Big City Pretty

Douglas Friedman

2010-03-25T20:23:00.000-05:00

Today's post is an homage to Douglas Friedman, a photographer I've discovered whose work is incredible.

What gorgeous high-gloss black doors. When looking at this photographer's website, I actually recognized one series of interior images. I saw this man's apartment for the first time in Domino, I believe- such a masculine, yet stylish, space. And, with just the right dose of English spiced in.

Looks like a good day to me.

Hello Long Lost Friends!

2010-03-03T19:14:00.000-06:00

Gorgeous tile!

Sophisticated desk. Love those Barbies. Love that column.

This one features such interesting asymmetrical frames, and of course that gorgeous tufted chair.

So where have I been?

Well, the short answer is:

Haiti:)

Read more at www.benandkatieinhaiti.com . It has been, as you can imagine, quite the last two months. However, we're beginning to settle, and I'm beginning to peek at beautiful things again, and to explore, and to dream. So you'll be seeing more of me. I've missed you!

2010-01-07T08:44:00.000-06:00

When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky isgone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are backwith their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, toheal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, torebuild the nations, to bring peace … to make music in the heart.
- Howard Thurman
American author, civil rights leader, and theologian (1899-1981)

Bodies matter to God. Matter matters. Until we can proclaim thatwondrous truth, ecology will be a sideline in our pastoring andpreaching, our theologies and liturgies … Wetlands and rivers, wheatfields and dough rising, people dancing in the aisles and peoplesleeping in the streets of our cities. Matter matters to God.
- Barbara Lundblad
from her sermon "Matter Matters"

2010-01-05T08:49:00.000-06:00

Warm, cozy, tea-drinking living room - divine:)

Cool, crisp, clean, lounge-y bathroom - ahhhhh :)

Incidentally

2010-01-04T12:43:00.000-06:00

An incredible alternative to New Years Resolutions:

Living a good story

by Donald Miller.

Speaking of Don-

We're reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

B reads it to me every night out loud.

I love it! Much deeper than Blue Like Jazz.

Last night we read the part where Don is discussing the idea of our convenience-driven life, and how no good book is about a character with an easy, boring life. No, the character has to go through hell, to strive for something, to fail, to conquer, to struggle to kiss the girl....

Are our easy lives robbing us of our story?

One of the ideas in the article above is "Create an incident".

Hmm:)

I smile to myself

because B and I moved to Haiti 5 days ago.

An incident, indeed.

Get it Archbishop

2009-12-22T17:41:00.001-06:00

Dear Design Sponge:
You apparently know about my thing for English Country Houses.
So thanks for the article on them.

Love, Katie

Also, check out the London Times' list of 50 Best Design Blogs.

Several of my favorites got a shout out - Design Sponge, Lobster & Swan, Desire to Inspire.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was at the Copenhagen climate talks over the last few weeks, leading a charge of Creation-loving Jesus-followers who prayed for the leaders and demanded justice. He delivered a sermon with an amazing quote:

"Love casts out fear. If we begin from the belief that God wants us to rejoice and delight in the created world, our basic attitude to the environment will not be anxiety or the desperate search for ways of controlling it; it will be the excited and hopeful search for understanding it and honouring its goodness and its complex, interdependent beauty.

In this season of Advent, we renew our confident hope that such a future is possible. We give thanks for the Christmas gift of Jesus Christ that has broken through our selfishness and begun the work of our liberation. We reaffirm our conviction and commitment in the name of love; and we say ‘don’t be afraid’ to all who stand uncertainly on the edge of decision. Don’t be afraid; act for the sake of love.

Love casts out fear. The truth is that what is most likely to get us to take the right decisions for our global future is love."

make love not war

2009-12-22T17:27:00.000-06:00

I read an interesting article called "Six Floors of Sunday School Classrooms: To What End?" that talks about the Lutheran Doctrine of Vocation on IMonk. The most interesting (and comforting) part of this doctrine to me is the assertion that all vocations are equally pleasing to God. This is a big departure from those who believe that God is super happy with nuns and pastors and missionaries, but only kind of happy with firemen and nurses and bankers. The article also asserts that each person has more than one vocation, and by fulfilling each with integrity you honor God - I honor God through my vocation of US citizen by paying taxes and voting, and I honor God through my wife vocation by speaking lovingly to Ben.

Can you put adorable little-girl bedrooms in the same square inch as nuclear war? Well, here goes:

I read some shocking news today. Secret Iranian documents have been discovered detailing the nation's plan to build and test the neutron initiator, the part of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion. Western officials and United Nations officials are now investigating and evaluating those documents. This blows the lid off any Iranian claims that they are only using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes - to build nuclear power plants. They are not telling the truth. The whole world knows their true intentions.

Now, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyah will very soon make the crucial decision of whether to make a pre-emptive military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The consequences of this decision are of utmost importance to every person on the planet. If Israel were to strike Iran's nuclear facilities (which they feel they must do, because they cannot allow Iran to create a nuclear bomb since Iran's president has declared he plans to "wipe Israel off the map"), other Middle Eastern nations will come to Iran's defense and lash out against Israel, which will involve the US, which will then involve the whole West........

If you are a praying person, this is a matter that deserves priority status in our conversations with God.

Bienvenidos a Indiana!

2009-12-09T12:15:00.000-06:00

What a joyous day this is! Why are we celebrating? Could it be because of the snow at my beloved Baylor?

That is joyful, but today we're thinking of a different reason. All around my office we are celebrating because today, after 7 years in a Guatemalan orphanage, Juan Pablo is coming home. In fact, as I write this, his plane is due to land there in 6 hours, 5 minutes, and 57 seconds. Praise God!

Praise Him for the Wigginses, who fought government red tape for 3 years to bring this little boy into a Forever Family. Praise Him for the loving Guatemalan staff who have cared for JP since he was just an abandoned baby with serious burns, arranging all sorts of special medical care for him including trips to the US. Praise Him for the thousands of mission trip travelers who have visited JP in the Baby Home, holding VBS after VBS, craft after craft, game after game to entertain and love and teach him. Praise Him!

And this is the hardest part - though I rejoice with all my heart for Juan Pablo's new Forever Family, I know the other children in that home, too. Juan Pablo gets to go home, dress up as Spiderman, and spend his first Christmas in Indiana. These are just a few of his friends from the Baby Home. That home is a wonderful, warm place filled with love - but it will never be as good as a family. I know the name of every child in this picture... they are still waiting.

One little girl especially is burned on my heart. Alejandra.

This is Alejandra and Juan Pablo. They are like siblings, having grown up in the Baby Home together. I met her in May, and we were fast friends. I know its terribly grainy, but here's my favorite one of me and Ale.

The love God has for Juan Pablo is no different than His for Alejandra. He had a plan for one, and has plan for her, too.

Neutrals, Neiman's, Advent Echoes, and Peru

2009-12-08T11:17:00.000-06:00

Dallas loves our flagship Neiman Marcus. Like our own little 5th Avenue, we wait for the Neiman's holiday windows to be unveiled. '09 windows do not disappoint!

What fun! It's very interesting to read the article about how they created and developed this interactive display around the themes of books and energy - the whole idea was inspired by essays from some local school kids.

On the holiday note, I read a fascinating account today titled Advent Echoes: Checkpoints and Childbirth on a West Bank Winter Night. It's the story of Hani, a West Bank Palestinian Muslim who lives just 23 miles from Bethlehem. The parallels between Jesus' birth and Hani's story of living a persecuted life and the birth of his most recent baby are striking. I was very moved. I believe we need to push Israel harder, as a friend and ally, to address their human rights abuses the same way we must push China harder.

There is a Buckner mission team in Peru right now celebrating Christmas with the least of these - abandoned babies, teen mothers, special needs kids, and the like. They posted an amazing blog entry today called "Dear Suzy" about a young mom who, when receiving her Christmas package prepared by a church in Dallas, went straight for the card. The card's author wrote about her cat, little details, nothing out of the ordinary - except when she wrote that this young mom was loved by God, precious, special. The little girl cherishes the letter. She begged a team member to take her photo with the letter.

One of the main things they do on these trips is give each child a new pair of shoes. You, too, can join a trip or host a shoe drive for these precious little ones.

DJ Pope

2009-12-04T23:31:00.000-06:00

I bet you sat down and asked yourself today, "What is on the Pope's iPod?"
Well, now we know.
Tupac, apparently.

Love these festive Christmas doggies. I do so love my dachshund, Libby.

Also, on a more serious note- we all need join together to cover in prayer a great pastor and servant, Matt Chandler of the Village Church in Dallas. This healthy thirtysomething, whose wife Lauren just had their third baby a few months ago, had a serious seizure on Thanksgiving. That led to the discovery of a brain tumor, and today he had surgery to remove part of his frontal lobe.

His blog about his surgery today rocked my world.

12/4

2009-12-03T16:33:00.001-06:00

Have you heard about the Farchana Manifesto? A great many women living in the Farchana Refugee Camp in Chad (they are refugees from Darfur and other places in Sudan) have gotten together and handwritten a manifesto denouncing their ill-treatment and the gender-based violence they face daily. They hand-wrote this document and delivered it to the Physicians for Human Rights team working in their camp.

Courageous, bold women. Heroic women.

Check out Michelle Obama's preview of Christmas at the White House. Magical:)

AAmazing

2009-12-01T17:19:00.000-06:00

I'm skimming through promotional emails, deleting right and left, when this little gem popped out at me....

Last-minute deals from American Airlines
Dallas to Jackson, Mississippi $78
Dallas to McAllen, Texas $78
Dallas to Indianapolis $117
snooze snooze snore, about to delete
Dallas to Des Moines, Iowa $120
Obviously these are on sale because
no one wants to go to these boring cities
(no offense, Des Moinesians)
Dallas to Ft. Walton, Florida $120
reaching for the delete button
Dallas to Paris, France $343
HOLD THE PHONE!

Excuse me, did I just see Dallas to Paris last-minute tickets for $343?
Yes, yes in fact I did.

Just this moment, I added another item to my Bucket List:
Go on last-minute fabulous getaway using week-of flight specials.

And finally....

Oh Yes! The Yes Men strike again. Sorry, Bank of America. You know I love your customer service and my favorite teller Xochil, but you earned it.

Cool to the Max

2009-11-30T16:40:00.000-06:00

I just heard about Days with My Father. (I was initially confused about how to use it, too- just scroll down).
Wow.
It is an incredibly moving photo essay with captions. Worth your time.

I also just heard about trendwatching.com - a free online digest of trends that's tracked by a giant global team of trendspotters.

Also, my new favorite blog is thecoolhunter.net. Basically, this guy's job is to hear about cool stuff and blog about it. Like this Christmas installation in Paris, above. Or this:

The Snowtunnel. So hot right now. Or what about this:

The National Geographic International Photo Contest 2009. Thanks, Cool Hunter, for the tip! PS You can still vote in the NatGeo Viewers' Choice Award category. Or this:

Somewhere in Nairobi, my Satty is having a heart attack.

I know. Brace yourselves, people. This stuff is seriously cool.

Also hot:

The Mini Goes Neon. My head is about to explode with Coolness!

A kitchen made of Legos!!! Too much!!! Too much coolness!!! I can't take it!

Team Harry

2009-11-30T12:00:00.001-06:00

Texts from Last Night is a very naughty, but very funny, website where people send in ridiculous messages they've received. My husband occasionally sends me ones he thinks are particularly hilarious. Today:

(720): You can't like Harry Potter and Twilight. You have to pick. Vampires and Wizards are mutually exclusive.

We all know which side I'm on.

Only a few more days until December 7......

Today's mashup

2009-11-25T14:01:00.000-06:00

I love this backsplash of rough brick

This is hysterical. Thank you, Kathleen.

I love it! Sweet little guy.

Have you heard Esquire magazine included Shane Claiborne on their list of "Rebels and Radicals who are Changing the World"? The editors of Esquire, not known for their tee-totaling generally, invite Shane to write an open letter to non-believers, used-to-believers, etc, and to say anything he wanted! Really?!

Here is Shane's letter in Esquire magazine.

I've got a new favorite blog. It's Parkside Stories, which describes itself as "a beautiful multi-ethnic, low-income apartment complex in the suburbs of Chicago. God has put together a team of people living there who are working towards transforming this community. We live intentionally and work on building relationships between people in and outside the community. As one of Church of the Resurrection's locations, we are involved in community development and an apartment church-plant."

I've had two favorite posts lately - one about how the church should stand alongside immigrants (who make up a big part of the Parkside community and who need a great deal of help navigating the) and another about living a double life. The author's "double life" consists of living in a low-income apartment complex among the very poorest poor of Chicago, but then leaving each morning to drive just a few miles to her day job - teaching in a rich high school. I can really relate, especially as B and I prepare to move to Haiti to teach high school. Will that be what it feels like - a double life, where I live among the poor and look like a local (well, kind of....), but have a cushy bank account, big house, and tons of beautiful things packed in storage at home?

Did you know there's a modern-day Underground Railroad going on right now, between North Korea and China? Much like on the Texas-Mexico border, many would-be refugees seek the help of a broker/human smuggler to get across the border, but that puts them at great risk for human trafficking and being sold into slavery.

Finally, may I say that Jillian Edwards' music has not left my mind since last week when I saw her delightful self in concert. Check her out!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Honeyyear

2009-11-24T10:55:00.000-06:00

One year ago today I left for my honeymoon with my best friend and newly-minted husband.

What an amazing trip, what an amazing year!

2009-11-23T17:22:00.000-06:00

Thank you, Brabourne Farm, for your post on my very favorite piece of furniture.

One day, years from now, when I'm back in a furniture-buying stage of life,

I'll bring one of you home to my house:)

And maybe, just maybe....

my house will have a garden like this

And all 25 of my adopted kids will play there, with all my friends' kids too.

It will be just like this (except add lots more toys and balls and jumpropes).

Haiti or Bust

2009-11-17T10:49:00.001-06:00

THE NEWS IS OUT!!

Friends, we're officially out of the closet - the Haiti closet, that is.

My husband and I are moving to Port-au-Prince, Haiti for a few years of mission and aid work.

Get the full story at
http://www.benandkatieinhaiti.blogspot.com/ .

Add us to your Reader, or Follow along!

Veterans Day

2009-11-11T18:46:00.000-06:00

Speaking of Veterans. How about this one, my brother, in Spain (with Kelsey at the 2009 Marine Ball)...

Or this one, Pat, husband of my dear friend Savannah, flying helicopters in Alabama.....

Here's a prayer for our military men and women, and the significant others (and mama, and sisters too) who love them dearly.

Sometimes

2009-11-06T11:33:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, when I get off the train downtown and walk up the marble steps to my big, giant skyscraper office building.... I feel just like this. There's a thrill. Wanting to throw my hat in the air.

Sometimes, I feel just like this- warrior princess. Raised by wolves.
Kind of like my favorite thing I ever learned in four semesters of Swahili class:

Binti wa Simba ni simba pia.
The daughter of the Lion is also a lion.

Want to know a secret?
My mom and I are getting that proverb as a tat.

Invite your friends!

2009-11-06T10:04:00.000-06:00

Let me practice Jedi mind control for a moment. Ready?

YOU WANT TO COME TO THIS AWESOME CONCERT! MARK IT ON YOUR CALENDAR! INVITE EVERYBODY YOU KNOW!

Click here for the Facebook event.

Let's see:

1. Free event

2. Tasty organic coffee at Mokah Coffee Bar, a pretty sweet place to spend a Thursday night

3. Really talented artists

4. Learning about and supporting Buckner International's ministry to orphans and vulnerable children around the world.

5. Door prizes

What a win-win! See you there.

Fathers, Brothers, Husbands, Sons

2009-11-05T10:21:00.002-06:00

President Obama was elected one year ago this week. Though I did not vote for him, I am now glad that he won the election. His policies do not always align with mine, but I am particularly proud of his efforts to make America more of a "team player" in this global neighborhood of ours.

Even as a proud Texan who sported a "Luv Ya, Dubya" sticker on my car in the fall of 2000, I cringed at our damaged relationships with other nations over the following 8 years. Yet, as I read this data today, I remembered what the US have given to advance the cause of freedom in our world:

1. Aisne-Marne, France, a total of 2,289 of our military dead.

2. Ardennes, Belgium, a total of 5,329 of our military dead.

3. Brittany, France, a total of 410 of our military dead.

4. Brookwood, England, a total of 468 of our military dead.

5. Cambridge, England, a total of 3,812 of our military dead.

6. Epinal, France, a total of 5,525 of our military dead.

7. Flanders Field, Belgium, a total of 368 of our military dead.

8. Florence, Italy, a total of 4,402 of our military dead.

9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, a total of 7,992 of our military dead.

10. Lorraine, France, a total of 10,489 of our military dead.

11. Luxembourg, a total of 5,076 of our military dead.

12. Meuse-Argonne, a total of 14,246 of our military dead.

13. The Netherlands, a total of 8,301 of our military dead.

14. Normandy, France, a total of 9,387 of our military dead.

15. Oise, Aisne, France, a total of 6,012 of our military dead.

16. Rhone, France, a total of 861 of our military dead.

17. Sicily, Italy, a total of 7,861 of our military dead.

18. Somme, France, a total of 1,844 of our military dead.

19. St. Mihiel, France, a total of 4,153 of our military dead.

20. Suresnes, France, a total of 1,541 of our military dead.

Love those Catholics

2009-11-04T16:11:00.000-06:00

I read a very interesting blog called Busted Halo that is written by Catholics, mostly, toward a younger, "spiritual seeker" audience. They cover very interesting topics often- for instance, this morning I read an interview with a Vatican-trained exorcist working in the San Jose diocese. Fascinating!

One of my favorite regular blog features is the Question Box. This morning's topic: What do Catholics think about speaking in tongues? The priest's answer is pretty much exactly what I would say I believe, too. I love it when I find common ground with Catholics, or other believers around the world. I think it brings great joy to our God when we are in unity and brotherhood. Church is supposed to be a singular word, after all:)

thx, Wade

2009-11-02T21:17:00.000-06:00

"In a way all of us at Oxford knew, knew as an undercurrent in our minds, that it wouldn't last for ever. Lew and Mary Ann expressed it one night by saying: 'This, you know, is a time of taking in-taking in friendship, conversation, gaiety, wisdom, knowledge, beauty, holiness-and later, well, there'll be a time of giving out.' Later, when we were scattered about the world. Now we must store up the strength, the riches, all that Oxford had given us, to sustain us after. She stood there, Oxford, like a mother to us all with her hands heaped with riches. We could take what we would. We, Davy and I, would, for one thing, take all who came to the Studio. Whoever came, whatever the hour, was always welcome."

-Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy

Brudder

2009-10-30T17:03:00.000-05:00

This is my brother.

Ladies, you can't date him. Because he's already in lover with her.

I love it when he posts on his facebook, because he is very far away. In Spain, with the Marines. Truly, Skype may be one of the greatest inventions ever for familiar and (and best friend-ial) communication and harmony.

This photo I love very much because I reminds me of getting ready altogether backstage, or in the girls' locker room.

Have a delightful weekend:)

Coming Home.

2009-10-29T13:34:00.000-05:00

What's the happiest place on earth?

Nope, not Disney World.

It's here.

My favorite place in the whole wide world is Baylor Homecoming.

Justice Revival

2009-10-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

The Lord, your God, is with you
He is mighty to save
He will take great delight in you
He will quiet you with his love
He will rejoice over you with singing
Zephaniah 3:17

One of my favorite blogs, Sojourners, wrote today: Justice Revival is coming to Dallas.

Justice Revival (more info at http://www.justicerevival.org/) will "unite more than 1 million Christians and 1 thousand churches in Dallas to address issues of public education and chronic homelessness."

The articles reminds us that in Dallas, my dear hometown, 89% of high school seniors are not college ready. Leaders have come together across racial and socioeconomic lines to rally for 25 new partnerships to be created with public schools and for 700 new units of affordable housing to be built.

Justice Revival will take place November 10-12 at Dallas Market Hall.

Autotune the News

2009-10-22T10:45:00.001-05:00

Have you heard of these Autotune the News videos? They are hysterical! Ben's friend Jeff (1/2 of those cool Gillum kids) showed them to him, and last night we laughed for an hour watching them all. Here's the latest one, #9:

There are 9 of these so far, mash-ups of the latest top news stories, interviews, and just plain ridiculous television moments. Oh, and an occasional appearance by an Angry Gorilla. The brothers who make these videos got started during the Presidential campaign last year, and they've even Autotuned famous speeches like MLK's "I Have a Dream":

Now, messing with this speech has of course been controversial. Is this tantamount to sacrilege, or is it a clever way to engage young people with one of the most important speeches in American history?

To end, some parting wisdom from my good friend Clive Staples Lewis.

"The thing is to rely on God. The time will come when you will regard all this misery as a small price to pay for having been brought to that dependence. Meanwhile, the trouble is that relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing has yet been done."

More Clive quotes here.

Place

2009-10-21T14:38:00.001-05:00

A sense of "place" is very important to me. Places can be magical, as anybody who's ever roamed the Baylor campus knows. Many cities have that special sense of place that makes them tourist destinations- San Francisco, or New York, or Savannah, George, for example. Dallas- not so much. Until now, I hope.

Dallas has jumped right up there on the hot architecture list with the opening last week of the Dallas Performing Arts Center. The highlight of the new space are two buildings.

The Wyly Theater

The Winspear Opera House

Inside view of The Winspear:

And, literally, on top of it all, the city is building a 5-acre park on top of the Woodall Rogers highway running through downtown. Can you believe that?!

It's like our own little Central Park, on top of a highway! Sic em, Dallas!

It will have a dog park,

recreation fields,

a restaurant,

botanical gardens,

chess games,

and more!

The Park website says "The Park will serve as a central gathering space for Dallas and its visitors to enjoy in the heart of the city. The 5.2 acre deck park will create an urban green space over the existing Woodall Rodgers Freeway between Pearl and St. Paul streets in downtown Dallas. Plans include a performance pavillion, restaurant, jogging trails, a dog park, a children's playground, a water sculpture, an area for games and much more.

Connectivity is central to The Park's pupose. The Park will promote increased pedestrian, trolley and bicycle use between Uptown, Downtown, and the Arts District, contributing to a more walkable city center.

The Park will create a front lawn for the surroundign cultural offerings including the Dallas Center for Performing Arts, Dallas Museum of Art, the Meyerson Symphony Hall, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts and the future Museum of Nature and Science. Construction will begin in October 2009. The base park is expected to be complete in late 2011 with amenities expected to be complete in 2012.

You can learn more about the very famous design team, park features (can't wait for the reading room, The Groves, or the Icon Fountain!), timeline and more at http://www.theparkdallas.org/.

In addition to my beloved hometown, there's a second place far away that's capturing my heart today.

Kenya.

My dear Satpack is there right now, loving people right and left.

Guess which one is little Satty:)

How often would I go to church if my church had no chairs? or air conditioning?

See the blend of old and new. See the difference a well makes.

Well done, little Sarah, and her companion Wade!

2009-10-18T15:02:00.001-05:00

What a beautiful woman, what a beautiful ring.

Love "Lay Em Down" by Needtobreathe

Love "Marianne" by Matt Wertz.
And my FAVORITE NEW SONG-
From David Crowder Band's new release...

Geez Louise

2009-10-16T13:50:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon a really interesting online magazine called Geez several months ago. In their latest issue, an article called "The War on Cancer" has got me thinking.

The article begins with this:

"Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place."

When I first read these opening words in Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag, I thought them interesting, but not personally relevant. Now, over 30 years later, having been diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer, I read them as one whose passport is stamped as a reluctant traveler into “the kingdom of the sick.”

Then, later in the article:

The only way we in the West seem capable of coping with things we fear, whether cancer, drugs, or terror, is to declare war on them. Making war still seems to be the way we choose to muster, or manipulate, large numbers of people in a common cause. So in 1971, President Nixon declared the "War on Cancer."

The war metaphor has served the cancer industry at the expense of prevention.

In her book "The Secret History of the War on Cancer", Devra Davis says the "proof that how and where we live and work affects whether we may get cancer has been ignored." She says cancer reserach is controlled by members of "astonishing alliances between naive or far too clever academics and folks with major economic interests in selling potentially cancerous materials."

Along the same lines, the article discusses chemical conglomerate AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca makes Tamoxifen, the number-one selling breast cancer drug, but they also make Acetochlor, a herbicide that has been classified by the Environmenal Protection Agency as causing cancer.

(Dear AstraZeneca employees who are now reading due to this blog entry setting off a Google Alert in your marketing department: That is pretty damning. You cannot put a pink-ribbon gloss on dousing our environment in carcinogens.)

The article ends with this powerful thought:

We need more of what the Poet Laureate Audre Lord envisioned - the halls of power reverberating with the demands of thousands of one-breasted women and those who love them demanding that cancer-causing chemicals be outlawed. After all, I can only be healthy if I live in a community in which the air, water, and food is free of poison for everyone.

I wish I was a Yes Man!

2009-10-12T15:01:00.000-05:00

Please, for heaven's sake, Please, go read about the Yes Men. I think they are hysterical, and I completely support this kind of truth-telling, using humor to bring attention to really evil things occuring right here. They have a movie currently screening across the country (including Sundance!) called "The Yes Men Fix the World". I wish so badly there was a screening in Dallas! Check the website to see if a screening will take place near you- they're having dozens of them. At the end of each screening, the audience goes and does something crazy. Last week a screening audience in New York went to a Chase Bank around the corner and 'decorated' on the sidewalk outside- except using coal, not chalk. They did this to draw attention to the terribly damaging and unhealthy "mountaintop removal" coal mining practices that Chase is financing in rural American. Truly- go read about the hijinks!

Happy fall, friends.

Craigslist, Smallworld

2009-10-09T10:02:00.000-05:00

The craziest thing happened last night.

50 million people in the US alone use Craigslist.

There are 6.3 million people living in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

I posted an ad to sell a nightstand.

A lady called and asked to come buy it. She sounded nice.

I opened the front door........ and I said

"Wait, I know you!"

I knew her! She was several years ahead of me in the youth group of the church where I grew up.

Because she was probably five years above me, we weren't close. But. I will always remember one night. We had a weekly youth event, and she was going to be the speaker.

She got up and bravely, courageously told the whole youth group that she had had an eating disorder.

She talked about how it started, and the messages that were inside her, and the feelings she had felt. She talked about what she had done, the practices, the habits. She talked about her recovery, and how it's kind of a lifelong thing, not like the flu that you "get over" all at once.

I didn't even remember her name when I saw her face, or where she went to high school, or college, and I have no idea what she's doing in life today (other than collecting Swedish furniture with her boyfriend), but the courage of that testimony and the power of its honesty have stayed with me.

My husband wasn't home yet when she came to get the nightstand (which is scary- I won't do that again), but when I told him who had come, the first words out of his mouth were remembering her testimony also (we grew up in the same youth group).

This in no way diminishes the rest of her full life, it just speaks to the incredible power of personal testimony, and the lasting results when one is brave enough to get real and honest with her peers.

2009-10-08T22:17:00.002-05:00

I love Wordle!

The Hole in Our Gospel

2009-10-08T22:11:00.000-05:00

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
-Psalm 82

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
-Jim Elliot

Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
-Jonah 2:8

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.
-Mother Teresa

Tragically, in the industrialized world there is a terrible absence of understanding or concern about those who are enduring lives of despair and hoplessness.We have not yet made the commitment to share with others an appreciable part of our excessive wealth. This is a potentially rewarding burden that we should all be willing to assume.
-President Carter

I'm reading The Hole in Our Gospel. It is destroying me.

Things I've Learned:

1. Only 4% of American charitable giving goes to international causes.

2. 26,500 chidren die every day of preventable causes related to their poverty. That is like 100 jetliners crashing today. And again tomorrow. And again the next day.

3. A journalist named Susan Moeller coined the term "compassion fatigue" to describe what we have these days- I think its a brilliant term.

4. The average income in America is $38,611 per person, or $105 per day. 40% of the world population (that's 2.6 billion people) live on less than $2 per day.

5. The wealthiest 7 people on earth control more wealth than the combined DGP of the 41 most heavily indebted nations.

6. The top 20% of the world's people consuume 86% of the world's goods.

7. The poorest 40% of the world's people receive only 5% of the world's income.

8. In 1820, the gap between the richest and poorest countries was about four to one.
In 1913, the gap was about eleven to one.
In 1950, the gap was about thirty-five to one.
In 2002, it was seventy-five to one.

What do we do with that information?
What do you do? What do I do?

October

2009-10-05T21:54:00.001-05:00

Happy fall, friends.

What did my husband and I do on this fine chilly fall evening?

1. Wear fleece.
2. Eat popcicles.
3. Read blogs/news, get disturbed about state of world.
4. Snuggle.
5. Talk to friends.
6. Read Hole in Our Gospel.
7. Dream about our future.

2009-10-02T10:39:00.001-05:00

Goodness is a process of becoming, not of being.

What we do over and over again is what we become in the end.

- Joan Chittister, author, lecturer, and member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie

"...every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself , or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself."

- C.S. Lewis

In TheHills-ese: is Lon the new Dom? Shut up.

2009-10-01T23:46:00.000-05:00

SHOCKING BREAKING NEWS: CNN reports that a new study ranks money as the number one cause of stress in families around the world. Dear scientists, I think I could have saved you a bunch of money and told you that already.

Ok, I read a really good review of the H1N1 flu shot situation and I'm forwarding it to my approximately 2308757 pregnant friends and baby daddies.

Are paper business cards going the way of the dodo? Investigate further here to learn the hot new ways to go digi (and green!) with your contact info.

And finally.

The blogosphere is buzzing about the debut of LonnyMag. "They" are saying.....

(lean in, cover mouth, speak in whisper)

***that LonnyMag may be the new Domino*****

(resume normal position).

Dare I even dream!!!!! Be still, my beating heart!

I am particularly fond of their feature on Ivy style.

2009-09-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

In heaven, I hope I will sit on the porch swing, all day long.

"White shores. A far green country, and a swift sunrise" is how Gandalf describes it.

Saw this quote via someone's Facebook status, of all things:
Love means doing all we can, at whatever cost to ourselves, to help people be enthralled with the glory of God. When they are, they are satisfied and God is glorified. Therefore loving people and glorifying God are one.

Hot off the presses:

1. My friend David's recent blog post entitled "Why I Go to the Monastery" has had me thinking all morning. Each year David visits a monastery in remote New Mexico "to be loved on by God". He writes that he exits the world in order to re-enter it more deeply. What a fantastic post.

2. "You're welcome, world. Love, the internets." is an other amazing blog I've been enjoying lately. Like my brain, its a random mishmash of very fascinating thoughts, maps, websites, reflections, and photos. I am so glad to have found her.

3. Google Wave, people- its the future. Will Google solve ALL the world's problems?

4. I will not be getting the H1N1 flu shot. I made this decision after learning that the shot was hastily tested on only a few hundred adults, and after hearing interviews with several scientists and physicians who say they are very concerned that there will be a repeat of the swine flu vaccine fiasco in the 1960's that resulted in hundreds of people becoming paralyzed as a result of the degenerative neurological sydrome Guillain-Barre. Does it really seem like a smart idea to rush a vaccination with no long-term testing into the general population, much less to ask pregnant women and children to be the first in line?

There's also the issue of mercury. In the case of a disease as terrible as, for instance, polio, I think putting a small amount of mercury into a person seems justified. But for a disease that seems to be no worse than regular, yearly flu? I'll pass.

$krilla.

2009-09-29T14:34:00.000-05:00

I live in a very strange nether world revolving around money. Here's why:

I work for a non-profit that cares for orphans and vulnerable families. We run schools in Kenya. We run transitional housing for kids about to age out of government orphanages. We send single moms to college who were previously homeless. We just sent our 2 millionth pair of shoes to orhpans.

So I work with the very poorest people there are. They're desperate. As in, don't eat everyday, that kind of desperate. As in, they're in orphanages because their parents gave them away due to extreme poverty. As in, receiving a new pair of shoes is the greatest day of their life. A few times a year I get to visit them on trips with donors, and almost every other day I am reading their stories in reports from our field staff, or on our website, or on the news.

Then I work with rich people. Really, really, super rich people. Lots of them are very nice. Lots of them are very loving, and generous, and they give away more to charity in a year than my husband and I make combined. I am writing them thank-you notes, and grant proposals, and planning events and trips so they can learn about or even meet those other people, the ones with no shoes.

And its just all about money, all the time. How far behind budget are we? How much should we ask for? How much did they give to that other charity/university/hospital, so maybe they have a little for our orphans, too? What does it cost to expand X program to include X more kids?

Lots of times, I wish I was the one holding babies, while somebody else scrounged up the money.

Central Market is our playground

2009-09-27T15:33:00.000-05:00

We have a little game that has become something of a tradition, and a really fun date.

As I've mentioned before, we have been using a Dave Ramsey-esque cash budget for several categories of purchases such as restaurants, groceries, shopping, lunch money, "fun money" (money you can spend for anything you like, no questions asked), etc.

A few times we have come to the end of the month and had a handful of grocery money left, so we play a little game. We go to Central Market, the swankiest, most high-end, slightly cringe-inducing glut of luxury grocery shopping ever to hit Dallas, Texas. Here are the rules:

1. We each get a certain amount of cash but not a penny more, and we leave our wallets at home (to avoid temptation).
2. Buy whatever you want.

Our strategies are different. I usually try to buy lots of low-priced items. Ben usually likes to buy one big purchase that is a luxury.

When we played this game a few days ago, the above photo documents our haul. We each had $9 or $10 to spend.

K bought: organic granny smith apples from California, tomato basil soup, Annie's organic cheddar shells 'n' cheese, and authentic English shortbread fingers.

Ben bought: sushi, and organic fancy shmancy ginger ale.

Top it all off with The Internationalist and The Reader (can you guess which of us chose each movie?!), and you have yourselves a Blockbuster Night ladies and gentlemen!

2009-09-24T16:57:00.000-05:00

I love you Kishani Perera!

What a fantastic big oval table!

Got genius?

2009-09-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

Imagine this:

You're going about your day. It's an ordinary day. Your phone rings.

The person on the other end of the line says he's with the MacArthur Foundation, and you've been selected as the winner of the Genius Grant, one of the most prestigious awards on our entire planet. Like, Nobel-Pulitzer-Congressional Medal of Honor-caliber prestigious. .

He further tells you you were nominated by an anonymous person, and that you've been evaluated over the past few years. There are no nomination forms, no grant applications, no interviews. You never know if you've been nominated until you get the call.

And you've won $500,000, to be paid over 5 years. And there are no strings attached. You can do whatever you want with it- no reporting, no evaluating, no expectations.

It happened to 25 people earlier this month. And it happens every fall to between 20 and 25 people.

Meet the 2009 MacArthur Foundation Fellows, aka the "Genius Grant".

Papermaker
Computer vision technologist
Novelist
Economist
Ornithologist
Mathmatician
Bridge engineer

One of them is 32. Rebecca Onie is a health entrepreneur who started a ministry addressing the connections between poverty and poor health, and plugged college students in to repair the unmet needs (housing, transportation, child care, etc) that keep the poor sick.

Party like its yo birthday.

2009-09-23T16:47:00.000-05:00

Hello friends. It's my birthday! It has been a delightful day so far for many reasons:
1. Dinner date with husband last night. He took me to Gloria's and endured FOUR STORES worth of shopping for the one item I asked for: curtains.
2. Red velvet cupcake from The Cupcakery with birthday candle.
3. Lunch with parents at Mattito's.
4. Brief shopping with Mom.
5. Savannah's bridesmaid dress came in.
6. Going to happy hour with dear friends.
7. Wore my favorite red shirt and lots of lipstick.
8. Gave myself a birthday gift by not fixing my hair:)
9. Cards from friends and family, and happy texts, and emails.

Very best part:
10. To this minute, $876 given to Buckner via my Facebook Cause birthday wish.

Tufted, chandelier, French chair. What more can I say.

Magical.

Is it the color combo? No countertrop space, though.

Those baskets would be a great way to hide all those bottles, sprays, etc.

Thank you, Brabourne Farm, for your delightful room ideas this week.

Really interesting: Brian McLaren over at Sojourners (see link at right) wrote a fascinating article today about knowing your environmental neighborhood. Not as defined by your school district, zip code, or city, but by your watershed. Do you know where your water comes from? Or where what you put down your sink goes? A watershed! And you can find it at this nifty government website.

Now, nobody will ever ask me this of course. But it is valuable to know simply because it makes me more aware of my connection to, and dependence on, the interwoven creation around me. Maybe if I know my watershed's name (it's "Upper Trinity", by the way) I won't dump my leftover bug spray or Clorox down the sink.

Also, that website allows you to see what citizen groups are at work doing cleanups, advocacy, etc in my watershed. There are 4 groups working to make sure my watershed is clean! Thank you!

One last tidbit: Earlier this week a group called the "Yes Men" pranked the New York Post by releasing 10,000 copies of a spoof version centered on the topic of climate change all around New York City ahead of the UN meeting going on there this week. While the spoof was a joke, the group says every fact and article in the paper is 100% true, and their purpose was to print news about global warming they feel is left out of the mainstream news.

This group apparently does lots of satire, "culture jamming" and shows up impersonating officials- from major corporate CEOs to the World Health Organization. Their website is hysterical- they have had their impersonators give satirical speeches in major conferences, on TV, and at major world events before when everyone in the audience thinks they are the real person. I love it.

Off to eat my birthday cupcake!

2009-09-22T17:10:00.000-05:00

Kisses from Katie is the most amazing blog I've discovered in a year. She and Nie Nie are tied for first place in the "most inspirational woman in the whole world who I feel like I know but don't actually know because we're best friends only in blog-land" category.

You know that prayer we pray? "On earth as it is in heaven"? Katie lives it.

She reminded me of a song I've heard before, and loved. God, "every child in Africa is yours."

Her blog recently included this quote:

"What, therefore, is our task today? Should I answer 'Faith, hope and love?' That sounds beautiful. But I would say - courage. No, even that is not challenging enough to be the whole truth. Our task today is recklessness. For what we Christians lack is not psychology or literature... we lack a holy rage - the recklessness which comes from the knowlege of God and humanity. The ability to rage when justice lies prostrate on the streets, and when the lie rages across the face of the earth... a holy anger about the things that are worng in the world. To rage against the ravaging of God's earth and and the desruction of God's people. To rage when little children must die of hunger, while the tables of the rich are sagging with food. To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and the madness of militaries. To rage against the lie that calls the threat of death and the strategy of destruction peace. To rage against COMPLACENCY. To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the kingdom of God."
-Father Kaj Munk, 1944

"Now that I have seen, I am responsible. Faith without works is dead."

Katie is asked often about her life in Uganda:
"As a young single woman, don't you think living in Africa is dangerous? Are you afraid?"

She responds:

I am more afraid of America.

Matthew 10:28 tells us not to fear things that can destroy the body but to fear things that can destroy the soul. I can literally feel my soul suffocating in the safety of Brentwood (Tennesse) and all it's numbness, complacency and comfort. Scary.

C.S. Lewis puts it this way:
"I shall feel rather nervous meeting a lion," said Susan.
"That you will, dearie, and make no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there is anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking they're either braver than most or just silly."
"Then He isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "Who said anything about safe?! Of Course He isn't safe. But He is good. He is the King I tell you."
(The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

PS.

My head spins as I think about the health care reform details. It is dizzyingly complex. However. When I'm about to throw up my hands and say I don't care, we should scrap the whole thing, I'm reminded- Something has GOT to be done. Here's why:

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health just declared that lack of health insurance is responsible for 45,000 deaths among working-age Americas each year.

First Day of Fall

2009-09-18T16:21:00.000-05:00

Dark walls. Glam. What incredible textures, especially on that tufted ottoman- what is that, fur? Feathers?

Incredible. Exposed brick and dark and bookcases.

Thank you Suz for posting Inspired Room's "Clean Enough". You could waste your whole life making every inch of your house flawlessly germ-free, but really, "clean enough" will do.

I know that technically the first day of fall isn't until next week. However, TODAY is the first day of fall for me. Here's why:

1. Currently wearing a sweater.

2. Aforementioned sweater is oh-so-fall mustard yellow. I'm practically the color of a grain harvest.

3. I ate chili for lunch. At a legit tailgate/chili cookoff.

4. I'm cheering for my team's first home game this weekend. Sic 'em, Bears!

5. It has rained 11 of the past 18 days, and highs are in the '80s. In Texas, that's practically a freeze.

6. Going on a road trip. In the next 72 hours I'll be in College Station, Houston, and Waco with dearly beloveds.

7. Going to a formal! Is this college again? Am I going to Firedance? Not quite, just a black tie wedding extravaganza starring a former Miss Houston.

8. Drinking hot tea like it's going out of style.

In your weekend free time, do yourself a favor a and please read Kisses from Katie, a blog by a fearless and faithful young woman living in Uganda.

Queen, Rooms, and Your Century

2009-09-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

I have to admit something very strange.

I am really, really, into Queen. Yeah, I know, its weird. I blame my dad for playing all that 70's rock music. I grew up listening to Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, and, yes, Queen.

Good clean fun.

I LOVE this idea below of using a door frame piece as a sort of headboard. Plus, don't you just want to jump and dance with her?

What a garden bliss!

Commencement Speech given by Paul Hawken to the University of Portland

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could givea simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate,lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” No pressure there.

Let’s begin with the startling part. Class of 2009: you are going tohave to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a timewhen every living system is declining, and the rate of decline isaccelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not onepeer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute thatstatement. Basically, civilization needs a new operating system, youare the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to havemisplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, orair, don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch thethermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceshipearth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are onone, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with noneed for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food—but allthat is changing.

There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you willreceive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I cantell you what it says: You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring. Theearth couldn’t afford to send recruiters or limos to your school. Itsent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and thatunbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And here’s thedeal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in thetime required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is notpossible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it wasimpossible only after you are done.

When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, myanswer is always the same: If you look at the science about what ishappening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand thedata. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earthand the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got apulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willingto confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restoresome semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. The poetAdrienne Rich wrote, “So much has been destroyed I have cast my lotwith those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power,reconstitute the world.” There could be no better description. Humanityis coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action is takingplace in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses, companies,refuge camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums.

You join a multitude of caring people. No one knows how many groupsand organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day:climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger,conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement theworld has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Ratherthan dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. LikeMercy Corps, it works behind the scenes and gets the job done. Large asit is, no one knows the true size of this movement. It provides hope,support, and meaning to billions of people in the world. Its cloutresides in idea, not in force. It is made up of teachers, children,peasants, businesspeople, rappers, organic farmers, nuns, artists,government workers, fisherfolk, engineers, students, incorrigiblewriters, weeping Muslims, concerned mothers, poets, doctors withoutborders, grieving Christians, street musicians, the President of theUnited States of America, and as the writer David James Duncan wouldsay, the Creator, the One who loves us all in such a huge way.

There is a rabbinical teaching that says if the world is ending andthe Messiah arrives, first plant a tree, and then see if the story istrue. Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befallus; it resides in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform,rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider. “One day you finally knewwhat you had to do, and began, though the voices around you keptshouting their bad advice,” is Mary Oliver’s description of moving awayfrom the profane toward a deep sense of connectedness to the livingworld.

Millions of people are working on behalf of strangers, even if theevening news is usually about the death of strangers. This kindness ofstrangers has religious, even mythic origins, and very specificeighteenth-century roots. Abolitionists were the first people to createa national and global movement to defend the rights of those they didnot know. Until that time, no group had filed a grievance except onbehalf of itself. The founders of this movement were largely unknown —Granville Clark, Thomas Clarkson, Josiah Wedgwood — and their goal wasridiculous on the face of it: at that time three out of four people inthe world were enslaved. Enslaving each other was what human beings haddone for ages. And the abolitionist movement was greeted withincredulity. Conservative spokesmen ridiculed the abolitionists asliberals, progressives, do-gooders, meddlers, and activists. They weretold they would ruin the economy and drive England into poverty. Butfor the first time in history a group of people organized themselves tohelp people they would never know, from whom they would never receivedirect or indirect benefit. And today tens of millions of people dothis every day. It is called the world of non-profits, civil society,schools, social entrepreneurship, non-governmental organizations, andcompanies who place social and environmental justice at the top oftheir strategic goals. The scope and scale of this effort isunparalleled in history.

The living world is not “out there” somewhere, but in your heart.What do we know about life? In the words of biologist Janine Benyus,life creates the conditions that are conducive to life. I can think ofno better motto for a future economy. We have tens of thousands ofabandoned homes without people and tens of thousands of abandonedpeople without homes. We have failed bankers advising failed regulatorson how to save failed assets. We are the only species on the planetwithout full employment. Brilliant. We have an economy that tells usthat it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time rather than renew,restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but youcan’t print life to bail out a planet. At present we are stealing thefuture, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domesticproduct. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healingthe future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for thefuture or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration andthe other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploitpeople and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a wayto get rich, it is a way to be rich.

The first living cell came into being nearly 40 million centuriesago, and its direct descendants are in all of our bloodstreams.Literally you are breathing molecules this very second that wereinhaled by Moses, Mother Teresa, and Bono. We are vastlyinterconnected. Our fates are inseparable. We are here because thedream of every cell is to become two cells. And dreams come true. Ineach of you are one quadrillion cells, 90 percent of which are nothuman cells. Your body is a community, and without those othermicroorganisms you would perish in hours. Each human cell has 400billion molecules conducting millions of processes between trillions ofatoms. The total cellular activity in one human body is staggering: oneseptillion actions at any one moment, a one with twenty-four zerosafter it. In a millisecond, our body has undergone ten times moreprocesses than there are stars in the universe, which is exactly whatCharles Darwin foretold when he said science would discover that eachliving creature was a “little universe, formed of a host ofself-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as thestars of heaven.”

So I have two questions for you all: First, can you feel your body?Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going onsimultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignoreit, and wonder instead when this speech will end. You can feel it. Itis called life. This is who you are. Second question: who is in chargeof your body? Who is managing those molecules? Hopefully not apolitical party. Life is creating the conditions that are conducive tolife inside you, just as in all of nature. Our innate nature is tocreate the conditions that are conducive to life. What I want you toimagine is that collectively humanity is evincing a deep innate wisdomin coming together to heal the wounds and insults of the past.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars onlycame out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, ofcourse. The world would create new religions overnight. We would beecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, thestars come out every night and we watch television.

This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other andthe multiple dangers that threaten civilization has never happened, notin a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is ascomplex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have donegreat things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoringcreation. You are graduating to the most amazing, stupefying challengeever bequested to any generation. The generations before you failed.They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight ofthe fact that life is a miracle every moment of your existence. Naturebeckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for a better boss. Themost unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer.Hope only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful. This isyour century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it.

Jillian Edwards

2009-09-11T13:16:00.002-05:00

Last night my friend Jillian Edwards debuted her new CD at Common Grounds in Waco, Texas, the favorite coffee and chill spot for all Baylor Bears. Her trusty harmony-singing sidekick is Kelsey Taylor, and they are so very talented! Check out Jillian on Tangle, MySpace, and Facebook.

Thank you Justin James for capturing this night!

09/09/09

2009-09-10T16:36:00.017-05:00

Welcome to today's round-up of NINE inspiring ideas in honor of yesterday, 09/09/09.

1) This fabulous bedroom via Desire to Inspire. I love those high-hung, soft curtains, the doors to the little patios, the library feel, and the fireplace. This may be one of the favorite bedrooms I have ever seen.

2) This dreamy pink bedroom via Brabourne Farm. Love the wrought iron, love the fireplace, and what a sweet design on the back of the chair.

3) This power suit via Carla Zampatti. Matrix-meets-evening suit.

4) The article "Getting Beyond the Confession and Guilt Checklist" by Julie Clawson over at Sojourners. It is a reflection upon the following quote from Rob Bell's recent sermon at Mars Hill:

Confession is admission, recognition, declaration, and agreement that we have participated in the wrong order of things — in ways that don’t further the Shalom of God. And then we repent and say we want to return to the order that God wants.

Knocked my socks off! Comforting and convicting at the same time.

5) This make-your-own-frame world map project from A Soft Place to Land.

For such a large piece of art, framing would be a big investment. But Kimba made her own out of door framing and corners in a few easy steps. PLUS she links to where you can buy these muted maps from Natural Geographic.

6) This site by New Choice Health.

Do you have any idea how widely the costs vary on medical procedures? Neither did I. Did you know you can haggle the costs down, ask for a discount for paying in cash, and otherwise "shop around" for best prices on medical procedures? We would never buy a car without shopping around at different dealers, so why should we spend tens of thousands on medical procedures without cost-comparing? This site lists costs nation-wide. As a test, I looked up costs for hernia repair surgery in Dallas, TX. Costs ranged from $1,000 to $2,500 - that's a big difference!

7)Texas Price Point is a very similar website run by the Texas Hospitals Association, but it is limited only to Texas facilities' prices. Its purpose differs slightly- this website makes you chose a specific procedure AND a specific hospital, and it helps you estimate what your bill will be. For instance, delivering a full-term baby via an uncomplicated Caesarean section at Baylor Hospital in downtown Dallas costs an estimated $10,387 and requires an average 4.3 day stay. The Dallas county average is just over $12,250 with an average 3.7 day stay.

8) The latest catalogue by British clothing and home decor company Toast.

9) The Toast home catalogue (on the same site).

Birthday wishes, birthday kisses, sweetest of them all.

2009-09-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

My birthday is September 23rd, and there's just one thing I want...

Click here to see what it is.

2009-09-07T13:46:00.001-05:00

Kelly Wearstler. That copper color is growing on me, and we all know how I feel about black high-gloss floors.

John Bessler. I dream of wide-planked wood floors. I love how the drapes pool.

Desire to Inspire. Looks like a perfect place for cozy community.

Jennifer Worts, above and below. I love the leaded glass below- but the lead is in white, how interesting.

“Humility agrees and is glad that everything we have is a free gift of God, and that this severs the root of boasting in our distinctives. Whatever talents, whatever intelligence, what ever skills, whatever gifts, whatever looks, whatever pedigree, whatever possessions, whatever wit, whatever influence you have, put away all pride because it is a gift, and put away all despair because it is a gift from God.”

- John Piper, Greatness, Humility, Servanthood (via OFI)

Internet Monk makes a really interesting point in his most recent blog post about how in the gospel of Mark, the opposite of faith is not unbelief, but fear. This alone was extremely convicting to me.

He goes on to make the interesting observation that the media, as it continues to grow and become increasingly competitive, is frenzied to get attention, influence, and viewers, and that one way it does this is to engender a state of perma-crisis. Everything becomes a giant crisis now that needs immediate live coverage, viewer polls, and analysis from a large panel of experts.

I like cable news. I watch a lot of it. More than an hour a day, I'd say. When it comes to fear, and my Lord's loving instruction to fear nothing, but to cast all my anxieties on him, what effect does my heavy, steady diet of crises have? I think you can guess whether all that news makes me more or less anxious, more or less peaceful. I would never in a million years advocate sticking our heads in the sand or being uninformed- the past is prologue, after all, but still.

Hot Bliggity Blog makes adorable blog backgrounds.

2009-09-05T19:18:00.002-05:00

Wash your hands, yo. And Martha's House.

2009-09-05T18:56:00.000-05:00

Mind blowing. H1N1 Flu rap.

I know, your mind is blown.
While we're at it, check out Martha's house:

That guest book is unreal! It requires two whole tables!

Now we are free.

2009-09-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

"To be free does not mean to be great in the world, to be free against our brothers and sisters, to be free against God; but it means to be free from ourselves, from our untruth, in which it seems as if I alone were there, as if I were the center of the world; to be free from the hatred…to be free FOR others. God’s truth alone allows me to see others."

(Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "On Freedom": July 24, 1932)

Ruby.

2009-09-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

I have a secret weapon named Ruby.

No, not this kind. No, not this Ruby, either.
For the uninitiated, this is Ruby, the 700 pound woman trying to lose weight and find love on TV.

This is my Ruby secret weapon. Bobbi Brown lip sheer in #6 Ruby.

There is something very feminine and powerful about putting on lipstick.

Ruby brings instant confidence before a big meeting.

In other news, apparently everyone is getting gaga for fall. I object. It is not fall. It is hardly even September, and all good Texans know it is summer here until at least Halloween. I wear shorts on Thanksgiving, people.

However.

I'll consent to a little early season-changing love, because, after all, fall is my favorite season. Some fall inspiration:
Anyone for a late summer picnic? I'll fetch my plaid blanket. While I'm at it, I'll re-do my guest room, straight out of a Ralph Lauren hunting expedition.

No discussion of the change in seasons would be complete without a reminder to keep in our prayers dear Satpack (who moved to Nairobi yesterday), Smiller (moving to Madrid within days), the Philosopher (pining away for Peru), and Dr. & Mrs. Pinson (having no less of a life adjustment in scenic College Station).

These formerly Circus-dwelling Traveling Bears are indeed flinging their green and gold afar as they start new chapters of life in all corners of the globe.

Time for a Ruby re-app and a tasty lunch.

Time to spare.

2009-08-31T17:03:00.000-05:00

Birthday approaches. Time for a Big Girl Watch?
Can a petite girl do an oversized watch?

2009-08-31T16:07:00.000-05:00

I went overboard today. Rooms, rooms galore!

Mm, so good!

Stop the presses.

2009-08-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

INCREDIBLY POWERFUL ARTICLE in this week's New York Times:

The Women's Crusade: Saving the World's Women

Did you know that more women are missing from the world right now simply due to their gender than all the men killed in all the wars of the entire 20th century?

That assertion is based on the fact that while every country should have an even population of men and women, many have striking gender imbalances. China and India, for example, have 107 and 108 men for every woman respectively. There are almost a hundred million women "missing", more than the deaths from all 20th century wars. That comes from practices of aborting female unborn children, killing female infants just after birth, denying health care to little girls when money is too tight to provide care to all one's children, and high rates of death in childbirth.

A shocking paragraph:

And why does everyone benefit when women enter the work force and bring home
regular pay checks? One reason involves the dirty little secret of global
poverty: some of the most wretched suffering is caused not just by low incomes
but also by unwise spending by the poor — especially by men.
Our interviews and perusal of the data available suggest that the poorest
families in the world spend approximately 10 times as much (20 percent of their
incomes on average) on a combination of alcohol, prostitution, candy, sugary
drinks and lavish feasts as they do on educating their children (2 percent). If
poor families spent only as much on educating their children as they do on beer
and prostitutes, there would be a breakthrough in the prospects of poor
countries. Girls, since they are the ones kept home from school now, would be
the biggest beneficiaries.
Moreover, one way to reallocate family expenditures in this way is to put
more money in the hands of women. A series of studies has found that when women
hold assets or gain incomes, family money is more likely to be spent on
nutrition, medicine and housing, and consequently children are healthier.

Whoa! Another interesting section explores the correlation between the most repressive societies toward women and societies with high terrorism rates. Countries that marginalize women are more likely to be hotbeds for terrorism- so repression of girls is a national security issue!

Read this article, yall.

F Peace U and Geez

2009-08-26T13:50:00.000-05:00

As my friend Steph once said, "I hate money." Dealing with newlywed finances can be a major source of conflict for lots of reasons. However.

Ben and I took Financial Peace University last spring, and it has, by FAR, been the best thing we've done for our marriage. Better than any marriage book, seminar, or class.

Financial Peace University is a class on money. There are 13 lessons on everything from retirement to insurance to financial communication to real estate. We did the DVD version where you watch a one-hour lesson once a week for 13 weeks. My parents are bankers and financial planners so I thought I was very financially literate, but I would honestly say that probably 30% of what Dave Ramsey taught was new to me.

Check out these free Dave Ramsey budgeting forms (we use the "monthly cash flow planner"). Today I printed a new budget form and we'll have our little two-person "budget committee meeting" to make our plan for September. It takes less than 30 minutes and has made a huge difference- we have not had one single "money fight" since last February.

It may sound really yucky, technical, or boring to fill out detailed budgets, but you know what's REALLY yucky? Debt and money stress ruining your marriage and keeping you from your dreams. So do it!

Incredibly interesting thoughts from Geez today (see link in right hand column):

If I were to use blatantly racist language in a Geez article, my inbox would probably fill with protest from progressives. But if I use blatantly racist electricity – that is, electricity from hydroelectric dams that harm indigenous people – to power my computer, I can pretty much be assured the progressiveness police will not pay heed. The social sanction against racist language is much harsher than that for racist consumption. (And I would argue that much of our consumption involves exploitation of minority ethnic groups.)

I see a tendency within the progressive-minded subculture to scrutinize only a very particular set of behaviours. These tend to be the behaviours, such as language, that are easiest to change without infringing on our most cherished entitlements – primarily the entitlement to our comfy, middle-class lives.

The same principle applies to other easy progressive behaviours. It’s easier to switch to fair trade coffee than to give up addiction to foods from an ocean away. It’s easier to become pro-queer than to become poor, that is, to quit the over-consumptive middle class. In short, the code of progressive behaviour tends to dodge the tough stuff.

It is, of course, possible to do both the easy and tough stuff. But I worry that PC can be to equality what recycling is to environmentalism – it makes us feel like we’ve done our part even though we never get near the crux of the matter. I worry that too often it’s about us trying to make ourselves appear and feel sophisticated within our subculture, thereby creating a veneer of enlightenment that masks real issues.

But that all sounds harsher and more categorical than I mean it to. I get too impatient with process when big tasks await. Ample room must be left for exceptions, counter-arguments and, most of all, the grace we need to face a terribly incorrect world.

Will Braun is editor of Geez. He is white, male, educated, relatively slim, hetero, healthy and more middle class than he’d like to admit.

I fought the law and the law won.

2009-08-24T14:57:00.000-05:00

I love my wedding photos, with all my heart.

Dear friends,
My least favorite thing in the entire universe might be traffic tickets.
So.
In the interest of protecting your pocketbooks, I bring you...

New traffic laws in Texas.

1. Teen Drivers: Effective September 1, 2009, the laws for teenage drivers are getting tougher. Drivers younger than 18 are banned from using cell phones while driving (dialing, talking, texting).

2. Driving in a School Zone: Effective September 1, 2009, the use of a wireless device within a school zone is prohibited (except while the vehicle is stopped or with a hands-free device). The fine is up to $200. Note: Cities must post a sign at each school zone (For you Dallas Dwellers, the signs are already up in Highland Park).

3. Seat Belts: Effective September 1, 2009, all occupants of a vehicle, no matter their age, front and back seat, must wear seatbelts.
And second of all, thank you to Aubrey at Made You Blush for giving me a blog award! She writes a wonderful fashion blog and is so kind to think of me. Thanks!

Thirdly, I have discovered a very essential piece of life wisdom today.

For all of you who stress out when you wake up to discover an unfortunate breakout, a terrible hair day, or other issues that you feel everyone is noticing, fear not!

......because today I discovered you can cut eight inches off your hair and almost nobody will even notice. It's comforting, really.

I should have learned this lesson when it comes to weddings. You may lay awake at night worrying whether the shade of red in the church carpet will clash with the red in the bridesmaids' dresses, but the truth is...

... just a few short months (or even weeks!) after your wedding, even your best friends won't be able to remember what song you walked down the aisle to, or what color the bouquets were.

It's comforting, really.
Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.
- Mohandas Gandhi
What does this mean in my life? What people, or systems, must I stop cooperating with?
Oh, hey, and ps: Did you know Mexico quietly legalized drugs this week? Marijuana, heroin, LSD, and cocain in small amounts "for personal use" are now legal. This is meant to free up the justice system so they can go after the "big fish", but what will it mean for addiction, for the health care system, for families?

Black walls.

2009-08-21T23:41:00.000-05:00

I love black walls. I think they make a room feel glamorous, sophisticated, comforting, and restful. Black walls are for serious rooms- serious working, serious sleeping. Not for distraction-intense rooms, but rooms for focusing.
This afternoon I had coffee with my 1st grade best friend who moved away when we were little. What a delight it was to re-connect and bond over her passion for the Lord and her incredible experiences serving as an intern with Buckner this past summer in Peru.
This Weekend: A List

1. Attend Cork Hunters launch event (very cool new website founded by my husband's close friend. Like a Pandora for wine. Will discuss more soon.)
2. Go to bed early. Already pushing the limits on this one.....
3. Get a haircut. It's been 6+ months. Probably my last one at the FancyShamcySalon. I just can't justify the expense.
4. Go to Leasha's wedding.
5. Catch up with Laura.
6. Take advantage of Texas Tax Free Weekend.
7. See Mamma Mia at Dallas Summer Musicals with my Mamma.

PS. Mountains Beyond Mountains is incredible. Almost done. Read it, stat.

Wisdom and Rooms

2009-08-20T15:02:00.000-05:00

Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist.
- Proverbs 23:4

“Carve your name on hearts, not on marble”—Charles Spurgeon

I think that I have never lost the intuition

that community life could be a sign

that God is love, and love alone.
- Brother Roger, Swiss theologian and

founder of Taizé, an ecumenical monastic community in France

The God of life summons us to life; more, to be lifegivers,
especially toward those who lie under the heel of the powers.

- Daniel Berrigan, Jesuit priest, poet, and peace activistThank you, Design Sponge, for this green alternative to Clorox:

Homemade, Dollar-Saving, Fragrance-Uplifting, All-Purpose Spray

The Goods:
-1 empty 32 oz. spray bottle-3/4 c. Distilled White Vinegar
-1 c. Hydrogen Peroxide-1 1/2 tsp. Castille Soap (Such as Dr. Bronner )
-30 drops Tea Tree Oil
-30 drops Essential Oil of choice (some of my favorite choices include lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, lemon verbena, spearmint, clove, cinnamon, anise, sage, grapefruit, lemon, and lime; experiment with one or a combo and see what scent makes you want to get lean and clean!)

The Deal:
-Place all ingredients into the spray bottle using a funnel or measuring cup with a spout.
-Add water until contents reach top of bottle.
-Shake vigorously and use with abandon!

Heck, why not, one more! Jill and Kels

2009-08-18T23:27:00.001-05:00

My brother is dating a straight-up celebrity.

This is my favorite song they sing:)

I wanna watch sunrise, with my love by my side.
I wanna rise and I wanna fall.
I wanna be a songbird.

While we're at it, Kari Jobe.

2009-08-18T23:12:00.000-05:00

Listened to this in the car with best friends at Plu's wedding. Changed my life. Try to focus on the song, not the visuals of this worship conference.

So good.

Anderson Everson.

2009-08-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

Congress Park, Denver.
Merry Maids.
Brit and gents.
Rain stopped in time to throw the football.
This weekend, in Colorado, my dear Anderson became an Everson.
It was an emo musician field day. Literally.
Am I a rock and roll photographer?
My color editor had a field day, too.
Sic em Bears.
Lovers.
Rehearsing.
Well-wishes before the Bachelorette.
Up, up, and away went prayers for B.
Metaphor for her happiness.
Summer ending.
Phil

Wickham

We walked down the aisle to this song at Brittany's wedding.

My favorite song of her reception:

Above, on Letterman. Below, in a rad Discovery Channel commercial:

2009-08-18T09:12:00.000-05:00

[I]'ll take the hand of those who don't know the way, who can't see where they are going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them - sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute". (Isaiah 42:16, MSG)

Last week: A Photo Essay

2009-08-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

Last week was one heck of a week. The evidence:

Weekend at the lake
Nathan's 80's birthday party

Time spent sorting bazillions of school supplies, many donated by my very generous small group
I'm the luckiest girl in the whoooole school.

Room room pow.

2009-08-12T14:26:00.000-05:00

Love the gorgeous floor.Love every single thing.

Love those mirrors.

That lefthand wall is wallpaper!

Looks like the inside of my head.

That claw food bathtub....

The wide-plank ceiling, the red chair, the tufted ottoman, the pendant fixtures...

Check out http://www.empirevintage.com.au/ for a gorgeous little antique shop, and the home of some of these beautiful interiors.

Lake Mode

2009-08-11T16:01:00.000-05:00

Dear friends,

I am in Lake Mode. I wish I lived in Lake Mode.

Where you listen to the water and the birds. Where you find shapes in clouds. Where you hang on a tube for dear life while flying over the wake and feel very, very alive. Where you cannot remember where your shoes are. Where you eat whatever you like, cause it's vacation.

And, best of all, in Lake Mode you live in community. My friend Mark and I have decided we should all live in a compound. My friend Satpack kind of did once- she grew up on a cul-de-sac with her cousins next door, and all the mommas raised all the kids. Another friend this weekend knew of another cul-de-sac where all the families rotated cooking dinner, each family cooking one night each week. Pics forthcoming...

I swear, we were made to live that way. In a little Tribe.

One day.

Salsa, yum.

2009-08-09T01:08:00.000-05:00

The Luna de Noche salsa was incredible! Just like in the restaurant. Here's the recipe:

2 32-ounce cans of whole peeled tomatoes (28 oz is fine)
3 jalapenos
5 bunches of cilantro
1 tablespoon and 2 tsp granulated garlic (garlic powder)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Boil the jalapenos for 3 minutes, drain, remove seeds and ends.
Remove the stalks from the cilantro
Puree the tomatoes, cilantro, and jalapenos in a blender/food processor.
Put puree in a big bowl.
After all pureeing is done, add in spices, oil and lemon juice and mix.
Voila!

It was very, very delicious.

It was very fortunate that a) my husband was out for a guys' night, b) we had all the ingredients in the house, c) I made it all by myself (this is rare, it is Husband who is the chef in our little duo), and d) it turned out splendidly. This is fortunate because then afterward I met some girls for Julie & Julia, and if I had not just come off of a culinary high myself, I would've felt very inadequate.

In other news, we're going to the lake tomorrow and Monday! It will be just like this, right?Dear, dear friends, beautiful scenery, tasty drinks and eats, stories that are better with age... plus, the two cutest children in the universe. Truly, what tops that.

Atheists in Megachurch, and Happy Weekend

2009-08-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

Yikes. Be forewarned. This article is tough.

An Australian Atheist attended a mega-church near her home and wrote about her experience . It is my worst nightmare. Have I mentioned my love for black and white photography, and pendant lamps?

I ran across a great quote. The article was about a writer who did a social experiment and got his news only from newspapers (no TV or internet news) for a few weeks. His review of the experience ended with these words:

"Ultimately, I think these changes are helping me stay more focused throughout the day on things that are pure, excellent, and beautiful (Phil 4:8), and less on things that are trivial and easily entangle us (Heb.12:1)."

I wish those were my words..... about life in general.

Happy weekend dear ones. Weekend plans:
1. Make green Luna de Noche (my favorite restaurant) salsa with recipe stolen off internet
2. Complete new bulletin board to make visual prayer requests (photos of people I'm praying for, to remind me)
3. Spent a few hours in Excel (I'm the membership officer in my Alta Mater's alumni club and its sign-up time)
4. Read Crazy Love
5. Get oil change
6. Mexican food (see #1) Julie & Julia with mom, brother's girlfriend, and her mom
7. Attend Nathan's '80's themed 28th birthday party
8. Go to the lake for Sunday and Monday!

Angels

2009-08-05T11:27:00.000-05:00

On Friday, 10 beautiful children flew to Texas from St. Petersburg, Russia. They are orphans, and they are between the ages of 6 and 11. We call them the Angels from Abroad. They are staying with host families, some of whom plan to adopt them. We are praying that all 10 children (including 3 sets of siblings) find their "forever families" as a result of these three weeks. While they are here, they fill their time going to swim parties, the rodeo, the lake, Vacation Bible School, and other fun kids' activities. Here they are after a fun swim party. Let's be praying for these kids.

You can follow their daily fun at http://www.angelsfromabroad.com (especially check out the blog- more pics and stories).

And while we're on the photo kick......
Me, in Grandpa's garden, mid-80's.

V. interesting.

2009-08-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

A veeeery interesting article over at Sojo blog titled "Beer Diplomacy" exploring connections between alcoholic beverages, spirituality, community, and Obama's soothing racial tensions over a beer at the White House. An exerpt:

“Moralists work hard to maintain the wedge between spirituality and alcohol — it’s what keeps them in power,” said Sean Lilly Wilson, a friend and classmate of mine from Wheaton College and founder of the craft brewery Fullsteam in Durham, N.C. “But there’s no evidence that Jesus wanted this separation. Quite the contrary! Alcohol and community are central themes in Jesus’ first miracle (the wedding at Cana) and his final act (the Eucharist).”
An veeeery interesting article reprinted at Shapevine called "The Bottom Billion" describes why certain countries are growing more developed (India, China, Brazil) while others at the very bottom (the poorest 1/6 of the world) are much poorer today than in 1970. He describes four traps that keep countries from prospering, and how those four traps keep foreign aid from working to help people.A veeeeery interesting response to a very controversial topic by some smart Catholics over at Busted Halo:

Is the story of creation in Genesis literally true? Joe Paprocki Anwsers:

The story is true but not necessarily fact. Huh? Catholic Scripture scholars tell us that some parts of the Bible use figurative language to express God’s truth. Figurative language can express truth without relying on fact. We use figurative language all the time. For example, if it’s raining very hard, we say that it’s “raining cats and dogs.” That statement is true but not fact. In the same way, we know now that some parts of the Bible employed figurative language.

Why? Because the illiterate culture that the Bible came out of did not have the kind of science that we have today. They were concerned more with truth than they were with facts. Does this make the creation story and certain other Biblical passages mere “fairy tales?” Absolutely not. Everything in the Bible is true. In other words, everything in the Bible is the revealed Word of God that teaches us the truth about God and our relationship with him. The creation story (by the way, there are two creation stories! Take a look at Genesis 1:1-2:4a and 2:4b-25), and the entire Bible, is primarily concerned with religious truth. Darwin’s theory of evolution and the Big Bang theory are concerned with scientific truth. There is no conflict between the two (Pope Benedict XVI said as much not long ago).

As Catholics, we don’t have to choose between creationism and science. Now, having said all that, the Bible is indeed filled with many historical facts, many of them quite accurate. It is important to read good Catholic commentaries to guide us when it comes to determining the historicity of an event we encounter in the Bible. To get a good understanding of how Catholics are to interpret the Bible, take a look at a very helpful document published by the Pontifical Biblical Commission titled The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.

2009-07-30T18:04:00.000-05:00

As a young girl I had four black and white photos framed in my bedroom. They had been torn out of magazines, and were all ads. To my delight, I found one on a blog today- this one, by Lillian Bassman! Finally, credit where credit is due!

__________________________

In other news. Did you know that if you are a man in Gaza, you can beat your 27-year-old daughter, who has five small children of her own, to death with a metal chain in public, and that's ok if you hear her on the phone with a man who isn't her husband?

Or, much closer to home...
Tanning in sunbeds has been declared to be as cancer-causing as cigarettes and asbestos.
I must confess, I went before prom, and before my wedding.... yikes.
Really guys, I'm done forever.
I swear.

Today's fun activity: shopping for baby clothes, accessories, and other accouterments.
For work.
I swear.

My boss is going to Ethiopia next week, and he's taking several suitcases full of aid (around here we call them "bum bags") to the school in Bantu as well as our baby home (where all the children are adoptable and waiting for forever families!). So guess who gets to shop for, and pack, all that baby aid? Yours truly. An amazing assignment.

The library: So hot right now.

2009-07-29T16:22:00.001-05:00

The American public library system has been around since our country was just days old. Libraries in general stretch back to Persian and even Greco-Roman times.

But man, I'm telling you.

Libraries are so hot right now. The library is the place.to.BE. The ultimate Recessionista tool.

Did you know, fellow Dallas citizens (far-flung dear friends, I'm sure its not so different where you are either), that you can walk into any branch, get a card for free in about 45 seconds, and instantly start getting every magazine, book, CD, or DVD that strikes your fancy for absolutely free?

Or, that you can go online, type in the phone number associated with your library card, and request that any magazine, book, CD, or DVD you can think of be sent to the branch nearest to your home? They'll call you when it arrives and you just flounce in and pick it up- gratis.

In theory, I knew this happened already. But in practice, this revolutionizes my life.

Remember how I was interested in Crazy Love yesterday? It's retailing for $11 on Amazon. In the grocery store yesterday, I was inches away from buying the August issues of Vogue and Martha Stewart Living, which retail for about $6 or $7 each. I've also been thinking about buying the DVD of Mad Men, Season 2 (in anticipation of the Season 3 premier next week!), which sells for $25.

Instead, I went to the library and all four things were freezy. Can you imagine how much money we spent in a year on things that are available for free?

For example, did you know at http://books.google.com/ you can get hundreds of titles for free, in PDF form? Especially those of you still in school, most classics are online for free- they have 4,690 copies of The Scarlett Letter.

(Incidentally, read this fascinating article from Vogue about 34-year-old fashionista/top Google Executive Marissa Mayer).

The weekend: A Triptych.

2009-07-28T19:01:00.000-05:00

Fort Worth Congratulations, Mrs. Lamar!
Chef Ben, at it again.

2009-07-28T16:30:00.000-05:00

An interview with Francis Chan, pastor of a church in Simi Valley and author of Crazy Love:

Q: Your church focuses an unusual amount of its resources on giving: to the
poor, to the needy, to the outcast. Is this one of your church’s responses to
God’s “crazy love”?

A: Absolutely. If one hundred people represented the world’s population, fifty-three of
those would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4000 a
month, you automatically make one hundred times the average person on this
planet?

Which is more messed up—that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that
we don’t think we are rich? That on any given day we might flippantly call ourselves
“broke” or “poor”? We are neither of those things.

We are rich. Filthy rich.

Happy birthday to me.

2009-07-28T14:32:00.000-05:00

A major milestone is upon us.....

Today is my one-year anniversary of employment! One year ago I was a clueless little graduate, frantically writing down notes, wandering the halls looking for someone's desk, never understanding the dozens of acronyms bandied about, unable to even locate a simple postage stamp.

I also spent a lot of time running for the DART train.

I've seen the corporate landscaping turn all four seasons (or, who am I kidding?, two seasons- that's all we have in Texas).

I've seen the angry swarm of protesting carpenters go from a giant line of neon-yellow-wearing-vests to a mere tricky of silent sign-holders.

Truly, they are still protesting one year later. Methinks perhaps it would be more effective to go back to work, but I'm no labor expert...I have yet to master the art of lunch preparation. I still eat crap frozen lunches altogether too often. The extra five minutes it would take to throw together a sandwich have proved elusive....

I still dwell here, among the stacks of enviro-unfriendly printed reports. My happy yellow lamp and happy yellow cup and happy yellow mini legal pad greet me each morning, and I've even managed to kick to five-plus-Jolly Ranchers-per-day-from-the-candy-bowl habit.

Very early in my work life, I made two lists: Things To Do in the Spring, and Things to Do in Life. Accomplished items are in bold.

Things to Do in the Spring:
Arboretum
pool
fruity drinks
Easter eggs
walks
yoga
gardening
concerts

Things to Do in Life:
supper club
book club
yoga
Bible study
wine tasting
gardening
film club
tea parties (does it count if I drink Honey Lemon Green every morning, but its by myself?)
crafts
cooking
outdoors
reading
mentors
live green (can't decide. I recycle?)

Mixed success. Still early in the game.

___________________________

My dear friend Laura sent me two quotes from Crazy Love, a book that is rocking her world.

"Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers."

"Lukewarm people do not live by faith. Their lives are structured so they never have to."

Oooohhhh dear. Looks like this intriguing read had just lept to the top of my next-buy list.

Here's to another year! Thank you, Lord, for my job.

Join along, friends!

2009-07-28T14:30:00.000-05:00

Dear friends,
Would you mind doing me a favor? If you've got a sec, would you click the "follow" button over in the margin to the right?
Thanks much,
K

This weekend.

2009-07-24T13:56:00.000-05:00

Aerin Lauder's office

As a fellow morning train rider, I think this is hilarious, and also a good check at our pride in general.

This weekend:

1. Dinner date at my favorite restaurant for feasting

2. Delivering a pool table (donated by a very generous member of my small group) to Buckner's Wynnewood after-school center in South Dallas.

3. Appointment with wedding album designer to edit the proof of our album

4. Wedding in downtown Fort Worth

5. Sabbath

6. Finally, finally, the long-awaited day I have anticipated for one whole year.....

No, no, I can't wait, I will be there at eight, when they unlock the doooooor!

LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL!

Listen, people, in general I greatly dislike the model of womanhood whose motto is "bigger-flashier-blonder-louder-sparklier-pinker" and usually emphasizes shopping, spa treatments, and gossip magazines as the epitome of female life.

However.

I absolutely adore this musical. Take it for what it is: pure entertainment, show-stopping vocals, and just plain fun. Witty lyrics, excellent choreography- its fantastic. Can't wait.

Girltalk.

2009-07-23T15:20:00.000-05:00

This is what the inside of my brain feels like: This is what I'd be wearing today if the world were my closet:

"If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

- Lilla Watson, Aboriginal elder, educator, and activist

Dream house will have lots of black decor.

Tufted chair, library, bliss.

Noir and odd. Very Harry Potter.

Ok.

Let's get real: July has had the highest monthly death toll of US soldiers in Afghanistan since the war began 8 years ago. I care in a general, abstract way as an American, I guess. But for one very specific reason, this announcement causes chill bumps on my heart:

He's my (not-so-little) baby brother, and he belongs to the United States Marine Corps. He's not in Afghanistan now, but when he's done with his current tour he may well go there.

If the Secretary of the Navy asks me (I'm waiting by the phone for that call any minute), I'll tell him to send Matt to ride a desk in Cleveland.

Faith and trust are tough:)

-------------------------------------------

In other news, let's get girly:

There are few things more princess-y than turning a spare bedroom into a "dressing room"...
Or Grecian, goddess-y flowing gowns....

Or incredible, luxe home design. This home, apparently somewhere in Dallas, belongs to Samantha Reitmayer , via Design Sponge.

Beautiful.
Would any self-respecting man allow such a feminine aesthetic in his home? Mine, alas, would probably not go for some of the details, but I think this home is gorgeous. While we're at it, I'm also digging her blog, Style Swoon. It's offic. added to the Reader.

Love that Internet Monk.

2009-07-22T16:54:00.000-05:00

From Internet Monk, whose blog I love very much:

“If we believe the Gospel, doesn’t it seem a bit contradictory to….”

1. Adopt a pious and pretty obviously phony kind of overly serious demeanor? As if there were something wrong with smiling and having normal conversation? What is this “we’re acting like the Puritans in The Crucible” routine? No one is getting any points for that kind of act. Quit it.

2. Always point out the sins of your favorite target groups like gays or political liberals or Hollywood? Their sins are no more offensive than yours, and Jesus hasn’t asked you to make sure everyone knows how really offended you are. Plus, it’s not a witness to be offended and angry. It just increases the reputation Christians have as being on emotional egg shells when it comes to someone doing something they think is wrong.

3. Not have your beliefs about church challenged at all? Ever? For any reason? When you put the Gospel all out there on the table, and you consider what it means, how can it not challenge the idea that most of what we are to do is go to church programs or make your pastor into a celebrity? I’m not saying the Gospel deconstructs the church, but if the Gospel hasn’t knocked a few holes in your assumptions about the church, something isn’t tickin’ or kickin’ Check out your Gospel please.

4. Hold on to all of your money and possessions exactly like the non-Christians next door? Money and possessions are a pretty predictable sign of where your real treasure is, according to one well known authority.

5. Not be able to explain the Gospel in any kind of coherent manner, or even to lay out the basics of the Gospel in a talk, lesson, conversation or (God help us) sermon? I don’t get it. Why are we telling people they are saved by “asking Jesus into their heart?” Why are we saying that if we progress towards “goodness,” we will be saved by Christ? How can we be this confused about something this basic? How can we constantly talk to people about morals and behavior, then say we were talking about the Gospel?

6. Be more concerned about the culture war, the environment or politics than about missions in the 10/40 window or resourcing the church in Asia and Africa? After all, they are only Africans. Right? Jesus was an American white guy apparently.

7. Still harbor the idea that most Christians are probably in your denomination, and while they may exist elsewhere, it’s kind of a miracle, because your church is really the only church that God actually uses in a serious way? The church is God’s people seen from God’s perspective. Your camp is part of it, but if you are telling yourself that God sees your church as THE church and other churches as something else, Heaven is going to be a real downer for you.

8. Not really care what’s in the song lyrics you use in worship? Doesn’t it seem odd to sing man-centered songs with almost no mention of the Gospel and not even notice that our affections aren’t being directed toward Christ at all? I like a tune and a fun chorus. I like to see people involved emotionally, but the New Testament has entire hymns explaining the incarnation and none about “the secret place.” I’m just sayin…

9. Be so sure we know exactly how God is applying the Gospel through the Holy Spirit in the lives of other people? Wouldn’t it follow that if God provided everything for our salvation, he isn’t turning over the application of the Gospel to us and our comfort zones, but is applying the Gospel in the world according to a plan that may be just as surprising from our point of view?

10. To not be absolutely staggered with wonder, humility and awe? If you believe it, it’s amazing. If you kinda believe it, you’re a little amazed. If you don’t believe it, you’re bored.

I put the fun in funeral?

2009-07-21T13:59:00.000-05:00

Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.
- Henri Nouwen

I've been meaning to read some Henri Nouwen for over a year now, ever since I went to a funeral for a friend's father whose life had been changed by Nouwen's writings.

Speaking of funerals, this afternoon I'll attend my third in two weeks.

The circle of life continues... weddings, weddings, everywhere, and not a sec to think.
Three pregnancies and one engagement announced this month in my various worlds of friends, and three funerals. Two of the funerals were for people in their 20's killed by automobiles, the third for a man who served in ministry for many decades.

I felt a moment of shock and realization when I was reflecting upon the fact that several deaths has occurred in the families of people I love this month: this must be a sliver of what its like to live among the communities of the poor, the refugees, the war-torn.

Three families I love are facing death this month, and I am indignant and shocked. Then I realize- in many tribes and towns, three deaths every month or week or even every DAY is the norm, because of attacks, or hunger, or disease.

I think about what's stressing me out today, and it pales in comparison to many others' griefs.

Like my friend Katie P likes to say, I'm the luckiest girl in the whole school.

News roundup.

2009-07-17T12:05:00.000-05:00

What's new in the world? Well, 5 minutes watching CNN will give you the latest on Sonia Sotomayor and health care legislation. Lesser known news:

After-school budgets are taking a huge hit as almost every state in the nation racks up huge deficits. States make their 2010 budgets right now, and after-school care is getting decreased. This seems counter-productive and short-sighted to me: for every dollar cut from after-school programs (like the one I visited on Sunday), I can guarantee the state will pay higher costs later in health care, welfare, prisons, courts, etc because of the bad decisions teens and kids make when unsupervised and with nothing productive to do. (Want to give to support private after-school care since the government is slashing budgets? http://www.buckner.org/, please.)

A new US immigration policy will grant legal asylum to women from other countries who were suffering serious domestic violence and aren't protected by their own governments. Many countries on this planet do not protect their women from rape, violent beatings, property theft, and other abuse- now, the US is stepping up to become a safe haven for these ladies. Bravo, Immigration Dept! This is the kind of America I want to see.

Michelle Obama's great-great-grandfather was a slave, and geneaologists have now found records as well as the still-standing slave quarters in which he lived on a rice plantation.

Lastly: could this home office be any sassier? What a corporate femme fatale I would feel like in there! That's a West Elm Parsons desk, painted pink, and I love those windows, the peacock lamp, and the monogram. Another West Elm Parsons desk, under my dream dining room painting:

Happy Friday, friends. I'll be off to a getaway in Georgetown if you need me.

Hope Now

2009-07-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

My favorite song this week.

When I was in high school this band, Addison Road, led worship at my church for a few years. I am so proud of them. I love the lead singer Jenny's fantastic blog about new mommyhood, faith, and all other manner of daily life.

Everything rides on hope now.

American Idols

2009-07-15T09:10:00.001-05:00

From the Journey email today:

Some people invest all their energy in pursuit of money, success, possessions, or a career. If these idols are taken away, only an empty shell is left.

The only way to protect yourself against such loss is to invest your life in the living God, whom you can never lose. I have found that it is very easy for idols to slip into my life, and I often find myself obsessing on things with no lasting value. Daily time with Jesus is the only solution.

Prayers for Hunter.

2009-07-14T13:57:00.000-05:00

Psalm 34:18- "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

My sorority sister Hunter lost her big brother day before yesterday. Driving a motorcycle, going the speed limit, wearing a helmet, but hit a curb and flew into a tree. Died instantly. Family devastated.

Lamentations 3:28-33 "When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: wait for hope to appear. The "worst" is never the worst. Why? Because the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return. If he works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love are immense. He takes no pleasure in making life hard, in throwing roadblocks in the way."

Everitt camp photos.

2009-07-13T11:00:00.001-05:00

Monday night was Howdy night. Here's me with Sydney and Chloe. 5th grade girls are the Ladybugs- please note the headbands:) Below are the 5th and 6th grade girl counselors at the Zip Tower. What a team:) Love them very much.

Here we are after gathering at the church Monday morning. First order of business on Mondays: Learn the chant, and learn their names! Headband-wearing is essential.

Susan, Emily and I at the Zip Tower, wearing our requisite camp uniforms: past years' Children's Ministry tshirts, snap bracelets, headgear, and nametags.

Tuesday night was Fiesta Night. One of these children was diagnosed with Swine Flu this past weekend, let's hope for the best. You'll note the "R card" on the girl in the sombrero- sixth graders' privelege is participating in the raid, and the greatest 6th grade discipline tactic is threatening to "pull your R card", making you unable to do the raid.

5th grade Ladybugs learning their dance for the Big Show to Michael Jackson's "ABC".

All the 5th grade Ladybugs before the Big Show. The hairstyle is a 5th grade tradition. Hoo-ah!

Me, dominating my children on the rec field.

I loooove camp.

This weekend, and songs on my heart.

2009-07-13T10:09:00.000-05:00

What a week it has been!

5 days of camp (check out the photos)
1 day it took me to completely lose my voice
16 5th grade girls
1,200 kids at Mt. Lebanon
Dozens of eternal decisions made
7 letters in B-O-N-K-E-R-S
6 years I've been waiting to climb the Alpine Tower (and finally did!)
1 major run-in with camp staff
1 game of Ruckus dominated
3 Theme Nights, 1 Big Show
1 pillow fight
2 raids
Nonstop asthma attacks, scrapes, trips to Lost & Found, requests to ride the golf cart, and overheating
Approx 12,398,572 Freeze Pops consumed

I was home from camp just a few hours when B and I jumped in the car again and headed to Mineola for a leadership retreat with Fellowship Metro. I was exhausted, sunburned and voice-less. We had two great sessions of vision casting the future of Fellowship Metro, the Sunday at 6 pm service for young people at Fellowship.

We spent several hours in the sun playing volleyball and then several more playing a midnight, pitch-black game of Capture the Flag in the woods. I am so sore!

The next morning B jumped up for early-morning fishing on the lake, then we raced back to Dallas to meet the Voice Council at Wynnewood, a Buckner South Dallas ministry at an apartment complex where the average annual income per family is $2,950. We played water balloon games, worshipped, and served pizza and watermelon before having a tour of the ministries there.

Then we raced back north to split up for the evening: I headed to Richardson for the Camp Reflection Service and counselor dinner (and Camp Video unveiling), while Ben went to Fellowship to speak about our trip to Honduras with Buckner last month.

Then we raced home to prepare for work tomorrow after ten days away. Ben's promotion officially goes into effect today, and I am playing intense catch-up as we prepare to plan for the end of the year (here already?!).

My mom doesn't have cancer (bone scan and blood test negative!), my grandmother decided to sell her house, and I miss Sweet a lot. Life never stops.

I've had songs on my mind.

Ingrid Michaelson's "You and I" was the theme song of Katie and Ross' wedding last weekend. Make sure to listen all the way to the end- that's the best part.

One of Ben's best friends made him a hip hop CD, and this song is haunting me. Warning: contains highly objectionable words, including derogatory language toward women. However, if you can get over it, it's the most honest rap song I've ever heard.

It's the cry of our 20's:
I. just. wanna. be. successful.

Sigh. Smile. A good week.

Off to camp

2009-07-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

Off to camp I go! A beautiful, amazing wedding weekend for Mr and Mrs Pinson is behind us, and summer continues, hot and humid. I'll be with 17 5th grade girls this week.
Let's live a little.

A lotta life going on.

2009-07-02T10:43:00.000-05:00

As my mother said, this week I've got a whole lotta life going on.

One best friend has a heartbreaking breakup to a guy she thought she might marry. Another friend's parents force her to call off her wedding 3 weeks before the big day.

Black mold in my parents' house. A scary result from a medical scan. Another friend at the Mayo Clinic while her mom has brain surgery. Major police incident as my neighbor beat up his wife.

Friend spends the night in jail. Camp, once again, souls are changed for eternity. Iran in shambles, Honduran coup (involving people at whose houses I was eating two weeks ago!).

Husband gets a promotion. We look at houses. Not sure what we want to be when we grow up.

A sorority sister dies in a car accident. Parent up for promotion. More medical tests, looking for cancer. My 5 year anniversary with the man I'll love forever. Two dear friends announce pregnancies. Three other friends buy houses, move in, talk renovations.

A friend's baby diagnosed with heart defect that will take his tiny life. Good results on mom's scan. Grieving loss, celebrating new marriages and new life.It's the time, it's the season. Big life going on, every day, all around.

How much house can you afford?

2009-07-01T10:17:00.000-05:00

It's the season of life. Weddings, budgets, babies, and buying houses.
How much mortgage can you afford? I ripped this tip out of Money magazine:

Multiply 25% of your monthly income by 186.28

Then, to find out how much down payment is needed to qualify for that mortgage, multiply the result above by 0.25
Now we're talking.
A recent home-buying friend recommended two sites for house shoppers:
http://www.zillow.com/
http://www.ebby.com/

I'm particularly fond of Ebby's polygon mapping system.

Stats are sexy.

2009-06-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum. – Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Glorious action and noble risks. I want to be about that.

Many of you know I'm really into stats. I like trivia. I've found some interesting facts this week.

Last week the Economist, which I have just this month started reading after a subscription was generously gifted my way, reported on known oil reserves. If the world continues to produce oil at the rate of last year (and no new reserves are found), global supplies will last only 42 more years.

The US ranks 11th on the list of most reserves, with enough supply for 12.4 more years. Interestingly, China, who ranks 13th, only has enough reserves for 11.1 most years.

Looks like we'll all be importing a lot from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Venezuela (numbers 1, 2, 3, and 5). Does it seem like this data should light a fire under us to get energy independent- fast?

Hmm.

Next, unemployment rates:
US 9.4% in May
China 9% in May
Spain 18.1% in April
Turkey at 16%
Columbia 12%

Highest on this list (did not include all nations) was South Africa 23.5%
Lowest was Thailand under 2%

Interesting.

Next, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported on Top Ten 2008 military spending:

10. India $30 billion
9. Saudi Arabia $38.2 billion
8. Italy $40 billion
7. Japan $46.3 billion
6. Germany $46.8 billion
5. Russia $58.6 billion
4. United Kingdom $65.3 billion
3. France $65.7 billion
2. China $84.9 billion

and in first place, the United States spent $607 BILLION on the military in 2008.

Wow. The report goes on to note that the US spent seven times as much as #2 China, and that the United States has spent $903 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since the conflicts began.

At www.buckner.org, I've learned that
$25/month provides a water purification system for 10 families in Mexico.
$25/month provides food for 10 children in Kenya each year.
$25/month provides medical care for 8 teens in Guatemala/year.
$25/month provides school uniforms for 15 children in Kenya/year.
$25/month provides education for 13 children in Ethiopia/year (textbooks, school fees, tutor, supplies).

I'll refrain from further commentary.

The numbers speak for themselves.

Pick and Choose.

2009-06-29T13:04:00.000-05:00

I feel very convicted often about my terrible habit of extracting tidbits of Scripture while ignoring whole other chunks.

We Christians do this all the time. We can all quote verses that prove our viewpoint on X hot-button issue, or Y moral stance. But how many of us put our primary focus on the topics Jesus actually spent the most time discussing? How many of us can answer this question with confidence: What single topic did Jesus spent the most time (as reflected in number of verses) discussing? The answer is money. I was shocked when I learned that recently.

Then last night I read this article titled "Are Single Moms the New Widows?"

Then I run across these verses in a newsletter this morning:

"He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done" says Proverbs 19:17.

"If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness... the Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs" says Isaiah 58:10-11.

Do not become weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9), but continue to excel in the grace of giving (2 Cor 8:7).

Then later this morning I watch the new NOOMA video, "Corner", about how God's instructions through Moses for his people included the command to leave behind some crops as you harvest your field so that the widow and the alien might come behind and eat. The "why" behind this instruction wasn't merely "humanitarianism", but so that Israel would remember that it was once enslaved in Egypt, but was now freed.

How do I implement this idea in my world? Is paying taxes that support common welfare the same as leaving a corner of my field unharvested? Is giving a tithe the same?

If single moms are the new widows, are illegal immigrants the new aliens?

And then, later, the news gets to me - a sorority sister was killed this morning in a car accident. She's 21. Just going to school.

No more questions for today.

MLK

2009-06-28T21:20:00.001-05:00

Dr. Martin Luther King was once asked if he was in too much of a hurry, and whether he should just wait longer, as progress toward equality would take a while.

He responded:

“Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. … Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.”

The Latest

2009-06-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

Two very useful abbrevs:
OOC - out of control
OTT - over the top

I've been saying for several years that I think there are two kinds of Christianity, along with two kinds of Islam, Judaism, and every other religion and non-religion too: one of social control and one of social transformation; one to hold people down, one to lift them up ; one an opiate to pacify people into compliance, the other a stimulant to empower people to imagine a better world, a better future, a better life; giving them the courage to live in peaceful defiance of violent, corrupt, and greedy powers-that-be.

Sojo blog

What a week it's been. Let's just make mention of one thing. I call it the "adding insult to injury" category of life. Hint:Oh yes, that's a neon retainer case, folks. Were you to pop into my happy little paper-covered office downtown, you might be able to spot a hot pink little retainer case. Don't wear your post-braces retainer for ten straight years? Well, then you get to wear Invisalign in your roaring 20's. Sweet.

In other news, I have no worthy comments to make that have not already been over-made by the Blogosphere/Commentariat. I've been thinking a lot about Iran. All possible opinions are already out there. I've been thinking a lot about Jon & Kate + 8. Boooring, already covered to the max.

Here's what I do know:

1. My spring has consisted of attending bridal showers. My summer will not consist of attending weddings. 10 weddings between this Saturday and October (which is still summer in Texas). I say this not to diminish the sacred and unique individual relationships and commitments that each wedding represents- each, indeed, will be incredibly special. I have recently printed out a wallet-sized picture of every couple in my life. I feel called by God to pray for the marriages around me. I'm going to make a bulletin board of all the couples and pray for them regularly.

2. It is hot. HOT! Yesterday as I got into my car before work my dashboard thermometer read 90 degrees. At 4:59 that dash read 107. My husband's aunt, a civilian contractor in Iraq, emailed me her base's daily forecast: high of 120 degrees. Oh hell.

3. People in my life have recently returned from travels in Israel, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sierra Leone. I read our overseas interns' blog and drool. A dear friend is about to embark on a honeymoon to Turks & Caicos, followed by a month in New York. Another is headed to six weeks in China and Thailand. Another, a year of backpacking. Two more are headed for months of service in Nairobi and Madrid. I am desperate to go. Anywhere! Get me on a plane, stat.

4. I took myself on a treat last Saturday. I was in Frisco for a bridal shower and had a few hours to spare. Ahhhh.... a free afternoon at Ikea. Going at my own pace, not having to pacify my whining husband, able to take photos of new products and design ideas... it was a great treat. For self-discipline purposes, I left my wallet in the car and took only my camera. I'm still working toward Buy-nothing '09. I love Ikea. The efficiency, the clean lines, the organization, the thoughtfulness (Smalland! Cheap, tasty food in-house! Little pencils and measuring tape at every corner!).

In my dreams, this is where I am, right now.

Southern Sudan

2009-06-22T16:54:00.000-05:00

The Guardian, a British newspaper, recently ran a staggering article about the latest news from Southern Sudan:

A catastrophe in the making:
• There is one doctor per 500,000 people and there are three surgeons in the whole country.
• Female illiteracy is 92%, compared with 62% in Darfur.
• Only 27% of girls are in school and there are 1,000 primary school pupils per teacher.
• Under the peace agreement, the Sudanese People's Liberation Army is to demobilise 180,000 soldiers, starting with women and children.
• About 3% of people have access to sanitation.
• A 15-year-old girl has a higher chance of dying during pregnancy than of completing school. One in six pregnant women die in childbirth.
• An estimated 96% of Southern Sudan's people favour independence from Khartoum. A referendum on the issue is to be held in 2011.
• Southern Sudan suffers 15 of the world's 16 deadliest diseases.

T-Pain, Taylor Swift, and Planner Day.

2009-06-19T08:53:00.000-05:00

How many years will have to pass before I stop defining "the year" as running from August to May? At least one more, apparently.

Yes, friends, its that time again - it's New Planner Day.

Since I started my first planner in 7th grade, there has been a magical day each summer where I go out to search for a shiny new planner to record my year's adventures. I lay out the new planner next to the old one and transfer over all the birthdays, anniversaries, and important info, color-coded, of course.

Main criteria:

1. Lots of space - I like my handwriting.
2. Squares, not columns, for each day.
3. No labeled hours of the day. "Executive planners" have hourly lines from 8-5, leaving zero room for evening activities just a few square centimeters for weekends. No thanks.
4. Labels the year as running from July to July, not January to December.
5. Semi-grownup cover. No more TrapperKeepers for me.

Bonus features:
Inspiring/witty quotes (see below)
Reasonable price (this excludes $60 Franklin Covey scams)
Color red
Built-in bookmark
Last year I saw a delightful Ann Taintor planner - please, for a laugh, go check out her hilarious items at her website. Dilemma - the planner is only January-to-December. Do I wait until January to purchase, or go with a July-to-July one now? However, I did pause a moment when I discovered Ann Taintor's tag line is "Making smart people smile since 1985"....perhaps I will adopt this as my personal motto as well?!
In other news, Taylor Swift and T-Pain made a music video a la "On a Boat" for the CMT awards. It's really funny:

shout out on Pan Dulce, Guatemala, and Honduras.

2009-06-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

A little shout out on the issue of social justice over at Pan Dulce. This blog is written by the president of Buckner Children and Family Services, and a few weeks back I was a guest blogger there discussing what social justice means to me.

In other news, I've been really stalling on writing about my recent adventures to Guatemala and Honduras. In some ways, I can't really tell the story. You can't fully understand the kind of emotions and experiences that occur in orphanages until you go there, which is why it is so important to me that I make "going there" a priority in my life. But, for now, I can tell the story better in photos.

Click here to see my Guatemuffins, and here to see the story of Honduras.

Legally Blonde

2009-06-18T15:04:00.000-05:00

Just one more month til I see....