Auto-Tune the News #9: Nobel. health care. United Nations.

Jesus Makes Me Look Good

I'm a fraud. At least that's how I feel right now. I was visiting a website that a friend of mine suggested... http://andrewkooman.com . She thought I might be interested in his writing and what he is doing with his life as many of the things are what I claim to be passionate about. Civil liberty and freedom. Abolition of modern slavery. True religion, taking care of widows and orphans in their affliction. When I say that I am thinking very specifically about some of those my brother David visited and lived amongst when he was with Hands at Work in Africa this year.
I do care... but there is still a great part of me that is loathe to give up the life I have here.
It is not that it's perfect, in fact there are many things I would change in a heart beat. But I have a job that I enjoy, and love to see the ways some of the children in the school are growing in the knowledge and understanding of God's love for them. I am close to my family. I enjoy close friendships. I have a comfortable little nook in the basement of my parents home... not everyone's dream I know, but the rent is cheap and the company is fantastic :D

It is an easy life.
But I am not certain it is the abundant life that Christ has called me to. I know there are times when I felt really alive. When I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was just where God wanted me, doing just what he wanted me to do. They were exciting times. Fearless times. Times when Jesus had the reigns on what I did and when I did it.

If I were to recount some of the stories... and I do, especially to my students. I come out sounding very brave... very godly even... But here's the thing - It wasn't really me. It was Jesus. Just when I was at my least capable He took over. I'm very grateful He did because I got to experience with Him some extraordinary things. I learned things from Him with words that came out of my own mouth. Wise things that made me look very clever. But they were not my own.

I love that kind of life, so I am not sure what keeps me from living it every day. I love that Jesus makes me look good. I know the way I would act if it were just up to me. In fact I have done too much of that kind of living in the last year. I have done too much 'giving up in the face of adversity'. I have done too much 'how can I do just enough to look like I'm still giving my all to Jesus, while still maintaining some control of my actions, words and thought life'. I have done too much talking. I want to go back to letting Jesus do it.
So that is my pray for this year... I was tempted to call it my new years resolution, but then we'd be right back to what I am going to do. So my pray for this new year is... that He might increase and I might decrease. That I will go with Him wherever He wants me to. That I will do less talking to others and more walking and talking with Him. I pray that I might do all this through Christ Jesus who strengthens me!

NOW... Here's to an exciting AD 2010... and the rememberence that it is THE YEAR OF OUR LORD...

A favorite Christmas poem of mine by John Schienbein

T'wasn't it the night before Christmas? (A Christmas eve poem)

In the winter as the cold winds blow,

Atop my roof on ice and snow,

No sound is heard, no hooves, no bells,

For Santa is dead, our town crier yells,

At half past eleven this Christmas eve night,

The town gasps and weeps at that terrible sight,

A once jolly fat man with red cheeks, suit, and hat,

Freshly gored by a reindeer is lying down flat,

The sirened cars come, the policemen get out,

They question if anyone’s seen Rudolf about,

A little plump boy with a tear in his eye,

States that he saw that villain, just this moment fly by,

The police call a hunter renowned for his aim,

Quite ironically Chris Kringle the third was his name,

He got out his rifle with a scope he called Mark,

They looked to the sky but the sky was too dark,

That same chubby boy, snot running down on his clothes,

Cried out "That monster can't hide, cause he’s got a red nose!"

They looked for that red glow, surveying the night,

Yet not one could see Rudolf’s red nose’s bright light,

Just then "Not my Johnny!" a mother was crying,

Rudolf's struck again, a fresh body was lying,

This time it was Johnny that same pumpkin shaped boy,

With this message in blood "Snitches die with no toy!"

The message was, without a doubt scribed,

By the tip of an antler, as the little boy died,

"That's gone too far!" roared Chris Kringle in thund’rous tones,

"By dawn Rudolf's pelt will be mine, I shall grind up his bones!"

Chris then picked up his gun and was gone on his mission,

The town mourned dear Johnny and sent for the mortician,

As for the two bodies, the town did agree,

They were boxed up like presents, buried under a tree,

Then at about dawn, there arose such a racket,

Chris Kringle returned in a new reindeer jacket,

You could hear Him cry out, with a deep, "HOHOHO!"

As Rudolf’s ground bones, fell to earth like fresh snow,

That Christmas held sorrows yet joy was still found,

For we had a great feast and roast reindeer abound.

A lesson was learned by the children that day,

That the one who’s a snitch, will most certainly pay.

Keeping up with the Schienbeins...

Last year we decided to send out a "family Christmas photo" so we bought matching t-shirts on a trip to North Dakota and posed as a human Christmas tree. Great fun. It was so well received, especially by family that we figured we needed to do it again. But we also knew we had to top it. For the last few weeks I have been working on my Norman Rockwell style, family Christmas masterpiece. If you would like to be a recipient of said work of art... please do request one, and add your address to the comments sheet. Who knows... it may be worth something someday. After all there will be a limited number of prints made :D
Above is last years... We topped it!
buh bye... and happy holidays!

Confession time.

So, I bought a bar of chocolate yesterday... a delicious fruit and nut bar, one of my favorites... but that's not the confession.

I also bought some cleaner for the bathroom. In the bag, the cleaner spilt and covered everything. I really wanted the chocolate so I decided to wash it off instead of throwing it out. Today when I opened it up it looked a little wet, so I dryed it off and had a few pieces. Now I am worried I poisoned myself. AND for no good reason! Just wanted chocolate and didn't want to go to the store again. True story.

New News!

Well, I have news.... and I know how you like news.

They are filming some scenes for the new A-Team movie in town.

I am more excited than I should be. Honestly, I found out this morning and have already spent hours thinking about what they would be up to and how I could just happen to bump into someone from the cast. BUT, I'm not alone. It seems like everyone on facebook is posting about this... well, everyone on facebook from Cold Lake anyway. Things like, "Jim Carey is at the highschool, Im a gon see him" why he would be at the high school, I don't know. Or ... "My hubby and I just saw Jessica Biel on the security tapes at his work.", also " Bradley Cooper was walking down the hall at my husbands work." and even, "The cast was at the Beehive this afternoon." What's the Beehive? A second hand store on the airbase. So I know I am not alone in this excitement.

Still... I wish I was alone in... a room with them, I have questions and some comments and a few exclamations. :D

Who knows, maybe tomorrow will be THE day. I'll pull out my biggest camera and be the local papparazzi.. Papparazzi always know where to find them!

Kitty Genovese Syndrome?

I was reading this article in "intresting thing of the day" entitled Kitty Genovese Syndrome. Also known as "the guilty bystander" syndrome. You I'm sure are familiar with the shocked reports of someone who was killed or injured or mugged, in plain view of the general public and no one stops to do anything.

Some also relate it to lack of care for the homeless, passing by people in obvious distress because we manage to come up with a logical reason why we shouldn't. Or a practical reason why what appears to be distress, may in fact be merely a misunderstanding.

But, more often than not, it isn't... is it? More often, there really is something quite horrible happening. Someone really is in desperate need of assitance.

The article carries on to talk about 'International Bystanders'. The idea that there are horrific things happening in other areas of the globe that we have become desenstized to...

" When I saw the film Hotel Rwanda, I left the theater very upset. The genocide in the early 1990s that left 800,000 Rwandans dead occurred with very little intervention from either those within Rwanda or the international community—a profound example, as several commentators have pointed out, of Kitty Genovese Syndrome. I simply couldn’t fathom that anyone could know what was going on and do nothing. And yet, paradoxically, I can imagine no other response—with so many other people in the world, surely this must be someone else’s problem. Someone wiser, more powerful, or closer to the situation. What could I have done anyway? I have my own problems. But then, so does everyone else.
There’s no cure for this problem. Even knowing about this effect as I do, chances are, I’ll someday be an unhelpful bystander once again. But just maybe I’ll have the presence of mind to realize that the person best qualified to help is the one willing to take action in the face of confusion and doubt. —"

Yesterday I was watching "Hands at Work" videos with my brother David. He was trying to decide what would be appropriate to play in church. The work this group is doing in some of the most impoverished spots in Africa is amazing! Even more amazing is what God is doing. However, I was so convicted that I am a bit of a guilty bystander... I know what is happening there. People, that are my brothers and sisters because of Jesus, are dying horrific deaths. They are starving to death. They are being ravaged by diseases that we have medicines for. Children are suffering the sting of rejection from family members that are terrified of catching the diseases that killed their parents. I cried. Rightly so. But how can I do more. How can I most effectively reach out to my hurting family?

One video Dave played for me profiled a family that Hands at Work was just starting to help out. They seemed excited about the possibility of building a care centre in the area so that the family, and many others like them in that area could have consistent support. Apparently the group that filmed them wanted to do a follow up 12 months later, but were unable to give a good report. There was so much unrest in Mozambique, and the present government is so closed, that although the money was raised to build the centre they are unable to get it into the country. They can only smuggle (literally) small amounts at a time. I know that some people would be disappointed to hear this, and possibly even wonder what the point is. BUT shouldn't this then elicit a different repsonse? It's not enough for us in the west to throw money at the poverty there.

Obviously, they need our prayers. We should be praying that the country opens up in a way that allows this center to be built. Maybe they need more "smugglers". People that would take the time to help bring in the funds... the hard way.

Okay, so obviously I am a bit removed, and don't know the perfect solution, but I know that I can be doing much more than just sending money. I know I can give more of myself, my time, my gifts and abilities. In fact, I must. It is a biblical mandate.

I must not be a guilty bystander, international or otherwise.