a friend | chatting at the sky

nashville

January 26, 2011

And by the way? These art posts have surprised me. Completely. I’m not a person who I would think would write about art. But I kept on having things to say and then I said them. And I was certain that was it. Until the next day, when I had one more thing. And all that does is prove my point entirely, that when you take the time to see it and live it, the art is there.

Today, I am headed to Nashville for Blissdom. I will show up with no business cards and no gifts for people and not one pair of new shoes. And also, The Man is coming with me because he has some business to do in Nashville. And so we will show up together and I’ll bring him to the (in)courage beach house party so he can meet all the beauties I’ve talked about for so long. And of course, so they can meet him, my love.

And I will be content to share the same space with so many creative women who inspire courage in me with their big dreams and their beautiful selves. And we will mingle around with lots of chatter and all of our messy insecurities. We talk the real at places like this, once we get through polite and into the night. Talking the real is my favorite. I wish all of you could be there today, showing up with your talent and your happy and all your junk, too – and we could embrace the art of authenticity together. There’s nothing like it.

And also? I still have things to say about the art. Can you believe it? Stay tuned, yes?

Filed Under a friend, a writer 35 Comments

in which I convince you that you are an artist

January 24, 2011

Maybe you are thinking These art posts aren’t for me. I’m not the creative type. I’m more of a numbers girl. And well, that may be true. I know it can be a bold and maybe ridiculous thing to clump all types of art together, the I-paint-for-a-living type and the just-plain-living type. But that’s what we’ve been doing here because I think it overlaps a lot anyway.

For example, Kendra cooks. And it isn’t just about the food, it’s about what the food means for a family. It’s about feeding a soul. And she is so passionate about it, that she wanted to share that passion with people. So she opened her own business and began to teach cooking classes. And she was good at it, and people who took one class usually ended up taking two. Because when Kendra is in the kitchen, she creates. She is free. She makes art. She even started a blog about it.

Then, Kendra had a baby. And it became more difficult to teach the classes. And the business began to feel like a burden a little bit. And so she followed her heart, and she shut it down. And she quit her blog. And you know what?

She still makes art.

Every day, she cooks for her husband and she mothers that baby with love and fulness and hope. She isn’t perfect, she doesn’t always feel loving and creative, but she loves anyway and she makes decisions for her family that are smart. Right now, Kendra’s home is her canvas and her love is her brush. Balk at me if you want to, and call me a rainbow and unicorn lover, but that girl makes art everyday.

And so do you. But do you call it that? It’s not just paint, and it’s not just cooking. For some people, art might look like starting a business. And for others, it may look like shutting one down. Life is art. Don’t you see that by now? Do you trust yourself with the beauty of it? How can you doubt the art in you? How can you live, everyday, in this world packed with miracles, and not see the art? How can you, a miracle yourself with those deep eyes and that gorgeous laugh, how can you say you aren’t an artist? It’s not about art school or making a living with a paintbrush. I mean, it can be that. But it’s more. It’s so much more. See the art today, this day. And live it.

Filed Under a friend, inspired 58 Comments

to know their stories

January 11, 2011

We’ve talked here about story before, about how everyone has one and most stories are more painful than we might initially assume. But people won’t tell you that in line at the grocery store or at the PTA meeting. Or at church. But there is an entire population of people today who may not get the opportunity to share their stories even if they wanted to.

There are 27 million people worldwide whose stories are being held hostage because they are living as victims of the slave trade. Eighty percent of those stories belong to women and children. Today, some sources believe that the 2011 Super Bowl will be the largest human trafficking event in US history. While we eat our bean dip, thousands of men, women and children will be trafficked into Dallas for the purpose of sex and labor trafficking.Writing that sentence breaks my heart, and I know it breaks yours, too.

There are more statistics (and also here) and I know they’re hard to read. It’s only been two years since I learned about how serious this issue is. There is a ministry at my church called Aboltion! that exists to raise awareness, to provide resources for partners already established in this ministry nationwide and around the world, and to pray for freedom for the captives. The only hands and feet God has on earth are ours. And today, I beg you to use yours to pray for freedom for the victims of human trafficking.

You won’t be praying alone. Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and that is the most important thing about this day – to raise awareness. We have to know about it. It’s the opposite of what I want to know. I want to put my fingers in my ears and sing. But that won’t save those victims. My friends in Abolition tell me that as their network continues to grow, awareness of the issue grows. And awareness and education are two key components to more rescued victims and more prosecuted perpetrators.

As dark and overwhelmingly oppressive as this topic is, there is hope in this world for these victims. I want to leave you with a glimpse of this hope written by Gary Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission. He tells the story of Glenna, a young woman living in the Philippines who was lured away from a group of friends, and physically forced into the waiting taxi of a pimp. She was terrified, and knew that she was about to be sold. But when the taxi arrived at a nearby hotel, the “customer” was actually an undercover police officer partnering with IJM. The pimp had been under surveillance for months, and Glenna was freed before she could be abused.

“Today, Glenna is a happy young wife and mother. She has graduated from IJM Cebu’s job-readiness training program and is grateful for and proud of her new career, working at a local bakery. She is cared for deeply by IJM Cebu’s team — men and women who seek each day to reflect the kind of relentless love their Maker has shown them.”

Would you join with us today and pray for those on the front lines of the rescue missions all over the world? May the Lord multiply their efforts and protect their hearts from darkness. And may he wrap up each victim in his love, and bring them into freedom and safety. Re-write their story, Lord. Bind up their broken hearts, and set the captives free.

If you would like more information on the issue of human trafficking and how you can become an abolitionist, please visit the following sites:

Abolition! – a step-by-step guide outlining how you can become involved

Tiny Hands International , and on twitter @tinyhandsintl

North Carolina: Not For Sale Campaign -North Carolina, and on twitter @Not_For_Sale

United States: Shared Hope, and on twitter @SharedHope

Around the World: International Justice Mission, and on facebook

Love 146

If you are interested in starting an organization like Abolition in your own church, send an email to abolitionministry(at)yahoo(dot)com

Come, Lord Jesus.

Filed Under a friend 46 Comments

for edie on her birthday, because words are all we’ve got

January 4, 2011

When my sister and I were younger, during the days when kid shows only came on right after school and on Saturday mornings, we would sit and watch grown up shows with Mom at night. And so every Tuesday night, we’d tune in to Who’s The Boss, Growing Pains, and Moonlighting. I know. It was awesome. But the best part was each week, we would claim one of the actresses to be during the shows. I can still hear her call out I’m Allysa, I’m Carol, I’m Maddie! She always remembered to call it first, and then I was stuck with being Mona or Miss DiPesto.

When I first met Edie a few years ago, I liked her with every single fiber of my being. She’s one of those women who you don’t just want to be your friend, you kind of want to actually be, just like Allysa Milano when I was a kid. When she painted her kitchen cabinets blue last year, I just knew she was my kind of girl. She is beauty, grace, style, and fun. And she is an artist in every sense of the word that I can think of.

Edie with her daughter, Caiti – a photo I have shamelessly swiped from her.

But it was this post Edie wrote when her daughter turned 18 that I’ve gone back to read a few more times than normal. Because for all the ways I admire her beauty, her spunk, her sense of style, I think it is her deep, beautiful, thoughtful writing that speaks to me the most. She writes of mothering in a way that breaks me apart. I’ll let her show you:

“They tell a story all their own. How we labor so diligently for days and weeks and years, and wonder if it matters at all? Will it ever be more than a heap of yarn? Will food and laundry nourish a life? Can bread be His body broken?

And finally, mercy gives way. Heartache becomes forgiveness. Stubborn melts to grace. Tangles of yarn slowly take form of a sweater. Years of meals nourish a body like years of love nourish a heart. Redemption rushes in and finishes the work.

And it did matter. Every little stitch. All the countless hours. . . Hoping, begging, praying that she knows just how very much she matters. And that she will feel in the blue—the warmth of a mother who loves from the broken place and the peace of a Father who forgives.”

-Edie, Life in Grace

Thank you Edie, for piling words on top of feeling, for putting paragraphs around the flailing and grasping that sometimes is motherhood, and for doing it with such lovely abandon. You are an inspiration to me, the kind of mama I hope to be when my girls turn 18. I wish you a most sincere Happy Birthday.

And so, I know there are many of you reading who also read Edie. I want to encourage you to write a post about how she has been an encouragement to you and link up over at her blog today! If you read her but don’t have a blog, there are instructions posted at her place today on how you can send a letter instead. She could use a little encouragement, as well as some sweet reminders of the ways she has brought grace and beauty into our lives. So go be a part of her online birthday card!

Oh, and Nester? I’m Edie.

Filed Under a friend, a sister 23 Comments

love for life in grace

December 28, 2010

I just can’t stop thinking about Edie. As most of you may know by now, her family lost their home to a fire last week just before Christmas. They are all safe, even the dog. But their house and everything in it is gone. My sister posted a beautiful tribute to Edie’s home and family – and as I watched, the tears came immediately. I know so many of you feel the same way.

And we all want to do something to help, to offer a hand, to be shoulders and arms of support – the body of Christ at work. But there are other things I think of, things of the heart and the psyche. What is it to lose the place where your family felt most safe? How do you shake the violation that may be trying to insert himself, now that the immediate danger has passed? What do you do with the temptation to believe that perhaps there is no place safe in the world?

Edie didn’t ask to be a role model and I’m sure she wouldn’t have chosen this way to show her faith – but she is. And she is. She believes, even though. She has faith, even though. And I’m certain when she named her blog, she knew not the impact her Life in Grace would truly have.

And so I keep thinking about Edie. I’m praying for her family, not just for them to be able to replace their beautiful things in the coming months, but to be surrounded with a supernatural sense of protection, of safety, of love, and of grace. May the Lord wrap them up with arms of Peace and Redemption. May Fear run wimpy and small to the hills and Joy pick up her bright pink skirts and twirl around in their midst.

Filed Under a friend, faith 33 Comments

paying attention on a tuesday

November 16, 2010

Everyone has something to teach. We would do well to simply pay attention. I have spent the weekend with my friend Annie from Annie Blogs. And that girl? Has a lot to teach. She is brave, but not without fear. She is fun, but can dive to the depths of conversation on a dime. She has experienced things some people only dream of, and she has dreams she still wants to experience. She’s been with my family, my friends, my small group girls, and my fellow youth workers. In every situation, she was gracious, energetic, honest, loving, other-centered, and free.

The hurry slipped right out from within me while Annie was around. We talked of writing and fear, of loving high school girls and feeling like one, too. I didn’t wash a dish or do any laundry. But there was lots of soul-work going on, lots of visioneering and dream-stuff and rest.

Annie teaching some of our sophomore girls.

Spending time with people I enjoy, people who teach with more than words, is life-giving to me. I would love to be the same kind of friend, a person who teaches with more than words and offers soul-rest simply by being in the room. It is a gift we give to people, to co-create soul space with them and for them. Annie was that for me (and so many others) this weekend, and I’m so thankful for it.

Is there a person (or people) in your life who has a presence that offers peace? If so, or if you have another type of gift to consider today, I invite you to join us in celebrating. If you have questions, check out the information on my Tuesdays Unwrapped page. If you are reading in a reader, you may have to click over to see the links and I really hope you read at least a few. So happy here on my favorite day of the week. Join us?

Filed Under a friend, Tuesdays Unwrapped 18 Comments

friends on a tuesday

September 27, 2010

We had a couple over last night for the first time in several months. They aren’t just acquaintance friends, they are long-time, way-back friends. They are I knew him before he met her and I knew her before she met him friends. They are friends we got to watch fall in love over ski trips and Alias, friends who came to our house the night they got engaged and didn’t even have to say any words because we just knew.

We stood beside them as friends when they said I do, The Man in his suit and I in those heels and our littles holding onto both their white flower baskets and onto me as I said this at their wedding. They came over regular and played with our kids on the floor in front of Dora, and then patiently waited as we put them to bed. As the kids slept quiet in their cribs, we’d all settle in to watch LOST together because it’s just not the kind of show you watch alone. A few years later, we prayed for them when they wanted so badly to have a baby of their own, I was sad for her when it seemed it wasn’t going to happen, and we were excited with them as they felt moved toward adoption.

About a year ago, they sent in the initial adoption paperwork and I thought I knew how their story was going to play out. Until four days later when she pulled me aside at a wedding of a friend: Don’t freak out and she sneaky showed me a photo on her phone of a positive pregnancy test. Needless to say, I freaked out. Because she is a long-time, way-back friend and that’s just what you do.

So tonight, they came over for dinner and Chuck – different show, same old times. As the evening passed with a familiar but new set of rhythms now that they have a baby of their own, I realized how very much I love these friends, these times we get with them to catch up and laugh and watch great-to-us TV and eat too much ice cream. We may not be able to do it as often as we used to, but today I remember to remember to love that we did it last night.

Maybe you are living in the midst of normal weekly gatherings, or friendly dinners, or favorite TV night parties. Because you live in the midst of them now, it is hard to see the gift they will be to you when the regular isn’t regular anymore. What are the gifts you are living today? Open them up and tell us what they are.

If you would like to join in, welcome! If you have questions, check out the information on my Tuesdays Unwrapped page. If you are reading in a reader, you may have to click over to see the links and I really hope you read at least a few. This will be our last Tuesday to unwrap together until November, so let’s make it count.

Filed Under a friend, Tuesdays Unwrapped 45 Comments