Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Today was a great day with both sides of my family...

My brother and I started out our day at our dad's house -- my aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandfather came over for a little while before they left for their dinner. It was good to see them and visit with them a little while, and I was able to show them most of my Ukraine pictures. Okay, "most" is an exaggeration, it was actually "most of the overview pictures", since it was only 10% of my total photos. I showed a lot of history/culture ones at the beginning, and then made my way into the ones that had more of the people. (Seriously, I'm forgetting some of the awesome stories...I need a refresher.)

When I was showing my pictures, I talked about how it was neat to see that God had brought a lot of the pastors out of the drug/alcohol culture, and that they went from that enslavement to now preaching and teaching in the church. After a while, I noticed that my aunt had gone into the living room and was otherwise NOT where I was showing the pictures....I suspected it was because my trip was church-related....Adam said later, "I think you talked about God too much for our aunt, because she left after a while" (and was sitting in their car by the time the rest of us came outside).

He's probably right. But how can you "invalidate" someone's story? We've talked in theology class about how the narrative you are in will influence what kinds of experiences you have. For instance, I will not have experiences in my Christian story like those in a Buddhist life-narrative will have. These were the experiences I had -- I am telling what I have seen and heard (Luke 7:22).

My dad and stepmom have told us before not to say "Merry Christmas" to her (and maybe my uncle too), because she won't like it. However, I cannot (sometimes I simply forget). On December 25, I am celebrating Christ's birth -- that is the holiday. I know the name of Jesus Christ is offensive to some, but today, I just talked about GOD. (Yes, Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are all the same Being, I know.) I think she may be of Jewish heritage, but I don't think she's a practicing Jew.

I want to know what her "beef" is with God, or the church, or Christians, or whatever it may be. Even though I tended to do it in high school, I don't want to preach AT people about my views, or about Jesus. I want to be able to have a conversation with her, to understand where she's coming from, and what her ideas are.

At the same time, I don't want to "chicken out" about sharing explicitly about God, when I think I can predict their responses. I'm going to give credit to God when it's God's.

After my picture show, we drove to my mom's cousin's house. On the way there, my brother was playing with my radio, and found a radio station..."Is this Chinese?" I listened very careful, and recognized the words "katori" and "delit", and said, "Nope, it's Russian!!!!" On our way home, we listened again, and this time it was in FRENCH! I was seriously excited about a Russian radio station -- I'm going to try it again later.

On my grandfather's side of the family, the average age has fallen....rather than the under-40 bunch being the minority, it is now the over-60 bunch that is in the minority. So many of my cousins had babies there, and a few were really cute. Zack is about 11 months old, and Cydney is 4 mos (she smiled A LOT at me!!!).

My cousins told my uncle Eddie that they stopped at a Target where they were the only white people there, and he didn't like that one bit (he's still holding a 67-year old grudge against Japan and Japanese automobiles). What is wrong with white people being in the minority??? I was/am in the minority in El Paso, and I don't mind it at all!

Most of my cousins from NC were up visiting, and after dinner, Shari, Christina, and I tried to put together a couple of these "Scramble Squares" puzzles. I mostly shot down the ones that wouldn't work...I really wasn't offering anything constructive at all. They got 2 done, no problem, but then we sat and worked on this one for quite a while....Abby joined Christina and I when Shari left, and we were STILL working on it. Troy kept "advising" us, but it really didn't help. You'd think a 9-piece puzzle really wouldn't be that difficult! We never did figure it out.

I hope the rest of you had a wonderful day as well!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

The enemy's been defeated....

The enemy has been defeated
And death couldn't hold You down
We're gonna lift our voice in victory
We're gonna make Your praises loud

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
Shout unto God with a voice of praise
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
We lift Your name up
We lift Your name up

Despite my questions, despite my struggles, despite suffering, despite discouragement, despite death, Christ has already defeated all. Just as I learned this summer, and continue to learn each and every day, Christ is my only certainty in life, as well as for after death. Christ is King over all creation, and should be first in my life also.

I was watching an episode of Fringe tonight, and then decided that it was far too serious for my mood right now. So then I found a Paul Wright song to listen to, but that dealt with suicide. Perhaps this seems more jarring to me because I had been having a "calm" time, a wonderful time, things were looking up, in a sense.

Tomorrow is Mrs Quimby's funeral. For many of us that knew her, we thought that she was going to make it through her injuries and fight her way out. We offered so many prayers on her behalf and thought of her so much during her last week on earth. Yet she did not make it. I have not thought so much about the question of "Why do bad things happen to good people?" as much as...well, I'm not sure how to word this. It seems ridiculously unfair to say that an amazing teacher and woman would not go to heaven to be with God. (I disagree with the statement that she is now one of God's angels -- I don't believe we are made into angels when we die. Following that logic, it would appear that Hitler would have become a demon, I suppose.) Yet if we truly got what we deserve for the times we do not do what is Christ-like, then we'd all be up a creek without a paddle (is that how the saying goes?) -- who knows in what shape we'd be.

I don't know if Mrs Quimby was a Christian, a follower of Christ, in a relationship with Jesus. I don't claim to know the answer to that question -- but the bottom line is that I just don't know.

What can be done? I want my friends to be with God once their time on earth is done. Being with God, experiencing His love and sharing that with others is one of the best things ever....at the same time though, it is very demanding, GOD is demanding in that I have to put God before all else in my life, and seek God's glory above my own, and learn to see others through Christ's eyes.

Recently we've been talking about how God is love, yes, but yet God demands ALL of us. It's not just a "feel-good" gospel about how much God loves and sent His Son Jesus Christ, but that once we accept the gift of forever living with God, we must live like Christ. A high calling, indeed, but God gives us everything we need -- in the form of the Holy Spirit to shape us in Christ's image.

"He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." (Luke 8: 25)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back, I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:
Oh no, You never let go Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Saturday, November 15, 2008

On Wealth and Unnecessary Things

I've been thinking lately about how some things are unnecessary.

For a family of a father, mother, and two little girls, do you really need a house with 4 bedrooms, 2-3 bathrooms, a computer room/den, a playroom, another parlor-type room, living room, dining area, kitchen, laundry room, and a 2-car garage? I babysat for a family once with a house like this. It seemed like a lot of house for not a lot of people.

My grandfather wants to build a garage at our house in order to store a lawnmower and one or two of our family cars. Do we need a standard-size garage to store a riding mower? The way I see it, we can build another small shed big enough for the mower and other tools. Our driveway/yard is going to be a mess while this garage is built. We have managed my entire life -- with the exception of a year or so, when we only used the garage for storage -- without a "home" for our vehicles. In our family of 3, we have 3 cars. THAT is ridiculous, but we live in the country with NO public transportation unless you are in a K-12 school or are a senior citizen.

Midnight Madness, our pep rally for the basketball teams, was held last night. One of the things that bugged me, and I said to someone, "Is that really necessary? What is the point?", was that the basketball guys were slapping each other on the butt. Why? That's so obnoxious and stupid. I don't want to see that.

When I pack up to move home after graduation, I want to see if I can fit all my possessions into my car. Should I count furniture (shelving) in that aspect as well? The only thing is that I still have a lot of things stored at my mom's house: toys from when I was a kid, books I haven't read, books I'd like to keep, and a few clothes. In thinking about Christmas, I'm trying to whittle down my list to things that I think I "need", but at the same time, some of those are unnecessary in the long run. I know that I can live out of a suitcase and backpack for 2 months, but I am a packrat and will need to do some cleaning and sorting over Christmas break, since I'll be consolidating 2 rooms into one in May.

I've been doing a lot of self-evaluation lately, and seeing areas in which I totally need God's help to improve and become more like Christ. In thinking about an experience I had this week, I struggle with pride and stereotypes about people that are not in my social circles, for one example.

What is unnecessary in my own life, but that I still do anyway? Spending time on Facebook every day -- I know that I will survive if I am only on it once a week, but yet, I am online nearly anytime I am in my room. Buying things that I don't really need, but could use the money for more important things. Taking the day off when I could very well work.

Hmmm....