signs of the time

My youngest son, Cooper, plays Single A baseball. This means there's a lot of coach involvement and various levels of ability...it also means they hit off a pitching machine.

Cooper loves baseball. And by loves, I don't just mean he's happy to win or likes to see his friends. It's more of an obsession. All the other kids are out there just happy to be playing and then there's Cooper. He's ramping up the excitement; he's the kid holding his hands up to signal how many outs there are; he's the kid doing his hot-shot move when he gets on base; he's the kid the does that little "stretching-with-the-bat" thing they do in the majors... OBSESSED. But last night, he really made me laugh...

He was playing catcher. Of course he had to be there in the mix - throwing off his helmet and doing a little trash talking. He even has the stance down - for seven that's pretty impressive (or maybe it's just because I'm his mother).

But then someone said to me, "What's Cooper doing with his hands?" We looked and realized, Cooper was giving hand signs to the pitcher. Remember - the pitcher is a machine. He's giving hand signals to a pitching machine. Very funny.

My bleacher neighbor jokingly said to me, "Did he paint his fingernails white too?" Hmmm...no, but it wouldn't have surprised me at this point.

What I love about this, besides just how darn cute he is, is how into it he is. He is out there giving his all to something that he loves. So focused, so intent on learning... that is such a good sign of the times.

Finding something we love to do is hard sometimes...finding a true calling, our vocation. Cooper may not grow up to be a pro player, and that's not the point. The point is - whatever we're doing give it our all. And if you don't love it...at least minimize the time you have to do it. I know we can't all love every aspect of our lives 24/7, but I know that God calls us to share love and peace and acceptance through our daily lives. We gotta like what we do, we gotta be invested in what we're doing in order for that to happen.

So....batter up! It's time to PLAY BALL!

"Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus." Mother Theresa

Tiny Dart Frog

Tiny Dart Frog

Go Team Love!

I ran the Marine Corps Marathon this past Sunday. It was Reformation Sunday, so being Lutheran and all, I felt a little guilty about skipping church on this particular Sunday. I wanted my dose of "freed by grace through faith alone" - which in regular English means to us all that we're absolutely OK in God's eyes. And being OK is something that most of us struggle with, even if it's just a teeny-tiny struggle. The Reformation is/was about many things, but mostly, it was about getting Jesus' message of LOVE out to everyone.

I had already reconciled my missing worship on Sunday. I was running for a charity organization called Love Without Boundaries. They do really amazing and inspiring work with children in China who are born with cleft palates and some with heart conditions. These children are given a chance at life through the LOVE of those involved in this organization. Through the LOVE of doctors, LOVE of caregivers, LOVE of administrators, LOVE of adoptive families, LOVE of contributors, LOVE of runners. I know I'm forgetting someone, but you get the point - through LOVE, the smallest of the small, the least among us is given a chance. So, I was happy to be worshipping God in a different way this past Sunday.

But, God has this funny way of speaking to us when we least expect it...and I gotta say, when I'm running 26.2 miles, what I want to hear from God is "You made it" or "You're done" or "Here, let me run these last 10 miles for you." Yeah, well, no such luck, but I did hear from many, many people (almost all strangers), "GO TEAM LOVE". And, I thought, "Hey, today that's me..I'm part of TEAM LOVE!" Isn't that great?!

"GO TEAM LOVE!"

So, right there, in the middle of Constitution Avenue in Washington DC, I heard God say, "LOVE, it wins outs!" Love wins out even when we're exhausted. Love wins out when we don't think we can take another step. Love wins out when we can't see the finish line.

Love wins out because Love is a team... Father, Son, Holy Spirit...Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer...

So, today I say to anyone who has ears, "GO TEAM LOVE!" Love will never fail.

Community

I have, taped to my refrigerator, a bookmark entitled:






How To Build Community.
It's been taped there for at least 4 years. I don't think it sums up everything there is about community, but I do think what it points to is - we already know how to be close with others...it's the doing part that's harder. We want close communities, vibrant churches, and thriving schools (all communities), but the enacting of it is harder. It's sort-of the old - no need to reinvent the wheel concept.

So, here's what my bookmark says:

Turn off your TV.
Leave your house.
Know your neighbors.
Look up when you are walking.
Greet people.
Sit on your stoop.
Plant flowers.
Use your library.
Play together.
Buy from local merchants.
Share what you have.
Help a lost dog.
Take children to the park.
Garden together.
Support neighborhood schools.
Fix it even if you didn't break it.
Have potlucks.
Honor your elders.
Pick up litter.
Read stories aloud.
Dance in the street.
Talk to the mail carrier.
Listen to the birds.
Put up a swing.
Help carry something heavy.
Barter for your goods.
Start a tradition.
Ask a question.
Hire young people for odd jobs.
Organize a block party.
Bake extra and share.
Ask for help when you need it.
Open your shades.
Sing together.
Share your skills.
Take back the night.
Turn up the music...Turn down the music.
Listen before our react to anger.
Mediate a conflict.
Seek to understand.
Learn from new and uncomfortable angles.

Know that no one is silent though many are not heard - work to change this.

I do know building community - really building relationships, is not as easy as a "to-do" list on a bookmark, but... I also know that if it's showing up on a bookmark, then there's enough people out there who miss and long for true community. So, I say, enough with the to do lists, and the wishing things were different, and the new programs.... help a dog, kiss a child, say a prayer, share a smile. Something will happen - and I am positive - once the Holy Spirit gets moving, we better watch out. Sort of like a wheel - once it gets rolling, you gotta just go with it.

Breaking and building

I think Legos are about the best toy ever created, despite the fact that I often end up stepping on one in the middle of the night. As a goal oriented person, I love there's a defined result....follow the directions and all goes well. As a creative person, I love that there's flexibility when building with Lego's. Pick a different color, add an extra piece, abandon all reason and make-up your own idea. But as a mom, the best thing about Legos is they can always be put back together.

With three boys in my house who are obsessed with Legos, it' s inevitable that a model gets broken (or stepped on), that one brother steals a piece from another, or it's just been played with too much and falls apart.

When their masterpieces get broken, when the best laid plan doesn't work, I often say, "The best thing about Legos is you can make something new or put it back together. That's what they're for."

And honestly, they see the logic in this. Yes, maybe something better can be made!

When things get broken - like Legos - but more like dreams or goals or hopes, what helps us keep going is the belief that the shattered pieces can be put back together. The pieces of our lives can be gently scooped up, brushed off, and molded into something new. Our lives and dreams may not look exactly how the instruction manual showed or laid out just like the final product in our heads, but when it all comes together in the end, we often feel like the brokenness served a purpose.

That sounds all fine and dandy, but the hard, the crappy part is when we've done the scooping up of the pieces, we've brushed them off, we have a new vision and still the pieces aren't fitting.

This is what I wrestle with because I do believe that good things always arise from bad things, that hope triumphs despair, that laughter drowns out sorrow, and yet sometimes I can't see how. Sometimes my vision fails, the instruction manual makes no sense, and a few pieces have probably been lost under the sofa.

You know, I don't have an answer to this pondering. It seems too trite to say it all works out in the end. Well, we know that, but life isn't just getting to the end. Life is about putting things together - putting our families together, our communities together, our countries together, our religions together. Life is about building - not tearing down. So - here's the thing - no answer today - nothing profound, but a request:

Help someone today, and tomorrow, and the next day to pick up just one piece of their life. You don't have to put it in place for them, but hold it gently for them in prayer or brush away the tear, or listen. Because man, I don't exactly know how to put all dreams and lives back together, but - I do know scattering the pieces doesn't work. Take it from a mom. Take from someone who honestly belives the grace of God is the glue which holds her life together - like the little Lego bumps.

The Sound of Music

Waiting. Waiting.. Waiting... Much of life is waiting. This morning I was waiting at the bus stop, as I do every morning. It's the same each morning - at least for me. I walk to the bus stop - the kids run. I chat with the parents - the kids run around in the park. The big, yellow bus pulls around the corner and all the kids run to their parents for the obligatory hug.

Jackson, my middle son, hugs me and runs along his merry way. Cooper, my youngest, always lingers a bit longer, hugs me a bit tighter, and engages in that moment more than Jackson. More than me.

This morning he hugs me tightly, laying his head on my chest for a few seconds.

"Mom, do you have your ipod on?"

"No, why?"

"I hear something..."

"Oh, you must hear my heart beating."

Lays his head back on my chest, "Oh yeah, that's what it is. It sounds so nice."
Then, he kisses my belly; I lean down and kiss him on the forehead and off he goes.

The sound of music, while waiting at the bus stop. I didn't even hear it. I didn't hear a thing really, or at least nothing really registered until that moment. Who knew that I sounded as good as an ipod. Now, since his current favorite song is, "BOOM, BOOM, POW" I'm not sure I really want to sound like that, but to know that me, just me, sounds like music to my son. Man, I will take that any day.

Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

The Weight of Water

The other morning I was out running early, very early. Early enough that I knew it was raining only because I could feel it on my skin. I couldn't see the rain falling. Although when I passed a streetlamp and looked up I could really see just how hard it was raining. The rain streaked down like glistening tinsel.

It's easier for me to run in the rain when it's dark. I can't really see what I'm in for...and once I'm out there, well...I'm already up out of bed, dressed, and wet, so I may as well stick it out.

By the time I got home I was really glad I had spent the early morning hours outside. Something about the monotonous, humdrum of the rain against my skin, and the splashing of my shoes through the puddles made me feel just right. Just right in the way that everything in the world may not be just right, but I was just right. I felt fresh. I felt renewed. I felt ready to take on the world. Maybe, I sort-of felt baptized. Awake.

That feeling stuck with me as a new heaviness set in. The weight of my soaked clothing practically begged it to be stripped off of me. And that's about when it hit me - the weight of water.

Water is heavy. One liter of water equals a little more than 2 pounds. As I was out there in the rain, being cleansed by the water, it was also sticking to me - weighing on me.

I'm thinking about this so much because we so often focus on the renewing, cleansing, refreshing, sanctifying aspects of water...but we forget about the weight of it. We forget that when water is added to something it makes it heavier. There's this notion that water whisks away the dirt, the imperfections and therefore, the water is making the thing lighter, because the bad stuff is gone. We forget that just a little water adds up quickly.

So, in light of this, what does it means to be baptized, to be drenched in water? To be totally covered in the rushing waters of the Jordon, the rains of the great flood, to cross the waters of Galilee?

I should say that I don't mean for baptism to sound like a burden, but rather if we could think about the weight of it - the enormity of the gift, then maybe we wouldn't forget it so often. We wouldn't forget that we are claimed by God, that we have been drenched with an enormous gift.

The promise in Baptism isn't just that we are cleansed and renewed and claimed....but that we are cleansed and renewed and claimed even in the dark. Even when the weight of the world seems too much to bear - the weight of Baptism is more. The gift of God is more. The love of Christ is more. The breath of the Spirit is more.

Because, you know, we walk around a lot in the dark. We don't see the drips of grace falling fresh on our heads. Maybe sometimes it helps to be reminded to lift up our heads in the dark times, so that we catch a glimpse of the gifts of God raining down on us.