Birthday good deeds day 2, 3, 4, and 5 (and some day 1 stuff I missed):
After I published my last post, a few more fun things happened. We had my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and her boyfriend over for dinner. Having people over is a great joy for us, and we had a great evening full of laughter and food. I also got a little treat for my bro-in-law.
Archive for August 2014
Mustard Seed project Update: Days 2, 3, 4, and 5
Mustard Seed Kingdom Day 1: Hospitality
My goal was to do around 4 acts of kindness today. I think I achieved 2 notable ones. There were a few other random acts, but not very notable. There was a debate going on in my mind on whether or not to count throwing the empty Starbucks cup that I found in an aisle at target away; the answer was no. I don't want to get in the habit of counting every piece of trash I pick up as an intentional act, or I'm going to end up copping out on so much more.
The first act that actually does count is having a friend over tonight and to spend the day with us tomorrow. Most of my day was spent cleaning the house in anticipation for her. I don't like to do things small either, I love for people to feel welcomed and pampered when they stay here. That does not always happen, but I try. I read that "the heart of hospitality is when people leave your home they should feel better about themselves, not better about you." I try to do that. Another great quote on hospitality is "Hospitality is not about inviting people into our perfect homes; it is all about inviting people into our imperfect lives." Our home is far from perfect. Only one room has been painted, things are still somewhat dirty (as much as we've strived for them not to be, there's only so much we can do in a summer), and we still have unpacked boxes, but we still want people to come be a part of this chaos we call life. We want them to see us as real people, with a dog that barks too much, and dust in the corners. We want for them to see that, but to ultimately come out of the other side feeling loved, valued, rested, and with memories. Our beds are soft and clean, and they are meant to be slept in. Our home is meant to be lived in, so we have strived to open it up as much as possible to anyone.
Overcoming Evil with Good
Given the news the past several days, it's evident that evil exists. It exists in suicide and death, it exists in persecution and genocide, it exists in hatred between religious groups, and exists in the rampant racism of our country and beyond. It's hard to know what to focus on. It's overwhelming to know what to do.
Do we send money to doctors battling ebola? Do we drive to St. Louis in some sort of solidarity with the black community against an unjust system? Do we post the suicide hotline number on our Facebook statuses, again? There are so many things to do, there are so many issues, the world seems to be falling apart. It is easy to be overcome by evil.
There's this voice, this verse in Romans that says, however, to not be overcome, but to overcome that evil with good. Not with money, or Facebook statuses, or violence, but with good.
The context of these verses are astounding. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. " Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Overdue
The delay in posting about our Mundelein students visiting, is not without reason. The main reason was to sigh a heavy sigh that we survived the summer. The other reason is, I have a disappointingly low number of photos. I was so busy living in the moment, and soaking up every second I could with these teens I love more than words could ever express.
There aren't nearly as many shocking before and after photos, because so much of what was done, was to clean up and make the church workable for now. Plus,we needed some time to breathe. It's been such a whirlwind of a summer, that we had to play catch up on boring things like organizing receipts, and calling insurance companies. We also just needed some time to put our feet up for a couple days, before the next whirlwind started.
Spending time with our teens from Mundelein was invaluable to us. It was a week of mixed emotions, as we watched them enjoy our new home, and got to admire how tall everyone has gotten in the 2 months since we left, we also knew we'd have to say goodbye again. We also had our first real issue of the week with one of our girls breaking her leg while adventuring at the beach. It broke our hearts to sit with her in the ER and watch her go through so much pain. It really is an emotional thing to want to help someone so much, and be very limited in what you can do. We are so grateful that she had an awesome Dr. and nurse, who took great care of her, and she is on the mend.
There were lots of laughs, lots of stories, and lots of work done. Here are a few pictures that I managed to snap in the midst of basking in the moments I shared with people so precious to my heart.
I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, but I do think it's important to live in the moment sometimes instead of behind a camera (or phone). I tried to do that. I'm so blessed to call these students mine, and I'm so grateful that we got to end our summer trips on such a high note! Now it's time to hit the ground running as school starts this week here in Hammond. Goodbye summer of 2014! You were awesome! Now on to fall 2014, I foresee the outflow of blessings to continue.