I had lunch yesterday with a good friend of mine who offered an interesting perspective on how we as Americans perceive our personal space. While I realize that it sounds like we had a terribly boring lunch conversation it was actually really nice and the space topic came out of me explaining Katie and I's current living situation.
We are now entrenched in Week 2 of "Living with the Parents." We lived with the Barths for a week and are now living in my parents' basement. We speak jokingly about it, because it does seem funny to move home with a wife, child and wiener dog, but it truly is a blessing that we have two sets of parents willing to share their space (and really their daily lives) with us.
It's unfortunate, though that this is so rare and invasive in our culture. My friend is from San Diego and she was recalling countless childhood friends and classmates, mostly Latino, that lived in small homes filled to capacity with extended family. "Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles, kids all over the place. That's just the way it was." She wondered aloud why Americans are so darn protective of space. She remembered a time that she and her husband hosted a college friend for two months and how the friend's presence became more and more of a nuisance and frustration for her husband simply because the houseguest was taking up "his space."
So why are we so protective and so selfish when it comes to the areas around us? That question has rung in my ears since we began packing up our house in Broad Ripple. We left a fun but small old home, ultimately in search of more... what else? Space. In the meantime though we will be living in a smaller spot that doesn't belong to us. It begs the question, do we really NEED all of the things we accumulate? Do we really NEED all of that space.
Do me a favor. Look around. Where are you right now? At home? In your office? Your cube? At a public library? Regardless of your whereabouts, chances are pretty good you feel pretty possessive about your location. It's your space. I don't blame you. I feel the same way. But what happened? When did we become so possessive? If we learned to share in kindergarten somewhere along the way we were taught that this lesson didn't apply to our space. I wish I could offer a pearl of wisdom here, but I'm afraid I can't. I for one need to just be a little more open and more accomodating with my all-important space.
-Adam
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
A Viewpoint on War
Here is a well written and articulate perspective on war written by the pastor of the church I attended while growing up. With everything happening in the Middle East, and Iraq especially, it's good reading.
Enjoy!!!
Should Followers of the Prince of Peace Go To War?
“They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” That verse from the book of Isaiah is prominently displayed in the foyer of the United Nations Building. For many it represents nothing more than a wild hope, a religious aspiration, or a million-to-one shot in the dark. For Christians and Jews, however, that verse has always represented the way things shall surely be when God’s will is fully done on earth as it is in heaven.
Christians almost universally affirm that that day won’t arrive until Jesus comes back. The matter on which Christians have not always found consensus, however, concerns what followers of Jesus ought to be doing between now and the Second Coming. Is war ever a Christian option? Can we imagine a scenario in which fighting and killing other people would be carrying out the will of God?
Christian traditions have come to dramatically different conclusions about these matters. For several centuries during the Middle Ages the Church endorsed the concept of a Christian holy war, which resulted in the launching of multiple Crusades aimed at liberating Palestine from Islamic rule. Much of the Middle East’s present-day ill will, which is directed toward America as a “Christian nation,” arises from 900 years of Muslim resentment concerning those attacks.
The great majority of those fighting in the American Civil War believed that God was on their side; after guns, Bibles were the second most common items removed from the dead. In the mid-1990s the Hutu people of Rwanda, who had widely embraced the Christian faith, slaughtered their Tutsi neighbors, whom they had hated for generations. At the other extreme we find the Quakers and the Mennonites, Christian groups who have unfailingly taught the ideal of pacifism. Faithful Quakers and Amish refuse to take up arms even against those who attack them.
These issues are once again before us on Memorial Day 2007. We pause to honor those who surrendered their lives for our freedom. Some of the graves have been dug within the past week. The pain and sadness for those families is overwhelming. What complicates their grief is that many Christians publicly clamored for the war in Iraq, while others worked frantically, and vainly, to prevent it.
Should Christians fight? In this rather lengthy blog, let me share some thoughts that I originally expressed back in March 2003, shortly before America and other countries invaded Iraq.
Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek when personally assaulted. Paul declares that we are in a never-ending battle against spiritual “principalities and powers.” We speak of prayer warriors. We sing Onward Christian Soldiers. We weigh in on America’s ongoing culture wars. Various Christian groups fight for the unborn; for Congress to fund the needs of the poor; for the Supreme Court to return prayer to schools and Christian symbols to the public square; for appropriate authorities to quash corporations that promote unfair trading practices around the world. If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, why is there so much for which we feel compelled to fight?
For reasons known only to him, God refuses to overrule most of our terrible choices, and permits a significant amount of evil, pain, and suffering to exist in his world. God permits war to happen. But how can a God of love bear all this suffering in the world? The Christian answer to that question is that God did bear all of it – through his Son on the cross. Jesus didn’t come to explain our pain, but to share it – and to be present with us in the midst of our suffering. Furthermore, God never wastes pain. Suffering in and of itself is never a good thing, but God is able to take terrible and painful realities and use them for good in the lives of those who trust him.
One day all that will come to an end. The book of Revelation foresees a day when there will be “no more tears.” In the meantime we are living between a Paradise that humanity used to enjoy at the beginning of history, but which has now been lost – and a Paradise that we know is waiting for us when Jesus returns. In this in-between-time in which God has given us his commandments and allows us to suffer the consequences when we break them, what is our responsibility concerning the sword?
Consider the account of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. When one of the disciples steps forward to defend him from the very people who are about to lynch him, Jesus declares, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Furthermore the gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus reaches down and picks up the ear that has been cut off the servant of the high priest, and then he reattaches it. Even in the midst of personal disaster he is compassionate. There is no question that imitating Jesus’ response to personal insults or personal rejection means that we cannot have a sword in our hand. No wonder Jesus became the living model for both Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., the twentieth century’s two greatest revolutionaries of non-violent resistance.
But the Bible tells us something else about the sword. Speaking of ruling authorities in Romans 13, Paul says, “For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” According to the Bible, governments are divinely empowered to enforce the law. Police need to bear arms, because in a fallen world there are criminals out there. Soldiers need to carry weapons, because in a fallen world armies will be required to stand against evil. Most Christians have never seriously questioned the morality of fighting a defensive war to protect human life.
We know that when people look at the Church, God’s ideal is that they would see, in us, a model of the next world. Some Bible students have concluded that that settles the issue – we need to beat all of our swords into plowshares right now. Others, however – and I am among them – have concluded that in a fallen world, it is sometimes necessary to wage “a just war.” No one would ever say that war is God’s perfect will. Fighting and killing could not possibly have been part of his design for individuals, or households, or tribes, or nations. But in God’s permissive will, war may sometimes be determined to be the best among many heart-breaking options. With immense sorrow, war can indeed be a Christian option.
Christian and secular thinkers alike have classically identified six grounds for waging a just war. This is not a “Bible list,” but each of these conditions arises from biblical principles.
First, a just war would have to be fought to achieve a just cause – that is, something so worth fighting for that it is also worth dying for. Many believe that the most vivid example of a just war for a just cause happened just sixty years ago – the Allied effort in World War II to stop Hitler’s Germany and Hirohito’s Japan from dominating the planet. That was the most costly and horrifying conflict the world has seen. But unless that war had been fought and those sacrifices made, a substantial amount of human freedom would have been lost.
I spent an entire day this spring walking the mall in Washington, D.C. Among the sites I visited were the Holocaust Museum, the FDR memorial, and the new World War II monument. I left those sites fully persuaded that Second Great War was a globally just endeavor.
The second condition for initiating a just war is that it be a last resort. For Christians, war must only be undertaken with extreme reluctance, and never as a means of accomplishing state policy. What about all the wars that happen in the Old Testament? On a number of occasions God directs his people to wipe out a particular city or nation. In each case, God announces in advance that this group of people has reached a spiritual point of no return. God assures Moses or Joshua or David that this is the only way. War will in fact constitute God’s judgment on this particular nation.
It’s important to note that in the New Testament, which corresponds to the arrival of Jesus, we find no more God-ordained wars. Few if any contemporary leaders would ever claim to hear a clear-cut word from the God of Jesus Christ to take up the sword. Today God’s voice is heard through the Church, as Christians everywhere help nations discern if and when we have arrived at a point where the only remaining option is war.
Third, a just war ought to be fought only if there is a pure motive. In a fallen world, pure motives are hard to come by. Consider the opening words of James, chapter four: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. Your quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
The fourth classic condition for a just war is the approval of appropriate authorities. For Christians, a widely embraced consensus is always to be preferred, although its becoming harder and harder in the post-modern world to identity who speaks for the earth’s population. The fifth condition is proportionality. This means that a war with a redemptive purpose must stay fixed on its specific aims, and not become a total conflict that tragically involves innocent people.
The sixth and final component is the probability of success. It would have been admirable if Guatemala had stood up in 1939 while Hitler was sweeping across Europe and said, “We’re not going to take it. We’ll put an end to these blitzkriegs.” That would have been a just cause but an impossible mission. Those who enter a just war have to be fairly certain that they can win.
In March 2003, America’s Christian leaders were divided concerning the status of a potential Iraqi conflict as a just war. Today, sadly (with the 20/20 vision of hindsight), a consensus has emerged. Very few disciples of Jesus – knowing now that weapons of mass destruction were not a global threat, and that other courses of action would have avoided the heart-breaking morass in which Iraq now finds itself – would venture the opinion that God ordained this war. God permitted this war. And great gain can emerge from great sacrifice. But after the saber rattling in many American pulpits four years ago, it’s not a surprise that Muslims worldwide feel they have fresh confirmation that Christians are combative.
So what should we do? First, let’s not despair. Jesus rules the cosmos. We are called to stand apart from those who are wringing their hands. Many things may or may not happen in the weeks and months ahead. But this we know: Nothing is going to change the fact that God’s ultimate will, will be done. Jesus and his kingdom are going to prevail.
Let’s not get drowned by the never-ending swirls of political turbulence, either. Our real master is Christ, not our favorite political party. America is a special nation only when it stands under God’s Word and God’s grace.
As odd as it sounds, we must choose to hate war. That includes refusing to accept violence as entertainment. Our culture has become so desensitized by movies, video games, and live television reports from police shootouts that we have lost our ability to grasp that armed conflict is one of the worst things imaginable.
Let’s pray, too. Pray for the soldiers and the leaders and the civilians on all sides of this conflict. God promises that our prayers are interwoven into the working of his will. He is asking us to participate in this drama. One of our greatest acts of faith is to take him at his work on this issue.
Finally, we must fulfill Jesus’ high call to love our enemies, the very thing that Bob Jordan proclaimed from our pulpit on Memorial Day weekend. Offering love as a response to hatred, misunderstanding, and assault is one of the hardest things that God asks of us. But Jesus has shown the way. He calls us to seek ways to bless others. Ask God for specific opportunities to show his love. When we ask, God is faithful. He will teach us what to do.
This must be our prayer: that God will not only give us the grace to show his kindness to those who hate us, but that he will begin to transform this world, through us, into the kind of place where swords are indeed beaten into plowshares.
written by Glenn McDonald
Enjoy!!!
Should Followers of the Prince of Peace Go To War?
“They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” That verse from the book of Isaiah is prominently displayed in the foyer of the United Nations Building. For many it represents nothing more than a wild hope, a religious aspiration, or a million-to-one shot in the dark. For Christians and Jews, however, that verse has always represented the way things shall surely be when God’s will is fully done on earth as it is in heaven.
Christians almost universally affirm that that day won’t arrive until Jesus comes back. The matter on which Christians have not always found consensus, however, concerns what followers of Jesus ought to be doing between now and the Second Coming. Is war ever a Christian option? Can we imagine a scenario in which fighting and killing other people would be carrying out the will of God?
Christian traditions have come to dramatically different conclusions about these matters. For several centuries during the Middle Ages the Church endorsed the concept of a Christian holy war, which resulted in the launching of multiple Crusades aimed at liberating Palestine from Islamic rule. Much of the Middle East’s present-day ill will, which is directed toward America as a “Christian nation,” arises from 900 years of Muslim resentment concerning those attacks.
The great majority of those fighting in the American Civil War believed that God was on their side; after guns, Bibles were the second most common items removed from the dead. In the mid-1990s the Hutu people of Rwanda, who had widely embraced the Christian faith, slaughtered their Tutsi neighbors, whom they had hated for generations. At the other extreme we find the Quakers and the Mennonites, Christian groups who have unfailingly taught the ideal of pacifism. Faithful Quakers and Amish refuse to take up arms even against those who attack them.
These issues are once again before us on Memorial Day 2007. We pause to honor those who surrendered their lives for our freedom. Some of the graves have been dug within the past week. The pain and sadness for those families is overwhelming. What complicates their grief is that many Christians publicly clamored for the war in Iraq, while others worked frantically, and vainly, to prevent it.
Should Christians fight? In this rather lengthy blog, let me share some thoughts that I originally expressed back in March 2003, shortly before America and other countries invaded Iraq.
Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek when personally assaulted. Paul declares that we are in a never-ending battle against spiritual “principalities and powers.” We speak of prayer warriors. We sing Onward Christian Soldiers. We weigh in on America’s ongoing culture wars. Various Christian groups fight for the unborn; for Congress to fund the needs of the poor; for the Supreme Court to return prayer to schools and Christian symbols to the public square; for appropriate authorities to quash corporations that promote unfair trading practices around the world. If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, why is there so much for which we feel compelled to fight?
For reasons known only to him, God refuses to overrule most of our terrible choices, and permits a significant amount of evil, pain, and suffering to exist in his world. God permits war to happen. But how can a God of love bear all this suffering in the world? The Christian answer to that question is that God did bear all of it – through his Son on the cross. Jesus didn’t come to explain our pain, but to share it – and to be present with us in the midst of our suffering. Furthermore, God never wastes pain. Suffering in and of itself is never a good thing, but God is able to take terrible and painful realities and use them for good in the lives of those who trust him.
One day all that will come to an end. The book of Revelation foresees a day when there will be “no more tears.” In the meantime we are living between a Paradise that humanity used to enjoy at the beginning of history, but which has now been lost – and a Paradise that we know is waiting for us when Jesus returns. In this in-between-time in which God has given us his commandments and allows us to suffer the consequences when we break them, what is our responsibility concerning the sword?
Consider the account of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. When one of the disciples steps forward to defend him from the very people who are about to lynch him, Jesus declares, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Furthermore the gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus reaches down and picks up the ear that has been cut off the servant of the high priest, and then he reattaches it. Even in the midst of personal disaster he is compassionate. There is no question that imitating Jesus’ response to personal insults or personal rejection means that we cannot have a sword in our hand. No wonder Jesus became the living model for both Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., the twentieth century’s two greatest revolutionaries of non-violent resistance.
But the Bible tells us something else about the sword. Speaking of ruling authorities in Romans 13, Paul says, “For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” According to the Bible, governments are divinely empowered to enforce the law. Police need to bear arms, because in a fallen world there are criminals out there. Soldiers need to carry weapons, because in a fallen world armies will be required to stand against evil. Most Christians have never seriously questioned the morality of fighting a defensive war to protect human life.
We know that when people look at the Church, God’s ideal is that they would see, in us, a model of the next world. Some Bible students have concluded that that settles the issue – we need to beat all of our swords into plowshares right now. Others, however – and I am among them – have concluded that in a fallen world, it is sometimes necessary to wage “a just war.” No one would ever say that war is God’s perfect will. Fighting and killing could not possibly have been part of his design for individuals, or households, or tribes, or nations. But in God’s permissive will, war may sometimes be determined to be the best among many heart-breaking options. With immense sorrow, war can indeed be a Christian option.
Christian and secular thinkers alike have classically identified six grounds for waging a just war. This is not a “Bible list,” but each of these conditions arises from biblical principles.
First, a just war would have to be fought to achieve a just cause – that is, something so worth fighting for that it is also worth dying for. Many believe that the most vivid example of a just war for a just cause happened just sixty years ago – the Allied effort in World War II to stop Hitler’s Germany and Hirohito’s Japan from dominating the planet. That was the most costly and horrifying conflict the world has seen. But unless that war had been fought and those sacrifices made, a substantial amount of human freedom would have been lost.
I spent an entire day this spring walking the mall in Washington, D.C. Among the sites I visited were the Holocaust Museum, the FDR memorial, and the new World War II monument. I left those sites fully persuaded that Second Great War was a globally just endeavor.
The second condition for initiating a just war is that it be a last resort. For Christians, war must only be undertaken with extreme reluctance, and never as a means of accomplishing state policy. What about all the wars that happen in the Old Testament? On a number of occasions God directs his people to wipe out a particular city or nation. In each case, God announces in advance that this group of people has reached a spiritual point of no return. God assures Moses or Joshua or David that this is the only way. War will in fact constitute God’s judgment on this particular nation.
It’s important to note that in the New Testament, which corresponds to the arrival of Jesus, we find no more God-ordained wars. Few if any contemporary leaders would ever claim to hear a clear-cut word from the God of Jesus Christ to take up the sword. Today God’s voice is heard through the Church, as Christians everywhere help nations discern if and when we have arrived at a point where the only remaining option is war.
Third, a just war ought to be fought only if there is a pure motive. In a fallen world, pure motives are hard to come by. Consider the opening words of James, chapter four: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. Your quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
The fourth classic condition for a just war is the approval of appropriate authorities. For Christians, a widely embraced consensus is always to be preferred, although its becoming harder and harder in the post-modern world to identity who speaks for the earth’s population. The fifth condition is proportionality. This means that a war with a redemptive purpose must stay fixed on its specific aims, and not become a total conflict that tragically involves innocent people.
The sixth and final component is the probability of success. It would have been admirable if Guatemala had stood up in 1939 while Hitler was sweeping across Europe and said, “We’re not going to take it. We’ll put an end to these blitzkriegs.” That would have been a just cause but an impossible mission. Those who enter a just war have to be fairly certain that they can win.
In March 2003, America’s Christian leaders were divided concerning the status of a potential Iraqi conflict as a just war. Today, sadly (with the 20/20 vision of hindsight), a consensus has emerged. Very few disciples of Jesus – knowing now that weapons of mass destruction were not a global threat, and that other courses of action would have avoided the heart-breaking morass in which Iraq now finds itself – would venture the opinion that God ordained this war. God permitted this war. And great gain can emerge from great sacrifice. But after the saber rattling in many American pulpits four years ago, it’s not a surprise that Muslims worldwide feel they have fresh confirmation that Christians are combative.
So what should we do? First, let’s not despair. Jesus rules the cosmos. We are called to stand apart from those who are wringing their hands. Many things may or may not happen in the weeks and months ahead. But this we know: Nothing is going to change the fact that God’s ultimate will, will be done. Jesus and his kingdom are going to prevail.
Let’s not get drowned by the never-ending swirls of political turbulence, either. Our real master is Christ, not our favorite political party. America is a special nation only when it stands under God’s Word and God’s grace.
As odd as it sounds, we must choose to hate war. That includes refusing to accept violence as entertainment. Our culture has become so desensitized by movies, video games, and live television reports from police shootouts that we have lost our ability to grasp that armed conflict is one of the worst things imaginable.
Let’s pray, too. Pray for the soldiers and the leaders and the civilians on all sides of this conflict. God promises that our prayers are interwoven into the working of his will. He is asking us to participate in this drama. One of our greatest acts of faith is to take him at his work on this issue.
Finally, we must fulfill Jesus’ high call to love our enemies, the very thing that Bob Jordan proclaimed from our pulpit on Memorial Day weekend. Offering love as a response to hatred, misunderstanding, and assault is one of the hardest things that God asks of us. But Jesus has shown the way. He calls us to seek ways to bless others. Ask God for specific opportunities to show his love. When we ask, God is faithful. He will teach us what to do.
This must be our prayer: that God will not only give us the grace to show his kindness to those who hate us, but that he will begin to transform this world, through us, into the kind of place where swords are indeed beaten into plowshares.
written by Glenn McDonald
Sunday, May 27, 2007
What A Week
If only we would have known a few days ago what a weekend we were going to have in store.... we probably would have run in the opposite direction.
This weekend was moving weekend for our family as well as Avery's big birthday.
And everything that could have happened to complicate things for us seemed to.
Things started out when I woke up Wednesday night with an absolute horrible case of the stomach flu. We still aren't sure where I picked it up from or if Avery (who had vomited a few times the day before but seemed absolutely unaffected by it) was the one that passed it on. Wherever I got it, it was terrible and unpleasant and came at the most inopportune time.
With Friday being moving day, I spent the precious day before laying on a mattress in our living room hoping for even a small respite from the discomfort.
Luckily, I woke up feeling a bit better on Friday morning and was able to help Adam, and a few of our friends who graciously offered to help, pack up the moving truck. Adam, however, started feeling pretty bad about midday and was in the bathroom getting sick intermittently throughout the rest of the move. But we finished moving the furniture by about dinnertime on Friday night.
Saturday was Avery's first birthday party which we planned to have on our back deck since we had no furniture inside the house. And of course, rain was in the forecast for much of the day so we decided last minute to move the party to my parents. All ended up being fine and wonderful, other than that my mother in law came down with the stomach flu too and had to miss the party. Adam and I felt absolutely terrible since we most likely passed it on to her. We had a good time, however, watching Avery eat cake and ice cream and enjoyed even more the chance to celebrate with all the people we love most- parents, siblings, friends, my best friend from college and her new man, Katie and Chris, and Adam's best friend and his wife, Andrew and Lisa.
Sunday was a moving day as well for us and, of course, it rained most of the day. The rain was actually a bit welcomed though as Adam and I then had an excuse to sit around and relax a bit- something we hadn't done all weekend.
Monday, our final day in our home and the day we had to have it completely emptied and cleaned, seemed to throw us one last kink. Midway through moving our outdoor furniture and garage "stuff" my dad also came down with the "bug". Needless to say he had to bail leaving Adam and I scrambling to get everything out and moved by the end of the day.
We did, however, and 6320 is a memory. It was sad to close the door to our first house for the last time, but I can't say I wasn't grateful that all the moving was done...at least for 4 months.
Blessings,
Katie
This weekend was moving weekend for our family as well as Avery's big birthday.
And everything that could have happened to complicate things for us seemed to.
Things started out when I woke up Wednesday night with an absolute horrible case of the stomach flu. We still aren't sure where I picked it up from or if Avery (who had vomited a few times the day before but seemed absolutely unaffected by it) was the one that passed it on. Wherever I got it, it was terrible and unpleasant and came at the most inopportune time.
With Friday being moving day, I spent the precious day before laying on a mattress in our living room hoping for even a small respite from the discomfort.
Luckily, I woke up feeling a bit better on Friday morning and was able to help Adam, and a few of our friends who graciously offered to help, pack up the moving truck. Adam, however, started feeling pretty bad about midday and was in the bathroom getting sick intermittently throughout the rest of the move. But we finished moving the furniture by about dinnertime on Friday night.
Saturday was Avery's first birthday party which we planned to have on our back deck since we had no furniture inside the house. And of course, rain was in the forecast for much of the day so we decided last minute to move the party to my parents. All ended up being fine and wonderful, other than that my mother in law came down with the stomach flu too and had to miss the party. Adam and I felt absolutely terrible since we most likely passed it on to her. We had a good time, however, watching Avery eat cake and ice cream and enjoyed even more the chance to celebrate with all the people we love most- parents, siblings, friends, my best friend from college and her new man, Katie and Chris, and Adam's best friend and his wife, Andrew and Lisa.
Sunday was a moving day as well for us and, of course, it rained most of the day. The rain was actually a bit welcomed though as Adam and I then had an excuse to sit around and relax a bit- something we hadn't done all weekend.
Monday, our final day in our home and the day we had to have it completely emptied and cleaned, seemed to throw us one last kink. Midway through moving our outdoor furniture and garage "stuff" my dad also came down with the "bug". Needless to say he had to bail leaving Adam and I scrambling to get everything out and moved by the end of the day.
We did, however, and 6320 is a memory. It was sad to close the door to our first house for the last time, but I can't say I wasn't grateful that all the moving was done...at least for 4 months.
Blessings,
Katie
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Disarray
Well, the SOLD sign has been put in the yard and the inspection is done and I think I have only now begun to realize that we are, indeed, moving. As if taking a look around our chaotic house wasn't reminder enough. Boxes are everywhere, walls have been stripped of our family photos and memories, and clothes lay stacked in piles on about every level of our house since I decided that putting them away only to pack them in the next week was absolutely pointless. With all this mess and no place of our own to move into for a least 4 months, I guess you could say that more than my house is in disarray. Adam and I decided about a week ago that we would forgo finding an existing home to buy and enter into the crazy world of building our next house from the ground up. And while this provides us with a lot of exciting opportunities and "choices," it also leaves me feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsettled. Luckily, we have a few things lined up in terms of temporary housing and we're going to make the most of living simply and at the mercy of whomever might be "putting us up" for the next few months.
Over the weekend, after we had finished a day that included packing, loading up trucks, and moving some of our boxes into Adam's parents' house for temporary storage, we both sat on the back porch reminiscing about all the "firsts" that took place in our house. After a few good laughs and sincere smiles recalling fond memories, Adam asked me what I would miss most about our Broadway Street home. Of course, I thought about those first few blissful weeks of married life in our house. I thought about the day we arrived home, much to our own surprise, with a new puppy. I recalled countless BBQs on our back porch and all our friends whom we have enjoyed hosting at this home. I thought about last summer and bringing our beautiful daughter "home" for the first time. And, of course, I thought about walking over to the local farmers market across the street and how much fun it has been to be able to "walk" to so many fun restaurants and shops in our neighborhood. But then my mind recalled what to many might be a ridiculous "best"- my plants. And, in particular, three beautiful Sum and Substance hostas that I planted just a few short months after moving in.
Having grown up with a father who loved "working in the yard" and who effortlessly passed that love on to both my sister (who is a Landscape Architect by trade) and I, one of my favorite memories of living in this house was taking a planting plan that my sister created for our front yard and "making it come alive". Not only did it give me a new appreciation for just how talented and knowledgeable my sister was, it also gave me an incredible sense of accomplishment. There really isn't anything like taking care of something and watching it flourish and grow over time. I think that is why I have a particular love for these 3 hostas. When I planted them about 2 years ago, they were 3 small "splits" from one Sum and Substance hosta that my father had given me. The first year they barely looked "alive" and now they are thriving.
And while I will certainly miss soooo much more about this house than just the "plants", it sure will be hard to walk away from all my hard work. But there certainly is some reward in turning nothing into something beautiful that will bless more than my family's eyes.
Blessings,
Katie
Sunday, May 06, 2007
What a Difference a Year Makes
Less than one year after carrying around our little daughter in her tummy, Katie completed the Mini Marathon yesterday. And she did it under 2 hours. (Officially 1:54:29.) I know. I'm bragging. But seriously, you would brag too if you married such a badass. Katie claims she felt great and only had a little bit of pain in her knees after the 13.1 mile trek. It was a perfect day for the run - overcast and not too hot. Katie was able to navigate the 34,999 other runners and even managed to spot Avery and I at our spectactor spot just outside the Speedway.
I am so proud of her. It's just so cool to see someone set their mind on a goal and work hard to achieve it. Congrats!!
-Adam
I am so proud of her. It's just so cool to see someone set their mind on a goal and work hard to achieve it. Congrats!!
-Adam
Monday, April 30, 2007
SOLD
Yep, it is official (well semi-official), we accepted an offer on our house on Friday night. We are absolutely thrilled, but I won't be completely elated until the inspection takes place and we are sitting across from the new owners on closing day. With that said, the new owners want the house by the end of the month so that has us scrambling to come up with a "plan" so that we aren't living in our car this summer. We are certain that God will be faithful though- as He always is.
We're praying that things continue to go smoothly.
Blessings,
Katie
We're praying that things continue to go smoothly.
Blessings,
Katie
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
A Nation Immune
Earlier this week a troubled young man left his infamous mark on history by unforgivingly and brutally murdering over 30 people at Virgina Tech University. By now you've likely seen the images. A disturbed kid with an angry expression and guns pointed at a camera. An attempt to ensure his place in history. Thousands gathering to cry, hug and pray in Virgina and all over the country. Investigators pondering the meaning of "Ax Ishmael." Media members attempting to bring the victims to life through heart-wrenching stories of sadness and heroism. The empty faces of witnesses and survivors, all left with too many questions and too few answers.
I don't remember where I was when I heard the news about the killings at Virgina Tech. And that, I believe, is a problem.
While I am convinced that my daughter will one day read about this event in her American history books, I am equally convinced that days from now American life (and thus my life) will roll on relatively unchanged. What has happened to us that we treat a murderous killing spree as little more than an unfortunate event to discuss after the evening news? What has happened to us that we don't blink an eye when reports spew out numbers of the dead in the Middle East. 87 in a suicide bomb today. 146 in a car bomb tomorrow. These lives, these events have somehow become little more than numbers. We have become a nation immune. Why? How?
Katie and I witnessed a car accident this week on our nightly walk with Avery. We were about twelve feet from the car as it slammed into the rear of the stopped truck in front. Instantly the woman in the passenger seat screamed and leaped out onto the grass near the path where we stood in shock. As we called 911 she unrelentingly yelled of the pain in her face. Her wrist was clearly broken and she was visibly (and audibly) shaken. Likely she will remember that day, that moment, for the rest of her life. I probably will as well.
You see, human life is precious. I was reminded of that up close when I saw that accident. It is truly a gift. And although we don't often believe it, it's a gift that can be ripped from our grasp in less than a second. I think our generation is responsible for recognizing the magnitude of events like that at Virgina Tech and for acknowledging that we appreciate the gift of life that we have received. We must not continue to spiral into immunity. If we do, I shutter at the thought of what an event of this magnitude will look like ten years from now.
-adam
I don't remember where I was when I heard the news about the killings at Virgina Tech. And that, I believe, is a problem.
While I am convinced that my daughter will one day read about this event in her American history books, I am equally convinced that days from now American life (and thus my life) will roll on relatively unchanged. What has happened to us that we treat a murderous killing spree as little more than an unfortunate event to discuss after the evening news? What has happened to us that we don't blink an eye when reports spew out numbers of the dead in the Middle East. 87 in a suicide bomb today. 146 in a car bomb tomorrow. These lives, these events have somehow become little more than numbers. We have become a nation immune. Why? How?
Katie and I witnessed a car accident this week on our nightly walk with Avery. We were about twelve feet from the car as it slammed into the rear of the stopped truck in front. Instantly the woman in the passenger seat screamed and leaped out onto the grass near the path where we stood in shock. As we called 911 she unrelentingly yelled of the pain in her face. Her wrist was clearly broken and she was visibly (and audibly) shaken. Likely she will remember that day, that moment, for the rest of her life. I probably will as well.
You see, human life is precious. I was reminded of that up close when I saw that accident. It is truly a gift. And although we don't often believe it, it's a gift that can be ripped from our grasp in less than a second. I think our generation is responsible for recognizing the magnitude of events like that at Virgina Tech and for acknowledging that we appreciate the gift of life that we have received. We must not continue to spiral into immunity. If we do, I shutter at the thought of what an event of this magnitude will look like ten years from now.
-adam
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Treadmill Blues
It has been three weeks now since our neighbor, Steve, decided to drag an old and battered treadmill out of his garage in an attempt to "sell" it off his front porch. And while I appreciate his "my trash might be another man's treasure" mentality, it certainly doesn't bode well for us, who are desperately trying to sell our home.
It has made me more accutely aware, however, of what it truly means to live in community. I have often used this phrase when talking about those whom I "choose" to be in community with- my friends, my bible study members, my church family, my parents, etc., but I don't always think of living with grace and mercy among the larger community. And of course, I certainly know the verse that says, "love your neighbor as yourself," but, man, it sure makes it tough when your neighbor does something that you would never dream about doing. Loving him then becomes much more aggrivating.
I wish I could say that living in community with Steve is easy and comes naturally, but it doesn't. It's hard to extend grace. It's hard to show compassion. And it's hard to not roll my eyes when I walk up to my front door and stare at a beat up old treadmill covered up now by an even uglier blue tarp.
Blessings,
Katie
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
A New Look
I couldn't help myself... I just had to change the template on our blog... a facelift if you will.
Katie
Katie
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