Wednesday, September 7, 2011
always updating. nothing stays the same
do you think that's true? I feel like some things are frozen in time while other things fly around me like atoms in a (insert some scientific rigamorole here because my husband would be embarrassed if I bungled a scientific example). You know what I mean? baby Isaac just turned three months today. I already can't remember exactly what he looked like as a newborn. I should have taken more pictures. Time has flown by yet here I sit on the computer cruising blogs and pinterest day in and day out because my little catnapper doesn't seem to give me enough time to accomplish anything truly productive. It seems like I am a stone statue at my computer always clicking, clicking, clicking. It's a poor substitute for being out there doing things but let's face it. I spend much less money doing this than hitting the stores and after all there is not much else I want to do. (I mean really someone around here must need a personal shopper that would be willing to watch three children while I do their shopping, right?) actually it's not like it's ALL I want to do. I do enjoy reading, dinking on the piano, and other activities (you know some day open an awesome boutique coffee shop like Shanty *holler) all of which however I feel detract from the brief time I have when baby is happy to actually give attention to my two older children. I know it's just for a time. New babies are naturally quite demanding and so they should be. I do still get frustrated. I feel like going for a jog (crazy I know) but the timing just never seems to happen. I want to spend quiet time with the Lord but it's the one morning in the week the baby is up early. All you moms know the drill. insert your similar issues here. Ha Ha, I am so distracted these days I am forgetting where I was going with all this. For example I put three of blake's shirts in the trash today and the diaper was almost in the washing machine before I realized what I was doing. lol. oh yeah, I remember. The point was to say that now that trinity is in school I have been wanting to begin preschool activities with Blake. Unfortunately he is already a video game addict. So today when I asked him to stop and he didn't listen I said "okay, but you have to go to storytime at the library tomorrow because you aren't doing preschool with mommy today". Um say what?! did I just threaten my child with an educational oppurtunity if he didn't stop his recreational one?? eegads. That was sooooo the wrong way around. I almost made it sound like it would be a punishment. Trinity loved her preschool storytimes at the library but here is a time I need to "update" to the needs of blake who is of course his own little person. I need to figure out how to get him excited about the same things that trinity was naturally excited about. hmmm, tough. I'm going to work on that. So to sum up, I am always updating and nothing stays the same. I guess it's true. Stay posted because in the spirit of updating I will be whacking my hair off to boyish lengths next wednesday. So excited! wow, I am so RANDOM. pull it together girl and go get dinner on.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
hmm
quick update on personal enemy number 1. yeah, school started this week and with it my plan to work out consistantly. hahahahahaaaaaaaa (yes that is the crazy laughing of a woman who think she will find 1 hour blocks of time to work out with a 2 mo. old) so HASN'T happened. and I got that stupid bag of chocolate covered acai berrys from costco. curses! I am keeping in the back of my mind however that I have 10 min. solutions on demand on comcast so perhaps I might get my workouts in bits at a time. does this inspire me and give me the hope to press on? not particularly. let's be honest. if Iget the choice I pick zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. (sleep). like this morning after I got trin on the bus and the baby fell back asleep at 8:40 in the morning. GAME TIME blakey, don't forget house rules (don't open the door or answer the phone). zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yes. okay so anyway. another thing on my mind is needing to give the first part of my day to the Lord. 10 min after my early morning nursing session to pray and read the word. another thing on my mind is that I need to expand my circle of friends. I love all you church people but how is a girl to get the gospel out if everyone is already saved!? hmm. . . .oh and I am inspired to try to write some more music and edit (yet again) my existing songs. needless to say Isaac is on the floor right now crying. neglected? never! slightly ignored? for shizzle. signing off to cuddle and coo! and in case you are jealous I will share:
Monday, August 22, 2011
Another Eye Opening Moment
a few years ago you all read a post about my new "heart for" Darfour. It was amazing to me that somehow in my youth I had missed this genocide almost completely. I heard about it here and there on the news and of course I remember situations like Rwanda and other historic times that have been memorialized in film, etc but the extent of the horrible things that happened in Africa continue in many ways to this day and I unfortunately have been pretty pathetic about caring. I changed emails because of moving and never signed up with the one groups' whose publications on the situation I completely trusted. I had resolved to act in some way but have done nothing beyond buying three t-shirts that some portion of the profit benefited care groups in those areas of Africa. I mean how sad is that? I'm not looking for a pat on the knee and an "it's okay, we can't all be over there helping. . ." and I know that financially and with a newborn outreach trips at this time are not in my future. I do however want to be MOVED. moved to care, and to act in SOME WAY. I truly believe the Lord caused me to pick up a book at the library this month to accomplish just that. Below I am copying some of its pages for your benefit. Keep in mind please that this woman is an atheist and counts such learned atheists as Richard Dawkins as friends. She ran away from her family to avoid an arranged marriage. Her religious background is Muslim, her homeland Somalia. She was "circumcised" as a child and even spent part of her school years under the tutelage of radical islamists. It is her mission in life to speak out about radical Islam and the dangers to western society; particularly Europe followed by America. She must have security 24-7 because what she says is blasphemy to the leaders of her religion. It was a major wake-up call to me and yet gave me hope that something can be done in my own community to change lives. Some of you might find this controversial, I will be honest in my niavete' of other religions. I do have Hindi friends though I do not know any friends of mine who count themselves Muslim. Perhaps I need to make some. . .you will see what I mean.
"right now there are three kinds of messages being disseminated in many immigrant communities in European cities: the traditional, more dilute Islam, which is clearly on the rise; and the get-rich-quick- scams offered by the lords of organized crime who deal in the trafficking of women, weapons, and drugs. I would prefer, as a fourth option, to offer Muslims who cling to the idea of a creator and eternal life a religious leader like Jesus, who said, "render to Ceasar the things that are Ceasar's and to God the things that are God's," rather than a warrior Muhammad, who demanded that the pious seek to gain power by the sword. To help ground these people in Western society, the West needs the Christian churches to get active again in propagating their faith. It needs Christian schools, Christian volunteers, the Christian message. The Saudis have no hesitation in converting Jean-Francois and Gustav to become "born-again" Muslims. The pope should be spreading his faith too. For Islam isn't a genetic inheritance. A child born in Holland is not bound to be a Muslim just because his parents come from Morocco.
In the blighted neighborhoods of Europe where the jihadis currently have free rein, there is no special reason why Christians should not set up after-school programs, peer programs for teenagers, sports clubs, and homework help. Religious people are generally more effective that state-salaried caseworkers, teachers, and policemen, for such a woman it is an intense relief to have a volunteer who comes to help with cleaning, who says "I know what you're going through," and who comes back again and again. The housewife no longer feels alone. in the same way, I believe, we now need a Christian school for every madrassa, the Quran schools where children and young adults learn only to drone the Quran and the message of the Brotherhood. Christian schools are often poles of excellence in an otherwise blighted educational landscape, particularly in inner-city areas. They are schools that teach more than how to recite a sacred book by heart. They teach not only the full range of sciences and humanities, but also about a God who created reason and told humankind to let reason prevail.
This is a contest that Christians have every chance of winning. The belief system of the Muslim Brotherhood stems from a very narrow Arab culture; that, it seems to me, is its weak point. My own country, Somalia, has always been Muslim, but it was never Wahabi until the mid-1980's. Previously, for most Somalis, Islam was more a question of tradition and occasional ritual than daily practice. Women frequently were bare-headed and wore Western clothes. But when people feel alienated and lost, when fundamental changes in their society make the world strange and unrecognizable, they can become vulnerable to foreign influences. Many people who allow themselves to be drawn into Wahabist Muslim groups are looking for spiritual solace and a strong sense of community in a cruel and troubling world. I was one too, as a teenager. What they are getting though, is a toxic mix of Arab imperialism and a violent, revolutionary cult in the guise of religion. If you suggest to a Somali woman in Whitechapel that she become an Arab, of course she'll reject you. but if you show charity and generosity and help her develop a sense of order and goodness, if you terrify her with the punishments and proximity of the hereafter, and if you are the only religion on the market, then she too may be tempted to join the Muslim Brotherhood, and her children may be indoctrinated and recruited for jihad. This is the successful method used by the Hezbollah in Lebanon and increasingly by radical Muslims all over Europe.
Religious belief gives you companionship in adversity, the security of fixed rules, and the tempting feeling of self-surrender and submission. I remember the comfort of that feeling. Islam frightens you into their power to win this battle for the souls of humans in search of a compassionate God, who now find that a fierce Allah is closer to hand. The critical question is this: Does the United States have Christian networks comparable in their strength to that of the Roman Catholic Church that can be used today to combat the next phase of the expansion of fundamentalist Islam into America itself?
-pages 249-251in Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
um, WOW. Did you read what I just read? Granted this woman goes on to make it clear that she supports the efforts of mainstream churches who don't hold their beliefs to the crushing standards of their Muslim equivalants. So in that sense I am betting she prefers the "all roads lead to heaven" sort of mind frame to anything too restrictively "conservative". However I do not think this needs to be politicized but instead I pick up my jaw from the floor after reading that someone thinks the answer to the jihadist Muslim movement is direct intervention from Christian people. Jesus himself. I don't think most people understand how major this is and what an open door it could be to spread the gospel if only we are brave enough to take it. The women in these groups NEED a religious experience to take the place of their Muslim faith. WE can offer them the true ONE, Jesus Christ; and people like Ayaan would support it wholeheartedly! Do you think God is lifting up people like her in times like this for His purpose whether she accepts it or not? Absolutely. I am MOVED again. I hope to incorporate into my prayer life the hope of an oppurtunity to serve a person in the situation she describes. Through friendship, mom's groups, school friends, whatever way the Lord might lead me. Even in our country it can be dangerous for a Muslim woman to convert. There are still honor killings, female circumcisions and other atrocities happening under our noses in our country. Certainly it is not as prolific as in Muslim countries but I am blown away again at my lack of knowledge of the world around me. I just had to share this woman's story and most importantly the call for Christians to act. I pray we do act, to God's glory and the spreading of the gospel. Her first book is called "Infidel" and again the above excerpt came from "Nomad: from Islam to America - a personal journey through the clash of civilizations".
"right now there are three kinds of messages being disseminated in many immigrant communities in European cities: the traditional, more dilute Islam, which is clearly on the rise; and the get-rich-quick- scams offered by the lords of organized crime who deal in the trafficking of women, weapons, and drugs. I would prefer, as a fourth option, to offer Muslims who cling to the idea of a creator and eternal life a religious leader like Jesus, who said, "render to Ceasar the things that are Ceasar's and to God the things that are God's," rather than a warrior Muhammad, who demanded that the pious seek to gain power by the sword. To help ground these people in Western society, the West needs the Christian churches to get active again in propagating their faith. It needs Christian schools, Christian volunteers, the Christian message. The Saudis have no hesitation in converting Jean-Francois and Gustav to become "born-again" Muslims. The pope should be spreading his faith too. For Islam isn't a genetic inheritance. A child born in Holland is not bound to be a Muslim just because his parents come from Morocco.
In the blighted neighborhoods of Europe where the jihadis currently have free rein, there is no special reason why Christians should not set up after-school programs, peer programs for teenagers, sports clubs, and homework help. Religious people are generally more effective that state-salaried caseworkers, teachers, and policemen, for such a woman it is an intense relief to have a volunteer who comes to help with cleaning, who says "I know what you're going through," and who comes back again and again. The housewife no longer feels alone. in the same way, I believe, we now need a Christian school for every madrassa, the Quran schools where children and young adults learn only to drone the Quran and the message of the Brotherhood. Christian schools are often poles of excellence in an otherwise blighted educational landscape, particularly in inner-city areas. They are schools that teach more than how to recite a sacred book by heart. They teach not only the full range of sciences and humanities, but also about a God who created reason and told humankind to let reason prevail.
This is a contest that Christians have every chance of winning. The belief system of the Muslim Brotherhood stems from a very narrow Arab culture; that, it seems to me, is its weak point. My own country, Somalia, has always been Muslim, but it was never Wahabi until the mid-1980's. Previously, for most Somalis, Islam was more a question of tradition and occasional ritual than daily practice. Women frequently were bare-headed and wore Western clothes. But when people feel alienated and lost, when fundamental changes in their society make the world strange and unrecognizable, they can become vulnerable to foreign influences. Many people who allow themselves to be drawn into Wahabist Muslim groups are looking for spiritual solace and a strong sense of community in a cruel and troubling world. I was one too, as a teenager. What they are getting though, is a toxic mix of Arab imperialism and a violent, revolutionary cult in the guise of religion. If you suggest to a Somali woman in Whitechapel that she become an Arab, of course she'll reject you. but if you show charity and generosity and help her develop a sense of order and goodness, if you terrify her with the punishments and proximity of the hereafter, and if you are the only religion on the market, then she too may be tempted to join the Muslim Brotherhood, and her children may be indoctrinated and recruited for jihad. This is the successful method used by the Hezbollah in Lebanon and increasingly by radical Muslims all over Europe.
Religious belief gives you companionship in adversity, the security of fixed rules, and the tempting feeling of self-surrender and submission. I remember the comfort of that feeling. Islam frightens you into their power to win this battle for the souls of humans in search of a compassionate God, who now find that a fierce Allah is closer to hand. The critical question is this: Does the United States have Christian networks comparable in their strength to that of the Roman Catholic Church that can be used today to combat the next phase of the expansion of fundamentalist Islam into America itself?
-pages 249-251in Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
um, WOW. Did you read what I just read? Granted this woman goes on to make it clear that she supports the efforts of mainstream churches who don't hold their beliefs to the crushing standards of their Muslim equivalants. So in that sense I am betting she prefers the "all roads lead to heaven" sort of mind frame to anything too restrictively "conservative". However I do not think this needs to be politicized but instead I pick up my jaw from the floor after reading that someone thinks the answer to the jihadist Muslim movement is direct intervention from Christian people. Jesus himself. I don't think most people understand how major this is and what an open door it could be to spread the gospel if only we are brave enough to take it. The women in these groups NEED a religious experience to take the place of their Muslim faith. WE can offer them the true ONE, Jesus Christ; and people like Ayaan would support it wholeheartedly! Do you think God is lifting up people like her in times like this for His purpose whether she accepts it or not? Absolutely. I am MOVED again. I hope to incorporate into my prayer life the hope of an oppurtunity to serve a person in the situation she describes. Through friendship, mom's groups, school friends, whatever way the Lord might lead me. Even in our country it can be dangerous for a Muslim woman to convert. There are still honor killings, female circumcisions and other atrocities happening under our noses in our country. Certainly it is not as prolific as in Muslim countries but I am blown away again at my lack of knowledge of the world around me. I just had to share this woman's story and most importantly the call for Christians to act. I pray we do act, to God's glory and the spreading of the gospel. Her first book is called "Infidel" and again the above excerpt came from "Nomad: from Islam to America - a personal journey through the clash of civilizations".
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