Hello, friends. While I've spent most of today decorating for Christmas, a delightful activity, I'm not going to write about that. Instead I'd like to discuss the shooting that happened on Friday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. I'm devastated by this tragedy, and my prayers are with the victims' families and all those who have been affected.
First I'd like to clarify that the police have not released any information about the shooter's motive. However, there has been much speculation. It's widely believed that the shooter was motivated by his anti-abortion political views.
Notice I said anti-abortion, not pro-life. I did that very intentionally. I don't know what made the shooter enter that clinic on Friday, but I know what didn't: pro-life views. No one who is truly pro-life would ever condone such an act, let alone commit it. Murder is the ultimate anti-life act.
I'm not going to lie. I celebrate when I hear that abortion clinics close. That's because I believe that abortion is murder, and I am against murder! But I would never murder someone to make that happen. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Our Students for Life shirts my senior year said just that. Love. That's my goal in everything I do: to show the love of Christ to the world. That's the way things can change. Love. Not hate. Not murder. Hate and murder never go along with the cause of a true pro-lifer. Love is my goal. I hope it's yours too. If it is, let's combine forces, pray for these victims, and change the world - one act of love at a time.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Friday, November 27, 2015
Thanksgiving Thoughts
Hello, friends! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. My drive home yesterday was eventful, to say the least, but Kensi and I did get here in one piece. All is well! We haven't celebrated yet- tomorrow, we're going to Marion to celebrate Thanksgiving with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. In case you missed that, I get to see my nephew tomorrow. Did I mention that I get to see my nephew tomorrow?
Anyway, I'm going to do the stereotypical Thanksgiving thing and make a list of what I'm thankful for. It's now the 27th, so obviously I need to list 27 things. Here we go!
1. My nephew! (Let's face it, you saw that coming)
2. My family
3. My friends
4. My dog
5. Messiah, my home church
6. University Lutheran in Tallahassee
7. Redeemer, my new church!
8. My call to Redeemer
9. Damayan, the garden I volunteered at in Tallahassee
10. All of the various pastors I've worked with I'm various places
11. My new house
12. Drake women's basketball (which has won its first four games!)
13. The Oklahoma City Thunder, which I'm becoming a fan of
14. My phone, because it makes things so much easier
15. The forgiveness of Christ (what could be more significant?)
16. Books, in general
17. Television, in general (especially the new show Blindspot which is becoming my favorite)
18. Into the Woods, which kept me entertained on my trip yesterday
19. The kind people who helped me on my trip yesterday
20. Katie's Pantry, my favorite restaurant in Enid
21. My baby cousin Emma
22. My DCE study
23. My missionary and church worker friends
24. Holidays!
25. My short work commute
26. My commissioning/installation day
27. The Concordia (Wisconsin, duh)
There you have it. Happy Thanksgiving!
Anyway, I'm going to do the stereotypical Thanksgiving thing and make a list of what I'm thankful for. It's now the 27th, so obviously I need to list 27 things. Here we go!
1. My nephew! (Let's face it, you saw that coming)
2. My family
3. My friends
4. My dog
5. Messiah, my home church
6. University Lutheran in Tallahassee
7. Redeemer, my new church!
8. My call to Redeemer
9. Damayan, the garden I volunteered at in Tallahassee
10. All of the various pastors I've worked with I'm various places
11. My new house
12. Drake women's basketball (which has won its first four games!)
13. The Oklahoma City Thunder, which I'm becoming a fan of
14. My phone, because it makes things so much easier
15. The forgiveness of Christ (what could be more significant?)
16. Books, in general
17. Television, in general (especially the new show Blindspot which is becoming my favorite)
18. Into the Woods, which kept me entertained on my trip yesterday
19. The kind people who helped me on my trip yesterday
20. Katie's Pantry, my favorite restaurant in Enid
21. My baby cousin Emma
22. My DCE study
23. My missionary and church worker friends
24. Holidays!
25. My short work commute
26. My commissioning/installation day
27. The Concordia (Wisconsin, duh)
There you have it. Happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, November 15, 2015
A Day in the Life of a Lay Minister (with a dog)
Hello, friends! I hope your week has started off well. It occurred to me as I started to type that I spent all day on Thursday brainstorming for our Midweek program. Thursdays are typically the day that I plan for the following week, but I was so busy brainstorming, I did no planning. Therefore I'm going to present to you A Day in the Life of a Lay Minister - as I plan what I'll be doing tomorrow.
6:30 Wake up, dress in sweats, walk dog.
7:00 Feed dog, eat own breakfast, take shower, dress for work.
8:15 Walk dog. (You'll sense a theme here.)
8:30 Commute across parking lot, begin work day with a devotion.
9:00 Plan confirmation lessons for Monday afternoon one-on-one session with student and Wednesday regular class period.
10:00 Submit registration materials for OK'D in Christ, the Oklahoma district high school youth gathering. Plan travel and housing for OK'D.
11:00 Send out reminder about Friendsgiving event coming up next Sunday. Plan games.
12:00 Commute across parking lot for lunch. Walk dog.
1:00 Write and practice Opening skit for Midweek.
2:00 Type up sign-up sheet for the Advent meal the youth are hosting. Send out to parents. Plan further fundraisers for Youth Gathering.
3:30 One-on-one confirmation session with student.
4:30 End work day. Commute across parking lot. Play with dog, walk dog, feed dog, eat own dinner, probably go to Hobby Lobby, watch Once Upon a Time on Hulu, wash dishes, walk dog again, go to bed.
There, now you know what it's like to be a lay minister with an energetic dog, and I know what my life is going to be like tomorrow. Ish. I feel better. Now, it's time for me to go walk my dog (again) and go to bed. Goodnight, world.
6:30 Wake up, dress in sweats, walk dog.
7:00 Feed dog, eat own breakfast, take shower, dress for work.
8:15 Walk dog. (You'll sense a theme here.)
8:30 Commute across parking lot, begin work day with a devotion.
9:00 Plan confirmation lessons for Monday afternoon one-on-one session with student and Wednesday regular class period.
10:00 Submit registration materials for OK'D in Christ, the Oklahoma district high school youth gathering. Plan travel and housing for OK'D.
11:00 Send out reminder about Friendsgiving event coming up next Sunday. Plan games.
12:00 Commute across parking lot for lunch. Walk dog.
1:00 Write and practice Opening skit for Midweek.
2:00 Type up sign-up sheet for the Advent meal the youth are hosting. Send out to parents. Plan further fundraisers for Youth Gathering.
3:30 One-on-one confirmation session with student.
4:30 End work day. Commute across parking lot. Play with dog, walk dog, feed dog, eat own dinner, probably go to Hobby Lobby, watch Once Upon a Time on Hulu, wash dishes, walk dog again, go to bed.
There, now you know what it's like to be a lay minister with an energetic dog, and I know what my life is going to be like tomorrow. Ish. I feel better. Now, it's time for me to go walk my dog (again) and go to bed. Goodnight, world.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Christmas Reflections
Hello, friends! Today I want to tell you about something that has consumed my work life for the past week: our Christmas program. Being the enterprising young DCE that I am, I wrote it myself. Let me tell you, I'm having far too much fun. But as Pastor House said, if I'm not having fun, no one else will be either!
The program will be at 5:30 pm on a Sunday night. When people arrive, they'll be sorted into groups, where they will have devotional time and learn their portion of the skit. Then, at 6:30, all the groups will come together and perform their skits, which will all fit together to tell the Christmas story. After the program, we'll have a big party with music and dinner and crafts and a photo booth and all kinds of fun stuff.
The skits tell the story of an overdramatic talk show host who is very enthusiastic about his two main guests: Mary and Joseph. Throughout the skits, he gets more and more irritated, because Mary and Joseph keep bringing other people onto the stage (angels, shepherds, "wise people"). By the end of the interview, the host realizes that Mary and Joseph are not the only important people in the Christmas story, and Jesus is the most important person of all.
I'll be honest, I was inspired to write this post because of all the ridiculousness about the Starbucks cups. I wanted to write about the true meaning of Christmas, which has absolutely nothing to do with what's printed on a coffee mug. I would say "Keep calm and remember Jesus" - but that's not really a reason to be calm, is it? The news of Jesus's birth is reason to be extremely excited! So jump up and down, run around in circles, hug everyone you see, shout in the streets, and remember Jesus! Or, better yet - preach the good news. Feed someone who is hungry. Clothe someone who is cold. Hold the hand of someone who is hurting. And remember Jesus, who was born in a cold stable, raised as a simple carpenter, and certainly never had a hot cup of coffee.
The program will be at 5:30 pm on a Sunday night. When people arrive, they'll be sorted into groups, where they will have devotional time and learn their portion of the skit. Then, at 6:30, all the groups will come together and perform their skits, which will all fit together to tell the Christmas story. After the program, we'll have a big party with music and dinner and crafts and a photo booth and all kinds of fun stuff.
The skits tell the story of an overdramatic talk show host who is very enthusiastic about his two main guests: Mary and Joseph. Throughout the skits, he gets more and more irritated, because Mary and Joseph keep bringing other people onto the stage (angels, shepherds, "wise people"). By the end of the interview, the host realizes that Mary and Joseph are not the only important people in the Christmas story, and Jesus is the most important person of all.
I'll be honest, I was inspired to write this post because of all the ridiculousness about the Starbucks cups. I wanted to write about the true meaning of Christmas, which has absolutely nothing to do with what's printed on a coffee mug. I would say "Keep calm and remember Jesus" - but that's not really a reason to be calm, is it? The news of Jesus's birth is reason to be extremely excited! So jump up and down, run around in circles, hug everyone you see, shout in the streets, and remember Jesus! Or, better yet - preach the good news. Feed someone who is hungry. Clothe someone who is cold. Hold the hand of someone who is hurting. And remember Jesus, who was born in a cold stable, raised as a simple carpenter, and certainly never had a hot cup of coffee.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Emotions
Hello, friends! Greetings from my very messy kitchen. Someday, dishes will not be the bane of my existence... but today is not that day.
Anyway, tonight I want to share with you some positive emotions I've felt since arriving in Enid.
1) Satisfaction.
I came up with the idea for a coffee mug fundraiser. The youth decorate the mugs and sell them to raise money for the National Youth Gathering. Not only are the youth having all kinds of fun decorating the mugs, but the congregation is eating them up. It's so nice to see an idea come to fruition that nicely. Hence, satisfaction.
2) Gladness.
During confirmation class on Wednesday, one of the youth asked, "Are you only here for a year, like our intern last year?" I said no, I'll probably be here for a long time. They replied, "Good. You'd better be here for a long time!" On a related note, one of my students saw me outside of church on Saturday and came up to give me a hug. Another kid gave me a drawing last week that said, "For Mary, the church loves you!" (Actually she spelled it "cherch" but it works.) Hence, gladness.
3) Nostalgia.
I'm enjoying seeing bits of myself in my students. One of them asked why we do memory work in confirmation, and I went back to my own confirmation class when I asked my teacher the same question. I'm making some home visits to students, and the way they interact with their parents and siblings draws me back to my childhood. It reminds me why I wanted to do this so badly -- to share with others what helped me when I was growing up! Hence, nostalgia.
4) Excitement.
Because holy cow, I have a call! Even after a month of getting down to business, the concept that I am a called and commissioned minister of religion is incredible to me. Hence, a LOT of excitement!!
That's all from me tonight. I hope you are all well, wherever you are!
Anyway, tonight I want to share with you some positive emotions I've felt since arriving in Enid.
1) Satisfaction.
I came up with the idea for a coffee mug fundraiser. The youth decorate the mugs and sell them to raise money for the National Youth Gathering. Not only are the youth having all kinds of fun decorating the mugs, but the congregation is eating them up. It's so nice to see an idea come to fruition that nicely. Hence, satisfaction.
2) Gladness.
During confirmation class on Wednesday, one of the youth asked, "Are you only here for a year, like our intern last year?" I said no, I'll probably be here for a long time. They replied, "Good. You'd better be here for a long time!" On a related note, one of my students saw me outside of church on Saturday and came up to give me a hug. Another kid gave me a drawing last week that said, "For Mary, the church loves you!" (Actually she spelled it "cherch" but it works.) Hence, gladness.
3) Nostalgia.
I'm enjoying seeing bits of myself in my students. One of them asked why we do memory work in confirmation, and I went back to my own confirmation class when I asked my teacher the same question. I'm making some home visits to students, and the way they interact with their parents and siblings draws me back to my childhood. It reminds me why I wanted to do this so badly -- to share with others what helped me when I was growing up! Hence, nostalgia.
4) Excitement.
Because holy cow, I have a call! Even after a month of getting down to business, the concept that I am a called and commissioned minister of religion is incredible to me. Hence, a LOT of excitement!!
That's all from me tonight. I hope you are all well, wherever you are!
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