Monday, February 24, 2003

Of Guns, Out-of-this-World Hospitality and Inspiration

I've discovered that there's a certain thrill to shooting a gun (or was it a rifle?) Don't worry, I wasn't attempting to shoot anyone or any animal... we were aiming at clay disks flung through the air (the flinging itself is quite a skill.) I was in central Washington, in the midst of snow-capped mountain peaks, beautiful green noble firs and enjoying the hospitality of a wonderful Christian couple, Gregg and Glenna Hires, in their (no joke) log-cabin home.

I didn't think I'd actually do it... guns are a little scary (there's such negative connotation in general) and it seems dangerous for someone like me to handle one! It was surprisingly heavy, and I had a hard time just keeping it up and aimed away from the bystanders. The sound was deafening when the pellet/bullet (I don't think I have any of the terminology down, either) bursted out of the barrel and echoed across the canyon. Then there's the kick-back, JOLT, like this unexpected push at your shoulder... Incredible. I shot twice. Didn't hit intended (or unintended, thank God) targets.

The wonderful Christian couple are the parents of Jason's med friend. I was absolutely bowled over by their AMAZING hospitality. There were about 13 of us (and a cute little tyke named Ian) who headed to their home for the weekend. They have this AMAZING (i'm running out of adjectives) home, which the father designed and built with the help of friends and volunteers. All of us, except the single guys, had beds to sleep in. They provided almost everything we would or could need.

Glenna is AMAZING. A former Home Economics (and back in the day, they actually taught cooking and sewing) teacher - a tiny woman - she is so sweet, personable and generous. She made all our meals from scratch, including gorgeous desserts, kept fresh coffee, cocoa and cold drinks available nearly the entire time, and thought of every single detail (and more than) to make the weekend relaxing, enjoyable and perfect.

To give you a small idea of what I experienced... three stacks of clean pressed towels (in 3 different sizes) could be found in each bathroom under the sink. There were new clean bathrobes hanging there, as well, and a small basket full of shampoo, soap, Q-tips, lotions, etc etc. The house was clean and orderly, not at all in an imposing and unlived-in way, rather it was warm and comfy. The living room had nearly floor-to-ceiling windows that faced the mountains and trees, and they had NO neighbors within eyesight or earshot.

What impressed me the most was just their incredible, humble and giving servant-like hearts towards all of us. They had just returned from the Dominican Republic for a short-term missions trip, but not once did I sense that we were a burden to them. Although still feeling some jet lag, they were smiling, laughing, joyful to be around. Glenna prepared all of our meals (no doubt getting up hours before any of us peeped) and Gregg was always in there, cleaning up afterwards (imagine the dishes for one meal, not to mention the glasses used for drinks and snacks in-between!) and always on-hand to pick up things needed or keep everything running smoothly. We had to fight to help clean up, and were only successful, maybe once or twice.

How do I get it? Where does it come from? How can I be more like them? The joy, humility, the thinking-of-others-before-yourself attitude that permeated their home. Is that woman for real? Do they ever fight? And will she give me her secret recipes?

I haven't even mentioned the AMAZING story of their marriage and their ministry. I'll have to save that for next time.

What struck me the most this weekend was the beautiful sweetness of a simple and joyful life. A hospitable home and the blessings conferred on both hosts and guests. That God is so good and that we have so much to share about Him and His goodness. When we left, Gregg - who is a tall, big lumber-jack kind of a man, but so quiet and gentle - gave me this big bear hug and smile, saying, "We loved having you. Hope you'll come back soon."

Dear Lord, please continue to bless Gregg and Glenna and all of their children and grandchildren, and may they continue to be a blessing to all they meet and all who are fortunate to pass through their home.


3:01 AM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Thursday, February 20, 2003

I'm feeling a little of the anxiety creep in. I'm trying to push off the temptation to consume inordinate amounts of caffeine. If only I didn't need sleep! This is ridiculous! Three weeks until finals and two big papers due before then as well.

The one particular thing I appreciated about working full-time (as opposed to school full-time) is that there's a regularity and consistency about working hours (ok, they're long sometimes though), leaving work at work, and the (usual) sense that evenings and weekends are free to pursue other things.

Not so with school. There's definitely an other-worldliness about students... we sleep at weird hours, get up at weird hours, are constantly thinking about how we should be studying and telling others that we plan to, but only studying half that amount of time and wasting the other half attempting to actually study... we eat microwaveable food (ok, working people do too), relegate weekends to catching up on the studying we didn't do or should've have done, and overall, like to complain and whine about how we study all the time.

Welcome to my world!

So please be kind to me (or feel sorry for me), as I'm likely to be poor about responding to email and messages in the next month. Or, if you suddently hear from me really often or get strange calls and emails in the middle of the night, you'll know I'm procrastinating.


12:48 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Monday, February 17, 2003

"We should not be scared with being confrontational, of facing people with the wrong that they have done. Forgiving doesn't mean turning yourself into a doormat for people to wipe their boots on. Our Lord was very forgiving. But he faced up to those he thought were self-righteous, who were behaving in a ghastly fashion, and called them 'a generation of vipers.'

Forgiveness doesn't mean pretending things aren't as they really are. Forgiveness is the recognition that a ghastliness has happened. And forgiveness doesn't mean trying to paper over the cracks, which is what people do when they say, 'Let bygones be bygones.' Because they will not. They have an incredible capacity for always returning to haunt you. Forgiveness means that the wronged and the culprits of those wrongs acknowledge that something has happened. And there is necessarily a measure of confrontation. People sometimes think that you shouldn't be abrasive. But sometimes you have to be to make someone acknowledge that they have done something wrong. Then once the culprit says, 'I am sorry,' the wronged person is under obligation, certainly is he or she is a Christian, to forgive. And forgiving means actually giving the opportunity of a new beginning.

It's like someone sitting in a dank room. It's musty. The windows are closed. The curtains are drawn. But outside the sun in shining. There is fresh air. Forgiveness is like opening the curtains, opening the windows, letting the light and the air into the person's life that was like that dank room, and giving them the chance to make this new beginning. You and I as Christians have such a wonderful faith, because it is a faith of ever-new beginnings. We have a God who doesn't say, 'Ah...Got you!' No, God says, 'Get up.' And God dusts us off and God says, 'Try again.'"

Archbishop Desmond Tutu's work confronting the bigotry and violence of South Africa's apartheid system won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. In 1994, he was appointed head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"One of the most extraordinary things is how many of those who have suffered most grievously have been ready to forgive - people who you thought might be consumed by bitterness, by a lust for revenge. A massacre occurred in which soldiers had opened fire on a demonstration by the ANC (African National Congress), and about twenty people were killed and many wounded. We had a hearing chock-a-block full with people who had lost loved ones, or been injured. Four officers came up, one white and three black. The white said: 'We gave the orders for the soldiers to open fire' - in this room, where the tension could be cut with a knife, it was so palpable. Then he turned to the audience and said, 'Please, forgive us. And please receive these, my colleagues, back into the community.' And that very angry audience broke out into quite deafening applause. It was an incredible moment. I said, 'Let's keep quiet, because we are in the presence of something holy.'"


4:02 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Wednesday, February 12, 2003

...Perhaps you are rich and near to you reside the poor. Call them neighbor, and remember that you are to love them. The world may call the poor inferior, but they are not....It is your clothing that is better, not you. The poor one is a person, and what are you more than that?

Charles H. Spurgeon


9:32 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, February 11, 2003

"Once you come to understand that life is unbelievably brief and that we really can't do anything that's gonna change anything, that we don't really amount to a hill of beans--then all of a sudden you go, 'So it doesn't really matter if I'm not great. And if I don't have to be great, that means I can fail. And if I can fail, that means I can try. And if I can try, that means I'm gonna have a good time." - Rich Mullins

"...I mean, you may be rich, you may be poor. You may have a job tomorrow, you may not. Nothing is sure in life except that you will be dead. There's something really great about living in the awareness that we will someday die. For one thing, that makes all that is hard about life more endurable because we know it will pass. So I think that it teaches us not to hold on to things, to live with some sort of detachment. Not the sort of detachment where we are unmoved, but the sort of detachment where we allow ourselves to be moved easily and quickly, but we don't try to possess those things that move us." - Rich Mullins


11:20 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it