I Wonder Where This Is Going...

I've got an itch I can't scratch....

It all started a couple weeks ago when a guest speaker came to church with his drawings.  His sermon was about letting go of old programs that are "dead", being open to change and new ideas, and to focus our lives on what gives us life instead of what drains us.  If there is something in our lives that is continually draining us, we need to think of a way to change it and either let go of it or change, then find things that give us life and go with them.

Then, I started a book called "7" by Jen Hatmaker.  If you've never read it, read it.  I'll highlight a little, or maybe a lot, since I'm obsessed.  She's a Christian writer, and the book is about her 7-month fast on seven different things.  For a month at a time, she focuses on one thing: clothes, shopping, waste, food, possessions, media or stress.  Then, those single focuses are broken down by seven again: seven items of clothing, seven kinds of food, seven types of media, seven places to shop, seven ways to reduce waste, and I don't know about stress because I'm not there yet.  Every "month" hits me hard....I spend way too much on food, clothing, in front of the computer/tv, random items to buy "just because", etc. 

I just finished the "waste" month. 

Here's a quote from the book: "I keep thinking about our obsession with health.  Our kids have been immunized, checked, prodded, measured, tested, and examined since the day they were born.  Cuts get antibacterial creme and bandaids.  Twisted ankles get ice.  Strep throats get antibiotics.  We fuel our bodies with good food, drinking enough water and milk to keep the wheels on..... 

Why?  Because God gave us spectacular bodies, and we value them. 

But as certainly as God created man in His image, He first created the earth.  With the same care He designed sixty thousand miles of blood vessels in the human body, He also crafted hydrangeas and freshwater rapids and hummingbirds. He balanced healthy ecosystems with precision and established climates and beauty.  He integrated colors and smells and sounds that would astound humanity.  The details He included while designing the earth are so extraordinary, it is no wonder He spent five of the six days of creation on it. 

So why don't we care for the earth anywhere near to the degree we do our bodies?  Why don't we fuss and examine and steward creation with the same tenacity?  Why aren't we refusing complicity in the ravaging of our planet?  Why aren't we determined to stop pillaging the earth's resources like savages?  Why do we mock environmentalists and undermine their passion for conservation?  Do we think ourselves so superior to the rest of creation that we are willing to deplete the  earth to supply our luxuries?  If so, we may bery well be the last generation who gets that prerogative."

I've been thinking this over and over and over.  How can I be a better steward of the earth? 

I can recycle.

I can plant a garden.

I can conserve my trips to town.

I can plant trees.


So, not only do I want to be more green, I want to be a better spender, very watchful of where every penny goes, then give the money I would have otherwise spent on myself to those who actually need things.  This book drills over and over that Jesus wants us to help the poor, needy, the orphans, the homeless, all those who can't help themselves.  What are we doing spending all this money on ourselves?  And what is God going to say to us when we meet him if that is all we ever do?

AHHHH! 

Anyway...I feel like I need to change some directions of my life right now.  I'm not helping the needy in any way that I can think of, and I want to.  I am not a green person, either, and I want to be a good steward of the earth.  I need to start recycling...that's something major I can do right away.  I have to tell myself "no" when I want  to buy something "just because". 


Well, enough of my rant for now....

See ya!

The Vine and the Branches

I was visiting with my friend and pastor, Melodi, again this morning, and we were talking about the text for the Gospel reading on Sunday. 

It 's from John 15:1-2, 5-8.  1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.  5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.  6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this is My father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."

I loved this text.  It's so cut and dry.  I just want to encourage anyone who reads this to use the gifts God has given you and live your life for God.  Be a living branch on the vine, (one that uses your God-given gifts, is pruned and given more gifts), not one that dies and is burned!