Tag: Christianity

Occupy Life: Delaney and Roland

We really don’t have a choice – to occupy life, I mean. Every hum-drum, no-good, very bad day and every bust-at-the-seams brilliant day you are occupying physical time and physical space. Did you know that? Did you know you were a part of an occupation movement? Called life? Nobody asked if you would join and you never signed a petition, but here you are stubbornly occupying this day.

With this realization, do you wonder a little bit what kind of statement you are making? I sure do. That’s why I’m starting this little series called “Occupy Life” … because this occupation can indeed be beautiful and meaningful, right down to the most tiny sliver.

we are the 100%

This was a small sliver of this past Sunday, but many slivers make up one 2×4, yes? And many moments make up an occupied life every single day … and this sliver is oh-so-wonderful.

Delaney and Roland are the beautiful children of my good friends from church. I would toss my afternoon plans in an instant to chase them around the rows of frumpy church chairs or to create a world where we walked on rainbows and fought jello monsters with unicorns. You would too, I think.

On Sunday, I walked in to church (uncharacteristically early) and flitted around the fellowship hall, throwing “Oh, hello”s around like cotton candy at a carnival. While I was catching up with someone tall, I noticed two short someones who were waiting for my attention. I turned to see Delaney staring up at me with chocolate eyes and the gentlest grin on her cherub face. She pulled one shoulder in, as children do when they forget they can be uninhibited. But then, as I bent down and settled in for an eye-level conversation, she bloomed. Oh! It was as if she’d been holding the stories in for days and they would have burst out had I waited a moment more. I raced after her as she (with the help of brother Roland) told me about their goings and comings the past week and how they were going to visit their aunt and uncle and how their parents drove “faster.” With Roland, every topic deserves to be explained carefully and every haphazard detail of his imagination finds expression in a (dare I say) most dignified way. I love (LOVE) jumping my reality ship to board Roland’s vessel for a few moments, which is always headed somewhere interesting and emotional and urgent.

After church, my friend Becca told me that Roland asked her, “Is Caroline going to come over here and hug me?”

I couldn’t get there fast enough – where I jumped to my knees to pick up all the delightful little pieces of wonder they had spread around. Roland climbed down from one of the frumpy church chairs when I asked, “Can I have a hug?” and with a most sincere face, he said, “Uh huh!”

This is what occupying life is all about.

I’m camped out in this physical body, from sun-up to sun-down and I want to make sure there is a beautiful ROI.

These moments, my friends, getting hugs and listening to stories and looking into wonder-filled eyes, are a brilliant use of personal funds with an imperishable return.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 7

this & that

Well, happy Monday to you all!

This is kind of a heavy “this & that” post, but I’ll try to throw something lighter in the mix.

  • This article over at The Gospel Coalition caught my eye for two reason – it’s about apologetics (which I love) and it’s for “the rest of us” (which is definitely referring to my layman-trained mind). Appropriately titled, “Apologetics for the Rest of Us,” it’s worth your time.
  • Remember what I was going nutso over last Spring? I’ll give you a hint: The Gospel Coalition National Conference. That’s not really a hint, it’s the whole answer. If I’d been there, I would have heard this message by Mike Bullmore. I’m so thankful I wasn’t, because I was in Honduras watching the Lord work like crazy.
  • I’m a little (A LOT) obsessed with this post, “Fiction for the Common Good,” at Qideas. I willingly followed the little rabbit trail that led me to “wish listing” a whole bunch of books on Amazon. If you like fiction, but are snobby and must always qualify it by saying, “I like good fiction,” then please read this article. And then conspire with me about how we can inspire classic book clubs.
  • Although I think qualifiers like nominal and mediocre are unnecessary to put in front of our identity as Christians, I do think we can benefit from skillfully re-packaged Biblical truth. I think that will be the case with Jared Wilson’s idea of gospel wakefulness. Go ahead and read this little plug over at Desiring God and let me know what you think.
  • Thanks to Tim Challies, I found this little collection of Jonathan Edwards‘ quotes, True Excellency. Not an Edwards fan? Read ’em anyway and see what you think! 🙂
  • Something lighter… Well, you know I like rap, right? I wonder if rap will have this effect on my kids someday. 🙂

That’s a wrap, my friends. I hope you don’t have the case of the Mahndays as you read this. The tried and true solution I’ve always found is to

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

so maybe try that! 🙂 

Posted on by Caroline 0

You Have Come to Save Us

I know everybody doesn’t think in pictures and doodles and words climbing over words. Sometimes, I try to imagine what it would be like to think like someone walking in a straight line… and I usually get distracted or shake myself out of it before I start to feel claustrophobic. I am thankful for the linear thinkers in my life (God knows I need them), but I’m also glad God seems to have put me together by the holy knit-in-the-womb equivalent of upending a toy box.

Sometimes my thoughts are similarly scattered – making sense of things is like walking into the play room after several toddlers have had a good romp. There’s really nothing much one can do but sit down in the middle and take it all in.

Scripture, God’s inspired and living Word, sometimes illustrates itself thus in my mind. I’m connecting dots, drawing arrows, and doodling imaginative symbols to make God’s orderly message sensible to my disorderly mind.

If ever I get too wrapped up in my own interpretation or too distracted by someone else’s, the Lord presses in with a beautiful rule: Christ.

Christ – the One against whom all can be measured.

Today, I am reveling in the freedom of life set free by the blood of Christ. Today, I am rejoicing because Christ is my righteousness. Today, I am enjoying God’s presence because Christ has made it possible to behold Him as He sits on the throne. Today, I am trusting in the Lord’s power, demonstrated in Christ’s victory over the grave and my sin.

Today, the Lord is reigning and ruling and I have an eternal invitation to sit at His feet, sealed by the blood of a sinless Savior.

let LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 0

a short list, but a good list

What’s that you say?

Christmas “spirit” got you down? Tired of overdone light displays and gaudy vests (and it’s not even December yet!)?

Here is a list for you, my friend. It’s SHORT so you are sure to make it to the end on this delightful Friday afternoon. This is about keeping the main thing the main thing (if you know what I mean).

  • You MUST pick up this Advent Jesse Tree Book! It’s free (no swiping necessary!) if you sign up to receive emails from Ann Voskamp’s site. She’s a pretty neat lady, so you should check her out even if you don’t dig the book. This resource will give you something to do with your family to prepare for the Christmas season and to remember well the glorious arrival of our Savior!
  • I know I talk about these guys a lot, but I really appreciate their music! If you are of the “Christmas music whenever you feel like it” camp, jump on the Sojourn Music bandwagon with me!
  • If you are all about a good deal (but would rather it be something to read then something to wear) then check out what Tim Challies is gathering for you at his blog. Leading up to Thanksgiving, he will post Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals for stuff you might actually buy! Check it out at his blog here.
  • I’m pretty excited at the challenge of making this another Advent Conspiracy Christmas at our house. There are some Ah-mazing ideas at their website about how to make it happen with you and yours! Here’s the video:
  • If you live anywhere near, around, close to, next to, or in the vicinity of Des Moines, Iowa – LISTEN UP. There is an AMAZING ministry that you might not know about called Freedom for Youth. You can support them by doing some Christmas shopping at their location (2301 Hickman Road, Des Moines, IA 50310) on December 3 and 10. Here’s a snippet from their website,
    “This holiday season, Freedom for Youth Ministries is hosting a Christmas Village at the Freedom Center. We will be featuring the teens & young adults handcrafted items such as art, woodworking, food and more! Come for a soup lunch or Christmas shop for unique and handmade gifts for family and friends! Freedom Blend Coffee is on sale during these 2 days!”

That’s the list, as promised, and still no overdone light displays or gaudy vests. #winning

let LOVE fly like crazy

Posted on by Caroline 0

thoughts on the Tree of Life

I’m here and there today, working on the marvelous pile of “Christmas gift could-be’s” I found in my parents’ storage room. Turns out, after living in Honduras for three years and Austin for one and four years of college in Michigan before that, I let quite a few things pile up there. Old corkboards, frames, half-finished canvas paintings, sketches, journals (that’s a two hour sidetrack right there!), and other knick knacks. Nothing like some good handsaw therapy – throw in a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and you’ve got a world of “what could this be?” waiting for you!

I’m taking a break to return to a topic I promised to write about awhile ago.

The film Tree of Life by Terrence Malick stands out from the cinematic crowd for loads of reasons. The first is filmmaker Terrence Malick. All Movie Guide at the New York Times says, “Terrence Malick is one of the great enigmas of contemporary filmmaking, a shadowy figure whose towering reputation rests largely on a very small body of work,” which is why you’ve probably never heard of him. My intrigue started because I follow Brett McCracken at his blog The Search. I am always impressed with McCracken’s assessment of culture and film, so I thought I would trust his strong support of Malick’s work.

Fast forward to last week when I watched Tree of Life with my good friends in their living room, cradling a hot cup of spice tea. Sometimes (all the time), I get nervous watching films I’ve suggested. I have a complex because in high school I was notorious for picking out lame movies. So, I was almost sweating I was so nervous and hopeful my friends would like/and understand the film. We had heard it was very slow and very deep, so the living room was the perfect set-up. I had my journal handy to write down common symbols, metaphor, and anything that came to mind.

Now, I’m looking at those journal pages going, “Whoa. Linear thinking isn’t anywhere in my vocabulary, that’s for sure!”

I know I’ll be processing this film and it’s meaning for a while (which is something I love about what Malick did). Today, I just want to tackle the (maybe) obvious overarching theme in the film of nature vs. grace. Malick pulled us in and then stretched us apart with his shots of nature’s beauty and man’s limitations. At the very beginning of the film, the narration sets up the message of the entire film.

It’s hard to get past this stunning contrast.

Before I start giving my scattered opinion, what do you think?

Watch this. (I’m sorry I canNOT find the nature vs. grace narrative anywhere on youtube)

and then this featurette where people talk through the story of the Tree of Life. (spoiler alert here!)

Here’s a write up over at White Horse Inn, if you need to hear someone’s opinion. I kind of promise I’ll chime in soon! I know, I know… I less than tackled this, but it’s SOOOO big!

Happy Friday!

Posted on by Caroline 1

misplaced humility

Maybe we just have things turned around (wouldn’t be the first time for the human race). Maybe we’ve shelved things in the wrong place and now it’s hard to find what we’re looking for.
Maybe it’s like when you are making a recipe and you know you bought cumin, but you’ve torn apart the whole kitchen and still can’t find it. Then… after admitting defeat and cranking a can of Progresso soup open in disgust, you see little Tommy flying a plane around the kitchen with little cumin as its pilot.

Maybe that’s what we’ve done with humility.

“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be.
A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed.

Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert–himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt – the Divine Reason. . . .

The new skeptic is so humble that he doubts if he can even learn. . . . There is a real humility typical of our time; but it so happens that it’s practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of the ascetic. . . .

The old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which makes him stop working altogether. . . .

We are on the road to producing a race of man too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.”

G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy [Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1957], pp. 31-32

Powerful insight once again from G.K.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton, (b. 29 May 1874 – d....
Posted on by Caroline 0

this & that

I was wondering why I had so many tabs open on my browser, but then I realized it’s because I haven’t done a “this & that” post recently. So, here it is, folks. I hope you enjoy and at least click on ONE interesting thing that pops out at you.

  • If you’ve mailed something funny (or wanted to) you should check out this collection! Here is an example: this is fishing line!!
  • I thought this article over at Tim Challies blog was interesting. Taken from R.C. Sproul’s book, Now, That’s a Good Question, this excerpt brings up some things that have been the topic of several conversations lately. I like what he says here, “If a person is in Christ and Christ is in that person, it is impossible for the Christian not to move, to grow.” Read the rest here.
  • This is … interesting. It’s a video clip where author David Dark interviews musician David Bazan. My friend calls it “The Bazan Syndrome,” characterized by the obsession of asking without really wanting to arrive at any particular answer. What do you think? Watch the video (it’s short) and see if you are encouraged, frustrated, or just confused.
  •  I unintentionally got into a funny little comment war recently. One of my favorite blogs posted a link to an article about Christian singles/dating/blind dates and I wrote something in the comments about disliking what feminism did for my chances and then, “I wish I could just send a memo to theologically sound males: I’m not looking for a stay-at-home dad or someone who takes orders. I’m looking for someone who I can support as he passionately pursues the Lord.” A guy wrote back about how all girls want these days is someone with “a sense of humor” and a gal-pal type who would be a co-wife. Yeah, he said that. Anyway, I didn’t realize this was happening until I checked back and saw there were a slew of comments following mine. All of that to say, this article, “Mentoring Future Leaders: A Priority for Your To-Do List” gets EXACTLY at what I wish was happening more often. I have felt for a long time (I even spoke with my childhood pastor while I was still in college) a passion for men to rise up and lead the church. My heart is that I would be part of the encouragement to make that happen.
  • Have you heard of Adultolescence? It is as lame as it sounds. Listen to this message by John Piper that he gave to college students recently. Maybe it will, as my History teacher used to always say, “put a fire in their bellies.”
  • Last… this is a good one. I love Andreé Seu and her style of writing. Read this article from yesterday about apathy. You might relate to this scenario – there is an invitation to stay after church to hear such-and-such missionary. You decide those ham balls you made sound so much more enticing. Check it out here. Here’s a sneak peek:

But then I thought about Judges, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Haggai. Do you know what sin God inveighs against in all these books? Yep, the sin of apathy. The sin of indifference. The sin of losing interest in God’s work, and slacking off. We are not talking about murder or adultery here, or even grumbling or complaining.

In Judges, the Israelite juggernaut that was so vital in Joshua’s day grinds to a trickle by the end of the chapter one. The various tribes assigned to take out the Canaanites on their respective parcels of land find excuses for defeat.

So, that’s about it. Let me know what you think. Meanwhile, I’ll be letting

LOVE fly like cRaZy

Posted on by Caroline 0

on Christmas music

I just had a conversation recently about when is an appropriate time to start listening to Christmas music. I have an opinion and you’ll have a hard time convincing me otherwise (you can try, of course!).

Now.
That’s my opinion.

When I was talking about it with friends, I actually said, “Whenever my heart wants it.” Generally, this sounds like bad reasoning because it can lend itself unfortunately well to being swayed by emotion. But, in this case, I mean I will turn on “O Come Let Us Adore Him” whenever my heart wants a musical backdrop for the anticipation I feel for the coming of my Savior. I love imagining myself in the Before Christ place, where I am desperately hopeful (as beautifully as the Jews) for a Messiah.

Christmas music is not about chestnuts roasting or twinkling lights for me (although there is a time and a place for those tunes as well). Christmas music always ushers in that knotted up anticipation that refuses to stay locked up in my chest.

It is always a good time, in my opinion, to anticipate my Savior (whether imagining myself in the land of pre-Jesus or understanding myself now in the pre-second coming).

Enjoy (only if you want) some such music here and please let me know your thoughts!

let LOVE fly like cRaZy
(regardless of your Christmas music timeline)

Posted on by Caroline 4

pink grass – an illustration

A couple weeks ago, I wrote the post, “what if the grass was pink?” and thought it made all sorts of sense (of course, all my ideas do… in my head). Judging from my sister’s blank stare and a stranger’s lengthy comments about how I wanted to dismantle the entire psychiatric system (among other things), I decided I had maybe missed my mark. This is my attempt to give an illustration that will hopefully make it more understandable and less like I want someone on acid to take over the world.

This is an exercise in imagination, so put on your best thinking hat. Ready?

A collection of cans of paint and other relate...

——-

Imagine a palette of paints with every color possible (I know, it’s a pretty big paint palette). Now, imagine your world in monochrome. Imagine everything you see and touch today as some shade of black/white/gray. Imagine the computer screen and your clothes and your make up and the flowers on the table and the sun outside… imagine everything you see is like the world of “I Love Lucy.”

Things are pretty dull in the colorless world, yes?

Okay. Now go back to that palette of paints with every possible color (even colors we can’t think up). Imagine someone choosing, color by color, how to bring your world to life. With an infinite palette of options, the possibilities are endless.

Roses could be… turquoise. Tree trunks might be… sapphire. Sunlight will be… purple.

——–

It’s not hard to imagine ourselves as artists painting a canvas where up is down and the sunshine glows blue. I suppose today they call it abstract.

So, why is it so hard to imagine the infinite number of options God had when He created everything in the beginning? We’ve since found thousands of reasons to explain WHY the sun shines golden and the grass grows green, but couldn’t it have turned out differently?

God could have chosen any color to paint the sky.
He chose blue.
Now there is a whole new beauty wrapped up in the mystery of a blue sky.
God could have chosen any of an infinite amount of colors.
He chose blue.

Yes, we can explain why it is blue scientifically, but it didn’t have to be blue. God didn’t consult science textbooks as he spoke things into existence, to see whether certain color combinations were possible or if the law of gravity would really be universal.

Science just attempts to explain how God ordered everything by divine choice.

If the sky was green we would find scientific support that would lead us to believe it couldn’t be any other way.

And that is how we cheat ourselves out of the magic of Creation. I mean magic in a good and not creepy sense.
I mean… the look you got in your eyes when you first saw fireworks because you didn’t think such beautiful explosions possible.
I mean… the building emotion you feel when you watch a stunning sunset or witness a double rainbow or wake up to see mysterious fog lifting from a lake.

There is a healthy sense of awe I hope I always feel when I stop to think about how (out of an infinite palette of options) God chose the luscious color green for grass. Because, you see, it could be pink.

Posted on by Caroline 6

Love You Swore

Happy Sunday, folks!

I just wanted to post something that might hit you right in the Sabbath sweet spot. John Mark McMillan just put out a new album on November 1 and this song is on it. I think it speaks to that fearful place in us – when we can see our depravity (our hearts’ shallow grave) and our immense need for the Love of our Savior. We can be almost fearful of our great need – and what that means about God’s mighty power to overcome it. What a mighty, mighty Love God possesses to have conquered death in the cross of Jesus Christ. What a mighty, mighty Love that allows us to love Him back.

Be encouraged, this morning to let the LOVE OF CHRIST fly like cRaZy – hold on to it in the eye of storm!

Chase me down like a lion
Like a bird of prey
Lift me up from the ashes
Of my hearts own shallow grave

Cause I know that I love you
But sometimes I’m afraid

Whoa oh…

Spare my body from the wolves, God
That crouch down at my door
Lift me up above the waters
And the sharks that guard your shore
Cause I know that I need you
But sometimes I know it more

Whoa oh…

Harbor me in the eye of the storm
I’m holding on to love you swore

Posted on by Caroline 2