I pray to God, that with Jesus’ help, my heart will always remain open to the stranger. That I am able to treat the other – other person, other ideas, other theology – as an honored guest– for if I restrict my understanding of God, of Jesus and the work of Grace in our lives then I am culpable of constricting God’s powerful love in my life. As I understand it, Jesus offers transformation that promises to work two ways. If you invite the Stranger in – as you are transforming Him into an honored guest then He has the power to transform you. Gracious and loving God, oil the hinges of my heart that I may see you in face of the stranger. - See more at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kimberlyknight/2013/06/a-hard-lesson-about-hospitality/#sthash.JQf6E2SX.dpuf
“Fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell that dog the footsteps of the dispossessed, the disinherited…deception is perhaps the oldest of all the techniques by which the weak have protected themselves against the strong.” Howard Thurman.
“Archery, definitely archery – and ropes-course and kayaking and dance, can I sign up for dance too?” said our youngest as she hopped around the kitchen, chattering about which activities to choose for her very first summer sleep-away camp. “Not arts and crafts and no way baby-sitting 101!” As we browsed the selections she nearly burst with excitement for “outdoor living skills” – the nut sure doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“Praise team, what’s that one?” she asked. “Well honey, it seems to be a group that practices, mmm, worshipping…they are a small group that sings and plays music and helps lead worship. “Oh, so this is a Christian camp.” she said with undisguised surprise.
So there it is, we’re letting our baby girl (and by baby I mean rising middle-schooler) go to a Christian camp. Actually this is the second kid we’ve let go to this camp. To be clear it’s a Y-Camp for girls in the north Georgia mountains to which she has been invited to attend with a friend we love and trust – a friend whose family loves and trusts us right back.
When I told our oldest kid that Little Bit would be spending a week at the same camp she went to she was not as thrilled as I thought she would be. “Mom, make sure and tell her about the people there, ok? Tell her to be careful.” I sighed “Yes love, I know.” I remembered the ride back from camp when “Thing 1″ shared the tearful conversation she’d had with one counselor who assured her if we all just prayed enough her mommy could change.
So I did a little math (Lord help us all) and came to the conclusion that with the media hate + fear = profit…
National Teacher Day on Instagram
Happy National Teacher Day!
Teachers are tasked with the difficult challenge of engaging and inspiring future generations. We’re excited to see so many teachers among those pushing the Instagram envelope and finding creative and innovative ways of bringing Instagram into the classroom.
Educators are at the forefront of highlighting the rich and unique aspects of the global Instagram community, from using Instagram photos to inspire creative writing, to employing Photo Maps for geography lessons, to encouraging students to undertake ethnographic studies of their neighborhood.
Take a moment today to reflect on an educator that has had a meaningful impact on your life and share your story with the #greatteaching hashtag.
Be gay for a day.
What do I mean by this? Well, this is a bit of a challenge for my straight friends. Those of you with boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands or wives – for 24 hours on Friday April 19, imagine that the one you love, the planet around which your heart is in orbit, is someone you can not openly acknowledge in any conversation – anywhere.
This afternoon I received a private message on Facebook from Joanna that I can only understand as the in-breaking of the radical grace I blather on about. She has given me her permission to share her words – not as a self-congratulatory, self-righteous post but as one that I hope will resonate with others as we stumble toward Easter.
