Time Out Part 2~

Hopefully you've had a chance to look into yesterday's post.  Very sobering stuff, huh?  But a great opportunity to do something global!

Today I want to talk about something more local~ The Give-A-Shirt Project!  This amazing project was started when a local youth group was given a challenge to think of one thing they could do to better the community around them.  Listen to what one girl, Whitney, came up with:

Can you imagine being an intelligent, yet homeless, teenager who is too humiliated to continue school simply because you have no clothing?  What a waste of potential!  I want to do my part to set these kids up for success!  And working for the school district, I see it everyday!

Give A Shirt t-shirts are a mere $15... How reasonable is that?  And 2/3 of that purchase goes to buy clothing for people right here in our community!  And the idea is spreading nationally.  Congratulations to this teenager who thought big and is giving big!

Wanna help?  There are 3 ways to get your Give A Shirt gear:
1) Online at http://igiveashirt.org/
2) Pick one up at Felicity Boutique
3) Pop on over to Salem Alliance Church (if you live in the Salem,Oregon area) where the whole project originated.

Buy one for yourself and buy one for a friend or three...  This has been impacting our community in a very large way, and I heart that!

Time Out~

I'd like to take just a little time out to draw your attention to a couple of causes that are dear to me.  Now, there are 612,942 different causes I'd like to be a part of and I wish I had unlimited resources to do so... If only my pocketbook were as big as my heart...

But these are 2 special ones that I take part in and you can be too!  I sincerely hope you will take the time to investigate both.  And the call to action for both causes are so simple!  Today I'd like to talk about the Kony 2012 campaign...  After than sinks in a bit, tomorrow I'd like to tell you about the Give A Shirt project!

About 6 years ago, I was made aware of an organization called Invisible Children. My heart was wrenched by the stories of child soldiers, mutilation and brutality.  I've bought t-shirts and bracelets to help support the movement, but still felt like I was just a small drop in the bucket...  But now, today, I am seeing that it's a bucket that is about to overflow and we are so close to solving a very BIG problem!

 By now you may have heard of Invisible Children, The LRA, and or Joseph Kony.  If so, FANTASTIC!  If not, then I would not be doing my job if I did not make you aware of the nightmare that is taking place in Uganda.

Rather than try to articulate what's taking place, which I know I cannot do, I am posting this video.  I hope you will take the time to watch it!  If this were taking place in America, it would be on the cover of every major news source and it would be put to a stop immediately!  Yet, somehow, this has been going on for years and many people still don't know about this horrible tragedy.

The good news is, we can spread the awareness, and the powers that be are listening!  I am planning on taking part in plastering the town on the night of April 20th.  Won't you join me?

WILLIE~

Ugh.  I'm one of those people who is unsettled if I am not growing...  But of course, the process of growing can certainly be unsettling as well!  After a season of dryness, I am currently undergoing some spiritual remodeling and my Contractor has made me aware of some areas that are going to need more work than I originally thought...  Thankfully, His budget, time, and energy doesn't run out and He's willing to invest whatever it takes to complete what He started in this little project...

Of course, as in many remodel projects, I do not always see eye to eye with my Contractor.  I choose Him because He's the best at what he does and then I try to tell Him how to do His job.  Pathetic, I know. What I want doesn't always line up with His vision of how things ought to be and there is the battle of wills.  There is His will, and then there is mine.  The problem is, whenever I insist on things being done a certain way (even though He's the professional), it never turns out right and we end up having to start the whole project over again, which of course was a waste of my energy.  Thank goodness He's patient. When will I ever learn?

I am always reading personal growth-y type books and right now I am struggling my way through Crazy Love, by Francis Chan.  By struggling, I mean I love it and hate it at the same time...  Let me see if I can show you what I mean.  In this book, Chan quotes another author, John Piper, in his book "God is the Gospel":


"The critical question for our generation- and for every generation- is this:  If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"

Now, maybe your insides are not as ugly as mine.  I sincerely hope not.  But when I read that, I could sense a demolition coming and an immediate need to reconstruct what I thought was a solid foundation!  I had to pause (as I've had to do many times with this book) and take a long hard look at myself.  What are my priorities?All of the above mentioned things are important to me.  But, after really thinking about it, they really have become the foundation of my American life. But where does my love for my Jesus fit into all of it?  This house was supposed to be built upon a Rock.

Yes, I thank Him for all of these things.  I share my gratitude at the dinner table and at bedtime prayers with the kids and when the perfect parking spot opens up for me. Yes, I read my Bible nearly every morning.  But the actual investment into my relationship?  With Christ?  I hate to admit it, but sometimes I think I forget He's in the Bible I'm reading and the prayers I'm saying.  Routine has become an enemy to the intimacy I am so longing for! The worst part?  I didn't even realize it was happening.  Well, enough of that.

So, that's the reason for the current project.  I am still under construction.  I'm looking forward to the end result and spending LOTS of QUALITY time with my Contractor.  I'm going to try very hard not to try to take over.  Anything worth doing, is worth doing right... Right?

Impressionable vs. Memorable~

As a young mother, I would sort of roll my eyes when people would say "Cherish every moment while they are still young!"  I adored my children when they were small.  They were so precious and filled my heart to a capacity I didn't know was possible. (They still do!) But not every moment was the cherishing type...  Sleep deprivation, poopy diapers, hearing "no!", "why?", and "why?" and "why?"... (Wait, I still hear those same questions...)

But now, as a mother heavily entrenched in tweendom and teetering on the verge of teenagers, I find I am the one now telling the younger mothers to cherish every moment.  It truly goes by so fast!  You can't truly appreciate the depth of that warning until you've experienced that yearning inside of you that wants to freeze time for a bit and keep your children small.

I've been pondering this new season in my life as a mother.  I've been remembering those younger years when my children were so impressionable.  Sponges, if you will.  Talks about God, right and wrong, manners, why we don't talk to strangers, and why we look both ways before crossing the street and always, always, always hold mommy's hand were simply truth.  Because mommy told me so.  It sure was easier then!
Now, it's more about modeling truth and what's right. Do my actions match the words coming out of my mouth? Believe me, they are keenly aware.  Whether they admit it or not, they still take their cues from me. And I refuse to be seen as Charlie Brown's teacher:  (Wah wahhh wah wahhh wah wah!) It's not so much my teaching them through words anymore, but using teachable moments to provide memorable experiences.

They may not remember walking in the park and saying things like "Wow!  How does God color in the lines so good?!", or "Thank you, Jesus, for the byooootiful sunset!", or bedtime prayers that ended with "I love you, Daddy loves you and Jesus loves you!", but those moments certainly made lasting impressions.  Who God is and His love for them was impressed on them during those moments. (I assure you I will never forget!)
But it is becoming more and more clear to me that as my children are older now, the teachable moments are the memorable ones.  The ones they will take with them when they *sniff* leave the nest.  Just because mommy says so, doesn't necessarily mean it's truth anymore.  We are waaay more abstract now and sometimes need a visual aid or experience!
For example, we came up with some fun ideas of things to do during the month of December to give to others in the community that maybe would otherwise go unnoticed.  My youngest and I bought 2 caramel apple ciders from Starbucks and gave them to the crossing guards at her school during a very bad cold snap.  The overwhelming surprise from these women made it so much fun and I know that doing this fun, unexpected thing is something my daughter will remember.  It felt good to surprise someone by giving just for the sake of giving with no strings attached.



But today I caught myself wondering how in the world am I to teach my girls to be the amazing women of God I so hope for them to become, if I am not even the woman of God I would want them to be?  I can't just tell them how things ought to be anymore.  If I tell them, I better be showing them as well, or my hypocrisy may show through.  I am so far from who I want to be...for myself and for them...  So, if I want my children to have memorable moments that are worth having, I have to proactively give God the seat on the throne of my heart. (It's time for me to stop trying to keep that seat warm.)
The things to teach my girls are not so concrete anymore.  There can be no place for gossip, passing judgement, laziness, apathy, or disrespect.  Do I want the moments remembered to be bad attitudes in the grocery line (guilty!), or an attitude of servanthood?  Is it ok for me to cut my children off mid-sentence if I don't allow them to do it to me?  Can I invoke consequences for waiting till the last minute to do homework if I am a procrasitnator myself?  Can I get upset when their room is not clean, when I have laundry piled high in my own bedroom?
I want my children to rise and call me blessed someday.  I want their children to rise and call them blessed someday!  God help me to make each moment memorable in a good way!  Guide my every word, thought, and action.  Please take your rightful place on the throne of my heart.  Thank you for teaching and loving my children despite my imperfections.