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When Refugees Have Faces: Lesvos 2
Somewhere on this island there is a little girl wearing socks with hearts on them and sneakers with velcro straps that I put on her feet. She came over on one of the boats, in the cold, dark, night. For months I have been reading about and talking about and praying for this big, faceless group we call “refugees.” But instead of a refugee, there was simply a little girl, maybe four years old, with wet tights and cold feet. And the truth is, I don’t know what will happen to her next. Bethany, who showed me the ropes in the clothing tent last night, says the most important thing we…
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Life Jackets and Sunken Ships: Lesvos One
Note: I’m spending the month of December volunteering on the Greek island of Lesvos. As we flew into Lesvos I noticed one of the beaches was lined with orange. “What is that?” I wondered. Then I realized. Life jackets. The beach was lined with life jackets. Our contact, Katherine says seeing those life jackets is a positive thing. She says every life jacket represents someone who made it safely to the island. I can see Turkey from here. It’s just a few miles away across a small but dangerous stretch of the Agean Sea. It takes about an hour and a half for the refugees to make this journey. Smugglers are running…
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Perspective
A couple of weeks ago I had a long travel day for work. I had to drive three and half hours each way, so I left the house when it was dark in the morning, and returned home long after the sun had set. I don’t like driving in the dark. But I noticed that the morning darkness seemed to be more bearable. Driving before sunrise doesn’t bother me as much because I know that eventually daylight is coming. It’s just as dark as it is in the evening, but instead of seemingly endless hours of nighttime, I know that morning is on its way. I’ve been thinking…
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Spoken Word: Confessions
Here’s another poem! This one was put together using chunks of things that I’d written in my journals over the span of several months. When I put them together it all seemed to fit. Funny how God makes things work together like that. The video is me performing the piece at LifeLight, and the words are below. You knit me together in my mother’s womb Intricately created me hazel eyes brown hair hands like my dad. And You called me good. And following You was like dancing. Not the kind where you have to learn the steps. But the kind where you just move because there’s music playing. Or like…
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Spoken Word: Rain
I wrote this poem for a precious friend of mine. I hope it encourages you as well. Here’s the video of me sharing the poem at LifeLight, with the words to the poem below. “I just want to enjoy the rain again,” Says the woman who’s been drowning. Momentary troubles lasting far too long until they’ve seeped into every crack and crevice of her once firm foundation this level of saturation seems hard to withstand even while holding Jesus’ hand because her arms are tired of dangling off this cliff of uncertainty saying “I know God has good plans for me… but what if He doesn’t?” because, let’s face…
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Do My Elbows Look Fat?
As a woman, I am aware that there are certain things I am supposed to worry about. I am supposed to worry about wrinkles, and muffin tops, and stretch marks, and whether or not my teeth are white, and whether or not my eyelashes are thick enough. But recently I was made aware that there was something missing from my worry cabinet. The commercial started like this: “Apples may fall, but the apples of your cheeks don’t have to.” First, I must comment that I feel that statement was a rather lazy way to begin a commercial. But that’s not the point. The point is, all this time I had…
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Taste and See That the LORD is Good
“Taste and see that the LORD is good.” -Psalm 34:8 Sometimes it’s difficult to see God in our lives. And then there are days when it’s so easy. Saturday was one of those days. It was my birthday, and my family and I spent the day at an apple orchard. It was easy to taste that the Lord is good. We walked through the rows of trees, sampling the sweet and tangy apples in more varieties than I have ever heard of. It was easy to see that the Lord is good while gazing upon the beauty of creation on a gorgeous September afternoon. It was easy to see His…
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Writing as Worship: Writing Prayers
Every Saturday I’m writing about some ways to incorporate more writing into your worship times. Last week I wrote about my process for writing spoken word. This week, I want to talk about writing down your prayers. Here are three reasons I love putting my prayers on paper. 1. It keeps me focused. Sometimes my mind feels so crazy and scattered that I don’t even know what to pray. The act of writing keeps me focused on the prayer, and helps me sort out what I need to pray about. 2. It helps me process. Sometimes, I will start a prayer feeling or thinking one thing, and by the time…
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Spoken Word: Depression (I Am Not Lost)
I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced times of depression, or darkness, or heaviness in your life, but I certainly have. I started writing this several months ago, during a very dark season of my life. Hopefully it will be an encouragement to you if you’re going through some dark moments as well. The world is broken like a hand painted plate crashed on my kitchen floor sharp fragments lying everywhere painful to touch threatening to damage me as I pick them up. Oh the plans I had for this dish, the dinner parties it was supposed to see. It hurts, In more ways than one this brokenness. My…
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Writing as Worship: How I Write Spoken Word
As I mentioned in my last post, every Saturday for the next few weeks I’m going to be posting some ideas for using writing as worship, and incorporating writing into your quiet times. You can read my previous post for a few basics. Today let’s talk about spoken word! Spoken word is basically poetry that’s meant to be read out loud. If there are any rules, I don’t know them. Spoken word can sound different based on the topic and the artist reciting the piece. Each writer seems to have their own rhythm, and I love listening to the different unique styles. You can find tons of examples on YouTube.…
