What I'm pondering today...

"To be wounded in the fight is a great honor. It is by the Lord's stripes that we are healed, and it is through our stripes that we, too, are given the authority for healing. Once we are healed, we are given the power to heal others in the very place where the enemy wounded us." ~Rick Joyner from "The Final Quest"

My Princess...

is FOUR today!! I love you baby girl! Happy Birthday!

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Things I want to blog about...

...who knows if I'll ever get the time. When I sit down to do a project I like to finish it. I like to get really involved. I don't like to be interrupted. As you can imagine there are a lot of projects I'm avoiding while I have small children. The longest break I get at this point is about 15 min. So I'll just share my wish list:

-our story. I want you to know how we got to this point. my husband was working with Josh at Digital Foundation after we graduated from college and now he's an organic farmer. I would love to share with you our journey from that point to this one.

-what I've been reading. I'd love to post some of the spiritual questions that have been bouncing around in my head. Especially from the Oswald Chambers book I'm reading at the moment. How have I neglected him all these years?!

-my health journey. I've been learning A LOT about food and how it interacts with our bodies to produce health or un-health. Our family diet has changed a lot since we were in Mississippi when I first discovered my depression-like reaction to processed sugar. I'd love to share with you some of my favorite recipes at the moment.

-I want to post pictures from halloween.

-I want to tell you about my son and post a video of him talking. He's starting to put two words together now. "Dada's Truck" "Mama's Car" "Choo-choo train" "Dada's Shoe" "Choo-Choo book" "I do!" "Mine Blankey" I love this boy.

-I'd love to share more of my journey with my daughter. It's been difficult. We're doing MUCH better now.

I do have a question for you. My topic of interest at the moment is prayer. If you are married do you and your spouse pray together? If so, how often? What does that look like. If you have kids do you pray with them? What does that look like? I'd love to hear your stories. When you were growing up do you pray with your parents? Do you do things the same now or have you changed things? I'd love to hear your story.

Happy Halloween!

My thoughts on the letter

My first emotional response to this letter was that I loved it. Even if it couldn't work. Even if the world could never be this way. I wish it could. I want it to be this way. The idea itself is so beautiful and inspiring. I imagine that when Jesus returns and the Kingdom is fulfilled this is the way things will be.

On top of my emotional reaction to the letter, I have read "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and I know that this type of thing works because he is doing it. His non-profit builds schools and funds them in Islamic countries. It works because before he came parents' only option was to send their kids to Fundamentalist Islamic schools funded by their Fundamentalist Islamic State. At those schools they learn about jihad and such. The idea is that when they graduate they are delighted to join a militant western hating army. And it works. But when Mortenson built his schools kids learned normal stuff like math, English and science. When those kids graduated they became doctors, mid-wives, teachers, engineers, political leaders, restaurant owners, etc..... All the normal stuff that supports a healthy functioning society that doesn't crash airplanes into large buildings. It worked. It's still working.

BUT here's the catch. It worked so well that our government noticed and asked to get involved. Mortenson said no, because he knew if he had government support that no one would trust him. He was there because he cared about the people and their livelihood. He didn't have a political agenda. He knew he couldn't get his work done unless people believed he cared about them and them only.

So the question I have is, would it work to have our government do this? Really our government is supposed to be just a representation of us as a people. It shouldn't be different than if we all supported Mortenson's non-profit. But somehow it is. So I have my doubts. Like some of you said, when our gov has tried this in the past the stuff we built just got bombed (I hadn't heard about this. Do you have any sources?). Maybe we should all just support Mortenson's non-profit. But we won't because it doesn't come out of our paychecks automatically as taxes. *sigh*

I also had to laugh because I can imagine the OUTCRY if Obama did make a decision like this. It isn't fair! It's our money! We have needs here in our country too! It would NEVER fly. And yet we're okay with our gov. spending the same amount on a war. Truthfully I don't really understand why spending the money on war is better to people than spending it on support.

I'm not totally convinced that it's the right thing, the best thing, the wisest thing, or a logical idea. But I'm an idealist at heart. God made me that way. So I'm drawn to this idea. I want this to be the way we do things. If we do it well, this way works better than our normal human way. You know, the whole "love your enemies" thing. =)

In the last few years I've fallen in love with Jesus' way of doing things.

Those are my thoughts. Forgive me if they are a little incoherent. You have to remember that I'm thinking through all this as I do the dishes, discipline children, make meals, serve at Upper Crust, connect with my husband, etc. So hopefully you'll cut me a little slack. =)

Brian McLaren's letter to Obama (from facebook)

I am a loyal supporter of your presidency. I worked hard in the campaign and have never been as proud of my country as I was when we elected you.

I'm writing to ask you to find another way ahead in Afghanistan. I wrote a similar letter to President Bush when he was preparing for war in Iraq.

I believe now, as you and I both did then, that war is not the answer. Violence breeds violence, and as Dr. King said, you can murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. As the apostle Paul said, evil must be overcome with good, which means that violence and hate must be overcome with justice and love, not more of the same.

Obviously, you know things the rest of us don't know. And you have pressures and responsibilities the rest of us don't have. But we have based our lives on the moral principles that guided leaders like Dr. King, Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela. We share a profound faith in a loving, non-violent God. We share a commitment to live in the way of Jesus the peacemaker. That's why escalation is not a change we can believe in.

I don't argue for leaving Afghanistan high and dry as we've done too often in the past. Evil can't be overcome by passivity or abdication, but only by positive good and creative action. In that spirit, I offer this humble proposal:

1. Take the 65 billion we would have spent there in the coming year and turn it into an aid and development fund. If you want to go farther, you could put a value on the cost of American lives that would be lost there (I have no idea how this inestimable cost could be calculated), and add that sum to the fund. 65 billion could build a lot of peace-oriented schools and hospitals in Afghanistan. It could serve as start-up capital for a lot of new businesses and it could pave a lot of roads. It could train a lot of police officers and it could enhance a lot of social infrastructure. It could give hope to a lot of women and girls who currently don't have much hope, and it could provide a lot of constructive outlets for men and boys who right now don't have many options besides picking up a machine gun and joining a warlord.

2. Other nations might contribute to this fund as well, and the fund could be extended into the future based on the number of years our military would have been engaged in Afghanistan. The fund could be administered by the US, or better (in the spirit of international cooperation), an IAEC-like agency could be created, subsidiary to the United Nations, to monitor progress in Afghanistan.

3. Then a set of benchmarks could be set, and the money could be released for development in Afghanistan as the nation reached appropriate benchmarks. This fund would be an enticement to mobilize public opinion in the direction of peace and justice, as people would know that their lives could be substantially improved if their factionalized leaders would start collaborating nonviolently for the common good.

4. With this kind of approach, the people of Afghanistan (and Pakistan) would have two clear choices. Al Queda and other extremists offer violence and unrest. But the international community would be offering support for order, rebuilding, collaboration, justice, and peace. This choice is a much clearer and better one than the choice between two groups of leaders who both depend on violence to achieve their aims.

5. Conservatives could support this kind of approach because it emphasizes personal choice and responsibility among the Afghan people. It would come alongside them in their own nation-building efforts at their own best pace, rather than trying to impose our own nation-building on them at a pace we determine. Progressives could support this approach because it changes the role of the US in the global neighborhood - from reactive bully or intentional dominator to responsible neighbor and partner for the common good.

Mr. President, you have my respect and my prayers at this important time. I believe you have the intelligence and insight to find a creative way to use a new kind of force in the world ... something far more powerful than bombs, guns, and bullets: the generative force of creativity, of justice, of collaboration, and yes, of hope. Can we find a new and better way to help Afghanistan rise out of chaos and complicity with Al Queda? You know the answer many of us will shout and chant: yes, we can.

With respect and hope,
A citizen

What are your thoughts? You go first then I'll share mine. =)

New Baby!!

My very dear friend Katie had her baby on Friday night at 11:07.!!! He's 7lbs. 6oz. and 21 in. Welcome to the world baby boy! I can't wait to meet you.

(I'm sorry for not posting his name. Since I don't put my own kids names on my blog I didn't put his name here either. You'll have to check Facebook for that.)