by ·1 Comment

A few years ago, someone I worked with at the time invited folks to attend a ‘Dynamic Marriage‘ class he was facilitating at his church.  We got a lot out of it, and have in fact made some weak efforts to bring it our church.  (Weak meaning, talked about it amongst ourselves, talked it up a few times to folks at church, introduced some of the materials at a mens’ retreat…  but mostly just talked.)  This isn’t a ‘on my turf’ thing, but our friend’s church is a half hour away.  Packing up the kids and schlepping a half hour away to go meet with folks you don’t know at first?  Likely a stopper to getting this kind of information in the hands of most of our fellow church members or in the hands of other folks in our local community.  We were surprised by another reaction in class this evening, though.  When it was our turn to introduce ourselves, we said that we had been through the class before, thought a lot of it, and had considered taking it back to our church, but hadn’t really done anything substantial there.  I was surprised to hear the question “your church?”.  Realized we surprised folks by not being from their church.  May even have surprised them by suggesting that we were not considering joining their church.  May be just my read on their reaction: maybe they were just generally curious.   But it made me think some more when we got home…

I realized in “our” church, I’d likely have had the same reaction.  If someone’s in my church, I assume they’re a member, visiting to consider becoming a member, or visiting because some member made a reach out.  But not just visiting, or  visiting to interact in a program that my church doesn’t have, or heck, visiting to interact with another area of God’s church.  Intellectually I realize His church unimaginably wider/deeper/more diverse than my little pew bench.  But someone I’m still my little pew bench focused.  That pew bench focus is broken up a bit when I think about sharing with the less fortunate via missions or charitable giving, but I can’t say that I necessarily think beyond that to sharing of a less one-way directed manner.

Not sure what to do with these thoughts, as yet…  just thinking them.  Wondering if there’s some interaction there with the high school ministry, or that long thought about clowning ministry.  But it’s making me think about broadening that horizon a bit more than just that pew bench.

by ·0 Comments

I have a not-so-secret dream to be a clown.  As a kid, I dressed up as a clown for my kid sister’s birthday party.  As an adult, when I temporarily left my software development career, one of the alternates I considered was being a clown.  I’ve done the clown thing at Pioneer Girl events: dressing up, doing balloon twisting, juggling, …  I wouldn’t consider myself good at it, but it does seem to be a theme in my life.

One of the avenues of “clownship” that appeals to me is that of a Christian clown.  Clowns seem to cause polar reactions.  Folks are either clown-phobic (a few, and often little kids), or are drawn to them and interested to see what the clown does or says.   What a great platform for a whole bunch of things:  for just giving someone the gift of a little bit of enjoyment in their day; for giving a parent the gift of seeing their child light up; for distracting someone from pain, whether that be physical pain in a hospital or emotional impact; for giving someone just plain attention which in some cases is a gift some folks too rarely receive; and for expressing truths in a way that causes folks to look at them in a new light.  I’m really attracted to the concept of gospel clowning, a way of sharing God’s truths in a manner that helps folks look at things in a different manner.  If I just go up to you and tell you God loves you, you’ll treat that as an odd behavior and throw away the message.  If I find a way to show you that in a gospel skit, well, you expect odd things from a clown and might just hear it out.

So….  I’m on the lookout for gospel clown skit inspiration.  Got to do one at our church talent show a few weeks ago, and hoping to use that to seed thoughts in a few folks’ minds to start a little clown troupe.  If you’ve got ideas, thoughts, donations, interest, …  and oh yeah, that prayer stuff, too – all ears.  Or, in my case, all clown feet.

by ·0 Comments

We decided to use our new addition this weekend.  It turned out, REALLY use our new addition this weekend.  In past years, we’ve hosted a gingerbread party, where the kids decorate gingerbread cookies.  The kids get to invite their friends, we have a bunch of fun with them, and we’re happy to have a mess made in our house.  We clean up the house beforehand, so it sort of all nets out to where it was before we had a horde of kids.

This year, we upped the ante.  We did crafts with a ton of kids.  We’re so crazy, we gave the kids glitter.  We imported two teenagers to help, we fed ’em stuff we picked up at BJ’s, and just generally let them play when they got bored of crafts.  I’m a big fan of just letting kids play when they’re done with whatever stuff’s at hand.  Note that we’d have been in a world of hurt had we had a fire, as I’m not sure exactly how many kids we had.  I know it was more than 15, probably less than 25.  But we were just having a great time with these kids.   And the kids went home with crafts that they had made, and ran around playing with my kids, with other kids.  It was a blast!

And then we had the teenagers from church over.  Teenagers, it turns out, bring lots of teenagers.  And they take up a lot more space than do first graders.  We had more than 30  (!!!!) teenagers in our home.  We munched on food with them, did a white elephant gift exchange, went caroling around the neighborhood…  my kids, my husband, and I had a WONDERFUL time hanging out with these high schoolers.   I had talked my husband into letting us host the high school youth group, figuring we were already set up for a party, teenager parties are low key, and heck, what’s a new addition for if not for making it available for gatherings like this.  As teenagers kept pouring in, I really started to wonder if I had done the right thing.  Folks were stepping over and around each other.  All I can say is, I’ll do it again next year if they’ll let me.  One daughter picked one teenager to hang out with.  The other daughter picked another teenager.  All three kids were delighted to get to go caroling with the big kids.  And it’s a wonderful juxtoposition to see these kids, some of whom I’ve seen grow up in the church, in the same house as my kids.

So weekend’s over, tomorrow’s a back to work day.  But I really enjoyed our tremendously busy weekend, and all of the folks who flowed into and out of our house.  If you were one of them, thank you for coming!  We really enjoyed having you!

by ·0 Comments

Ohhhhh…  just randomly ran across this article on the Onion and HAD to post a link.   Just HAD to…

I won’t even spoil it by giving you anymore info about it.  Just go read it.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait. (If you need a clue before jumping over there, this post is tagged in my ‘Christianity’ category, and I did tell you the article’s on the Onion… )

OK, you’re back.  Loved it, I hope!  Think about that whole ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’ bit as the economy tanks and your neighbor’s worried about their job and thus their house and their credit and their ability to support their kids.  Think about the ‘love thy neighbor as yourself’ part as you go past an Angel Tree on your way to hunt down the latest toy for you or your kids.  Think about the ‘love thy neighbor as yourself’ part as you dream of Christmas bonuses and hear on the news of food pantries running low.  And if you need any other ideas, feel free to let me know.  And then hold me accountable, too, because that’s also loving your neighbor as yourself.

by ·2 Comments

Two weekends ago, I had the privilege of being asked to give my Christian testimony to the high school youth group at our church.  I started hanging out with them last spring, when the youth director said they needed folks to come listen/talk/just basically be there for the kids.  I’ve known some of these kids since they were 4, so it’s really a lot of fun to get to hang out with the now.  Now, I’m the old lady they’re polite to, rather than the Sunday school or Pioneer Girl leader with all of the answers, but, hey, that’s life.  They’re at least polite.  🙂

So, in 10+ years of being a member of our church and of being a Christian, I’d never been asked to give my testimony before.  Our church does require that you speak with a deacon and an elder as part of the membership process and explain your faith, but I consider that a pretty friendly audience.  Giving these young adults something was going to be something entirely different.

I’ll talk more about how it went and how I prepared for it in later posts (yes, that does mean I have the intention of posting more frequently than I’ve done of late), but this is just a post to talk about why I think it was important for me to prepare to give a testimony.  Just to make clear how I’m using the word “testimony”, what I told the kids was how God called me to faith, where I had been, and how I knew that it was Him who called me.  There are other kinds of testimonies, having to do with what God’s doing in your life, and probably other things, as well, but the “come to faith” kind was what I gave.

My path to faith wasn’t the same as most of these kids.  For one, I never was in a Sunday school or youth group.  I became a Christian as an adult.  And mine wasn’t a lightning bolt experience, or a Paul on the road to Emmaus experience.  God used people and circumstances to bring me to Him, but there was nothing I’ve ever recognized as a pivotal moment.  Just a buildup to what became to me a natural acceptance of His plan and His glory.  Sometimes I wish I had had the Emmaus moment.  Instead, I got to wrestle with whether I was just going with the flow, or whether I was going with God’s flow.   I’ve wrestled with that before, but in prepping my testimony, I got to revisit it, and see if the evidence I looked to was sufficient to be convincing to others, and/or if there was something in my path whose description might help one of the kids.

I was very glad to give my testimony, and very glad when the giving it was over.  Turned out conveying it was useful to me, in terms of structuring my own thinking, and bringing to mind some things I hadn’t considered in a while.  One of the layman leaders in our church occasionally gives sessions on how to structure and present your testimony.  I’m planning on catching the next one that I can.  Doing it was a real gift to me; I’m hoping being able to do it again will somehow help someone else.  If NOTHING else, seeing other folks do it might give someone else the idea to think through their own, and have an answer ready if someone asks why they’re a Christian, and how it impacts their life.

by ·0 Comments

As the Washington Post reports that McCain’s chief of vetting only interviewed Sarah Palin the day before she was tapped as vice president, I wonder whether McCain’s maverick nature has bit him too hard.  The disadvantage to being a maverick is you forge your own path – the one that others haven’t seen, or if they’ve seen it, have viewed it as too hard, too dangerous, or just unwise.  I happen to view this choice as just plain unwise, as spur of the moment, as foolhardy.  I’m female, I’m Christian, I’m what some would argue as middle class (hey, we make less than $5 mil a year, anyway), and I was an undecided voter.  Until he picked Palin, that is.  He had multiple women on his advisory team who would have made better picks (Whitman being my preference over Fiorino).  There are multiple women senators, other women governors, current women Cabinet officers: any of which I’d have looked at more seriously than Palin.  A relatively rookie governor from Alaska, which could hardly be described as a state wrestling with most of the same issues as others, whose previous experience was as a mayor of a 9000 person town.  My university has a bigger population than her town did, and as much as I respected Dr. Hrabowski as a leader, my veep choice he wouldn’t be.

McCain’s choice demonstrates his inability to do several things: listen to his vetting team, select people appropriate to accomplish his vision, and convince the rest of us of his choice.  All of those I see as key markers of him, not just of her.   I’ve seen various comments that suggest the Dems put their inexperienced candidate at the top of the ticket, and the Republicans at the bottom.  But what I’m seeing indicates that the Dems seem to have made a wiser pick for veep, which makes me much comfortable with their TOP of the ticket than does the Republican pick.

And by the way, for those in the Christian right who are applauding their issues coming front and center: when the candidate is only there to front those issues, and not any others that the American people cares about, it just yet again separates Christians from the concerns of the rest of America.  I agree that (some of the) Christian right concerns deserve far more discussion and focus;  I just don’t think they are the exclusive issues for the American populace, and I’m concerned to see Christians cast yet again as way outside of the fray.  We are called to do God’s work in the world.  That only works if we’re involved IN the world, as was Paul and the apostles, not trying to stand completely outside of it.

I don’t see McCain recovering from this, in my personal selection process.  I had been undecided: both candidates had their plusses and minuses.  But now I see myself needing to vote against McCain, against what I see as a pandering selection, trying to please both women and the conservative Christian right with one candidate who covers all the check boxes.  Except for the ones that would cause me to see her as viable to fill the role of Vice President, to have some ability to step into the highest office in the land should that become necessary.  And that is a horrible mark against the man who would like me to check his name in the ballot in November.

by ·0 Comments

I just asked Cameron to put his Daddy’s shoes away.  He did – he’s a good little helper.  And then I stopped to think about what he’d just had to understand and figure out, and just how amazing it is that our brains put these pieces together.

First, you need to know that Daddy’s shoes were in amongst several other pairs of shoes in a group near the front door.  Our family tends to do a good job of taking shoes off when we come in; we’re not as good about putting those shoes away, so there were at least four pairs collected there.  So Cameron had to sort out a few things: one, which items in the room were shoes, which were Daddy’s shoes, and then grab just those two.  (He did, and then commented ‘Heavy’.)

Then I realized he had to figure out where to put them.  I hadn’t told him where Daddy’s shoes were to go, just “away”.  He parsed that to mean, take them down the hall, and put them in Daddy’s room.  Taking a quick peek, he not only put them in Daddy’s room, he put them in Daddy’s closet, and even on Daddy’s side of the closet.

I got into computer programming because I wanted to teach computers how to think.  I’ve now spent some 15 or so years in the profession, and no program I’ve ever written intuited nearly as much as my not-yet two year old putting his Daddy’s shoes away for his Mommy.  “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” – Psalm 139:14

by ·0 Comments

We get lots of mail from charities. We have a select few we donate to regularly, which we’ve chosen on the basis of their mission, their effectiveness, and frankly, where we feel specifically called to contribute. I’ve always assumed folks do something similar, based on their own conscience or conviction, and thus have never felt an interest in fundraising for a charity. I’d even put it more strongly that I was averse to fundraising for a charity. Who am I to tell you that you should send your money somewhere?

I’m looking at that a little differently tonight, and figured I’d get this out there before I retreat into my self-righteous conviction (or fear of being thought overbearing/silly/ineffective/yada yada yada…). On June 7, Bello Machre is holding their Every Step Counts walk. Its purpose is to raise money for and awareness of the relatively overlooked community of developmentally disabled individuals. This organization seeks to let these individuals participate as fully in the community as they are able or willing, including such items as providing group homes to let adults live semi-independently, or extra hands to help families dealing with the challenges of day-to-day living. The need for these programs is great, and the waiting lists are long: see the article ‘Judge a Society By How it Treats its Weakest?‘ from the Capital Gazette for a great writeup of what the program does, and what its needs are.

As a parent, I pray for the health of my kids, and celebrate their growth and accomplishments. I also look forward to the day when I can celebrate their accomplishments as adults in our society. The developmentally disabled, and their families, deserve those same opportunities and need a bit of assistance to make those opportunities happen. My faith tells me that each of us is created for a purpose for the days we spend here on earth. On June 7, I’ll be walking in celebration of the purpose and opportunities God has given these people who we tend to overlook, and raising funds to help Bello Machre help those opportunities happen. If you’re interested in sponsoring me, please contact me either in person or via email at coleman—-serious…gmail/com. (Remove the dashes, and punctuate appropriately to make a reasonable email address.)

by ·0 Comments

Reading a book of lectures by Donald Knuth that I let myself be tempted by in my last spin through Borders. (Note to self: when picking up a book you’ve reserved, it’s completely possible to JUST go to the checkout line and buy that book, and only that book.) Donald Knuth is most famous for writing a set of algorithm books. His lecture set is from a set of lectures he gave at MIT on “Interactions Between Faith and Computer Science”.  The book’s entitled ‘Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About’.
Observant readers of this blog will see a category for Christianity among my archives. It’s not something I’ve written about much of late, for a variety of reasons. But you’ll occasionally see in this blog that says something about Christianity and what I’m thinking about at the time.

Anyway, as I’m skimming his first lecture, I’m also taking a quick peek at Dr. Dobb’s Journal. Thinking about Knuth made me think about the made-up language he used for his algorithm examples which made me think about what new languages are out there that I haven’t heard about of late. An article about build systems (The Buzz About Builds) is on the cover of this month’s magazine, and since I’ve been wrestling with an automated build system at work, I take a quick look-see.

Now I’ll caveat that I’m not all that impressed with this article. I’m three sections in and it hasn’t told me anything of great technical value. A little bit of business background as to why build systems are now getting greater focus in the industry’s great, but isn’t going to help me wrestle with CruiseControl tomorrow. What I do find interesting is a quote that’s at the top of section three, ostensibly about distributed development teams and thus the need for better build systems, is this quote:

We Bokonists believe that humanity is organized into teams, teams that do God’s Will without ever discovering what they are doing. —Kurt Vonnegut

Note that I think it’s a lousy quote for distributed development teams. I don’t ever want to be on a team where I can’t “discover[…] what [I’m] doing”. But a very interesting convergence of reading materials. I’ll caveat that I haven’t read the source of Mr. Vonnegut’s quote: couldn’t tell you its context, applicability, etc.  But it does pop out to me tonight and intrigue me to find out more.  (Will admit to you that I would believe that we could often do God’s will without being aware of it.)
Update: a quick spin around the ‘Net points me to Bokonists being in Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, and various serious-minded writers speak on its satire of religion. Now on my list of soon-to-reads…