One Day -MLK day

One Day
(Adapted from the famous Martin Luther King, Jr speech.)


I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in my faith and knowledge of a God who redeems.

I have a dream that one day this relationship will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "To love as Christ loves us."

I have a dream that one day on the street of Indiana my husband and myself will be able to sit down together at a table of mutual strength.

I have a dream that one day even as broken as we are, as hurting and desperate, sweltering with the heat of distrust and fear, we will be transformed into an oasis of forgiveness and joy.

I have a dream that my two children will one day live in a family where they will have a loving, healthy relationship modeled and therefore choose a mate by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

Parables

The kids (at Ecclesia) are entering a new block on parables and while looking up some for a new yoga based movement we are doing. I read this (Mathew 13:44 & 45)...

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hidden in a field. A crafty man found the treasure buried there and buried it again so no one would know where it was. Thrilled, he went off and sold everything he had, and then he came back and bought the field with the hidden treasure part of the bargain.

Or the kingdom of heaven is like a jeweler on the look out for the finest pearls. When he found a pearl more beautiful & valuable than any jewel he had ever seen, the jeweler sold all he had and bought that pearl, his pearl of great price.

The parables just amaze me. I love teaching them to the kids because it is definitely one of those cases of them teaching us. When I read these I see the precious nature of God the fact that he asks us to give it all but gives us something precious and all consuming and forever valuable at the same time. He asks all of us, then overwhelms us with his giving. If only we could see (as we are asked to give up) the beauty he has for us... I am sure we would give it all!

I definitely feel this paradigm in my life right now. I am almost perplexed by the fact that I was asked to give up something (house, comfort, ownership, security) and now feel like not only did I not loose anything I am overwhelmed by how happy and blessed I am. It really is everything I "lost" was an illusion, and God's reality has now had a chance to take root.

Then the other two I love. The mustard seed & the yeast. The idea of that small amount of yeast / a small seed growing and expanding. It is something I have experienced about the nature of God, it is one of my favorite things about His heart.... the well of love, and beauty that comes from such small effort. It is the acts of love that go unnoticed but then suddenly are all around us. It is the way that caring for a room can suddenly bring everyone who enters love. Or the way your small effort (done in obedience) suddenly becomes a catalyst for others and radiates out. It is hard to explain, yet so simple... Jesus did an amazing job trying to show us His kingdom and all it holds for us. Makes you want to give and do more doesn't it?

Realized

Hi, I just posted something on my other blog that is good for here too.
Check it out by clicking here

2009

Since 2009 started I have been re reading and re watching everything David Wolfe.
One of the "David Wolfe things" is writing goals. He asks you to write down 100 goals.
I believe it is in an effort to get you to push the limits of what you want to accomplish... to empty your mind of everything that you think "I could never pull that off" about.

For someone who is & has been in the middle of such life change... I think having a resolution list is silly... I am in the middle of a resolution list.. in fact this blog is a resolution list. But I have discovered the same truth as David Wolfe. When you write it down, it comes true. AND the more specific the better.

I have however, as the New Year has begun, focused on one of my resolutions on this blog. It is one that has a natural start after a holiday of almost constant eating out and honestly ending in my being sick of everything that I need to stop eating... it does make you feel bad after all. So, my main new years resolution will be on my OTHER blog. Yes, get ready for my weight to be posted again and ALL to be laid out in an effort for accountability and helping me free my life of my biggest and most hurtful addiction.

But for here...
100 Goals for 2009

1. Be free of food addiction
2. Heal my relationship with Vyk
3. Heal my relationship with Astrid
4. Enjoy my daily routine
5. Enjoy my life
6. Give of myself fully
7. Don't hold back
8. Financial Peace
9. 1,000 for emergencies that stays put
10. car paid off
11. give lots of $
12. give lots
13. Love
14. Finish the playground
15. Bring love into the children' space
16. Bring love to Ecclesia
17. Love in small ways
18. Share in large ways
19. Be beautiful
20. Feel beautiful
21. Feel sexy
22. Go on more dates with my husband
23. Go on more mother/ daughter dates
24. Be with Gus fully
25. Have strong attachments with everyone in my family
26. Vent less
27. Breathe more
28. Feel more
29. Keep my house organized
30. Keep things as simple in my home as they are now
31. Use $ to purchase fairly
32. Crave raw foods.
33. Try foods I have never tried.
34. Constantly learn about food
35. Seek God in all I do
36. Seek God in the simple things
37. Love God with all my heart, mind, soul
38. Have a deeper relationship with God
39. Be His hands and feet
40. Incarnate
41. Find my place in my new community
42. Find a friend for Astrid who is CLOSE
43. Go to Cherryhurst park all the time
44. Go to Discovery Green all the time
45. Get a 3 wheel bike to ride around
46. Soak in the sun
47. Enjoy being outside daily
48. Be active
49. Laugh often
50. Make new relationships
51. Nurture the relationships that bring me life
52. Edit time with people who do not bring me life
53. Forgive
54. Forgive
55. Forgive
56. Pray unceasingly
57. Let go of the hurt I hold in my gut
58. Detox
59. Detox emotionally
60. Let God heal... do not be afraid
61. Loose 100 lbs
62. Loose a person
63. Have skin that glows
64. Have to buy an entirely new wardrobe
65. Look on the outside as changed as I am on the inside
66. Enjoy my new home
67. Entertain more
68. Discuss more things that are important to me
69. Have more deep discussion
70. Have more girls night out with precious friends
71. Meet Leo Mueller... spend more time with the Mueller Family
72. Create annual family events
73. Be the woman that I want Astrid to learn from
74. Drink more water
75. Work on my art
76. Create a new curriculum
77. Be in a new building
78. Uncover hidden abilities
79. Spend intentional time with James
80. Share with James what he needs
81. Be good to those that I love
82. Have more lunches with Dad
83. Release Grief
84. Be the best me ever
85. Eat cleanly
86. Have green smoothies or juice daily
87. Have a salad daily
88. Buy more for myself from Etsy
89. Get my hair cut regularly
90. Have $ in the bank past my wildest expectations.
91. Give more $ than I ever thought possible
92. Finish everything
93. Get a composter
94. Start a garden
95. Grocery shop weekly
96. Eat out less
97. Have sex more
98. Heal from Gus' birth
99. Learn from and fully connect with all the children God has given me to care for
100. Have the best marriage ever!

Christmas Eve Conversation

me -

I don't feel like celebrating! I don't feel like singing songs and hearing stories of redemption. What about my redemption? What about redemption for my family? What about redemption for my marriage?

bigG-

I told you... I am working on it.

me-

But I am so tired. I am worn out. I can not do it any longer. Why can't redemption come now? I did everything you asked. Except.. well, that, that, that.. I am working on, I am planning on it.

bigG-

Why not now?

me-

too hard, too much all at once. And I am so hurt, and he...

bigG-

I am not asking you to trust him, I am asking you to trust me.

me-

I know. But you expect... everything... it is so hard.

bigG-

It is so hard? And this is easy?

me-

No this is TOO hard. I can not stand it.

bigG-

So why not now?

me-

OK... tell me the story again. The one about redemption. I am listening.

"Flat Living"s Favorite Things

OK my whirlwind shopping and Christmas preparation is almost over already. Never underestimate the power of a good list.

Handmade being high in priority and fair trade... I feel like I get better every year with reaching these goals. Hand made is becoming popular, more accessible and more people are offering alternatives to mass production... plus I just accumulate favorites as I seek it more and more.


Here are some of my favorite things ... just for fun!

• "Simple" shoes for Gus (I have some of their tennis shoes and love them) and I was looking for some really comfy shoes for my dad... and I stumbled upon a special "black friday" special for every Friday of the month. It was not black Friday... it was yesterday... and it offered over 50% off these shoes for Gus. They also offered free shipping so for exactly $11.76 I got the cutest little shoes for his cutest little piggies.
  
• I also got the most amazing toy for him. A wooden personalized cell phone from Etsy from a shop called Kinderhaus toys. It has "Hello Gus" written inside.
  
• Guitar Pick for James from Etsy. Engraved with the words "FATAL DESIRE" (his metal band said with serious attitude). And as James says... it is not just the band it is a saying... like "That is so Fatal Desire" meaning? Not sure? This will make James happy... that I am sure of.
  
• Toms shoes for Vyk. They have a holiday campaign called ONE for ONE For every pair you buy they give a pair to a child in Ethiopia. And, happily Vyk has wanted a pair and never gotten them. Simple black slip on shoes are exactly my hubbies style.
  
• The Voice new testament for my dad... gotta plug the pastor's/ editor bestest friend's merch. My dad loves the bible and it is fun to talk over the project with him after he reads it and has opinions to share. I am also getting him some handcrafted SAS shoes to help him not fall.
  
• For Astrid who wanted a lockable journal and a kids craft book. I was happy to find the perfect version of both with this and this at Olympia Books. Olympia books is quite possibly the coolest. They were right in the forefront of handmade and really too cool for me... but not for Astrid.
• And my absolute favorite gift to receive. I have gotten this gift 2 years straight from hubbie. My favorite artist in the form of a yearly calendar... Nikki McClure. Plus I got a bunch of her books for "Gus"/ me to read to Gus.
  

He put a new song in my mouth

“Have Yourself a Peace and Justice Christmas” (to the tune of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”). Thanks Soujourners!

Have Yourself a Peace and Justice Christmas

Have yourself a peace and justice Christmas,
Set your heart a-right.
Flee the malls and focus on Christ’s guiding light.

Have yourself a peace and justice Christmas,
Give your time a way.
Share God’s love, And serve “the least of these” today.

Here we are, as we pray for peace,
We’ll live simply and give more.
We care for those far and near to us,
Which brings cheer to us, once more.

God brings down
The haughty from high places,
And lifts up the low.
God cares for the hungry and the humble, so –
Forget the stress and let the peace and justice flow!