Likewise many Christians and churches in the West, seeking safety from a dangerous world, a threatening culture and personal weakness have turned inward to the prosperous cul-de-sac, only to find a spiritual atrophy, mediocrity and boredom that is lethal to the soul. But thankfully, Jesus is beckoning us to a better way. . . It is the route to rescue from the very specific perils of fear and pettiness that threaten this present generation, and it is the path to life for hundreds of millions of people who are suffering in our world.
It is God’s call to
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:17 NRSV)
(44-45)
The sin of injustice is defined in the Bible as the abuse of power – abusing power by taking from others the good things that God intended for them, namely their life, liberty, dignity, or the fruits of their love or their labor. (47)
. . . the weaker person is suffering because of the very intentional abuse and oppression of a stronger person. This is injustice – and God intends that the nature of this specific sin should be very clear to us. (48)
The poorest people in our world suffer from a lot of familiar problems. They suffer from hunger, homelessness, illiteracy and sickness. And in response, all over the world, people of goodwill bring to bear familiar forms of assistance: we bring food and shelter and education and medicine.
But at the root of much of this suffering is actually a different problem – a less familiar problem – namely, violence. Many times the widow’s children are hungry because bullies have stolen her land and she can no longer grow her own food. The street child is homeless because sexual abuse in the home has forced her onto the streets. The young boy is illiterate because he is held as a slave in a brick factory and can’t go to school. The teenage girl has AIDS because she has been forcibly infected with the disease while held captive in a brothel. (49)
Violence is just different. Violence is intentional. Violence is scary. And violence causes deep scars. (50)
The vast majority of violence oppressing the poor is not driven by the overwhelming power of the perpetrators – it’s driven by the utter vulnerability of the victims. Give the poor a strong, consistent advocate who won’t go away, and the oppressors will simply leave them alone. (54)
The struggle for justice is special because it is not only the most neglected category of global ministry of the last hundred years but it also requires the very thing we most yearn for in our era: courage. (60)
The first step for many of us . . . is to truly receive our rescue from Christ. To return to that place of grace where our worth – our rock solid worth – is affirmed fully and without condition by our Creator, our Maker, the Lover of our soul who died for us and fully redeemed us. If we have not found how profoundly God cares for us, we will not be equipped to care for the needy world that lies beyond us. (106)
It’s not by sheer will that we become brave. It takes reformation of the heart. God doesn’t call us to try to be brave but to train to be brave. (108)
Do we want to be brave or safe? Gently, lovingly, our heavenly Father wants us to know that we simply can’t be both. (113)
Over and over in Scripture Jesus teaches us that his disciples will suffer for following him. Of course, we will avoid a lot of suffering because we are following him (the suffering of guilt, of self-destruction, of addiction, of hell). But there are other kinds of suffering we will encounter precisely because we are following him – and he wants us to be very clear about this.
Clearly, some suffering is a part of God’s will. It isn’t necessarily the suffering itself that is God’s will, but rather following the will of God in a fallen world will generate suffering in our lives. There are two things that are always the will of God and almost always dangerous: telling the truth and loving needy people. (115)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Choose Me
All of my life I have sought to be chosen. I want to be the one picked. I remember in 4th grade being chosen by Mrs. Morrill to finish reading to the class, “Where the Red Fern Grows,” because she couldn’t do it through her tears.
I remember standing in a row on the playground wanting to be the first one chosen to be on someone’s kickball team. I remember wanting to be chosen to be the acolyte at the Episcopal Church in Fergus Falls, MN, to be the one to ‘read’ the sermon during youth Sunday.
I clearly remember the flood of emotions I experienced in 6th grade when I realized out of all the boys at Cleveland Elementary School that Elise Williams had chosen me as the boy she liked.
I like the feeling I receive being the one chosen.
I think of all the effort that has led to in my life, so that I can experience this feeling of being chosen. I want to be the one selected, hired, respected, adored, loved, etc.
I’ve studied. I’ve practiced. I’ve sacrificed. I’ve been willing to be coached. I’ve listened. I’ve tried to make people like me. I’ve sought to please and do what I thought they wanted. I’ve even tried to be someone I’m not so that they would pick me.
I bought expensive jeans. I’ve lifted weights. I’ve shared my feelings. I’ve sought counsel. I’ve ignored my conscience.
I’ve lied, exaggerated, ridiculed, judged, ignored, gossiped because I believed it would lead to people choosing me – choosing me to be their friend, boyfriend, be in their group, be cool, be funny, be who they wanted me to be.
I want to be chosen. Why? I want to be chosen because I want to believe there is something special about me. And isn’t it sad and interesting how this desire leads to competition and hoping at times that others are NOT chosen, but I am? If it means their rejection, that’s OK, as long as I’m chosen.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you . . .” Jesus says in John 15:16.
Jesus chose you. Why?
The sinful self in me wants to answer this question with, “Well, it's obvious when you look at my gifts. Jesus clearly knows what benefit it is to Him to pick me. I can really help. I can really be used. Look at all I have to offer. And, compared with so many others, I am a step above them.”
Sad, isn’t it? I want to be chosen because I want to be more special than someone else.
Jesus chose me. Why? Jesus chose you. Why?
He chose you because He loves you. He chose you because He said He would.
He chose you and me in spite of us. For compared to him, our good works are filthy rags. There is nothing in our giftedness or talents that make us more worthy of being selected. In fact, God reminds the Israelites, lest they become full of themselves, that they were/are a rebellious group who left to themselves pursue wickedness over God.
Don’t get stuck here, though. Get stuck in the fact that God chose you. You are His. He loves you. He loves you for who He created you to be. He is the source of all that is good within you.
Let me say it again. You are His. You are a treasured possession. You are one whom He longs to express love to. God chose you.
Read the rest of John 15 to find out more about the purpose for which you have been chosen.
I remember standing in a row on the playground wanting to be the first one chosen to be on someone’s kickball team. I remember wanting to be chosen to be the acolyte at the Episcopal Church in Fergus Falls, MN, to be the one to ‘read’ the sermon during youth Sunday.
I clearly remember the flood of emotions I experienced in 6th grade when I realized out of all the boys at Cleveland Elementary School that Elise Williams had chosen me as the boy she liked.
I like the feeling I receive being the one chosen.
I think of all the effort that has led to in my life, so that I can experience this feeling of being chosen. I want to be the one selected, hired, respected, adored, loved, etc.
I’ve studied. I’ve practiced. I’ve sacrificed. I’ve been willing to be coached. I’ve listened. I’ve tried to make people like me. I’ve sought to please and do what I thought they wanted. I’ve even tried to be someone I’m not so that they would pick me.
I bought expensive jeans. I’ve lifted weights. I’ve shared my feelings. I’ve sought counsel. I’ve ignored my conscience.
I’ve lied, exaggerated, ridiculed, judged, ignored, gossiped because I believed it would lead to people choosing me – choosing me to be their friend, boyfriend, be in their group, be cool, be funny, be who they wanted me to be.
I want to be chosen. Why? I want to be chosen because I want to believe there is something special about me. And isn’t it sad and interesting how this desire leads to competition and hoping at times that others are NOT chosen, but I am? If it means their rejection, that’s OK, as long as I’m chosen.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you . . .” Jesus says in John 15:16.
Jesus chose you. Why?
The sinful self in me wants to answer this question with, “Well, it's obvious when you look at my gifts. Jesus clearly knows what benefit it is to Him to pick me. I can really help. I can really be used. Look at all I have to offer. And, compared with so many others, I am a step above them.”
Sad, isn’t it? I want to be chosen because I want to be more special than someone else.
Jesus chose me. Why? Jesus chose you. Why?
He chose you because He loves you. He chose you because He said He would.
He chose you and me in spite of us. For compared to him, our good works are filthy rags. There is nothing in our giftedness or talents that make us more worthy of being selected. In fact, God reminds the Israelites, lest they become full of themselves, that they were/are a rebellious group who left to themselves pursue wickedness over God.
Don’t get stuck here, though. Get stuck in the fact that God chose you. You are His. He loves you. He loves you for who He created you to be. He is the source of all that is good within you.
Let me say it again. You are His. You are a treasured possession. You are one whom He longs to express love to. God chose you.
Read the rest of John 15 to find out more about the purpose for which you have been chosen.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Beauty
I don’t know if I could handle a daughter.
I remember about 10 years ago when I read Mary Pipher’s book, Reviving Ophelia. It was the first time I was exposed to the depth of the challenges young girls face growing up in our culture today. I read it because as a youth minister, I believed it was important that I understand (as best as a male can) the challenges facing the young girls and young women that were a part of the church and involved in Young Life. I was shocked.
Recently, while watching the Olympics, I saw an ad that caught my attention. I now found out it is one of many ads that Dove (not chocolate but soap) has put together as part of their Real Beauty campaign. Click on the video resources and you can see all of the ads. They are very well done.
They talk about beauty and where real beauty is found.
Think about that for a moment. “What makes a person beautiful?” and “How would you define beauty?”
The answers to these questions are being shouted at us in magazines, on television, in the movies, on the internet. Look at the billboards.
Beautiful people are defined by how they look - their face, body, clothes, hair, car, house, etc. It is all based on external characteristics. The message we hear in our culture is that beauty really is only skin deep, so if you have a pretty face, a thin body, and can afford to purchase the right accessories, then you are beautiful. If not, our culture defines us as ugly, not desirable, plain, and therefore of less value. And we believe it.
Webster’s Dictionary says that beauty is
the quality(s)in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses and/or exalts
the mind or spirit.
A synonym is loveliness. Loveliness is defined as one who is lovable.
DOVE found in their campaign for Real Beauty that only 2% of women around the world describe themselves as beautiful and that 81% of women in the U.S. strongly agree that “the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve.” DOVE is doing something about this challenge. Their mission is “to make more women feel beautiful every day by widening the stereotypical views of beauty.” A worthy goal.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, because it is the beholder’s definition that matters. If the definition is in error so is the conclusion. The beholder matters.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
Psalm 139:14
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Proverbs 31:30
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Isaiah 52:7
Remember, loveliness is defined as one who is lovable. That’s you. You are lovely. You are beautiful. You are created by God and his works are wonderful. In His eyes, you are lovable for He created you out of His love for you.
The beauty that God has instilled in you cannot be bought. It does not need to be altered. Your beauty is found because you are inherently YOU.
Our “loveable-ness” is for much more than outward appearance. God looks at the whole YOU. You are His handiwork. No matter what the worlds says, you are and will always be beautiful, lovely, desirable, wonderful in the eyes of God. Who knows better than Him? Ultimately, what ‘beholder’ should we trust to get it right? God is never in error in His conclusions about you.
What the world values is fake, artificial, and vain.
What God values is real, perfect, and true. God loves you. You are beautiful to Him.
I remember about 10 years ago when I read Mary Pipher’s book, Reviving Ophelia. It was the first time I was exposed to the depth of the challenges young girls face growing up in our culture today. I read it because as a youth minister, I believed it was important that I understand (as best as a male can) the challenges facing the young girls and young women that were a part of the church and involved in Young Life. I was shocked.
Recently, while watching the Olympics, I saw an ad that caught my attention. I now found out it is one of many ads that Dove (not chocolate but soap) has put together as part of their Real Beauty campaign. Click on the video resources and you can see all of the ads. They are very well done.
They talk about beauty and where real beauty is found.
Think about that for a moment. “What makes a person beautiful?” and “How would you define beauty?”
The answers to these questions are being shouted at us in magazines, on television, in the movies, on the internet. Look at the billboards.
Beautiful people are defined by how they look - their face, body, clothes, hair, car, house, etc. It is all based on external characteristics. The message we hear in our culture is that beauty really is only skin deep, so if you have a pretty face, a thin body, and can afford to purchase the right accessories, then you are beautiful. If not, our culture defines us as ugly, not desirable, plain, and therefore of less value. And we believe it.
Webster’s Dictionary says that beauty is
the quality(s)in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses and/or exalts
the mind or spirit.
A synonym is loveliness. Loveliness is defined as one who is lovable.
DOVE found in their campaign for Real Beauty that only 2% of women around the world describe themselves as beautiful and that 81% of women in the U.S. strongly agree that “the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve.” DOVE is doing something about this challenge. Their mission is “to make more women feel beautiful every day by widening the stereotypical views of beauty.” A worthy goal.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, because it is the beholder’s definition that matters. If the definition is in error so is the conclusion. The beholder matters.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
Psalm 139:14
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Proverbs 31:30
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Isaiah 52:7
Remember, loveliness is defined as one who is lovable. That’s you. You are lovely. You are beautiful. You are created by God and his works are wonderful. In His eyes, you are lovable for He created you out of His love for you.
The beauty that God has instilled in you cannot be bought. It does not need to be altered. Your beauty is found because you are inherently YOU.
Our “loveable-ness” is for much more than outward appearance. God looks at the whole YOU. You are His handiwork. No matter what the worlds says, you are and will always be beautiful, lovely, desirable, wonderful in the eyes of God. Who knows better than Him? Ultimately, what ‘beholder’ should we trust to get it right? God is never in error in His conclusions about you.
What the world values is fake, artificial, and vain.
What God values is real, perfect, and true. God loves you. You are beautiful to Him.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Give Again
It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35) Jesus says so. But I bet, you can attest to this truth in your own life. Where have you found the most meaning in your life? Where have you had those moments where you experience what life is all about? Where have you found the most satisfaction in life?
Has it come in pleasing yourself? Has it come when you’ve done something that is best for you? Has it come in your acts of self-gratification or selfishness? Has it come when you’ve focused your energies and attention upon getting what you want?
Has it come watching hours and hours of TV? Has it come through spending money on yourself? Has it come because you’ve eaten well? Has it come by elevating yourself by talking poorly about others? Has it come by holding grudges, not forgiving, and being prideful? Has it come from yelling, blaming, hating, judging, or lying? Has it come when you’ve lived, acted, and talked like you are the center of the universe?
When have those moments come?
I sat with a group of people this weekend who, with tears in their eyes, talked about some of the most meaningful times in their lives. All of them had the same foundation. They were times when they gave themselves away. Those are the times when they felt the most blessed.
When we give ourselves away to our spouse, we are blessed.
When we give ourselves away to our kids, we are blessed.
When we give ourselves away to our neighbors, we are blessed.
When we give ourselves back to God, we begin to see the source of all blessing.
Don’t be satisfied with getting the fleeting satisfaction of a new shirt, watching a good game, or eating a good meal. Don’t be satisfied investing in a hobby, or the stock market, or in collecting all sorts of material things. Don’t think that is all there is to life – one little moment of happiness – and then need to look again to find and acquire the next moment of happiness.
Does your hobby bring tears to your eyes? Does an increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average give purpose to your life? Does the purchase of anything for yourself make you feel like you are making a difference in this world?
Practice Giving. Do it again. Do it again and again. Do it until it becomes more natural for you to give than to get. Be the one to do the dishes. Be the one to eat last. Be the one to take the hardest job. Be the one to give encouragement not seek it. Be the one to respond when you hear of a need. Do it anonymously. Give. Give again.
Don’t expect from your spouse, serve him. Don’t see your kids as a hindrance to your plans, make them your plans. Don’t see your work as toil, see it as service for others. Stop focusing on what you keep and start focusing on what you can give.
And remember, this giving and giving and giving, is not simply the means to a fantastic and blessed life. It is what Jesus did and does for you. He gives. He will give. He gave. Be like Him.
“For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
Matthew 16:26a
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21
Give = store up treasures in heaven = source of true blessing
Get = store up treasures on earth = fleeting = soon to be consumed, stolen
Do you believe Jesus? It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Has it come in pleasing yourself? Has it come when you’ve done something that is best for you? Has it come in your acts of self-gratification or selfishness? Has it come when you’ve focused your energies and attention upon getting what you want?
Has it come watching hours and hours of TV? Has it come through spending money on yourself? Has it come because you’ve eaten well? Has it come by elevating yourself by talking poorly about others? Has it come by holding grudges, not forgiving, and being prideful? Has it come from yelling, blaming, hating, judging, or lying? Has it come when you’ve lived, acted, and talked like you are the center of the universe?
When have those moments come?
I sat with a group of people this weekend who, with tears in their eyes, talked about some of the most meaningful times in their lives. All of them had the same foundation. They were times when they gave themselves away. Those are the times when they felt the most blessed.
When we give ourselves away to our spouse, we are blessed.
When we give ourselves away to our kids, we are blessed.
When we give ourselves away to our neighbors, we are blessed.
When we give ourselves back to God, we begin to see the source of all blessing.
Don’t be satisfied with getting the fleeting satisfaction of a new shirt, watching a good game, or eating a good meal. Don’t be satisfied investing in a hobby, or the stock market, or in collecting all sorts of material things. Don’t think that is all there is to life – one little moment of happiness – and then need to look again to find and acquire the next moment of happiness.
Does your hobby bring tears to your eyes? Does an increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average give purpose to your life? Does the purchase of anything for yourself make you feel like you are making a difference in this world?
Practice Giving. Do it again. Do it again and again. Do it until it becomes more natural for you to give than to get. Be the one to do the dishes. Be the one to eat last. Be the one to take the hardest job. Be the one to give encouragement not seek it. Be the one to respond when you hear of a need. Do it anonymously. Give. Give again.
Don’t expect from your spouse, serve him. Don’t see your kids as a hindrance to your plans, make them your plans. Don’t see your work as toil, see it as service for others. Stop focusing on what you keep and start focusing on what you can give.
And remember, this giving and giving and giving, is not simply the means to a fantastic and blessed life. It is what Jesus did and does for you. He gives. He will give. He gave. Be like Him.
“For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
Matthew 16:26a
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21
Give = store up treasures in heaven = source of true blessing
Get = store up treasures on earth = fleeting = soon to be consumed, stolen
Do you believe Jesus? It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Trusting God in an Uncertain World
Trusting God in an uncertain world.
What word stands out? Uncertain? Trusting? As I was considering what to write, I began to focus on the uncertainty. But I’ve decided to change my tack. Uncertainty in this world is a certainty, isn’t it? Just by its very nature, there will always be uncertainty. The world is tainted, broken, and needs help. It is not where any certainty really lies, other than the experience of uncertainty.
So instead I chose the word, God.
Would you feel differently if I titled article like this?
Trusting an all-powerful, loving, sovereign, gracious, and perfect God in an uncertain world.
Does that change your perspective?
A friend of mine was telling me about her harrowing experience recently on a boat in very rough water. It was terrible and she actually feared for her life.
Calm water is not a certainty. If we depend on the world, it is like a boat in water. On the calm days, it seems just fine. But on the days when the waves get big and the storms come, the boat might capsize. The boat is at the whim of the waves. However, if instead, you choose to stand on the lighthouse, the waves and storms will still come but the lighthouse will not waver. You’ll still get wet and maybe knocked around a little, but the lighthouse won’t. It is not going anywhere. The waves and water make a big spectacle but the lighthouse stays the same and does not move. So it’s obviously best to plant your feet on the lighthouse and avoid the boat.
Where are your feet planted in the midst of the storms in your life?
I’ve been around a lot of people in the midst of storms. They suffer. Others suffer. And lots of questions come to the surface? “Why?” “How could God allow this to happen?” “How can this possibly be part of God’s plan?” “Doesn’t He care?” “Where is He?” . . . and many more. In fact, almost all of the questions I’ve heard, I’ve heard before. Most of them can be found in the book of Psalms.
Here is a list of a few of the storms I’ve been seeing: cancer, divorce, unemployment, abuse, addictions, anger, death, dying, aging parent(s), financial insecurity, job stress, parenting challenges, fear of . . . , illness, physical pain, broken relationships, etc.
These do lead to difficult experiences with uncertainty being a big one. These feelings are real and many are unavoidable. They cause pain on a variety of different levels. They lead to fear and anxiety. They affect our lives. And often in the midst of these difficult emotions, they turn our attention on God. “What is He doing?” “If He’s God, why isn’t He doing something?” And we move toward blaming God.
I believe these questions and our tendency to blame God lead to a more important question, and one that’s critical to walking through the uncertain times we face in this world.
Who is God?
Is He schizophrenic, lazy, apathetic, calloused, selfish, cruel, unaware, unjust, lacking compassion, and love-less?
If so, then it’s no wonder we have to go it alone. It’s no wonder He causes bad things to happen to us, so He can see us suffer. He doesn’t care.
Is that who He is? If so, then we may not like it or Him, but at least we can understand why we’re experiencing such difficulty.
But yet, that’s not right. That is not what the Bible says about God. The Bible says He is loving, compassionate, merciful, forgiving, just, all-knowing, all-powerful, always present, gracious, holy, righteous, self-less, grieves over our pain, completely aware of all that we experience.
If that’s who He is, it’s no wonder we wonder. If this is true, why doesn’t He take away my pain? Why doesn’t He change the circumstances to stop the suffering? Why is He silent? What doesn’t He act? Why doesn’t God act like how I think God should act?
If He’s God like I’ve just described, don’t you think He knows what He’s doing (or not doing)? Don’t you think He will act in the right way at the right time, even though it may be a different plan than you want? Remember, you and I are finite, broken, imperfect, and definitely not all-knowing creatures.
It ultimately is a matter of trust, isn’t it? If you want certainty and understanding when it comes to the difficulties of this world, you will be sadly and continually disappointed. We do not exist to understand or to receive guarantees about what we will or will not experience. It doesn’t work that way as a broken person living in a broken world.
God says, “Trust me.” And time after time, throughout the OT and NT, and throughout my life and yours, He proves Himself trustworthy every single time. You can’t beat his track record.
And even though we may believe this is true, we still have this unhealthy tendency to go it alone – to try and handle it ourselves. The following is not found in the Bible, but at times is how we live and why we feel like a helpless person in a boat fearing for our very lives.
“Trust in yourself with all your heart. Lean only on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge yourself, and you will make your paths straight.”
How is that working for you?
Instead, trust God. Don’t go it alone. You can’t handle it yourself. If God is God, it’s not His fault; it can’t be. But He’s there. God Himself is there. Trust Him.
What word stands out? Uncertain? Trusting? As I was considering what to write, I began to focus on the uncertainty. But I’ve decided to change my tack. Uncertainty in this world is a certainty, isn’t it? Just by its very nature, there will always be uncertainty. The world is tainted, broken, and needs help. It is not where any certainty really lies, other than the experience of uncertainty.
So instead I chose the word, God.
Would you feel differently if I titled article like this?
Trusting an all-powerful, loving, sovereign, gracious, and perfect God in an uncertain world.
Does that change your perspective?
A friend of mine was telling me about her harrowing experience recently on a boat in very rough water. It was terrible and she actually feared for her life.
Calm water is not a certainty. If we depend on the world, it is like a boat in water. On the calm days, it seems just fine. But on the days when the waves get big and the storms come, the boat might capsize. The boat is at the whim of the waves. However, if instead, you choose to stand on the lighthouse, the waves and storms will still come but the lighthouse will not waver. You’ll still get wet and maybe knocked around a little, but the lighthouse won’t. It is not going anywhere. The waves and water make a big spectacle but the lighthouse stays the same and does not move. So it’s obviously best to plant your feet on the lighthouse and avoid the boat.
Where are your feet planted in the midst of the storms in your life?
I’ve been around a lot of people in the midst of storms. They suffer. Others suffer. And lots of questions come to the surface? “Why?” “How could God allow this to happen?” “How can this possibly be part of God’s plan?” “Doesn’t He care?” “Where is He?” . . . and many more. In fact, almost all of the questions I’ve heard, I’ve heard before. Most of them can be found in the book of Psalms.
Here is a list of a few of the storms I’ve been seeing: cancer, divorce, unemployment, abuse, addictions, anger, death, dying, aging parent(s), financial insecurity, job stress, parenting challenges, fear of . . . , illness, physical pain, broken relationships, etc.
These do lead to difficult experiences with uncertainty being a big one. These feelings are real and many are unavoidable. They cause pain on a variety of different levels. They lead to fear and anxiety. They affect our lives. And often in the midst of these difficult emotions, they turn our attention on God. “What is He doing?” “If He’s God, why isn’t He doing something?” And we move toward blaming God.
I believe these questions and our tendency to blame God lead to a more important question, and one that’s critical to walking through the uncertain times we face in this world.
Who is God?
Is He schizophrenic, lazy, apathetic, calloused, selfish, cruel, unaware, unjust, lacking compassion, and love-less?
If so, then it’s no wonder we have to go it alone. It’s no wonder He causes bad things to happen to us, so He can see us suffer. He doesn’t care.
Is that who He is? If so, then we may not like it or Him, but at least we can understand why we’re experiencing such difficulty.
But yet, that’s not right. That is not what the Bible says about God. The Bible says He is loving, compassionate, merciful, forgiving, just, all-knowing, all-powerful, always present, gracious, holy, righteous, self-less, grieves over our pain, completely aware of all that we experience.
If that’s who He is, it’s no wonder we wonder. If this is true, why doesn’t He take away my pain? Why doesn’t He change the circumstances to stop the suffering? Why is He silent? What doesn’t He act? Why doesn’t God act like how I think God should act?
If He’s God like I’ve just described, don’t you think He knows what He’s doing (or not doing)? Don’t you think He will act in the right way at the right time, even though it may be a different plan than you want? Remember, you and I are finite, broken, imperfect, and definitely not all-knowing creatures.
It ultimately is a matter of trust, isn’t it? If you want certainty and understanding when it comes to the difficulties of this world, you will be sadly and continually disappointed. We do not exist to understand or to receive guarantees about what we will or will not experience. It doesn’t work that way as a broken person living in a broken world.
God says, “Trust me.” And time after time, throughout the OT and NT, and throughout my life and yours, He proves Himself trustworthy every single time. You can’t beat his track record.
And even though we may believe this is true, we still have this unhealthy tendency to go it alone – to try and handle it ourselves. The following is not found in the Bible, but at times is how we live and why we feel like a helpless person in a boat fearing for our very lives.
“Trust in yourself with all your heart. Lean only on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge yourself, and you will make your paths straight.”
How is that working for you?
Instead, trust God. Don’t go it alone. You can’t handle it yourself. If God is God, it’s not His fault; it can’t be. But He’s there. God Himself is there. Trust Him.
Expectations
One of my pet peeves is people who have unrealistic expectations, especially in the fields of customer service. Often I experience this internal struggle at restaurants when either I eat with someone who is demanding or sit by someone who is demanding. Recently I had this experience during our anniversary dinner at the Perry Inn. (We had a gift card.) A few tables away, the couple was clearly and consistently unhappy with the service, food, and overall experience. They were critical, demanding, and rude in their interactions with the waiter who tried but was unable to meet their needs. This couple had a level of expectation which was inappropriate and unrealistic.
We have expectations for John. We have expectations for his behavior – how he acts, how he talks. And we make sure he understands when he is not meeting our expectations. When he says, “Whatever” in THAT tone, it is unacceptable. And we have realized that we, too, are held accountable by him when we happen to use that same term. (What goes around comes around, I guess.) When our expectations are not met, we hold him accountable through words and actions. There are consequences to not meeting our expectations (loss of privileges, time-outs, etc.)
I also bet you have expectations for Community Reformed Church. You expect the church to do certain things and not do certain things. You have expectations for the staff, for your experience on Sunday mornings, and probably for many other aspects of your “church” experience. Many of these are appropriate and important to have. Notice I didn’t say all of them are appropriate and important. Some are unrealistic. Some may even be selfish and self-centered. Some may run contrary to the purpose of the church. But most probably are appropriate and important.
What about you? What expectations should the church have of you? (And when I say the church, I don’t simply mean the staff or leadership – I’m talking about all of us.) And also, what expectations DOES the church have of you today?
As I see it, our expectations of each other are minimal at best. Here are what I perceive them to be:
1. We expect you to come to church at least 4x a year or so. (If not, an elder may call.)
2. We expect you to keep the commitments you’ve made (usher, greeter, coffee host, etc.).
3. We expect you to avoid blatant sin. (If not, an elder may call.)
Now it’s important to note that what we expect from each other is different than what we may ask of each other. We ask you to do a lot more. We ask John to do a lot more, but some of which we don’t expect. We just ask. We ask you to follow Jesus Christ in all of life, hopefully strongly encourage you to do so, but we don’t expect it. There are no “consequences” if you don’t pray, love your neighbor, give time or money, study God’s Word, etc. We ask and encourage, but don’t expect.
What should we expect from you?
The easy and comfortable answer is to just continue what we’re doing. You can ask but don’t expect. Let’s leave the expectations where they are. If I’m not in church or involved in blatant sin, then I should get a call. But other than that, keep asking, but don’t expect.
I just wonder if that’s really a good plan. I wonder if that is really effective in encouraging each other to grow. I wonder if that really is an expression of the love we are called to have for each other. It is often shown in children, that if we expect little of them, they meet these expectations and it limits their potential. I’m not at all inferring we are like children, but instead wonder if this really does hold true for adults as well.
If we expect little from each other, then we’ll meet it – it’s not hard. But is that right? And does that help us to become the people God is calling us to become? Are we being His Church?
Here is what I hope you expect of me (not as the pastor) but as a fellow follower of Jesus Christ:
1. I actively pursue my relationship with Jesus (prayer, Bible study, service, evangelism)
2. I encourage my family, friends to follow Jesus, too. (Ex. Pray with wife/family, make Sabbath priority, teach/model Biblical values)
3. I confess sin and avoid it. (greed, lust, materialism, judgmentalness, pride, etc.)
4. I’m consistently meeting with others to encourage and challenge one another to live out everything expressed in this list, because I know I can’t/won’t do it alone.
5. I “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (how I treat waiters, how I run my business, how I make decisions financially, how I drive, how I speak, etc.)
6. I am loving and serving those outside the church, being held accountable in my walk, meeting the needs of the least of these, being a house of prayer, and serving the Church here and throughout the world.
These are items you ought to expect of me. You shouldn’t just ask these of me; you ought to expect them from me. You may not be a part of #3, knowing all the joys and challenges of my pursuit of Christ, but you ought to expect that I have a group(s) of people who really do know that I am living this out or not.
Please really prayerfully consider this question: What should the Church expect from you?
We have expectations for John. We have expectations for his behavior – how he acts, how he talks. And we make sure he understands when he is not meeting our expectations. When he says, “Whatever” in THAT tone, it is unacceptable. And we have realized that we, too, are held accountable by him when we happen to use that same term. (What goes around comes around, I guess.) When our expectations are not met, we hold him accountable through words and actions. There are consequences to not meeting our expectations (loss of privileges, time-outs, etc.)
I also bet you have expectations for Community Reformed Church. You expect the church to do certain things and not do certain things. You have expectations for the staff, for your experience on Sunday mornings, and probably for many other aspects of your “church” experience. Many of these are appropriate and important to have. Notice I didn’t say all of them are appropriate and important. Some are unrealistic. Some may even be selfish and self-centered. Some may run contrary to the purpose of the church. But most probably are appropriate and important.
What about you? What expectations should the church have of you? (And when I say the church, I don’t simply mean the staff or leadership – I’m talking about all of us.) And also, what expectations DOES the church have of you today?
As I see it, our expectations of each other are minimal at best. Here are what I perceive them to be:
1. We expect you to come to church at least 4x a year or so. (If not, an elder may call.)
2. We expect you to keep the commitments you’ve made (usher, greeter, coffee host, etc.).
3. We expect you to avoid blatant sin. (If not, an elder may call.)
Now it’s important to note that what we expect from each other is different than what we may ask of each other. We ask you to do a lot more. We ask John to do a lot more, but some of which we don’t expect. We just ask. We ask you to follow Jesus Christ in all of life, hopefully strongly encourage you to do so, but we don’t expect it. There are no “consequences” if you don’t pray, love your neighbor, give time or money, study God’s Word, etc. We ask and encourage, but don’t expect.
What should we expect from you?
The easy and comfortable answer is to just continue what we’re doing. You can ask but don’t expect. Let’s leave the expectations where they are. If I’m not in church or involved in blatant sin, then I should get a call. But other than that, keep asking, but don’t expect.
I just wonder if that’s really a good plan. I wonder if that is really effective in encouraging each other to grow. I wonder if that really is an expression of the love we are called to have for each other. It is often shown in children, that if we expect little of them, they meet these expectations and it limits their potential. I’m not at all inferring we are like children, but instead wonder if this really does hold true for adults as well.
If we expect little from each other, then we’ll meet it – it’s not hard. But is that right? And does that help us to become the people God is calling us to become? Are we being His Church?
Here is what I hope you expect of me (not as the pastor) but as a fellow follower of Jesus Christ:
1. I actively pursue my relationship with Jesus (prayer, Bible study, service, evangelism)
2. I encourage my family, friends to follow Jesus, too. (Ex. Pray with wife/family, make Sabbath priority, teach/model Biblical values)
3. I confess sin and avoid it. (greed, lust, materialism, judgmentalness, pride, etc.)
4. I’m consistently meeting with others to encourage and challenge one another to live out everything expressed in this list, because I know I can’t/won’t do it alone.
5. I “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (how I treat waiters, how I run my business, how I make decisions financially, how I drive, how I speak, etc.)
6. I am loving and serving those outside the church, being held accountable in my walk, meeting the needs of the least of these, being a house of prayer, and serving the Church here and throughout the world.
These are items you ought to expect of me. You shouldn’t just ask these of me; you ought to expect them from me. You may not be a part of #3, knowing all the joys and challenges of my pursuit of Christ, but you ought to expect that I have a group(s) of people who really do know that I am living this out or not.
Please really prayerfully consider this question: What should the Church expect from you?
Miracles in the Mud - Janine Maxwell
This is an email I received from Janine Maxwell, vice-president of Heart for Africa.
The rain started early Monday morning so the mud on the ground was thick and sticky and clung to our sneakers as we stepped off the bus to go and collect the children. They stood in the rain with all of their worldly belongings carefully collected in black plastic garbage bags with their names written on a torn strip of masking tape with a black Sharpie marker.
The pit latrine that all 76 children use was leaking again in to the playground area, as it always did during a rain. They didn’t seem to notice the stench, but my friend Susan (Page) and I could not have missed it.
Today was the day. The day the children had been waiting for their whole lives – imagine, waiting for something your whole life, and then it is about to happen.
Many of us have that expectation, whether it’s getting married one day, or having a baby or graduating from University. But the children at the Merciful Redeemer Children’s home (orphanage) on the edge of the Mutumba (KiSwahili for “second hand”) in Nairobi, Kenya had waited for their whole lives to move out of the hell that they lived in called “home”. The home where all 76 of them slept in two rooms, four children to a bunk bed, were hopeful to get a meal of beans and corn every day and often found themselves walking for miles to find water, only to come back empty handed. And these children were the “lucky ones”, rescued from the streets, the slums and certain torture, rape and death.
Today was the day. The orphans who lived at the Merciful Redeemer knew that their dream had come. Today they would move to the promised-land. These little boys and girls had been told by “Mama-John” that today they would move to a new home where the pit latrine was not linked to their play ground, where they could grow food and have fresh vegetables one day, where they were not in danger of planes falling from the Wilson Airstrip in to their home in a burst of flames. She told them that they would never again be kept awake all night while their slum neighbors sold illicit brew (often made from fermented wheat, gasoline, a hallucinogenic drug grown locally and sometimes even an old car battery … for flavor), while prostitutes worked the muddy alleys and where children (their friends) screamed out in the night as they were beaten, or raped or killed.
Today was the day. And I was there to bear witness to it.
The buses would not pull out until noon, but at 10:00 AM there were 54 children securely sitting in the bus with all of their worldly belongings and they were ready to go. They didn’t mind waiting and would have been happy to wait all day and all night if needed. They had no idea what their new home would look like, but they were certain that it would be better than the home they were leaving. They were happy, hopefully and thankful. Their dog was not as excited and refused to get on the bus. After one of the boys went and found a piece of old wire on the ground, he tied it roughly around the dogs neck and tried to pull the dog up on to the bus. The dog was chocking and snapped it’s teeth at the boy. After much coaxing and prodding by all of the children who had come to love the dog, it ran back towards the old home and sat in the mud, and was unmoved. That was the only sadness I saw that day. The rest was pure joy.
Today was the day and the two buses filled with little Kenyan children waved goodbye to their slum friends, their slum life and their home for six years. With the waves came the miraculous sound of children’s voices – they were singing! And without asking for a translation, their house-mom, Veronica, leaned forward in the bus and told me that the children were singing praise songs to God and were thanking Him for his provision, for giving them everything they needed and for loving them.
Today was a day that I was angry at God, again. I found myself at the front of the bus looking up at the sky and saying, “Did you hear that God?? They are THANKING you for providing for them. Thanking you for allowing them to live in a small room with 36 other children who have no parents. Thanking you for a playground covered in human feces. Thanking you for that small bowl of beans and corn cooked over an open pot everyday that burned on the bottom, but never quite cooked on the top. They are thanking you for being their heavenly Father! Do you hear this?? Do you really think you deserve thanks for this??? Where were you? How could you sit up on your throne and watch these and millions of other children suffer so badly and die?”
Today was a day that I cried all the way from Mutumba slum to Katinga off of the road to Arusha, Tanzania where the children saw their new home, and moved in permanently. As their joy and excitement continued to rise in the songs of praise, I got more and more upset. How could there be this much pure joy simply because they were going to sleep in a bedroom that didn’t leak in the rain. And then there was the new bed they were getting – one per child. They were joyful because they would not have to sleep with someone else who wets the bed every night. And even if you did wet the bed yourself, there was a brand new plastic mattress cover on it so you only had to wash the sheets and the whole mattress didn’t rot under you and grow black mold. How could they be that excited about living in a 10 acre property fenced where no one could come and hurt them again. Were fresh vegetables and grass to play on really that big of a deal?
When we arrived at the entrance of the new land we covered the windows with black plastic so that the children could not see their new home. They had been promised a girls dorm, a boys dorm, a kitchen and a school. They didn’t know what to expect, after all, they technically had all of those things in the slum. The children stood behind the bus and given the “Extreme Home Makeover – Kenya Edition” theme that we sported, they all stood there and yelled in their loudest voices, “MOVE THAT BUS!”.
Today was the day that the bus pulled ahead and the children didn’t move. They stood still and looked around. Where was their new home? Where were the dorms and kitchen and school? All they saw were huge stone buildings with bright blue roofs. They saw a one-acre garden with fruit trees and tomatoes. They saw a water tank that seemed large enough to provide enough water for a city. But where was their home? They didn’t know.
Ian Maxwell, President of Heart for Africa, called them to join him on a tour and when they reached the first building he announced that it was the boys dorm. The children cheered, but with disbelief on their faces. Next we all walked to the new kitchen which was almost as big as their old playground. They were brought in side to see where the food store was. The team from Heart for Africa had all pitched in and gave money so that there was food in that new kitchen. For only $645 we had been able to purchase more than two tons of food (yes, more than 2,000 lbs of food) that would last several months. The children peaked their faces around the corner in to the new room and physically jumped back with a gasp when they saw the food: mangoes, rice, corn, beans, lentils, beets, carrots, onions, milk, tea, oranges, bread, flour, sugar. They had never so much food, ever. They screamed and ran in the room and danced and sang with all their hearts and souls.
The tour continued to show the girls dorm, the school (generously built by the “Builders class” at Roswell United Methodist Church), the bore hole, water tank, garden and play area. It ended with the presentation to each child of their own bed, new mattress, mattress cover, sheets, blankets, pyjamas, windup flashlight, toothbrush, toothpaste, bible, socks, underwear and the love of the Heart for Africa team members who traveled to Kenya with all of these miraculous gifts. Gifts that the children could never have asked for or imagined.
Today was a day of miracles. Today I saw the miracle of hope. Only four months ago this ten-acre plot of land was bare and today it is a place of miracles, a home for 100 children and the future of a nation.
Today I stand in awe again at God’s provision, for giving us everything we need and for loving each of us, even when we are not thankful.
Today there was redemption, for us all. Janine Maxwell
The rain started early Monday morning so the mud on the ground was thick and sticky and clung to our sneakers as we stepped off the bus to go and collect the children. They stood in the rain with all of their worldly belongings carefully collected in black plastic garbage bags with their names written on a torn strip of masking tape with a black Sharpie marker.
The pit latrine that all 76 children use was leaking again in to the playground area, as it always did during a rain. They didn’t seem to notice the stench, but my friend Susan (Page) and I could not have missed it.
Today was the day. The day the children had been waiting for their whole lives – imagine, waiting for something your whole life, and then it is about to happen.
Many of us have that expectation, whether it’s getting married one day, or having a baby or graduating from University. But the children at the Merciful Redeemer Children’s home (orphanage) on the edge of the Mutumba (KiSwahili for “second hand”) in Nairobi, Kenya had waited for their whole lives to move out of the hell that they lived in called “home”. The home where all 76 of them slept in two rooms, four children to a bunk bed, were hopeful to get a meal of beans and corn every day and often found themselves walking for miles to find water, only to come back empty handed. And these children were the “lucky ones”, rescued from the streets, the slums and certain torture, rape and death.
Today was the day. The orphans who lived at the Merciful Redeemer knew that their dream had come. Today they would move to the promised-land. These little boys and girls had been told by “Mama-John” that today they would move to a new home where the pit latrine was not linked to their play ground, where they could grow food and have fresh vegetables one day, where they were not in danger of planes falling from the Wilson Airstrip in to their home in a burst of flames. She told them that they would never again be kept awake all night while their slum neighbors sold illicit brew (often made from fermented wheat, gasoline, a hallucinogenic drug grown locally and sometimes even an old car battery … for flavor), while prostitutes worked the muddy alleys and where children (their friends) screamed out in the night as they were beaten, or raped or killed.
Today was the day. And I was there to bear witness to it.
The buses would not pull out until noon, but at 10:00 AM there were 54 children securely sitting in the bus with all of their worldly belongings and they were ready to go. They didn’t mind waiting and would have been happy to wait all day and all night if needed. They had no idea what their new home would look like, but they were certain that it would be better than the home they were leaving. They were happy, hopefully and thankful. Their dog was not as excited and refused to get on the bus. After one of the boys went and found a piece of old wire on the ground, he tied it roughly around the dogs neck and tried to pull the dog up on to the bus. The dog was chocking and snapped it’s teeth at the boy. After much coaxing and prodding by all of the children who had come to love the dog, it ran back towards the old home and sat in the mud, and was unmoved. That was the only sadness I saw that day. The rest was pure joy.
Today was the day and the two buses filled with little Kenyan children waved goodbye to their slum friends, their slum life and their home for six years. With the waves came the miraculous sound of children’s voices – they were singing! And without asking for a translation, their house-mom, Veronica, leaned forward in the bus and told me that the children were singing praise songs to God and were thanking Him for his provision, for giving them everything they needed and for loving them.
Today was a day that I was angry at God, again. I found myself at the front of the bus looking up at the sky and saying, “Did you hear that God?? They are THANKING you for providing for them. Thanking you for allowing them to live in a small room with 36 other children who have no parents. Thanking you for a playground covered in human feces. Thanking you for that small bowl of beans and corn cooked over an open pot everyday that burned on the bottom, but never quite cooked on the top. They are thanking you for being their heavenly Father! Do you hear this?? Do you really think you deserve thanks for this??? Where were you? How could you sit up on your throne and watch these and millions of other children suffer so badly and die?”
Today was a day that I cried all the way from Mutumba slum to Katinga off of the road to Arusha, Tanzania where the children saw their new home, and moved in permanently. As their joy and excitement continued to rise in the songs of praise, I got more and more upset. How could there be this much pure joy simply because they were going to sleep in a bedroom that didn’t leak in the rain. And then there was the new bed they were getting – one per child. They were joyful because they would not have to sleep with someone else who wets the bed every night. And even if you did wet the bed yourself, there was a brand new plastic mattress cover on it so you only had to wash the sheets and the whole mattress didn’t rot under you and grow black mold. How could they be that excited about living in a 10 acre property fenced where no one could come and hurt them again. Were fresh vegetables and grass to play on really that big of a deal?
When we arrived at the entrance of the new land we covered the windows with black plastic so that the children could not see their new home. They had been promised a girls dorm, a boys dorm, a kitchen and a school. They didn’t know what to expect, after all, they technically had all of those things in the slum. The children stood behind the bus and given the “Extreme Home Makeover – Kenya Edition” theme that we sported, they all stood there and yelled in their loudest voices, “MOVE THAT BUS!”.
Today was the day that the bus pulled ahead and the children didn’t move. They stood still and looked around. Where was their new home? Where were the dorms and kitchen and school? All they saw were huge stone buildings with bright blue roofs. They saw a one-acre garden with fruit trees and tomatoes. They saw a water tank that seemed large enough to provide enough water for a city. But where was their home? They didn’t know.
Ian Maxwell, President of Heart for Africa, called them to join him on a tour and when they reached the first building he announced that it was the boys dorm. The children cheered, but with disbelief on their faces. Next we all walked to the new kitchen which was almost as big as their old playground. They were brought in side to see where the food store was. The team from Heart for Africa had all pitched in and gave money so that there was food in that new kitchen. For only $645 we had been able to purchase more than two tons of food (yes, more than 2,000 lbs of food) that would last several months. The children peaked their faces around the corner in to the new room and physically jumped back with a gasp when they saw the food: mangoes, rice, corn, beans, lentils, beets, carrots, onions, milk, tea, oranges, bread, flour, sugar. They had never so much food, ever. They screamed and ran in the room and danced and sang with all their hearts and souls.
The tour continued to show the girls dorm, the school (generously built by the “Builders class” at Roswell United Methodist Church), the bore hole, water tank, garden and play area. It ended with the presentation to each child of their own bed, new mattress, mattress cover, sheets, blankets, pyjamas, windup flashlight, toothbrush, toothpaste, bible, socks, underwear and the love of the Heart for Africa team members who traveled to Kenya with all of these miraculous gifts. Gifts that the children could never have asked for or imagined.
Today was a day of miracles. Today I saw the miracle of hope. Only four months ago this ten-acre plot of land was bare and today it is a place of miracles, a home for 100 children and the future of a nation.
Today I stand in awe again at God’s provision, for giving us everything we need and for loving each of us, even when we are not thankful.
Today there was redemption, for us all. Janine Maxwell
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