Something Local...

I was considering the term local last night as I realized I don't know very much about our small town and all the ways we make a difference; so this isn't truly "local" in that sense. However, I am a city-girl at heart, and the particular city I call "home" is an amazing place with a thriving community of people who are making a daily difference...

Something that speaks to my heart is The Mentoring Project - The mission is simple: The Mentoring Project seeks to respond to the American crisis of fatherlessness by inspiring and equipping faith communities to mentor fatherless boys.

The need is great, but the reality is that it doesn't take much... They say it so well, 1000 churches with only 10 people from each would equal 10,000 mentors!

To bring it down to our small town. We have, around 15 churches in our little area. If 10 men from each church partnered together and brought an "arm" of the mentoring project out here, that would provide 150 mentors, in our community, making a difference in the lives of our young men. Awesome to think about, but think even deeper than that. In 8-15 years, those young men will be the fathers, business men, and leaders of our community. What are we offering them?

The good news? Some men are stepping up to the plate and getting involved. Training and encouragement is available to them, so they aren't winging it alone. Visit The Mentoring Project website for more info, or (if you're a girl like me) to begin to dream of how you could share your HOPE....

Walk Strong.

World Aids Day

World Aids Day was yesterday, and how I missed that clue... well,I'll say it, I live in a box.

But, no matter how small your box, you have likely been affected by HIV. I recall the day when I sat back and considered HIV and my life. it was a profound moment...

I am not enough of a writer to communicate this well, so I am going to share a letter from someone else. dear-aids

Final thoughts, from Blue Like Jazz, "Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something is a hard thing"

what am I living for today?
HOPE!
walk strong

Christmas is Coming!

Advent! On Sunday my eldest was sitting with me as we listened to the pastor tell the childrens sermon... The first lesson this year was Hope; and that got me to thinking...

Welcome to 24 days of hope.

I want to share a story with you. Imagine, if you can, being so reviled that the authorities come to your house, beat down your doors, and chase you and your family out into the world. Perhaps they torch your house, or destroy everything inside. Perhaps you can never return... and spend a season of your life with your family outside, with a tarp for a home.

I have to say that this persecution is real, and intense, and today. Not thousands or even hundreds of years ago, but today. I receive an email from Voice of the Martyrs, a Christian agency that works hard around the world to encourage, support, and share - and I am often humbled by what I read.

You might think nothing could relieve the cloud of persecution surrounding our brothers and sisters in Vietnam. But something as small as a Gospel storybook telling of Christ's love or a toy given to them by someone from their Christian family can have an incredible effect on those suffering for their faith. Such gifts help them know their brothers and sisters around the world love and care for them.

I know at this time of year we have much on our minds and hearts. This world is an intense place, no matter where we live. Take some time today to consider the gift of Hope you have been given, and challenge yourself to share it in some way. For more information about Voice of the Martyrs, visit their website

Beauty from Pain

In the post-thanksgiving grind to Christmas, I thought this verse was incredibly appropriate.

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Psalm 28:7 NLT

I am creatively borrowing the title & lyrics from the band SuperChick so I can talk some more about the amazing works of God.

The song talks about being in the midst of pain "the lights go out all around me" and how hard it is to be in that place... "I know I'm alive but I feel like I've died" I find the most descriptive line to be "My dreams ran like sand through the fists that I made..." How many of us could say that... and mean it...

About three weeks ago now, I naively heard this song and said, hey, yeah, I am on the other side and can truly appreciate lines like this:

After all this has passed I still will remain. After I've cried my last there will be beauty from pain, though it won't be today someday I'll hope again and there will be beauty from pain...

In the midst of my foolhardy assessment, God graciously continued to work on the healing process of my heart.

Oh, what a fool I can be.
How unforgiving and bitter.

What cure? Time, I think truly, for me. Realization. And then, Repentance.

Pride keeps us down; our pain was likely inflicted by another (or a world) and it is far easier to run the blame game. Slight problem... You are stuck with the pain, not anyone else.

And though i can't understand why this happened, I know that i will when i look back someday. And see how you've brought beauty from ashes, and made me as gold purified through these flames

Repentance is what brings light, what brings the healing, what brings the shift. Repentance allows us to say

"The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving."

I don't for a moment think that we should avoid going through hard things; the refining comes as much from that as from how we respond. Repentance allows us to submit and yield to the hand of God, and his plan for our life.

Repentance, a turning.

From pride, anger, our own expectations, and any other thing which separates us from where God would have us be.