Bloom!

Quotations: A Portable Sanctuary

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:35:00 +0000

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"What happens in meditation is that we create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in the heart. The wonderful verse 'I stand at the door and knock...' was originally penned for believers, not unbelievers (Rev. 3:20). We who have turned our lives over to Christ need to know how very much he longs to eat with us, to commune with us. He desires a perpetual Eucharistic feast in the inner sanctuary of the heart. Meditation opens the door and, although we are engaging in specific meditation exercises at specific times, the aim is to bring this living reality into all of life. It is a portable sanctuary that is brought into all we are and do."

(Richard Foster)
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The Process of Unbending

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:55:00 +0000

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I want to unfold.
Let no place in me hold itself closed,
for where I am closed, I am false.
I want to stay clear in your sight.
(Rainer Maria Rilke)

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Often when I feel uncomfortable or a bit nervous, I will bend myself together and make myself small. I will sit with my knees tucked up against my chest, my hands clasped protectively in front of my knees. It is a defensive position, an attempt to ease my tension and nervousness and keep myself safe.
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As humans, our first instinct is to protect ourselves, to hide and cover those places that seem vulnerable. We do this when faced with physical harm, but we also defend ourselves against emotional and spiritual discomfort. Instead of exposing our weaknesses and insecurities, we shield them, cover them up, and pretend they do not exist. We avoid situations that scare us or make us apprehensive. We edit how much we self-disclose to others. We project an ideal version of ourselves.
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However, while protection is often our first instinct, I am coming to realize it is not a behavior we as Christians should engage in, for at its center it is dishonest and self-focused. Rather, we should attempt to unbend ourselves, to expose our vulnerability, reach out to others, and eliminate falseness.
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This process of unbending starts at the soul level. It involves an honest look at ourselves in the presence of God, a willingness to admit to ourselves and to God where we fail, where there is sin within us. It is, to borrow the words of Rilke, staying clear in God's sight. As we unbend ourselves before God we make ourselves known and we are able to experience the mercy and forgiveness available through the blood of Christ. Day by day we must unbend our souls and expose all the dark crevices to light and truth.
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Unbending spiritually inevitably will affect the way we live our lives. It is a reorientation, a move from inward-focus to outward-focus. As we unbend, as we pull our knees from our chest, stand up straight, and unwrap our arms from around our own waists, we are able to reach out to others. Tim Keller says that it is is only when we have unbent ourselves and allowed ourselves to feel discomfort and uncertainty that we are beginning to live God's call for our lives. God does not call us to a life of ease and comfort. But it is exactly in that discomfort that trust is built, faith is grown, and sin begins to peel away.
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Discomfort can take many forms, but for me it has often occurred in the context of relationships. I want to be thought well of by others, thus I often veil those aspects of myself I find embarrassing. For instance, this year I am living with some other girls in an apartment that is neither well-decorated nor neat and clean. It embarrasses me. I wonder what people will think of me if I invite them over. For a while, I rarely invited people over. And if I did, I apologized for the apartment's appearance.
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But I was keeping people at arm's length; I treated friends as guests rather than inviting them into my life, imperfect and messy as it often is. Thus in an unbending effort, I am trying to invite more people over to my apartment and into my life. This is not always the most comfortable experience, for as Lauren Winner says, "unbending requires inviting my neighbors in the very places where I am most bent." As I unbend, my friends will see the dust bunnies under my kitchen table, they will see my unmade bed, and they might see the annoyed, selfish, unkind, and insecure me.
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But let me encourage you with this: it is rewarding. Honesty and openness are the foundations of stronger, more intimate relationships. As we unbend ourselves, we open ourselves to being known, being changed, and being blessed. Unbending is also an equalizer; it breaks down ideas of superiority amongst people. It enables us to reach out to others with a hand of acceptance and grace and understanding. It empowers us to walk in God's calling.
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pc: sxc.hu
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The Shadow of His Scars

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:52:00 +0000

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Over the past few years, Megan and I have had the privilege of getting to know Rebecca Woodbury, a high school senior who hails from the Southwest. Today she shares with us a poem she wrote this past year.

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The world is a sorry place, my dear,
Full of pain and want and fear;
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Of empty hands stretched trembling out,
Eyes left hollow by famine and drought.
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Oh, the pangs of the masses’ tomorrow,
For we know, darling, it holds only sorrow.
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What will you do to heal their souls?
How will you help to make them whole?
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Your arms are full of the roses of life,
Your cheeks unblemished by hate or by strife;
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Let the love pour forth from your spirit,
Sing hope and beauty to any who will hear it.
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Rock crying babies to sleep in your arms,
Hold back fright and quiet alarms.
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Speak in peace and love what is right,
Cherish humility and walk in the light.
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For until you and I – until we rise up,
And let the world drink from Christ’s cup:
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Until we touch each heart with His grace,
No happy future can bless this place.
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For only in the shadow of His bloody scars,
Can we ever sleep in the shade of the stars.
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Quotations: The Power of Always Trying Again

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:34:00 +0000

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"After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us toward is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other hand, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection."

C.S. Lewis
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Not Abandoned

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:24:00 +0000

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A small, nine-year old girl gripped the ball and nervously threw the pitch. The batter hit the ball in a line drive so fast that the young girl did not have time to react. The ball connected with the pitcher's stomach and the girl crumpled face forward into the grass, the breath knocked out of her.

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"She's just pretending. C'mon guys, let's go eat some of that birthday cake."
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The girl still lay face down in the grass. She wanted to move, to talk, but she couldn't find strength to do either. She wanted to scream, "I'm not pretending!" But it was impossible to move. She was conscious for the moment, but barely. Then all went completely black.
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Fifteen minutes later the girl woozily stood up. "Where am I and why am I standing in this field?" Then she remembered.
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Alone. Abandoned. They had left her.
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I was that little girl. Though it's been years since the accident, the day is still vivid in my mind. I was only a child, but I never felt so utterly alone as that day in the field.
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I staggered home into my mother's open arms and she comforted me with these words: "Honey, Jesus understands exactly what you're feeling."
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Those words were true then and they are still true now.
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Do you remember the story of Lazarus? John 11 tells of the death of Lazarus and his sisters' immense grief. But that it is not all. It also tells the story of Jesus' own grief. John 11:35 tells us that "Jesus wept."
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It always struck me oddly that even though Jesus knew that He would shortly raise His friend from the dead, He wept when Mary and Martha told Him of Lazarus' death.
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I do not claim to understand every aspect of this verse, but I think after reflecting on my accident on the field so many years ago, I understand these words a bit more. You see, Jesus felt for His friends. Yes, He knew the rest of the story. But in that moment, He keenly understood what Mary and Martha were going through. So He came along side them. And He wept.
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In the same way, He knows you. He cares for you. He understands you. He loves you.
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He weeps for you. He weeps for me. We are not abandoned. We are loved.
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Devastation and Relief Work in Haiti

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:53:00 +0000

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This 7-minute video chronicles through video footage and photographs some of the devastation and relief work going on in Haiti. The video is from an organization called Churches Helping Churches and it is well worth the 7 minutes.
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“You love Jesus, you teach the Bible, you marry a woman, you have four children, you’re serving the Lord in ministry, and now your wife is gone, your church is gone, your home is gone, Bible college is gone… So why do you smile? Where is your joy?”
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"It's from the Lord."

(HT: Hope Road)
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Quotations: Embrace

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:54:00 +0000

"He is our Father, and He loves us, and He knows just what is best, and therefore, of course, His will is the very most blessed thing that can come to us under any circumstances... Could we but for one moment get a glimpse into the mighty depths of His love, our hearts would spring out to meet His will, and embrace it as our richest treasure. And we would abandon ourselves to it with an enthusiasm of gratitude and joy, that such a wondrous privilege could be ours."

Hannah Whitall Smith

On Deliberate Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:58:00 +0000

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Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

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I read the above verse yesterday, searching for what it said about prayer. In terms of proper prayer procedure, it doesn't say much. There is no mention of magical incantations, notes on specific posture, or even instructions on how to pray (should one start with praise? confession?).
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Rather the verse shares a simple observation: Jesus prayed deliberately.
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Over and over again the writers of the gospels note Jesus' habit of deliberate prayer: John 17 records Jesus' prayer for himself, his disciples, and all believers; Matthew 26:39-42 details Jesus' purposeful and agonizing plea to his father, that the "cup" of suffering would be taken from him--if it be in the Father's will; Mark 6:41 notes Jesus' prayer over the loaves and fishes. Indeed, Jesus clearly had a habit of deliberate prayer.
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In pondering this habit of Jesus', I was reminded anew of the absolute necessity of prayer. If the Savior of the world prayed purposefully, should I not also follow his example? I can do the two-second prayer quite well, the "O Father, grant me grace" right before a big test, or in the middle of a stressful conversation. It is in the faithful discipline of purposeful prayer that I lack.
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Indeed, prayer is exhausting; yet Jesus shows me that it's vitally important. Prayer takes time; yet Jesus made time for it. I cannot run from what the gospel so clearly reveals--I can only beg for the willingness to realign my life so that purposeful prayer exists in it. In doing so, I might have to give up something: studying, dreaming about warm days on the beach, enjoying the ability to "not think" while I walk. Yet, by praying, I am not only following the command of scripture to pray (see Ephesians 6:18a), but I am also patterning my life after Jesus.
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O God, grant me grace and strength to do just this, that I may glorify thy Most Holy Name. Amen.
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Friday Footprints

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:29:00 +0000

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A trace of where we've been on the web this week...
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Would I Have Hid the Jews During the Holocaust?

A thoughtful article by Elrena Evans on Christianity Today's blog, Her.meneutics, reflecting on Miep Gies, the Christian Dutch woman who helped hide Anne Frank and preserve her diary.
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The Bloom Book Club
An online Christian book club specifically for women. They're just gearing up to start a new book, The Same Kind of Different As Me. Check it out! (And we also thought we should mention that we really like the name of the book club.)
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Twenty29
The Rebelution recently announced this new event, but the details are still somewhat under cover. You can find some information here (click on the pdf link), and no doubt they'll be sharing more in the future. So far, however, it sounds like a promising and challenging event.
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We'll be back Monday...
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grace & peace,
Jessina, Megan, and Joanna
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Sister to Sister: A Living Palace

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:54:00 +0000

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Dear girls,

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This morning I taught my freshman composition students a lesson on writing and revision. It's one of my favorite lessons (ironically, it's among their least favorite). I consider this lesson a kind of two-for-one deal: my students think they are getting a lesson on why the teacher thinks it's important to proofread and why they should begrudgingly consider whether or not each paragraph supports a thesis statement. But really, it's as much a lesson about spiritual growth as it is about writing.
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I begin my lesson by asking my students to share with the class their strategies for revising papers. Typical answers run along the lines of "Oh, I don't change anything after a first draft. It only comes out right the first time" and "Maybe I add a few commas, or change a word or two." Sometimes I get this one: "Revising just messes up my paper."
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When I get these answers, I like to prod my students to realize the implications of these statements. "So, you really always write a paper perfectly the first time? No changes needed at all?" I ask. I then encourage them to slash out whole pages, to unashamedly re-order passages with cut and paste. By the end of the day's lesson, my goal is to take my students from minuscule alterations of comma marks to radical, whole-scale changes of the purpose and thesis of their papers. Usually at this point they start to see what I'm driving at--the important correlation between being open to revisions in a paper and being open to life revisions.
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I am concerned by the misplaced confidence and unwillingness to try out changes that I see in some of my students. But I am more concerned that this is often similar to the misplaced confidence that I perceive Christians taking toward God's methods of revising us--we'll allow change for a few metaphorical sentences, but then we feel confident that we are "good enough," or that true, radical revision would just mess up our image of an idealized, contented Christian life. Often we deceive ourselves into believing that we somehow got things wrong, or are being punished if God imposes major life-revisions on us, and we forget that we are in a beautiful process of being re-fashioned into an utterly new creation.
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I like to remind myself of a quote by one of my favorite theorists, Peter Elbow: "Meaning is not what you start out with, but what you end up with." I enjoy thinking that God sees purpose in our lives in a similar way. I believe God is all about revision; and while I believe that He appreciates even the small, punctuational changes we make, my hunch is that He's out for what I call "global" revisions--whole-scale revision that leaves no part of us untouched.
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Any form of change is scary--it's scary for my students to think about deleting a beloved, yet redundant, paragraph, and it's far, far scarier for us to think about the kinds of sweeping revisions God might bring about for us. Will He revise a career plan? Will He revise the family or community that we live near? Will He revise our plans for marriage or a family? Will He show us the need to revise faith in a loved one? Revisions are always difficult, and I can well understand why it's not our idea of a fun time. The process of revision is time-consuming, scary, and extremely messy, yet always, always necessary.
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In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis draws on a parable by George MacDonald to explain God's idea of revision:
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"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."
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A palace--how wonderfully unimaginable! And so, dear girls, I want to encourage you to look at your changing lives as a part of God's process towards a new creation. His command of Be Ye Perfect means just that, but it will be perfection on His terms, not ours. So, if nothing looks to you like you thought it ought to, rejoice! You're most likely in the process of becoming a palace.
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Much love,
Sarah
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Sarah Tillman, 26, is a graduate student in English literature at the University of Delaware where she also teaches freshman composition classes. She lives in Delaware with her husband, Nathan, and her two kittens, Venus and Diana. Her favorite things to read are poems in Middle English, novels by Thomas Hardy and Toni Morrison, and fabulously revised papers by her students.
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Quotations: The Intolerable Compliment

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:59:00 +0000

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"But God wills our good, and our good is to love Him...and to love Him we must know Him: and if we know Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces...Yet the call is not only to prostration and awe; it is to a reflection of the Divine life, a creaturely participation in the Divine attributes which is far beyond our present desires. We are bidden to "put on Christ," to become like God. That is, whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little."

C.S. Lewis
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The Bible is Not an Encyclopedia

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:33:00 +0000

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Over the weekend, I found myself around a table discussing the nature and purpose of the Word of God with some other friends.

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The discussion eventually led to an idea that I have been thinking a lot about lately; mainly, whether I approach the Bible as a book of commands and doctrines, or whether I approach the Bible as a story of hope and redemption.
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So often I find myself reading the Bible on the lookout for some command that I can take with me and immediately apply to my life. I like to have solidity, 3-point sermons, 7 steps for how I can fight fear. But that is not at all what God intended.
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As Paul Tripp says,"The bible makes a poor encyclopedia. If that's what God intended, Scripture would have been arranged differently and included many volumes. As it is, there are many issues that the Bible doesn't address in a topical fashion. The Bible has nothing explicit to say, for example, about schizophrenia, A.D.D., teenagers, family television viewing... If you try to use your Bible as God's encyclopedia, you will either conclude that it has little to say about some crucial issues of modern life or you will bend, twist, and stretch passages to suit your purposes. Either way, you are not getting from the Word what God intended."
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Instead, says Tripp, the Bible is the great, redeeming story of history:
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"The Bible is a narrative, a story of redemption, and it's chief character is Jesus Christ. He is the main theme of the narrative, and he is revealed in every passage in the book. This story reveals how God harnessed nature and controlled history to send his Son to rescue rebellious, foolish, and self-focused men and women. He freed them from bondage to themselves, enabled them to live for his glory, and gifted them with an eternity in his presence, far from the harsh realities of the Fall."
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We are a story-formed people. It is the story of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that transforms us and defines us as Christians, not a list of what to do and what not to do. We should not approach the Bible like an encyclopedia; because, quite frankly, it is not an encyclopedia. It is a story. A story that is living and active in our lives (Hebrews 4:12). A story of our redemption, restoration, and reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ.
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And as we read the Bible as a story, we begin to see how we fit into the narrative. As Bobby Gross writes, "When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves."

So let us seek to delve deeper into the narrative, ask for the Holy Spirit to transform us through it, and look for the ways in which we fit into the grandest story of all.
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Haitian Relief

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:02:00 +0000

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We're suspending our regular post for today in order to direct you to a few resources for providing relief to those who were effected by the Haitian earthquake. As Ministry Watch reminds us, "When disaster hits, scammers take advantage. Do not become a victim, but identify the most worthy ministries so those in true need are helped and not robbed a second time by fraudulent schemes or even well meaning, but inefficient, charities. The below ministries are a perfect match for helping for the disaster at hand."
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Mercy Ships
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Medical Teams International
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Danita's Children
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And, above all, let us pray.
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grace & peace,
Jessina, Megan, and Joanna
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Quotations: The Cost of Nondiscipleship

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:11:00 +0000

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"Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10). The cross-shaped yoke of Christ is after all an instrument of liberation and power to those who live in it with him and learn the meekness and lowliness of heart that brings rest to the soul..."

Dallas Willard
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Beauty: Increasing and Decreasing

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:17:00 +0000

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A worthwhile three-minute video from Set Apart Girl concerning the elements of real beauty:
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Friday Footprints

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:21:00 +0000

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A trace of where we've been on the web this week...

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Books on Prayer
A helpful and extensive list of all types of books on prayer from the folks at Hearts and Minds Bookstore. (By the way, we finally updated our own resources page over Christmas with some book and website recommendations.)
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Try Again This Year
Discouraged for not being able to perfectly keep your New Years resolution? This post from the GirlTalkers reminds us that having some resolutions and getting something done is better than not having any resolutions and never getting anything done. "I may not have completed my to-do list for 2009. But I've done more than if I never tried at all."
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Top 40 Books of the Decade
A list of one Christian writer's book recommendations, composed of her favorite 40 books of the past decade. Lots of books to add to one's Amazon wishlist.
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We'll be back Monday...
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grace & peace,
Jessina, Megan, and Joanna
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Bible Reading Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:23:00 +0000

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We know that it's past January 1, but it is never too late to start a reading-through-the-Bible plan. The following is a collection of a variety of different plans and a bit about how they work. There are many different versions available to suit many different types of readers.
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One Year Bible Plan
This is a basic read-through-the-Bible plan, with daily readings in the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. You can download a pdf of the plan and print it out or you can check the website for weekly or monthly updates. This site also provides a nifty starting date calculator which will allow you to reset the Bible reading plan to whatever day you wish to start on, such as January 7! You can also adjust the Bible translation and language.
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One Year Chronological Bible Plan
This plan comes from the same site, but the readings are arranged chronologically. So you start at Genesis and I Chronicles and read straight through the Bible from there. Like the previous plan, there is a starting date calculator and you have the ability to adjust the Bible translation and language. There is a printable pdf or you can check the website for weekly or monthly updates.
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52 Week Bible Reading Plan
This unique plan is structured so that each day of the week you read a different section of the Bible. On Sundays you read the Epistles, on Mondays you read the Law, on Tuesdays you read the history books, on Wednesdays you read the Psalms, on Thursdays the poetry books, on Fridays the prophecy books, and on Saturdays the Gospels. There is a printable pdf as well as a monthly and yearly calendar. There are six different Bible translations available here.
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Discipleship Journal 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan
This Bible reading plan takes you through just the New Testament in a year, with a single chapter of reading per day and two days of reflection (no reading) each week. The 5x5x5 stands for "5 minutes a day, 5 days a week, and 5 ways to dig deeper." A printable pdf is available for download.
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Discipleship Journal Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan
This plan takes you through just two books of the Bible at a time. The first book alternates between Old Testament books and New Testament books and the second book takes you through the wisdom literature (Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes) and Isaiah. The books are not in chronological order. There are only 25 readings per month, which allows anywhere between 3 and 6 days of reflections or catch-up each month. A printable pdf is available for download. It is also available in Spanish.
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Discipleship Journal Basic Bible Reading Plan
This plan is similar to the one above, but it takes you through four books of the Bible each day and it is in chronological order. Two of the books each day are from the New Testament and two of the books are from the Old Testament. The plan starts in Matthew, Acts, Psalms, and Genesis and simply takes you from those four books through the rest of the Bible chronologically. There are only 25 readings per month, which allows for extra time to reflect and catch-up. A printable pdf is available for download. It is also available in Spanish.
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ESV Bible Reading Plans
The English Standard Bible has several reading plans available on their website that are available in a variety of different formats: web, RSS, e-mail, iCal, mobile, and print. While each plan is specifically for the ESV Bible, using the printed format will allow you to choose whatever translation you wish. Of particular note is the Book of Common Prayer Daily Office Plan, which follows the official readings from the Book of Common Prayer and are structured around the different seasons of the church year (advent, epiphany, and so forth).
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We hope this collection of plans is helpful to you in your own study and reading of the Bible! And we'd be interested to know what you do: Do you use one of these plans? Another plan? Or do you not use a plan at all? What works best for you?
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grace & peace,
Jessina, Megan, and Joanna
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Sister to Sister: The Door to the Purest Service

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:22:00 +0000

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We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Romans 15:1-2

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Dear Sisters in Christ,
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To be frank, servanthood never mattered to me much growing up. I rarely served my parents and friends out of love. Usually if I did serve them it was to make myself look good, or because of some special occasion. I was particularly sacrificial if there was a scholarship up for grabs and I knew my teachers would see. I took Matthew 23:12 quite literally: "Whoever humbles himself will be exalted." So I would busy myself trying to look humbled so that ultimately I could be exalted. But of course humility is not forced--it is Spirit-driven. And it is not easy to find true humility--sacrificial spirits are elusive and escape your grasp whenever you purposefully reach for them. On the outside I may have looked like a servant at times, but most often I was hot-tempered and self-conscious. Thus I could never truly pay attention to others, because even in service I was always paying attention to myself.
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But in college I began to see Christ's heart for service, sacrifice, and humility. I saw these qualities in the Word and through friends who lived them out. And after a few years of learning and studying, I began to see how to serve, out of real love, my family and friends. I learned that these qualities were not just character traits that Jesus wanted us to pursue. They were his character. His very decision to be made man was born of his perfect humility.
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But Christ doesn't stop there--as hard as all of that is. It can be tiring and frustrating to put your parents and siblings first, especially when you disagree with them completely. It can be hard to let even your best friend have a say when you know you have a better story. But how intensely difficult it can be, then, when we're called past them, to the people with whom we don't want to spend any significant time.
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In Romans 15:1-2, Paul tells the believers in Rome, "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." These "weak" were not physically weak but spiritually weak. They were young believers, often close-minded and judgmental, and it probably took real pains even to be around them. But with them the Romans needed to take the attitude of Christ: "For even Christ did not please himself, but, as it is written, 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.'"
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Becoming a servant to others by human standards is simple--do nice things for people. But when I look at Christ, I become so convicted. Do I take the insults other people receive onto myself? When I see someone teased or disheartened, do I take on their burden as if it were mine? He literally laid down his life, not for friends but for enemies. He forgave men and women of their sins who had deserted and denied him. He washed the feet of poor, ignorant, accusatory men and women. And he volunteered his glory-body to us in order to lose all glory, to experience paper cuts and sweat and disease, and ultimately his own death.
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I wish I had considered the ramifications of his life, death, and resurrection more in high school. My attitude towards service would have been a lot different. I encourage you to pray about how you can be serving the most unlovable. For me it sometimes means forgiveness--not just saying that he or she is forgiven, but praying for the person that offended me and wishing him or her good, never speaking of the wrongdoing again or gossiping about it to others. It means not having a complaining spirit, which is so contagious, but living with thanksgiving, which is also so wonderfully contagious.
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Sisters, the gospel is our door to the purest service. With it we can find true humility, because looking to the cross will flatten us to the floor in repentance. Christ's sacrifice for us is our hope, our inspiration and our perfect example. He teaches us to love our dearest friend, our closest cousin, but also our worst enemy--to serve those who never serve us back.
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Servanthood can look like a lot of things. We could feed the homeless at a soup kitchen, clean up a friend's spill, or give our parents a night off by making dinner and cleaning up afterward. But I would love to encourage you all toward serving people also in the silent, painful ways. Forgive even those friends who never asked for it. Pray for people who may never know, but who need it. Spend time with those classmates who look angry and miserable, even if approaching them intimidates you (it probably intimidates them more). That's laying down your life. And it is a beautiful discipline.
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The best part of service? God gives us great gifts with it. He gives us the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength. And he gives us fellow Christians to challenge and equip us. As we serve each other, we grow in love. And as we grow in love, the world is reached. I pray for you what Paul prays for the church in Rome after he encourages them toward serving each other: "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Jesus Christ." May God indeed give you unity as you serve one another, and may he call many other women and men to himself through your kindness.
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Love to you, in and through Christ,
Joanna
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Joanna Miller is 25 years old and graduated from New York University in 2006, where she majored in dramatic writing through the Gallatin School, with a concentration in history and television writing. She is married to Michael and they currently live in Ithaca, New York, where they serve on staff with the Navigators at Cornell University.
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This article was originally published in the Summer 2008 issue of Bloom! Magazine.
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Quotations: Mind the Present

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:45:00 +0000

"It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so...If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God's. He begs you to leave the future to him, and mind the present."

George MacDonald

Speaking Truth, Showing Grace

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:39:00 +0000

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Recently, in a sermon, I heard evangelism described as the combined work of truth and grace. Sharing our faith is not merely a matter of niceness or of stating the truth, this pastor suggested, but of coupling sincere kindness with a humble sharing of God's truth. Both elements are necessary in order to effectively reach others.

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This idea is beginning to make sense to me. I have long held the belief that if I am nice enough, distinct enough, people will wonder why and try to find out what makes me different. But is that truly enough? No one has ever approached me saying, "Amy, you are just so nice! Why is that? Is it because of Jesus?" Niceness is a necessity for evangelism, but alone it does not point others to Jesus. It is only one half of the equation.
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Consequently, I've come to agree with the pastor when he says we need to extend grace to others, but we need to do so while simultaneously proclaiming the truth about God, about what Jesus has done in our lives, and how His truth has transformed our own individual stories. I do not think preaching at people is effective, but I am beginning to see that sharing the story of our own lives and how God has worked in us, moved us, and changed us can be powerful and can potentially touch and transform the hearts of our listeners.
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This is one of my resolutions for 2010, to both show grace and speak truth to those around me. May God help me, because I realize this might be a more trying and challenging task than I imagine. But as I have been considering how I might go about sharing truth and extending grace this upcoming year, a couple thoughts occurred to me.
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First, in order to speak the truth, I first must know truth and how to express it well. Thus, another resolution: to study more intently the truth of God's Word, while considering how to express those gospel truths through the sharing of my own story.
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Second, evangelism is not something we merely do in a third world country or the inner city. We can practice evangelism amongst those closest to us, those who even may already believe in Christ. Speaking truth and showing grace should be a lifestyle, not a switch that is turned on whenever we find ourselves amongst unbelievers. I needed to be reminded of God's truth and I certainly need to be shown grace, thus shouldn't I do the same for my fellow brothers and sisters?
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This year, with God's help, I am going to focus my efforts on trying to remind those around me of God's truth while I also strive to be a living example of the grace God shows to all of us. I am going to try to open up my life and my heart and invite others to see the transforming power and love of the One who resides there.
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{To listen to the sermon that inspired these thoughts, see here.}
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A Mundane Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:47:00 +0000

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A friend of mine keeps this quote, from his professor at Hillsdale College, on his facebook page: “We often fail to see how much of life is taken up by mundane things. The great challenge, then, is to live the mundane life well.” -- Dr. Gamble
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At first glance, Dr. Gamble’s quote has nothing to do with Christmas. To me, however, it has much to do with Christmas. Let me explain.
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As a college student, I mourn the fact that Advent is shortened to approximately one week. I arrived home only two days ago; Christmas comes in less than four days now. Though I did have a small Christmas tree at school, Christmas seemed very far away – I was too busy worrying about finals and getting enough sleep to bother about buying presents or wrapping presents or baking cookies. I managed only to read a small part of the beginning of Luke and John some nights before I collapsed into bed.
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Many times, I think it cannot be Christmas unless I leisurely spend time wrapping and listening to Nat King Cole, shopping and then drinking tea at Starbucks in their red “wish” cups, and doing any number of “traditional” things. My picture of Christmas looks much like a “Leave it to Beaver” Christmas: everything is finished in plenty of time and everything is started with plenty of time in which to finish it. Real-life Christmas looks more a reality TV show. I run around the mall and wrap presents two minutes before I give them. And I find myself stressed; upset that Christmas is consumed by seemingly pointless little tasks, done at the last minute.
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The obvious answer to my dilemma is that Christmas is not really about the gifts and the shopping and the cookies and the music. I should sit back and contemplate Christ more – create a little quiet time in the midst of the craziness. This answer is, of course, quite true. It doesn’t help me, though, when my four year old sister expects a present from me or when I promised to bake cookies for a party. I still must do these things, despite the fact that I have very little time in which to do them and so they seem like harried events instead of joyous moments.
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Dr. Gamble’s words, however, do give me a more practical answer to my dilemma: life is not about the big, noticeable, perfect things – like beautiful parties and presents wrapped by the fifteenth of December. Instead, it is about hot tea that spills from your coffee mug all over your purse and hurrying to wrap Aunt Sue’s present and unloading the dishwasher every single morning. When I understand this, I can lower my expectations on what Christmas should look like; I can begin to understand the purpose behind even harried Christmas preparations. I learn, slowly, that buying presents is no longer a required chore but rather an act that symbolizes the love of a Father who sacrificed everything to give us the most perfect present of all. Likewise, I learn that baking cookies at midnight is ok – I see that the delicious food foreshadows the exquisite banquet in heaven, where the redeemed sit because of what happened at Christmas and finished at Easter.
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This Christmas, I want to learn that the mundane things often point to the heavenly things. If I can understand that wrapping and singing and cleaning and all the other “necessary things” are more than required cultural elements (which must be done perfectly) but instead are subtle rituals which point to the gospel, I will be grateful. If much of life is taken up by mundane things, I want to live the mundane life well.
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Poems for Advent

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:52:00 +0000

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First of all, we apologize for the lack of posts this past week. The stress of finals and Christmas preparation have kept us quite busily occupied. However, we hope to be back to posting regularly throughout the next few weeks. Thanks for understanding!
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As we celebrate this season of Advent, we thought we would post a few poems that have been meaningful to us recently. We find that poems, which one must read over again and again in order to fully understand, usher in a contemplative spirit and help us to not only appreciate the rhythm of words, but also help us to more fully understand the underlying themes that the poem presents. The following poems focus on the season of Advent and the birth of Christ.
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Advent
by Sheldon and Davy Vanauken
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Two thousand years go by while on the Cross
Our Lord is suffering still--there is no end
Of pain: the spear pierces, nails rend--
And we below with Mary weep our loss.
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The chilling edge of night crawls round the earth;
At every second of the centuries
The dark comes somewhere down, with dreadful ease
Slaying the sun, denying light's rebirth.
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But if the agony and death go on,
Our Lady's tears, Our Lord's most mortal cry,
So, too, the timeless lovely birth again--
And the forsaken tomb. Today: the dawn
That never ended and can never die
In breaking glory ushers in the slain.
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Christmas Eve
by Christina Rossetti
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Christmas hath a darkness
Brighter than the blazing noon,
Christmas hath a chillness
Warmer than the heat of June,
Christmas hath a beauty
Lovelier than the world can show:
For Christmas bringeth Jesus,
Brought for us so low.
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Earth, strike up your music,
Birds that sing and bells that ring;
Heaven hath answering music
For all Angels soon to sing:
Earth, put on your whitest
Bridal robe of spotless snow:
For Christmas bringeth Jesus,
Brought for us so low.
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The Carol of Seven Signs
by Walter Wangerin, Jr. (as published here)
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The briar in a dry land grows;
Mary shall wear the bloodred rose,
Her son shall wear the thorn.
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Saint Joseph cut the cherry tree
Whose fruit he gave to his lady.
then what was left? The stone.
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Saint Joseph cut mahogany
To make the babe a crib--but he
Was to the manger born,
To wood already worn.
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One father split the cedar tree
And made two beams: A house! cried he;
A cross, the other mourned.
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Shepherds brought wool to the royal stall
For the mother a robe, for her darling a pall
for sleeping both cold and warm.
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Three gentlemen offered three measures of myrrh,
A drop to perfume, a sponge to blur,
A tun to embalm the Lord.
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And gold is lovely to the eye
But cold as stone to him who lies
Behind the golden door.
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Now these--the briar and the cherry,
Wood and wool and gold--did Mary
Ponder when Christ was born.
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Within her breast she kept it all,
A thorn, a cross, a stone, a pall,
And they herself adorned--
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For the pain was his, but he was hers,
Her child, the treasure of her purse,
By whom her womb was torn:
Et eius Salvator.
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grace & peace,
Jessina, Joanna, & Megan
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Friday Footprints

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:25:00 +0000

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A trace of where we've been on the web this week...
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Advent Conspiracy Video 2009
We posted the Advent Conspiracy promotional video earlier this week but later realized that this was actually the promotional video from last year! So here is the link to the appropriate 2009 video. Both are worth watching.
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Ali's African Adventures
This is the blog of a young woman traveling with Mercy Ships throughout Africa serving those in need. Especially make sure to read Ali's most recent post, Stars Fall.
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Anglican Prayer Daily Office
Although we know this might not appeal to all, for those interested this is an online collection of the Anglican church's daily prayer services as published in the Book of Common Prayer. We have found that it is especially helpful in this season of Advent.
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We'll be back Monday...
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grace & peace,
Jessina, Megan, and Joanna
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Author Profile: Elrena Evans

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:27:00 +0000

As a wife and mother of three and an author bringing Christ's voice into often dark places, Elrena Evans blends faith and family together in her writing. She recently co-edited a book entitled Mama, PhD: Women Write About Motherhood and Academic Life. Join in our conversation as Elrena shares about her family, her writing, and her mission.

How do you balance making your family a priority while also writing?

I am beyond blessed to be able to stay at home full-time with my children and still be able to have something of a career. But I won't pretend it's always easy, especially right now when my children are so young. One of the ways I'm able to make this work is that I have a wonderful husband who is incredibly supportive--he's feeding the children breakfast right now while I work on this interview! And because he values our children, and our commitment to our family, and the work that I do, it helps me not only logistically but emotionally.
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I've also learned that I have to value the work that I do; I have to make it a priority. That's really difficult to me, sometimes, because it can feel like anything that takes any time away from my children is by definition wrong! Leslie Leyland Fields, Christian writer and mother of six, has a quote in her newest book that I just love: "For me, serving God means that I will spend some of my hours at home in front of the computer writing, instead of spending that time with my family, as I obey one of the callings God has placed on my life." I love that quote, I love the idea of being obedient to God in all of the callings He has placed on our lives. And when I look at my life that way, the question of balance becomes even more important: these are my callings, both of them. And if this is what God wants me to do, He will help me find a way to make it all work. Eric Liddell has a quote in Chariots of Fire: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." I resonate with that: my children are my purpose, but when I write I feel God's pleasure.
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I could also answer that I've gotten very good at multi-tasking; I often joke that I spent more time working on Mama, PhD while nursing than while I wasn't, but I honestly think if you added up all of the hours I worked on that book, the majority would be hours spent typing and nursing at the same time!
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One of your late projects was the monthly column at Literary Mama, Me and My House, an unashamedly Christian peice in the mostly secular world of mama-centric literature. Has being one of the few Christian voices in this genre affected your writing in any way? What inspired you to start this column?
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Being an unabashedly Christian voice in a secular publication has taught me, if anything, the importance of listening to my own voice. I was inspired to start the column because I was reading all of this wonderful mama-literature, but I didn't see myself there, I didn't see women who were Christians writing about their faith. Which isn't at all to say that those voices aren't out there, just that I believe they are underrepresented.
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What I found, though, when I went to write my first column was that I was almost paralyzed by the thought of who would be reading it--what will my Christian friends think? What will my non-Christian friends think? I'm a bit of a people-pleaser by nature, and that's one thing you can't control when your writing becomes public--different people are going to feel differently about your work, and it's absolutely impossible to please everyone. What I had to realize, eventually, was that that was the wrong goal: I wasn't writing the column to please anyone, really, except God. So I had to learn to be true to myself and what I wanted to say, and not worry so much about what people were going to think. Which isn't to say I don't still worry...it's an ongoing struggle for me.
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You've written a lot of creative essays and stories, contributed to two anthologies, and even co-created your own anthology, Mama, PhD, for women seeking the balance of families and the academic world. What is the mission that you seek to embody in all your varied writings?
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When I was in college, I took a class where we studied the works of J.S. Bach, and I learned that he wrote the letters "SDG" on all of his compositions: Solo Deo Gloria, to the glory of God alone. I can't think of a better mission. And it's also a challenge, I think--a challenge I gave myself at one point: was I willing to write those words on every single thing I did? To not only identify myself as a Christian, but to be able to answer honestly, yes, this is for God's glory, this is my very best work? When the stakes are that high, I think it requires an even greater level of excellence--I am putting my name on this piece of paper as a Christian, as an ambassador for the Lord, as His hands and feet on the earth. That will make me go back do one more read-through even when I don't feel like it!
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You've consistently defined yourself as a Christian feminist. Since these words are often considered antithetical, what is your definition of this?
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In one of my columns, I wrote: "I picture Christianity and feminism as overlapping circles--a Venn diagram, if you will--with my personal ethos falling firmly into the center of the overlap. Being a feminist means I try to stand up for women's rights, whether they be the right to equal pay for equal work or the right to stay home with a family. It means I try to keep my eyes peeled for injustice, speak up for the voiceless whenever I can, and do my best to bring about justice and peace on the earth. That last bit is a line from the Book of Common Prayer, actually. My faith and my feminism go hand in hand as I search the Scriptures and see over and over again: feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Look after the poor, the widowed, the orphaned...[and] more often than not, the poor, the downtrodden, and the oppressed are disproportionately women."
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To expand on that a bit, I heard a sermon once that talked about Jesus as being one of the first feminists--and I'll admit that caused a quizzical eyebrow raising on my part at the time, but when I really listened to what the pastor said, it made sense to me. God created us in His image, male and female, both representatives of Himself. Historically, though, women have often been seen as being less than men--and I don't think that was ever God's intent. So what did He do? He chose to come to earth, to be born of a woman in a very patriarchal culture, and through his ministry he consistently reached out to women as well as men. And it was to women that he first appeared in his resurrected form.
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When I look at the status of women now, not only in this country but on a global scale, it breaks my heart. I think it breaks God's heart, as well. By being a Christian feminist I want to speak out that injustice against women is wrong, it is--like so much in our culture--out of line with what God created, what God intended. Being a Christian feminist means that I will work against that injustice, in whatever little ways I can. We live in a culture that has gotten so far off course: it doesn't value women, it doesn't value children, it doesn't value the incredible work that mothers do in raising their children. As a feminist I want to say yes, this is important, this work that I am doing to raise the next generation is invaluable. I'd like to see that work honored, respected.
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I'd also like to stop the exploitation of women's bodies in popular media. I think it's so hard for our little girls to see themselves as precious women of God when everywhere we look the media is telling us otherwise, and it's so hard to get away from. My family doesn't own a TV that gets any channels (we use it to watch videos...an awful lot of VeggieTales!) and I've taken myself off of every single catalog mailing list I can to try and stop the bombardment of advertising arriving in my mailbox, most of it featuring dangerously underweight (and seriously underclothed) women, but I still can't block it all out. Advertising is everywhere, and so much of it is degrading to women. I don't want my daughter--or my son--to grow up surrounded by those images. I don't even like to put gasoline in the car when I have my children with me, because now the gas stations have screens at each pump, running advertisements, foisting cultural values on their viewers that are so antithetical to what I stand for as a Christian.
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I could go on and on and on, but for now I'll just say that it's very important to me to raise my children, both my daughter and my son, to recognize that God has created us all in His image. And if we could start to value women and the work that they do, even on small scales, my prayer is that it will spiral outwards and work against the values we're exposed to in our culture.
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You've shined Christ's light into this dark corner by bringing your version of feminism to different feminist events. What have you learned from standing alone for a different cause in these sometimes hostile environments?
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Two things come to mind: The first was a Women's Studies conference at which I was presenting, where they were selling T-shirts that said "This is what a feminist looks like." I went and asked if they had any maternity or nursing T-shirts, and got a very blank, puzzled stare in response. So then I had the opportunity to explain that I'm a feminist, and at this point in my life I need clothes that are maternity and breast-feeding friendly! And we talked about that for awhile--can you be a feminist and a stay-at-home mother? A wife? A Christian? And if the answer, as mine is, is yes, then do pregnancy and childbirth and breast-feeding become feminist issues? Again, my answer is yes, absolutely. And although some feminists would agree with that right off the bat, many don't--so I was glad to have an opportunity to have that discussion.
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The other thing that comes to mind is the importance of being able to listen. I took a class in graduate school on feminism, and at the start of the class the professor made a comment that you couldn't be a feminist and be pro-life. Up goes my hand--obviously!--and we talked about it for quite a while, but I never really felt like she was listening to what I had to say. But then I turned that around a bit: was I really listening to her? That was hard. I'm so committed to being pro-life, I really can't imagine being anything else--there is no other option for me. But can I listen to what some who isn't pro-life is saying? It was very, very difficult. I tried to put myself in her shoes, to understand the terror of being pregnant in difficult circumstances--and again, in a culture that doesn't value children or motherhood and does little, if anything, to truly support either. I was trying to look for places where we agreed, so we could move on with the conversation, but it was difficult.
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The issue of being pro-life is probably the most tricky for me when I talk to other feminists who aren't believers, because I've found that most people are willing to listen to me talk about my faith, but people are not willing to listen or even try and hear what the other side has to say about abortion. And I think that inability to listen is hurting our nation. Because there are things we agree on--traditional Christians and traditional feminists--but we can't move forward and act on them because we can't seem to hear each other. Personally, I would love to see feminists take on abortion from the other side, as a feminist issue, as something that hurts women and needs to be stopped...but we're a long way from that at this point.
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Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?
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Almost every writer I know says "write every day," and for a long time I struggled with that advice because, for me, it just isn't possible. I would say write as much as you can, and live every day. Writers draw so much of their inspiration from lived experience, and learning that was incredibly helpful for me--maybe I'm not going to get to write anything today or tomorrow or all week, but all of that time I'm living my life as fully as I can, immersing myself in all the blessings God has given me, and I think that makes me a better writer in the end.
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My other piece of advice would be to learn from your strengths and weaknesses. For me, I really like editing my work, which a lot of writers don't, so knowing that I have that strength helps me craft my work time to make it be the most productive. I don't worry about anything when I write my first drafts (and often I'll leave little notes to myself like "Oh, wow, that's cliche!" or "Fix this, obviously!") but I've learned not to get hung up on those first drafts because I know I'm going to go over it again and again--I just have to have something on the paper to start.

And weaknesses...well, one of the comments I get most frequently from editors is that I lack visual description, I don't tend to describe how things look. Now that I know that about myself, I can pay attention to it, but even more so, I can try to figure out why that is. I think it's because I am more interested in what people think and feel and say than in how they look, and that carries over into my writing. But knowing that I tend to be spare on the description helps me find ways that I can work what I'm good at--editing for one!--into helping me with some of my weaker points.
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To read more about Elrena and her work, visit www.elrenaevans.com.
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Article originally published in the Winter 2008 issue of Bloom! Magazine.
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Advent Conspiracy

noreply@blogger.com (Jessina) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:21:00 +0000

A friend recently brought to our attention a program known as the Advent Conspiracy. Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, and as we enter into this Christmas season, we encourage you to watch the video below and consider participating in the Advent Conspiracy. It provides another opportunity to not only dwell more on the central meaning of Christmas, but also to show the world that young people can make a difference. Check it out!
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For more information, see here:
www.adventconspiracy.org
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grace & peace,
Jessina, Megan, and Joanna
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