Emergency

In the event of emergency

keep your thoughts to yourself

no one wants to see you panic

instructions will be given

which you'll be expected to follow

regardless of your will

you may not be a drone

but your opinion only matters

if emergency events are avoided

~~~~~~~

Writing Prompt: "In the event of an emergency..."

Inspiration

into the air and out the window

that's the last it was seen

it seems to always be in the last place

you expect it to be and you never think

to look

it's tired when you're awake

it's hungry when you're full

and it's angry when you're at peace

but never expect the flip to be okay

it's not you know because you have to strike

while the iron is hot or you just have to live

a life of regret for the lost thoughts or dreams

and forgotten ideas

remembering yourself

forgetting the rest

knowing it doesn't end

the way you expect

Statement of Faith

Because it bears repeating, and because this is an incredibly important piece of who I am and want to keep this in a safe place where I can refer to it, here is my explanation (as posted on the great Facebook debates of 2009) as to why I no longer call myself a "Christian":

I believe God is love. I love God. I believe that the greatest motivation in ALL we do should be this LOVE.

I believe in Jesus Christ and the fact that He is the Son of God and gave the ultimate sacrifice of His life to redeem mine and that He is alive today to walk with me on this journey of life.

God is worthy of all my love, affection, and worship. God (LOVE) is the ONLY thing worth dying for. And this is based on years of research and study, life experience, and observation of humanity.

God's spirit breathes life into me everyday and makes all things new.

As a human I fail frequently. I don't have anything figured out and I'm okay with that. God is my guide and my love and my life.

But no, I've seen Christianity, and it looks like division and derision, and I'm just not interested. Things are never as simple as we wish they were.

Black & White ultimately fade to Gray.

Socially Aware

I am yet again, in the midst of a political debate on my FB wall. I LOVE social media. I tend to be the type of person that will say something just to make people think; I exaggerate to the extent that there are always those who call into question my faith. And while I'll admit to sometimes going overboard or going about things in the wrong way, it's truly in the interest of intellectual discourse. I find the best way to get people to tap into their passions is to push them with something they have no choice but to think about and form an opinion of their own on.

There are a lot of issues to address in this current debate (so look for further posts here), but it will take me a while to sort it all out and respond, because I do believe in responding with intelligence and thought (aside from the exaggerated statements I use to get the conversation started).

The particular issue I'd like to address here is some personal attacks against my family regarding whether we are capable of essentially putting our money where our mouth is. We've been accused of "spouting political rhetoric" about the "idealism of socialistic economy" while not actually doing anything practical to assist in solving the problems. See above note about tapping into passions, because any accusation of this magnitude will do this for me.

I'm gonna say this, anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that what I have is yours. You have a genuine need, I'm gonna supply to the best of my ability. I'll bend over backwards to make sure my friends have what they need and my hubby and I work VERY hard to make sure we're instilling this value into our children. My door is always open and I may not cook gourmet meals, but as long as there is food in my house, I'll feed you if you're hungry. I will sacrifice my comfort and luxury to help you pay your bills if that's what you need. How many of my friends have found random checks in the mail just when they need it the most?

My family frequently donates both our money and our time to local (and some national) charities/ministries. Most times we don't really discuss this or broadcast that we're doing so. We're not trying to brag, or prove how "wonderful" or "spiritual" we are. We do it for the sheer joy of helping and giving, and because we strive to follow Christ's example.

However, we have been challenged by several people recently, who would like to know what we're doing (aside from attempting to encourage the world around us to get involved), so here is a list of just SOME of charities and/or ministries that we've directly supported in one way or another recently:

• BIRD Ministries
• Susquehanna Valley Pregnancy Services
• Christ's Home for Children
• Bethany Christian Services
• Water Street Ministries
• World Wildlife Federation
• Oh, yeah... and I give regularly to the offering and am actively involved in the ministries of my church, which spends a lot of time and money on social outreach (Like Warwick Community Chest, Warwick School District's Release Time Program, and Gatehouse Ministries)

Unfortunately, in the past year or so, we have had less extra time and money to donate due to various circumstances that have limited us. We're not rich, so we work hard and we do what we can. What we have belongs to God, plain and simple.

I shop at discount stores and use generic brands as much as possible to stretch what we have, so we can have more to give. We buy clothes at re-use-it shops when we can, at places where proceeds benefit various social causes (like prison ministries, community outreach, etc.) and clean out closets and donate back as we can. We've even re-evaluated our holiday gift giving practices to reflect the values we want to teach our children in this area.

Perhaps the biggest sacrifice of our time and money is the hugest reward for us as well. And here is where the passion for this topic becomes so intense that I have to answer this challenge. Our daughter, who is now almost 2-years-old, is adopted. She is part of our family, and I don't like to "use her" as an example of our "social awareness" because God brought her into our family and she's as much a part of it as our son who was born into it. However, we have taken a severe hit to our financial stability as a result of a desire to adopt her, sacrificing things like vacation trips and a "nicer home" in order to pay the adoption costs.

We chose to work with Bethany Christian Services for our adoption specifically because of their stance on providing for the needs of the birth-families of the children they place in care. This means, when we agreed to care for our daughter, we also agreed to care (however indirectly it becomes as time goes on) for her birth-mother as well, because part of our fees for the adoption cover her costs for medical care and counseling through her difficult decision to place her child in an adoptive home.

We believe that adoption is a socially responsible way of expanding one's family, as well as an intimately practical way of helping with society's overpopulation problems (which lead to increased poverty and crime as well as a decrease in parental involvement in the lives of children). Sure it's only one child, but if we could afford more, emotionally and practically, you know we'd be first in line.

So, my apologies for "spouting" about all this. I'm not patting myself on the back for what I do. Honestly, I'm well aware that there's so much more to be done, and I wish I was able to contribute more to that. But I do what I can, and encourage others to do what they can.

So... my (incredibly non-judgmental) challenge to you: What are you doing to make this world a better place?

Something of Value

Dross

Garbage

Rubbish

Junk

Scum

Trash

Refuse

Debris

Waiting for the treasure

Dormant underneath

Noticing to Remember

There are a few bible stories that really stand out as favorites from when I was a child in Sunday School. Some of them I don't even think about much anymore... until my husband is reading one of them to my son at bedtime, and all the memories come rushing back, and I remember it all over again, in the same way that I heard it when I was a kid.

Tonight's story was, of course, one of them. It was about Peter being miraculously released from prison by the angels. Now I've always liked Peter and been fascinated by him. As an adult, I think there is something about his brashness and his incredible "guilt complex" that reminds me of ... well ... someone I know. I'm thinking bipolar depression wasn't really a "thing" back then, but if it had been, I'm pretty sure Peter would have been the poster~child.

But I digress... because it wasn't actually Peter who caught my attention in this story. Not as a child. It was the little girl. Rhoda. No one ever remembers her name, but I do. Maybe because I had an aunt named Rhoda and I thought it was cool that her name was in the bible. But I think it's far more likely that I remembered her name for the very same reason that I am drawn to her story.

Rhoda starts with three strikes against her: 1) she's a child, 2) she's a girl, and 3) she's a servant ~ worth little more than a doorstop in this story. But, here's the beautiful mystery: Much like Mary in the garden on that first Easter morning, Rhoda was the first witness to a miracle. And not just any miracle, but the very miracle that all the important people in the house were praying for, waiting for, even fasting for. And, of course, the important people didn't even want to believe her.

Now, somewhere in my 4 or 5 year old mind when I first heard this story, I connected to this little girl. Something about feeling small and unimportant, perhaps, but I believe it's far more than that. This little girl had something very important to share with the world, something that no one... all of the important people gathered in the house for the sole purpose of waiting for (and supposedly expecting) THIS specific event to occur... none of those people would believe her when she told them what she knew.

Because, she wasn't supposed to be the one to know.

She wasn't supposed to have information that they didn't have.

She was only supposed to answer the door and do what she was told.

And she did.

And she saw.

And she knew.

And, as usual, in situations like this, no one believed her. Not until they saw for themselves.

And even then, after seeing for themselves and finally believing the truth of her message, I'm not convinced that any of them really even noticed Rhoda then. But I'm glad that at least one person somewhere in history noticed her enough to remember her name and tell her story... even if just in a couple sentences.

Liberation Sails

Before yesterday

the flowers understood

and only songbirds saw

the glass audience

pointing to your dignity

The signs say she chose

but I was mistaken

because the open sky blinked

and given the flames

everybody knew that

a breathing statue was born

as the others started walking

and the lost multiplied

~~~~~~~

For Typescript's Wednesday Writing Challenge: Word Play IV