If I could inspire you to do one thing...

... what would it be?

I don't know what one thing I'd pick over all, but today I'd love to inspire you to do this:
Open your mind and heart to people you're hesitant to... people you think you've got pegged... people who are a little different than you.... and you might just enjoy an unexpected, beautiful moment with them.

Today I went into a group discussion not knowing what to expect. As soon as the people settled in I determined how I thought the discussion would go, what kinds of things I would hear - and that I would likely keep my mouth shut.

And once again God did something unexpected! These people were more open-minded than I had thought. When I thought they would be critical and cynical and stuck in their ways, they rather engaged in discussion with joy and love and openness. Even when differing opinions arose, the air in the room was love and acceptance, not judgement and condemnation. Thus the conversation was rich and enlightening, and I chose to contribute, too. After the official discussion ended, I lingered with several folks to engage some more. They embraced me, and I did them. I will even go as far as to say that new friendships were formed. ... NOT at all what I had expected.

It was a definite lesson learned! I realized my judgements were wrong and I will do my best to be open to others so much more! Just when we think we've got things figured out, God chooses to show us how misdirected we are. And, boy do I thank him for that! I certainly don't want to become haughty or conceited in my thinking, dare I stop growing and learning.

I know we all know this, but it serves well to remind us all...
People of all ages, backgrounds, status, races, and faiths have so much to share to enrich our lives! We can learn so much more from people different than us, than if we just surround ourselves with like-minded, similar people.

And it's really a lesson in humility, isn't it? ... And humility is so dang hard to keep going! I mean, it's not too hard to be humble here and there - to put others interests first once in a while - but to truly have a continual attitude of humbleness!? Wow! It's like we just can't do it on our own... oh, wait, yeah, uh, we can't do it on our own! :)

God, keep me humble... keep me guessing... keep me growing and learning from others... keep me in open to others... keep me in you're purposes.... and I'll try really hard to not get in the way!

Living in the moment

Today, as I showered, I had a huge moment of gratitude! I said aloud, "Thank you so much God for this hot shower!" And I SO truly meant it. I was living in that moment, being so thankful and feeling completely "showered" with blessings of love from God. I mean really think about it, how great is a hot shower! It's a pleasure that I know we all totally take for granted... well, I usually sure do.

My life has been a bit challenging to me lately, and there are moments when I feel overwhelmed. I day dream of going on a week-long vacation with just Leon and me, lying around, eating, reading, enjoying some golf and spa treatments respectively. What a wonderful break that would be! I day dream about hiring a masseuse for a daily massage. I day dream about taking naps. I day dream about a good ole blah, boring week!

Day dreaming is fine, as long as there is a level of contentment in reality, which I think only comes from God. I'm really learning a lot about living in the present which brings such healthy contentment - not dwelling on what's happened in the past, or only living for what could be in the future. Living in the present doesn't mean not learning from past mistakes or not having goals for your future. But it means treasuring every present moment for the purpose in it - His purpose in it. Whether we truly understand that purpose or not, acknowledging that God does have purpose for us through every bit of our lives gives us that peace, thankfulness, and contentment which is so rare in our time and culture.

So, this morning as I let the hot water massage my shoulders and melt the stress away for the moment, it was like God just opened my heart and showed me that He was loving on me - maybe not through a vacation, or a spa massage - but through a wonderful, simple hot shower. My purpose in that shower was to get clean. God's purpose was LOVE... isn't it always! I'm glad that this time I didn't miss it!

It was nice. Thanks God!

You Hungry?

Have you ever really been hungry? I'm not sure I really ever have... certainly not in the way many in our world are. The problem of hunger in this world is so much bigger than I can wrap my brain around! There are over 854 MILLION people in this world without enough food to eat! And a child dies every 5 seconds from hunger! There has got to be so much done in our world to stop this, since we have plenty to go around. I'm not in a position to make something huge happen, but I can do these really easy things that God seems to just have set in my path over the last couple of weeks.

Please join me in these (Yep, it's easy to do them all!)...

THIS WEEK - for hungry children in America
The Great American DINE OUT (http://www.strength.org)
During this week, September 21-28, a percentage of your bill at certain restaurants will go to feeding hungry kids in America. If you go to the website, you can put in your zip code to see where participating restaurants in your area are. In my area they include: Raising Canes, Texas Land & Cattle, Taco Bueno, Corner Bakery, Joe's Crab Shack, and more! So, if you need an excuse to take the family out for dinner, this is a great one!

END OF OCTOBER - for hungry people in the Dallas area
Community Hunger Day
On Monday, October 27th, Central Dallas Ministries will host Community Hunger Day. On this day they are asking people to commit to fasting that one day and giving generously to help feed the hungry. Beginning Sept. 29 you can visit http://www.communityhungerday.org and set up your own personal page to use to encourage those you know to give to fight hunger. I challenge you to consider doing this... and if not, to give through my page when I ask.

ANYTIME - for hungry people around the world
FreeRice.com
I know it seems too simple to be true, but it IS true... As you play games that sharpen your mind, you earn grains of rice to be distributed to hungry people around the world. This meets two world-wide goals of education for all people and food for all people. When you play the most popular game, vocabulary, for each word you get right, you donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. As you play you can remember that for ever 2000 grains you earn, you feed one person for one day! Set this website on your favorites, and instead of internet card games or video games, go to freerice.com to chill out. It's a pretty awesome "time-waster," I'd say!

PERIODICALLY - for ending poverty in the world
The ONE Campaign
So, as you know hunger and poverty inseparable. The ONE campaign raises awareness and acts within our political system to increase funds and impact our government (in a non-partisan way) to end poverty in this world. ONE is Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life - united as ONE - to help make poverty history. You can go to their website (http://www.one.org) and sign up. Then you'll be sent e-mails periodically inviting you to send letters, sign petitions, etc. to make changes that effect world poverty and hunger. This is incredibly simple, and you can make a huge difference! Please take a look and sign up!

THIS SEMESTER - for world hunger
FBCR RAs Mission Collection
The 1-6 grade boys in our church who are a part of RAs (Royal Ambassadors) have a mission collection every year... and you guessed it, this year it's collecting change (in their tube socks) for world hunger. So, if you know an RA at FBCR, and you can spare some change from your pockets, cars seats, junk drawers, or purses, throw it their way!

I don't know why all these opportunities to address HUNGER seem to have come my way recently. But I do know I had to share it with you who read my ramblings. I love living my life with purpose. And these kinds of things are a big part of that. Thanks for joining with me!

A Dilemma. A Paradox. A Decision.

I had a dilemma, but I've made a decision. Here's my story and my beef...

If you know me or read several posts back, you know that missions is near and dear to my heart. I'm involved in Women on Mission, the women's missions organization at church (sad to say the youngest one left in it). The ladies are trying to get more involvement from the church, especially the younger ones, and so the first meeting is going to be an evening meeting with dinner and childcare and a fabulous speaker who serves in Indonesia. I was thrilled to promote it and get all my friends to come with me... until I noticed that they scheduled it on the same night as National Night Out!

Now, I know that not everyone has a block party in their neighborhood, and I know that not everyone wants to even get to know their neighbors. I also know that some church-going Christians wouldn't know why it might be a problem to have this missions event on the same night as NNO, because, of course, you should be at church learning about God - not out partying it up with non-Christians. But I don't think that way... and our neighborhood does have a block party... and we try to go every year to meet neighbors and just be friendly.

I had to figure out which big event our family should attend.

As I've said in a few different posts, over the last several years God has been shifting me. Among other things, He has shown me that I need to be less busy at church and be more busy being the church. My time used to be always taken up by church activities, church meetings, church worship services and church Bible studies, church parties and church friends - and I was living life inside a bubble - never really getting to know people outside the church. These days I still spend plenty of hours on church things (maybe still too much) but I'm out in the rest of the world a lot more. This shift has been freeing and fulfilling! My relationship with God has grown as my life has been enriched by all kinds of activities and lovely people - outside my church!

So, naturally, going with the way God is shifting me, I should choose to go to NNO, right?

BUT this speaker is going to be so great! I've heard her before and I was so encouraged by her stories and inspired by her message about loving the world's least and forgotten. I know if we went to the missions night, we'd be moved to action somehow, and the greater good would be served. Plus, if I don't go, how can I encourage my friends to go, and thus encourage more participation in the missions organizations at church?!

But then, there's this crazy paradox... and here lies my beef:
Inside the church we talk, preach and pray about missions being THE Purpose of the church. We have sermons, conferences, campaigns, studies, and meetings - all about MISSIONS. Sharing the Love and Message of Jesus with others, from our front doors to the ends of the earth, is what the Church is called to do! But I'm so stinking tired of talking it up so big, when we're not encouraging it in practice near enough! In this culture of church that we have made for ourselves, we don't allow for it! We encourage our church members to become so active IN the church activities and programs, that we don't give them a chance to go out and BE the church! Church actually prevents us from doing what we are called by God to do! It's obviously NOT RIGHT!

How can we hold a church-wide Missions night on the very night we should be encouraging every church member to get outside their homes and build some relationships with their neighbors at this nation-wide event?! I'm not talking about going to our block parties to "win people" or "get them saved" or "convert them" or even getting them to come to church... I'm talking about doing what our Teacher did... building relationships... loving and caring about people who live near us. Our neighbors are people we could help out if we knew their needs. They are people we could pray for if we knew they were sick or grieving or struggling. They are people who could enrich our lives with their personalities, gifts and talents, as we enrich theirs with ours. Some of these neighbors are Christians who would love community with fellow believers, some attend churches but are disconnected even so, some have never known a follower of Christ who showed them love. We've got to be about loving on people as we go, where we live and work and play. And if that's always at church, then Christians are just a huge clique, aren't we?!

So, I know you can guess that I've decided to go to NNO. I even contacted our neighborhood coordinators and our family will be helping make and pass out fliers, and we're going to have it out in front of our house this year - a better, more centralized location, so more folks will come. I had no idea, but the coordinators were thrilled to have the help. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm truly happy to say that I'll be skipping Missions Night at the church!

E-mail Nuggets

I really don't care for unsolicited, mass e-mails, forwarded e-mails, or e-newsletters. Who does!? Usually I delete them, or maybe open them with a short scan, then delete... But occasionally there's something hilarious, or inspirational and I feel like I haven't completely wasted my time reading one. Here's a couple of nuggets from today's e-mails... one of each (funny & inspirational):

First to lighten the mood for all of those effected in some way by Gustav or Ike*:

Top Ten Reasons Hurricane Season Is Like Christmas

Number Ten: Decorating the house (albeit with plywood & sandbags).
Number Nine: Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last (hurricane) season.
Number Eight: Last minute shopping in crowded stores.
Number Seven: Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.
Number Six: Family coming to stay with you.
Number Five: Family and friends from out of state calling you.
Number Four: Buying food you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities.
Number Three: Days off from work.
Number Two: Candles.
And the Number One reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas: At some point you're probably going to have a tree in your house!


Second, I just loved this prayer that I got in a monthly e-newsletter from Faith at Work* ... might even print it out for my desk... So I'll leave you with this...

A Psalm Before Beginning Work

To You, O Divine One, from whose hands

comes the work of creation, so artfully designed,
I pray that this work I am about to do
may be done in companionship with you.

May the work that I will soon begin
sing praise to you, as songbirds do.

May the work that I will soon begin add to the light of your presence
because it is done with great love.

May the work that I will soon begin speak like a prophet of old
of your dream of beauty and unity.

May the work that I will soon begin
be a shimmering mirror of your handiwork
in the excellence of its execution,
in the joy of doing it for it's own sake,
in my poverty over ownership of it,
in my openness to failure or success,
in my invitation to others to share in it
and in its bearing fruit for the world.

May I be aware that through this work
I draw near you.

I come to you, Beloved,
with ready hands.

~from Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim, Fr. Edward Hayes

*See the link to the side to give to help victims of Gustav and Ike displaced to NW Louisiana.
**See www.faithatwork.com ... Faith at Work empowers people to explore, discern and act on their many gifts and calls in the complexity of their daily lives for the good of God's world.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I've always said I love bedtime for the kids. First, it's great to think that in a few moments they will be sleeping soundly and Leon and I can have a break, adult conversation, and get some things done. Second, bedtime is somehow when all the deep questions in their little minds seem to arise and be asked. Maybe they just want to delay sleep a bit longer, but maybe they really want some answers. I've had some wonderful spiritual discussions with my boys at bedtime. And now Emily is getting to that age.

So last night, when I usually lay her down with a tickle, Emily says, "Mom, for tonight say, 'Do you want tickling or talking?'"
"Okay," I said, "tickling or talking?"
The expected response from Emily, "Talking."
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
Thus began the deep, burning questions:
"Why don't daddy's have babies grow in their tummies?" and "Why did God make people have clothes?" then later when Leon came in, "What is Fantasy Football?"

Good questions, I thought! We had a great three-year-old level discussion!

Now I have to share about Trey... Last night he had a birthday party for a girl in his grade from 7-10pm... yes, I said 7-10pm.... and it was a dance, no less! How could my little fourth grader be going to a party like this yet!? Yikes! I was a little concerned, but Leon took him, stayed for a while, determined that it was harmless, and came on home... and then picked him up a little early since we had church today. He had a great time.

Yesterday we were asking Trey about this girl and what she would like for a present. I asked if she was a girly-girl or more of a tom-boy. Trey said well, she's girly, but she's probably the fastest girl in fourth grade, so she's kind of a tom-boy. Leon inquired further, "So, is she cute?" With a little roll of his eyes and a flick of his hand, he said the greatest "I-can-get-around-this-one" answer I've heard in a while, "Well, in some other people's opinions she might be." ... Priceless!

Some other priceless words from my kiddos this week:
~ Very matter-of-fact-ly Timothy said he was ready to be dead and in heaven... so he could be with Grandy, of course.
~ Emily almost convinced Timothy that she could drive. (She's really very convincing!)
~ Trey spent some time explaining to me that he was probably just as good at soccer as Timothy's coach. (no issues with self-esteem I suppose!)
~ Emily kept calling the hurricane, the HAIR-icane, and she ate some MUSTACHE-ios instead of pistachios the other day.

And so I won't leave George out... He has taken his first steps (a week ago) and will walk five or six steps before deciding to crawl which is currently more efficient... He climbs up on everything: couch, coffee table, hearth, etc. ... He's a huge "cuddle bug" and he's turning out to be a lefty - great at throwing things!

Kids are so much fun!

In the little things

I think I'm back to myself again... mostly anyway! Thank you God! ... I'm sure there will be some down, overwhelming moments in my days ahead.... but my attitude is so much better, and somehow I'm coping with smiles again. Thanks for those of you who prayed for me! (And thanks to Leon for being such a great husband through the ickyness!)

So, as I intended, I want this to be an uplifting post I thought I'd share with you the ways I have experienced God today...

in the little things...

~ in the short conversation with the security guard at Leon's office, when she was telling me how nice Leon is. Come to find out, Leon just smiles and waves and treats her like a real person. Imagine that! So smile and wave and be friendly with people... it makes a huge difference! It did to her.

~ when I found out how our MOPS group truly ministered to a mom yesterday. God used our flexibility, our openness, our own struggles and friendly faces to touch a mom in need of peace. That's what I love about MOPS! I pray we can be there for her in the days to come, as well!

~ when I listened to another mom share her burdens with me. I've done what I can to help this mom, and don't know what else to do really... but I listened with understanding, and I pray she felt a little better for having called me.

~ when I chatted with my hair dresser while she cut and colored my hair. We talked about all kinds of things as usual - from the hurricanes to our children to how we both don't particularly like shopping - and then she said, "You have the biggest heart of anyone I know." Since that seemingly came out of the blue, I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "You always are helping people and thinking of others." ... Wow! That made my day! I've known her for several years, but only seeing her for a couple of hours every 2 or 3 months, it's not like we truly know each other. But she always asks about my mission trips, my Bible Study group, my family and what's new. We sometimes chat about spiritual things. We seem to have gone beyond the "hairdresser/client" relationship, and would probably be friends if we were in the same circles of activities. I guess that comment just made me think. "Man, I think she really gets me!" I hope I lifted her day, like she did mine.

~ in a phone conversation with a good friend. It's just nice to have someone you can talk to who holds you accountable for things, prays for you, shares her joys and junk with you and let's you share yours with her, checks on your latest drama, and really cares about you.

My day isn't even over and I've experienced God in so many wonderful ways. I feel like He's especially loved on me today. My prayers is that YOU can think of ways you have experienced him in the little things, too. Then smile knowing how much he loves you, too!

Various Spewing...

Warning: If you visited my blog today to read about sunshine and happiness, don't read on. This post is high on the need grace and prayers section and a little lacking on the smiles part. Sorry! :) or :(

Cancer...
HATE IT! Wish we knew more about it, what causes it, what stops it, why God allows it! UGH!!! I have a really good friend suffering with it... and now an uncle, too. It simply sucks! And right now I don't want to think about how God can bring good out of it or how wonderful heaven will be for them... that's just cruel to even think about right now... thoughts and words completely empty of meaning!

Hormones & Emotions...
Sometimes I wish neither existed! I know all the wonderful things about both, but I wish there weren't the negative parts that come with them... like emotions and even actions you seemingly can't control, extreme waves of anger or sorrow, killer "times of the month," and petty/silly things that trigger the aforementioned.... again, UGH!!!

Negative Attitudes...
I am a positive person. I can hardly make myself complain too long about something because it brings me down, and ends up making no sense to me in the end. When I encounter someone with a negative attitude, my usual MO is to inject my positive energy into the encounter with a smile or positive spin to the topic at hand. But I seem to be in a FUNK and my positive energy is running low, so the last few days when I've encountered others with negative attitudes or problems, I can't bring myself to rise above like I usually can. I can't seem to reach within me to see the sunshine like I usually can. All I want to do is give it right back to them, and that, too, simply sucks! It's not me. I'm not usually the one with the negative attitude.

Being in a funk...
I've had a lot going on in my life lately... little stuff and some big stuff too. But really not much more than anyone else out there. So, I'm wondering if my faith is weaker than I thought, or if I'm not doing something right, or what action/thought process I can take to get myself out of this funk I seem to be in. I've wondered if Satan is attacking... it kind of feels like it sometimes. And just when I feel like I'm on top of things again, something strikes and I'm back to acting in a way I simply don't approve of. I think I've been here before... but it's been a long time. I don't like it. I know I'll be back to myself before too long, but for now it's icky.

For those of you who have read this far, and who will see me later today or this week, you'll likely not find a forlorn, mopey Kim. When I'm out and about, at church or with friends, this funk-iness isn't too acute, so you don't have to worry about me or dote over me or anything... maybe just say a prayer for me. I think getting this out here has somehow helped, too.... and I think I'll go spend some time outside with God's creation, breathing deep and experiencing Him. That always helps.... Here's to an uplifting post next time!

Bailed on Gustav

I can hardly find anything about the effects/victims/devastation of Gustav on the news! The RNC and Palin have stolen the media from the huge mess that Gustav left! Just because hundreds of people aren't being pulled from their roofs via helicopter, and just because there isn't embarrassing footage of people crying out from the flooded Super dome, doesn't mean that there aren't major needs across Louisiana!

The shelters in North Louisiana are empty of supplies and are aching for volunteers. Today they were still busing people to Shreveport shelters from two parishes that had levees break. There was so much damage in Baton Rouge to power sources that supply New Orleans that it's effecting New Orleans infrastructure, too. They can't start busing people back until power is restored.... I could go on and on.

If any of us were to stay inside one of the shelters for more than an hour or two, we'd immediately be struck with the urgency of all the needs. Think of the elderly with their medical needs and dementia... the children with only a couple of feet of space to play and little to keep them occupied... the special needs children and adults needing calm and quiet places to function well... hundreds of people with one TV for access to the outside world... what about people who are sick or pregnant and need more than a cot...!

With Katrina the nation knew about the needs because the media shared the story for days, weeks and months (and rightly so). But when Gustav was down-graded and then seemed to be less devastating than expected, the media bailed and turned to the Grand Old Party. Or maybe they would have turned to anything else if the timing were different...

Well, I wanted to do my part to let you know there are still big needs and so many people still in major crisis mode.... so keep the prayers coming... and if you want to donate, you can click the link to the right and know that it's going directly to people who need it.

What a weekend!

Remembering Daddy
We had a great time being together as a family this past weekend! The kids loved playing with cousins 24/7. And the time we spent specifically remembering Daddy under his favorite tree was really good. My mom read some scripture and a poem, we all shared "Randy stories," our favorite things about Daddy, and what a great legacy he left for us. The grand kids each had a small container of his ashes that they scattered in his garden in their individual ways, and my mom and sister, Jenny, scattered some, too. The rest of his will be saved for another time or place.

The memorial spot we created by Grandy's Tree included two concrete benches flanking a stone pedestal topped by a robust Fleur de leis. We will later hang a large wind chime from the tree and place the stepping stones made by the grand kids.

The making of the stepping stones was a small fiasco... concrete hardened too fast. But the kids got their hand prints in and some stones... It was a crazy half hour or so... laughable but stressful... a learning experience to say the least! Before we place them out by Grandy's Tree, we'll try to put a clear resin on top to hold their creations in place.

Here's the family gathered around Grandy's Tree... notice the UTexas gift bag... it played the fight song while we scattered the ashes (for more, see last blog entry).

Gustav Frenzy

So, Daddy didn't exactly get the only top billing for the weekend, since Gustav was heading in. My sister Jenny works with local hurricane relief and her husband is a deputy sheriff, so they both were extremely occupied with sheltering the evacuees, the security needed down south, and all of the necessary preparations. The traffic was also a slight problem in town, because of all the evacuees in the area. Plus, with all the rain expected in my mom's area, we had to go hunt down sand bags, fill them and place them around the house. (We really means the men in the family.)

I am truly thrilled and thankful that the hurricane weakened a bit and that it will not even come close to the devastation of Katrina. But there are still so many people who will lose their homes and many who will stay in shelters as long as possible and not even want to return. Although it's another blow to New Orleans (a city that didn't need another blow!) the South Louisiana spirit is unmatched in it's strength and depth, and New Orleans will rise again!

We were prepared for the drive home to take extra long with all the evacuees on the road... but what we discovered was actually the opposite. By the time we left on Monday, everyone was hunkered down wherever they had landed. Along the interstate we saw rest areas that had been literally "trashed" by swarms of travellers who had long been gone. And every hotel, motel and inn we passed had overflowing parking lots and RVS and motor homes lining them. The signs along the highway alerted us that all shelters were full (as if to say, don't stop, keep driving). But the road itself actually had less traffic than usual and we made it home in record time.

Here's my mom's house all ready for sustained heavy rain.... sand bags... and even a boat... and, yes, it's humid and hot, so sorry about the foggy lens.

So, it was a very memorable weekend. It went well. And now I think as a family we have a wonderful place on the farm as a tribute to Daddy, a place we can visit to remember and celebrate Daddy's life. It feels good!