So I was reading in the news today, the story of this woman who's five month old infant died because it was left in the van all day.
Apparently she thought that she had dropped the child off at daycare, but she had forgotten to do so, and instead it was in her car all day long.
Sorry for calling the baby "it." Frankly it feels callous and horrible, but the news article didn't tell me whether it was a boy or a girl.
So, of course I was appalled when I read this story, and my first reaction was to think "What kind of moron leaves their child in the car all day long without realizing it?"
Now that I have been thinking about it, I have to concede that I have heard some pretty crazy stories from lots of great parents, about having left their kids somewhere, or who knows what.
It has occurred to me, that the real tragedy here, is that our society is so damn busy, and parents have to work so damn hard just to make all the ends meet, that often more important things get neglected.
When you live in a constant state of rush, rush, rush, something like this is bound to happen.
Family values are definitely not the rule of the day anymore.
Even for moms who stay home, friends and playpals often live way across town, and the doctors visits, grocery store runs, and grandma, are usually spread out too. By the time you've reached your last stop, you've spent most of the day running in and out of places with a diaper bag. All I am saying is, parents nerves are already frazzled sometimes. Add to that both parents working full time, and the stress of getting the kids to daycare in the morning without being late....
I don't know.
I know people do it all the time without leaving their infants trapped in the car, all I am saying is, can you really be surprised that it happens?
Maybe I shouldn't be ready to crucify that young mother just yet. Besides, I can't imagine how I'd live with myself if it had been me. She is going to have enough to deal with without my flinging mud at her.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Mars Hill
So recently I decided to look into the churches my friends attend in the Seattle area. Since I am moving over there in the next few months, and I figured that it would take a million years to find a church home, it seemed to make sense to start early.
As anyone might know from reading my blog, I have not been feeling super spiritual lately, and am pretty burnt out from church. I wasn't really expecting to become too interested in anywhere.
The first church I actually checked out online has turned out to also be the last. One of my friends goes to Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and I knew absolutely jack about them so I thought I'd just go read their statement of faith and their doctrine. Not only did I find it solid, and inline with my own, I was also particularly struck by what they said about spiritual gifts. The reason this stands out to me is probably because I come from a charismatic background and there are just way too many christians who are ready to haul you back into the baptismal in their zeal for you to speak in tongues. They just can't seem to let it go, and it becomes this huge issue. Pretty soon you start to doubt yourself; Is something wrong with me? The bible doesn't say anywhere that you have to speak in tongues to be spirit filled, and it's nice to read right upfront in the church doctrine that they acknowledge that and noone there is going to cram it down your throat or try to drown you in annointing oil. =) (Because I wouldn't like that very much!)
So then I discovered that the pastor had a blog and I read a few entries, which I thoroughly enjoyed. After that I discovered that there was a book he had written discussing missiology and the journey of starting the church along with subsequent stages of growth.
Now, lately anything sounding "christianese" has turned me off completely. I wasn't sure if I would get into it right away, but I totally did. It was funny, it was engaging, and it was relevant. In fact, in the beginning I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face, and then later on when it got a little more serious I was moved almost to tears again, but this time not by humor, by the statement of mission.
Lance and Phil (two old friends and leaders of mine) used to tell us all the time; "Make a mission statement!" I remember that early on I didn't really know how to go about doing that. I was young, and I wasn't sure what exactly my mission was.
Over time I have learned over and over what my mission definitely is not.
My mission is definitely not to hang out in church all the time. My mission is not to attend as many prayer meetings at possible. My mission is not to become perfect and expect other people to live up to my own unreasonable expectations.
I have learned that certain things have become important to me, more than they were before.
1. Being real. We all sin. We all suck. We are all broken and battered and imperfect, and this is the reality of our condition, so why am I trying to act otherwise?
2. Being relevant. Since we ALL share this condition, that means that whatever Jesus has to say to me, He also has to say to everyone else. I may hang out in a church, but everyone else does not, and they still need to be exposed to the truth of what I know. How is that going to happen if me, and people like me, are all stowed away in some dank church basement?
Of course, some would argue that simply being out in the work force somewhere is evangelical enough, but I have worked at jobs where I barely got to know the people I worked with, until our supervisor invited everyone out to have a beer. I went. There was no drunkeness or anything like that. It was just a chill time of me getting to know people in a place where they felt comfortable, which was not our job, and was not my church.
I have never been able to rationalize how that could be wrong, and believe me, I have tried, because that is what I was being told time and time again.
3. You gotta move. This is essentially just an extension of #2. You have to be willing to go to where people are. You can't keep sitting in your pew expecting them to come to you. They won't. They aren't saved!!! Unsaved people don't typically hang out in church. Go figure.
I have never witnessed to someone in church. Maybe you have, I don't know. I have witnessed to people that I knew from work that I was hanging out with after hours. I have witnessed to people I had in college classes who I was spending time with studying and whatnot....In other words, people that I spent time with, and not just because I had to.
I learned through church that I don't find life without these opportunities. I don't see people as numbers. I make friends with them, and then I see them as friends who I break my heart over. Sharing the gospel comes out of this. Loving God, and knowing and loving people.
So I want to make friends and hang out with them. At their house where they have a lot of pornos, or at the bar, or wandering around in the park at night. (Of course, my desire to do this kind of freaked out some of my previous leadership. It didn't go over so well. Especially the bar part. Bars are evil and should be avoided at all costs.)
That was a long ramble (as usual) to say that the mission of this church is to reach people. Not to play church. Not to have Bible studies only for ourselves (although those are nice too) Not to sugar coat every sermon because we are too tender to deal with reality (Which is still bombarding us through media everyday). To be real. To be raw. To be relevant.
Lots of churches say they want to be, but they keep doing the same old musty traditions days after day. They just keep talking, and the church just keeps dying. Sometimes you have to be willing to shake things up a bit, and that is the kind of christian I want to be.
I wasn't expecting this to happen at all, but I have been moved despite myself. I feel like somebody is saying what I have been feeling all this time. I feel....empowered by it, and convicted by it. Today I listened to a whole podcast sermon about Idolatry, and I wasn't at all turned off by any of it. I was convicted. It hit me where I live. That is what I want.
I don't want to be bored in church. I want my gut to wrench. I don't want to take a nap. I want to be challenged.
As usual I could go on and on, but instead let me end by saying that I am pretty excited about this church, although it is all sudden and amazes me. I guess you just never know what might be waiting around the bend. For me it might just be that home in Seattle after all.
As anyone might know from reading my blog, I have not been feeling super spiritual lately, and am pretty burnt out from church. I wasn't really expecting to become too interested in anywhere.
The first church I actually checked out online has turned out to also be the last. One of my friends goes to Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and I knew absolutely jack about them so I thought I'd just go read their statement of faith and their doctrine. Not only did I find it solid, and inline with my own, I was also particularly struck by what they said about spiritual gifts. The reason this stands out to me is probably because I come from a charismatic background and there are just way too many christians who are ready to haul you back into the baptismal in their zeal for you to speak in tongues. They just can't seem to let it go, and it becomes this huge issue. Pretty soon you start to doubt yourself; Is something wrong with me? The bible doesn't say anywhere that you have to speak in tongues to be spirit filled, and it's nice to read right upfront in the church doctrine that they acknowledge that and noone there is going to cram it down your throat or try to drown you in annointing oil. =) (Because I wouldn't like that very much!)
So then I discovered that the pastor had a blog and I read a few entries, which I thoroughly enjoyed. After that I discovered that there was a book he had written discussing missiology and the journey of starting the church along with subsequent stages of growth.
Now, lately anything sounding "christianese" has turned me off completely. I wasn't sure if I would get into it right away, but I totally did. It was funny, it was engaging, and it was relevant. In fact, in the beginning I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face, and then later on when it got a little more serious I was moved almost to tears again, but this time not by humor, by the statement of mission.
Lance and Phil (two old friends and leaders of mine) used to tell us all the time; "Make a mission statement!" I remember that early on I didn't really know how to go about doing that. I was young, and I wasn't sure what exactly my mission was.
Over time I have learned over and over what my mission definitely is not.
My mission is definitely not to hang out in church all the time. My mission is not to attend as many prayer meetings at possible. My mission is not to become perfect and expect other people to live up to my own unreasonable expectations.
I have learned that certain things have become important to me, more than they were before.
1. Being real. We all sin. We all suck. We are all broken and battered and imperfect, and this is the reality of our condition, so why am I trying to act otherwise?
2. Being relevant. Since we ALL share this condition, that means that whatever Jesus has to say to me, He also has to say to everyone else. I may hang out in a church, but everyone else does not, and they still need to be exposed to the truth of what I know. How is that going to happen if me, and people like me, are all stowed away in some dank church basement?
Of course, some would argue that simply being out in the work force somewhere is evangelical enough, but I have worked at jobs where I barely got to know the people I worked with, until our supervisor invited everyone out to have a beer. I went. There was no drunkeness or anything like that. It was just a chill time of me getting to know people in a place where they felt comfortable, which was not our job, and was not my church.
I have never been able to rationalize how that could be wrong, and believe me, I have tried, because that is what I was being told time and time again.
3. You gotta move. This is essentially just an extension of #2. You have to be willing to go to where people are. You can't keep sitting in your pew expecting them to come to you. They won't. They aren't saved!!! Unsaved people don't typically hang out in church. Go figure.
I have never witnessed to someone in church. Maybe you have, I don't know. I have witnessed to people that I knew from work that I was hanging out with after hours. I have witnessed to people I had in college classes who I was spending time with studying and whatnot....In other words, people that I spent time with, and not just because I had to.
I learned through church that I don't find life without these opportunities. I don't see people as numbers. I make friends with them, and then I see them as friends who I break my heart over. Sharing the gospel comes out of this. Loving God, and knowing and loving people.
So I want to make friends and hang out with them. At their house where they have a lot of pornos, or at the bar, or wandering around in the park at night. (Of course, my desire to do this kind of freaked out some of my previous leadership. It didn't go over so well. Especially the bar part. Bars are evil and should be avoided at all costs.)
That was a long ramble (as usual) to say that the mission of this church is to reach people. Not to play church. Not to have Bible studies only for ourselves (although those are nice too) Not to sugar coat every sermon because we are too tender to deal with reality (Which is still bombarding us through media everyday). To be real. To be raw. To be relevant.
Lots of churches say they want to be, but they keep doing the same old musty traditions days after day. They just keep talking, and the church just keeps dying. Sometimes you have to be willing to shake things up a bit, and that is the kind of christian I want to be.
I wasn't expecting this to happen at all, but I have been moved despite myself. I feel like somebody is saying what I have been feeling all this time. I feel....empowered by it, and convicted by it. Today I listened to a whole podcast sermon about Idolatry, and I wasn't at all turned off by any of it. I was convicted. It hit me where I live. That is what I want.
I don't want to be bored in church. I want my gut to wrench. I don't want to take a nap. I want to be challenged.
As usual I could go on and on, but instead let me end by saying that I am pretty excited about this church, although it is all sudden and amazes me. I guess you just never know what might be waiting around the bend. For me it might just be that home in Seattle after all.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Fun, Food, Friends
If I never eat out again, I think I could die happy. haha. Alright, I am kidding, but seriously, I have eaten out so many times in the last five days. In fact, I thought it was over until a really good friend of mine called me this morning to see if she could take me out for a late birthday lunch. I dearly love to spend time with her and we had fun, but we ate chinese food and now I feel like a big lump of dough. haha!
This weekend was a blast. I went to dinner with a bunch of friends, followed by games and merriment. It was great. After all of that excitement I spent a pretty chill weekend at Lance & Jeni's who spoil me far more than I deserve. It was nice though. Nice to have a couple of days off and relax with people you love.
My flight home was delayed on Sunday night, and I ended up not getting home until midnight. The problem was that I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning to go to work. Ugh. It was pretty brutal but somehow I survived.
My schedule has been whacked out of shape a little though. I feel drowsy and I haven't been able to shake it. Coffee hasn't quite cleared the cobwebs yet. I'm hoping that I will snap out of it.
In any case, it was great to see everyone, I had a lot of fun, and I hope I can get back over there to do something like that again. Woo hoo!
This weekend was a blast. I went to dinner with a bunch of friends, followed by games and merriment. It was great. After all of that excitement I spent a pretty chill weekend at Lance & Jeni's who spoil me far more than I deserve. It was nice though. Nice to have a couple of days off and relax with people you love.
My flight home was delayed on Sunday night, and I ended up not getting home until midnight. The problem was that I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning to go to work. Ugh. It was pretty brutal but somehow I survived.
My schedule has been whacked out of shape a little though. I feel drowsy and I haven't been able to shake it. Coffee hasn't quite cleared the cobwebs yet. I'm hoping that I will snap out of it.
In any case, it was great to see everyone, I had a lot of fun, and I hope I can get back over there to do something like that again. Woo hoo!
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