Take It All In

What makes one day more special than another? What embues a moment with extra light, and more vivid color, than the one previous? What broadcasts an apparently casual statement onto a billboard in my mind? I'm not entirely sure, but I thrive on those moments. Normal life, normal schedule...then suddenly I feel the nudge and I see the spotlight.

Most of my living takes place between the magic - during the perfectly-fine days at work, and comfy-cozy evenings at home or with friends. It is vital to be my best during this time, to live fully even when I don't feel like it. Or when I don't feel like it makes a difference.

But then it happens. Maybe I meet someone new, or visit someplace new. And as I am walking through the unusual day, it is as if there is a small voice in my ear saying, "Remember this one. This is special."

One such moment happened about a year ago, when my sister and her family had traveled from their home in Boston to spend time with the rest of us here in Little Rock. It had been a great visit, but finally, the time for them to depart was looming on the horizon of my mind and I was spending one last afternoon with them. It just so happened that I got to spend the majority of the afternoon with my 3-year-old niece, C, by running errands and cooking supper and reading. When it was time for me to leave in the evening, I was saying my good-byes and barely holding back the tears. My family is so special to me, and saying good-bye is never easy, no matter how many times we do it. So I picked up C, and she gave me a big hug and smiled, and said, "Can I keep you for a really long time?"

Needless to say, this was an extremely bittersweet moment. I so wanted to say, "Yes." But I didn't. I handed her to her mama and I went to the restroom to compose myself. And I knew I would never, ever forget that day.

Somebody "Gets" It!

I just read this article, by Richard J. Mouw. I'm smiling from ear to ear. I am quoting below the section of the article that spoke to me the most. I think by now most evangelical Christians are conscious of some sort of disconnect between who we are, and who we appear to be, to those outside our group. Undoubtedly, we usually don't make things better. But there are a few prominent evangelical voices with whom I identify, and Richard Mouw is one of them. I'm going to stop writing now and just let you read the article.

~~~~~~~~

"I spoke at Chautauqua this summer, as part of a week of lectures in the Abrahamic religions. There were two days of Jewish lectures, a couple of Muslim lectures, and then I was the last speaker. The president of Notre Dame spoke in the morning, and I was last in the afternoon. There was a lot of evangelical bashing that went on. I was told that the crowd was largely liberal mainline Protestants, with a smattering of people who just had an intellectual interest in religion, but weren't believers. And there were a lot of Jews, and quite a few Muslims. So I spoke to this audience of mainly liberal Protestants, Jews, and Muslims.

"I explained evangelicalism to them, as I understood it, and tried to say, "You shouldn't equate evangelicalism, as a movement that cares about the gospel, with the religious right." I did all that, and then concluded by saying, "You know I live with a number of tensions, and I want to describe one in my life," and this was my ending with them. I told them about the National Prayer Breakfast this year, where Bono spoke in the morning-he was wonderful. Then at the leadership luncheon, in Washington, the speaker was King Abdullah of Jordan. And he was great! He called Christians, Jews, and Muslims of good will to work together against extremism of all sorts. He condemned terrorism and expressed sympathy with the people of Israel who had experienced terrorist acts-horrible things. It was a very reconciling approach, and very intelligent. He quoted passages from the Koran that spoke about the need to be peacemakers, to be good neighbors, to love other people, to show mercy toward others that you disagree with. Then, after the luncheon, about 20 of us were invited to spend an hour and a half behind closed doors with His Majesty. Rick Warren was there, and a number of others, but also quite a few Muslims and Jews. It was mainly evangelicals, Muslims, and Jews. And King Abdullah was even better in private. People asked him questions, he made his case, and he was so sharp! So bold, so courageous; really great.

"At the end his bodyguards came in, ready to whisk him away, along with an older rabbi from New York City. But the rabbi said, "Your Majesty, you've got to stay one more minute. I've got to say something before you go. So tell your people to get their hands off you; I've got to say something." Then he said to King Abdullah: "I'm so impressed with you. We need you." He said, "I worry about your life. I worry about your safety. I worry about the safety of your family. Take care of yourself. Surround yourself with people who will protect you. We need you." And this rabbi said, "Before you go: This is presumptuous, I know, but all of us sitting around this table are the children of Abraham. And I'm going to do something on behalf of all of the children of Abraham. I want to give you a blessing. I promise you I'm going to pray for you, but right now, I want to give you a blessing." And then, the rabbi gave King Abdullah the Aaronic blessing: "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace." I cried. It was a wonderful moment.

"I described this to the Chautauqua crowd, and I said, "You know, I've got to say this, as an evangelical Christian. I believe everything I've said prior to this in my talk today, in the God whom I worship as an evangelical. And I believe with all my heart that that God looked down there and saw that rabbi blessing that Muslim king, and God said, 'That's the way I want it to be. This is the kind of thing that I want to happen in the world.'" You know, there's that great passage in Genesis 17, where Abram goes before the Lord, and the Lord says, "I'm going to establish my covenant with you. I'm going to change your name, and I'm going to give you a son. You don't have him yet, but you're going to have a son. I'm going to make my covenant with him, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed." Abram says, "But I already have a son, Ishmael. What about him?" Then there's an amazing passage, where the Lord God says: "Nope. I'm going make my covenant with Isaac. But I heard you about Ishmael, and him, too, will I bless."

"There is a sense of mystery there: that as a son of Isaac gave a blessing to a son of Ishmael, something profound was happening. I don't understand it all. And I said this at Chautauqua: I don't know. I don't know how to explain it all in my theology, but I'm willing to live with that mystery. And I said to them, "I've got to tell you another thing about myself. Every NFL game, behind the goal posts, somebody gets a seat and holds up a John 3:16 sign. That's me. Behind all the goal posts at the championship games, behind the backboard, there's somebody with a John 3:16 sign. That's always going to be me. I'll live with the mystery. I'll acknowledge that, but at the same time, I've got to hold up the sign that says, 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.' I've got to tell you that."

"Well, they applauded, and that was the end. Then a wonderful thing happened. A Jewish woman stood up, and she said, "You've destroyed my image of evangelicals, and I want to thank you." She said, "I want to tell you something. I'm going to pray for you." She said, "I worry about your safety."

"Billy Graham comments: "I'm willing to live with the mystery. And yet, at the same time, every time I get a chance to say it to a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist, I will say it: 'Jesus Christ is the only way. There's only one Savior.' I'll leave it up to God, as to how he gets through to people and what he's going to do, but I'm going to preach Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

Awake

Old stories and new dreams
arise from nowhere, from predictable rhythm,
from beneath the surface of predictable days,
Waking Me.

Things I used to say,
always wanted,
and never believed.

Old dreams and new characters.
The Champion of my heart,
of my dreams.
And I'm new, getting newer,
And More Awake.

Creamy Chicken Spinach Pasta

I made this tonight from stuff we had in the fridge and pantry. It's very similar to a recipe my sister, Holly, gave me. I hope you like it!

Ingredients:
1.5 lb chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
8 oz pasta (penne, spaghetti, angel hair, whatever)
10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained very well (squeeze in your hands)
8 oz sour cream or softened cream cheese
1 c milk
4-6 oz shredded monterey jack cheese
8 oz French's fried onions, divided use
.5 tsp garlic powder
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Cook and cube the chicken. You could use leftover chicken, or you could boil the chicken for 10 minutes, cool for 5 minutes, then cut into cubes.

3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions, less 2-3 minutes, and drain.

4. After chicken and pasta are ready, combine spinach, chicken, sour cream or cream cheese, milk, shredded cheese, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and half of the onions. Stir to combine. Add more milk if necessary to make this mixture very saucy. (If you're using cream cheese, make sure it is very soft or this step will be annoying. Heat in the microwave for 10 sec intervals, then stir, to soften.)

5. Stir in pasta, then dump into a big casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, top with remaining onions, then cook for 5 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Ruminate

While I was in college, Caedmon's Call was the band I listened to if I felt a little melancholy or introspective. And given that I was usually melancholy and introspective during this time, I listened to lots of Caedmon's Call. Even now I return to their albums when I find myself in this mood. Kind of rainy and dreary and quiet. The weather matches my mood today.

SOMEWHERE NORTH
It's a muggy night in Houston
And all the intersections are like full service stations
I'm on my way to a familiar place
It's cold in Kansas City
And you can no more hear me than I can see your face
How I wish it was just you and me

We wouldn't have to talk above the crowd
We wouldn't have to talk so loud

I give you my life and all I am
But what I have to give
So I hand you a candid photograph of this little boy
'Cause I have nothing to my name
But I can give you that

I don't miss the driving
Seems like forever
And I'm always driving in my mind
And wearing out the road that gets me there

And I'm driving till my eyes just can't see straight
But I suppose that it's getting late

I may never find the sleep
I've lost all feeling in my hands and
Feet may touch the ground but
My mind's somewhere north of here

40 ACRES
Out on these Texas plains you can see for a million lives
And there's a thousand exits between here and the state line
About the last time that I saw you
You said call me Pandora, call me a fool

And I'm thinking this view it could do you some good
So drop these scales and take a look

There's 40 acres and redemption to be found
Just along down the way
There is a place where no plow blade has turned the ground
And you will turn it over, 'cause out here hope remains
'Cause out here hope remains...

Out here the Texas sky is as big as the sea
And you're alone in your room like an island floating free
Your spirit's hanging in a bottle out on a tree
You say that you're the black sheep, I say you're still family

So throw that bottle to the waves
They'll bring you in to me and from the shore you will see

Out here the Texas rain is the hardest I've ever seen
It'll wash your house away, but it'll also make you clean
Now these rocks they are crying too
And this whole land is calling out for you

Baby In the House

One of the other questions I am sometimes asked is, "What's it like living with a baby, considering you have no children of your own?"

First off, let me just encourage you to look at this face, and tell me what could be bad about living with this beautiful treasure. I challenge you to think of something, anything, that would not be outweighed by the fabulous joy of witnessing and participating in her daily growth.


Logistically, one thing that is different about living with a baby is that sometimes the parent(s) will ask for occasional babysitting. This has worked fine for us, because we're glad to do it when we can, and when we can't, she's fine with us saying no. I'm sure discipline will become a more complex issue, but right now we're just collectively trying to keep her little fingers out of light sockets and such.

An amazing scene involving her struggle to do right: This house has a central vacuum, which means there are outlets on a few walls with a cover that pulls back to reveal the hole where the vacuum tube attaches. It's about 1.5 inches across, and it's kind of dusty, so we discourage her from pulling back the cover. It's right at eye level, though, so it's a big temptation for her. The other day, she was standing a couple feet from the outlet, staring intently at it...reaching for it...and saying, "Don't, don't." Then she turned and looked at Andrea, her mom, and started inching toward it, still saying, "Don't, don't." I felt a mixture of amusement and, well, sadness for her. Not even a year old, and already feeling the pull between obedience and disobedience.

Fortunately, as soon as Andrea said, "Yes, don't," that was enough for her and she walked away. :) She's such a little joy! I know it'll get tougher to convince her to obey, but we're just relishing every moment on this crazy ride.

How Do You Split Up Household Chores?

You may not believe it, but this hasn't been a huge issue for us. We have yet to organize a "chore chart" or make rules or anything. Everyone is just kind of responsible for their own spaces (bathrooms, bedrooms), and for the common areas we just do what we can when we can. We're all pretty interested in keeping a clean house, and this makes it easier I think.

TOTAL HONESTY: I have on a few occasions been tempted to complain about this aspect of living with other people. There are more dirty dishes, we have to share a washer and dryer, and there is NO END to the amount of mail we receive! But when I think about the whole "speck in your brother's eye, plank in your own" thing...the obvious answer is, "If it bothers you so much, do something about it!" If the kitchen is dirty, clean it. If there's mail everywhere, sort it and put it in people's bedrooms. After all, why would it bother me so much to clean up someone else's mess? Because I'm SELFISH. Because I have an over-developed sense of personal justice and may need to just suck it up a little and try to be a servant. Maybe. I'm just suggesting.

However, like I said, we do not live with slobs. I guess if we felt like we were always cleaning up after one person, it would be different. Not sure what we would do then.