If?

The weather here in MN has been garbage the past few days: rainy, gray, cold.  Gross.  It is starting to affect me: I’m sleepier, crabbier, more sensitive than usual.  Things in my life seem gloomier when the forecast provides nothing but clouds.  With that as the background, you can maybe understand why the following words of Jesus struck me in a fresh way when I read them yesterday.  In Mark 9, Jesus enters a scene in which a father has brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus’s disciples in order for them to heal him. Unfortunately, they were unable to.  My assumption is that the father begins to feel desperate, wondering if even Jesus himself could heal his child of this horrible affliction (I’m sure I would wonder, too).  Here are the verses that struck me…vs. 17-29:

 ¹⁷A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” ¹⁹“O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” ²⁰So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming  at the mouth. ²¹Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. ²²“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”  ²³” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” ²⁴Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” ²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” ²⁶The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.²⁸After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” ²⁹He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

I emphasized the verses in there that stuck out to me.  SO often, I doubt or I neglect to pray and commit things to the Lord.  Though I may not come right out and say it, I wonder “can you Lord?”  And, most of the time, the situations that get me wound up are of little consequence compared to the situation above.  If only I could remember these words more often ”everything is possible for him [her] who believes!”

Just because the sun doesn’t feel anywhere in sight right now, help me to believe that it is still up there and that it will return. In the same way, help me to believe and have faith that those things I fret over can change, improve or even disappear altogether.

worth sharing

I shared this story at the end of one of my speeches this morning and actually teared up as I told it…it made me realize that it was worth telling. 

I give speeches in a wide variety of settings…board rooms, class rooms, warehouses, factories and everywhere in between.  Last week, I spoke at both a wine tasting for young professionals as well as a farm with migrant workers.  It was actually at the farm that the story I want to share comes from. The company is a nursery company (as in plants, not young children) that has over a dozen farms in the St. Paul area.  I had spoken at one of their other sites the previous week.  As we were walking into the meeting, I asked my contact how many employees she expected to be there this day.  She said, “well, we had to lay off a large number of them last week (due to lack of work/finances), so, there will be probably around 20.”  Let’s just say that it is pretty intimidating to walk into a room for the purpose of asking money when you know that the audience members were just spared losing their jobs and probably have to take into account every penny.  Also, because the majority of employees are workers from Central America, my contact had to translate my words into Spanish…I gave a sentence, she translated it, etc. Because this process doubled the amount of time needed to speak, I truncated my speech…a lot.  I still got the general message across, but it was far from my greatest or most eloquent performance.  Well, as it turns out, it didn’t matter.  Little did I know that I would be the one learning the lesson that day.  After I finished speaking, another coworker said a few words just to give a bit more information.  After she finished, the contact at the company gave out the pledge forms.  Giving is completely voluntary and especially in a setting like this, where these men clearly didn’t have a ton of extra income to go around, I wasn’t expecting much of a return. Thus, I have to be honest that I was quite surprised, and very humbled, when one of the men returned his pledge card with five $1 bills attached to it.  $5.  Now, in the grand scheme of things that isn’t very much.  But, for this man, it was clear that $5 was a sacrifice.  The other men watched as this gentleman turned in his pledge card and then quietly left the room.  As for myself, I couldn’t watch him, as I had to turn my head to wipe away the tears that were forming…just as I’m wiping away tears even as I write this now.

This experience immediately reminded me of the woman in Scripture who gave her two small coins…all she had.  Others were giving heaps compared to her tiny contribution, but yet, we’re told that her gift was of greater value.  Her gift was a sacrifice.

I tell this story because I’ve realized that it is pretty rare that I sacrifice for the sake of others.  I give, often even, but when was the last time I really sacrificed myself for someone else? 

Know that I’m thinking of and looking out for ways in which to do so…soon.

red leaf

  First leaf picture of the season…

Deep thoughts

Here’s just my two cents on something that doesn’t make sense to me: Why are there no firm laws (at least that I know of in Minnesota or even across the US) about riding around with a dog in your car, while it is illegal to hunt Canadian geese on your property?  Random, I know, but here’s why I was thinking about it…

1. It is pretty common to see people driving around with their dogs sticking their heads out the window.  Often, these are little dogs in the front seat or bigger dogs looking out the back or passenger side windows. Sometimes, I agree, it can be cute to see a dog enjoying the breeze.  Well, the other day, I saw a man driving with what I’m pretty sure was a full-sized Boxer sitting on his lap.  Not so cute this time.  Umm, who had the great idea that they could drive accurately in city traffic with a 60+ pound animal sitting on their lap?  Honestly, why is that ok?  I am pretty sure I trust the lady putting lipstick on while driving more than the person with a four-legged creature in between them and their steering wheel.  Maybe it is time there should be some stronger regulations about dogs in cars?  I know some states have pushed for it, but, have stronger laws been put into place?  

2. The geese thing comes from the fact that the Twin Cities are infested with Canadian geese.  Honestly…they are everywhere. First, I gave a couple of speeches out at a company in Wayzata this week (30 minutes from downtown Mpls) which has gorgeous grounds.  However, they are over-run with geese.  The thing that stinks literally about geese is that they eat the grass and then poop everywhere!  Additionally, the park right by my house  where I go all the time, and went yesterday for a walk, was the gathering grounds for well-over 100 geese yesterday afternoon.  Ridiculous.  But, due to the  Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918, it is against the law to harm, kill or tamper with the nest of a geese without a permit.  Fines could extend up to $10,000.  Really?  I know the geese population was dwindling a couple generations ago, but now there are plenty of them to go around…losing a few wouldn’t be the end of the world. 

So, I’m just thinking that perhaps we should be willing to take a look and review some of these laws to make them more applicable to today…I feel like people might have more respect for laws that are actually valid.  Just an idea…

A few more…

(Told you there’d be more photos!)  Lisa will probably hate me for posting a photo of her pregnant, but I just got this photo this morning from her sister Renee and I think she was an adorable pregnant lady!  Also, here’s another one Renee sent of Layla and I…you just can’t help but kiss her!   

 

Layla

So, I am appointing myself as an ”honorary aunt.” My dear friends Lisa and Jonas welcomed their first child in the wee hours of Sunday morning.  Layla Renee Schaefer was born Sunday at 12:28am, weighing in at 7 lbs 12 ozs and measuring 20 inches long. She is the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen.  She has just a little bit of blonde hair, perfectly squeezable cheeks and long fingers (for a baby).  She is precious and I know her parents see her as a wonderful gift from God.  Welcome Layla!         More photos to come, I’m sure!

Cute shop

The Cottage House will open again this Wednesday through Sunday (16th-20th).  It is located at 43rd and Chicago(kitty corner from Walgreen’s). It is only open 5 days every month and the stuff goes pretty quickly! 

Hours are:

W 1-8pm

Th/F 10-8pm 

Sat/Sun 10-6pm

 

It is kind of an antique store but there are new things, as well.  They have tons of fun furniture and housewares at affordable prices.  So, if you find yourself in S. Mpls, check it out!   

 

Making the Choice

While the season of fall is slowly settling in here in Minnesota, another season is already in full-swing for me: wedding season.  Last weekend, this weekend and next weekend all have wedding celebrations and I have another in early October to boot.  I love weddings and I love seeing my friends marry great guys.  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to serve as personal attendant to my friend Elizabeth and had a wonderful time helping set up the reception as well as do other various tasks throughout the day. Essentially, the entire day was a blast, right up until the dance started, that is.  You know what happened then?  I was aware at that moment that I was entirely alone.  I had no date to go dance with and I didn’t know a ton of other people at the reception. A full on pity party ensued.  For real.  I had to excuse myself to the bathroom to fight back tears.  Now, I can say with honesty that most of the time I am fine with being single. Frankly, I don’t know much different. (Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t want that status to change someday, it just means I don’t spend every minute hating my life because I’m single).  Weddings, however, are one of those occasions when singleness stings.  But, here is where the title of this post comes in.  I allowed myself to feel those emotions of loneliness and disappointment for a minute, had my moment of “this sucks” in the bathroom, put myself back together, and walked over to where a group of some of the single bridesmaids and a few others were sitting.  I knew them a bit, but not well.  Well, by golly, I got to know them.  I sat right down and made the choice that I was going to enjoy this wedding dance, dang it. And, sure enough, I did.  I hung out with this small group of girls (and guy) for the rest of the evening and had a blast.  Bring on the Love Shack, Footloose, All the Single Ladies.  As I was pulling out of the parking lot at 12:30am, I was so glad that I hadn’t thrown in the towel at 8:30…

I share this experience simply because I think all of us have moments like this…maybe not relating specifically to singleness, but moments where things aren’t going our way or we don’t want to have to step out of our comfort zones.  I could have let my unhappiness get the best of me last night, but then I would have missed out on one of the most fun wedding dances I’ve ever been to.  The situation didn’t change all that much, but my attitude took a huge turn for the better.  So, moral of the story is (and sorry to be super cheesy, but it just fits so well): when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.  Much more fun that way.

neat story

I just stumbled upon this slideshow/interview put out by the local news a few months ago.  It is about a MN priest who was badly injured while ministering to soldiers and others over in Iraq.  If you have a few minutes, I think it is very worth your time. 

http://www.startribune.com/slideshows/12146046.html?elr=KArksi7PhD_iLcCiUo7PhDiLcCiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUr

bluh

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.  Matthew 7:20. 

If I had to name the kind of fruit that is growing on my tree right now, I’d probably have to call them “grumpberries.”  I don’t know what my deal is, but I have been so short of patience the past few days.  My attitude and my vocabulary are not reflective of what they should be.  It seems as though anything and everything sets me off and I hate it.  I am by no means bearing the kind of fruit I desire to.  I know that patience is something that most people want to be better at exhibiting, but I really do desire to grow in patience.  I want these grumpberries to be replaced with something else, fast!