by jphilo | Jul 28, 2010 | Current Events
Last December, when an invitation to speak at the 2010 International Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) Convention arrived, I was pretty pumped. With about four or five thousand young moms attending the August 5 – 8 event, the convention would be a great place to hawk A Different Dream for My Child and connect with parents raising kids with special needs.
When two BFFs agreed to road trip with me to Nashville, stay at the Grand Old Opry Hotel, and help sell books, I was even more pumped – at least until last spring when Nashville was smacked with a devastating flood. Life changed dramatically for people along the flooding river. I can’t imagine what horrors they endured and are still enduring. But I do know the effects of the flood flowed far beyond the Tennessee shoreline. One small ripple made it all the way to Iowa and left me with a MOPS mess to tidy up.
The convention planners moved the event from Tennessee to a conference center in Kissammee, Florida, just south of Orlando. My BFFs said it was too far for them to travel. My daughter can’t come because her new in-laws are hosting a reception for the newlyweds that weekend. My new daughter can’t come because she just started a new job and doesn’t have any vacation time. My husband can’t come because he’s used all his vacation time on weddings, Family Camps, and man-of-steel hikes in the wilderness with other men of steel.
So I’m going to Florida…alone.
I’ll be minutes away from the happiest place on earth…alone.
I’ll be counting out change and signing books…alone.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s a tiny disappointment. It’s a teeny-tiny mess compared to the flood in Nashville. It’s still a great opportunity, and I’m eager to learn why God is sending me there all by myself. What will happen on the way? Who will I meet? What opportunity awaits? When I think like that, my MOPS mess looks tidier by the minute.
But what about the people in Nashville?
by jphilo | Jun 29, 2010 | Current Events
Sunday morning, I was running a little late. Okay, I was running very late, late enough to know my entrance into Sunday school would be extremely embarrassing. In too much of a hurry to pay much attention to what was on the radio, the announcer’s trailer for the next NPR news story didn’t register at first.
Wait a minute, I said to my half-lipsticked reflection in the mirror, did she say Russell Moore from the Southern Baptist Convention would be the next guest? And he’s going to talk about an environmental resolution about the Gulf oil spill? This should be interesting.
Sure enough, NPR interviewed Russell Moore, an evangelical Baptist southern pastor who is not afraid to tackle difficult current issues and discuss them in a thoughtful, respectful manner. And sure enough, the topic the need for conservative Christians to become environmentally concerned in light of the Gulf oil spill.
Rather than trying to summarize the story here, I’m posting the link so you can read and process the conversation yourself. This link takes you to a summary of the article. To read the entire article, click on the transcript button on the page. Or you can listen to the audio by clicking the download button.
If what you read or listen to piques your interest, visit Moore’s blog, www.russellmoore.com. Moore uses it as a forum for raising prickly issues and to deal with thorny questions raised by readers. Unlike many evangelicals, his responses are considerate, humble, and kind. Even when I don’t agree with his conclusions, I find his manner refreshing and engaging.
Not your stereotypical evangelist. The world needs more men and women like him, don’t you think?
by jphilo | Apr 29, 2010 | Current Events
Yesterday, one of the sweetest days of spring unfolded. Perfect weather. Crab apple trees in blooms. Tulips swaying in the breeze and lilacs bursting into bloom, their scent wafting through the air like honey.
But best of all was the hour I spent with the high school students who were once my fourth grade students and their parents. We met at Bryant School, where we learned together for nine months some years ago. They were taller than when we said goodbye on a warm June day in 2002. I had more wrinkles.
But yesterday I managed to hold back the tears, just barely, that flowed freely when our little fourth grade family broke up housekeeping way back then. I was determined not to cry because I wanted to be clear-eyed enough to see the people they’d become and to search their faces for traces of the nine and ten-year-olds they used to be.
So while they looked at old pictures and watched videos of their social studies presentations and how-to demonstrations, I watched them. And what did I find behind bravado they’ve cultivated to survive high school or hard times?
Tucked behind their smiles were Alex D’s quiet kindness and Josh’s soft humor. Maddie’s sparkling excitement about life and Hannah’s joyful optimism were written in their eyes. II saw Chuck’s gentleness and Heather’s compassion in the set of their shoulders. Brogan’s determination hid behind his grin, and Alex B’s gaze was as intense as it was the day we first met. Nikki’s shyness was barely visible beneath her confident voice, but it peeked out now and then. Jordan thoughtful nature waited behind her laughter, and Stephanie L was still a natural observer, noticing things in pictures the rest of us missed. Dillan’s childhood inquisitiveness was evident in his career choice, while Erin’s love of words marked her conversation.
They are still there, the children I had loved so much and carried in my heart since we lived fourth grade together so many years ago. My prayer for each of them, the ones present and the ones who didn’t come, as they enter adulthood is simple.
Hold the sweet child you once were close to your heart. Remember who you were and where you’ve been. Build upon the best of your past to create a firm foundation for your future. Rejoice daily. Give thanks hourly. Savour the moment.
Live well, lovely students. Live.
by jphilo | Apr 27, 2010 | Current Events
When I first watched Glee, I was so excited. Being a shallow, escapist kind of girl, I love musicals. A TV show providing a weekly dose of unreality floated my boat. And the idea of a bunch of high school losers breaking into song and dancing was my personal high school dream come true.
Of course, many of the characters in the show are cliche. The Glee Club is full of them – airhead cheerleaders who can’t stand the bossy and talented Jewish girl who looks a lot like Barbara Streisand, a couple angry jocks, a flaming gay guy, and a spunky fellow in a wheelchair. Faculty members include a dumb jock coach ,a pinch-faced principal, a neurotic guidance counselor, and the sincere and sensitive underdog Spanish teacher who becomes the Glee Club advisor. And when the parents appear, which doesn’t happen often, they’re either hypocritical conservative Christians, hip gay couples or sensitive single mothers.
For several episodes, I overlooked the cartoon characterizations for two reasons. First, the musical numbers were the perfect way to escape and so fun to watch. Second, Jane Lynch was absolutely hilarious as Sue Sylvester, director of the Cheerios drill team and arch enemy of the Glee Club.
But in the last few episodes, the gist of every show has been who’s going out with who, who’s having sex with who, and who will lose his/her virginity next. Every musical number is awash in sexual innuendo. Every story line leads to a bedroom. Maybe that’s a fair depiction of high schools full of testosterone-inflamed boys and estrogen-driven girls. But it can’t be the only thing kids do. I mean, some of them have homework, don’t they? Or go to work or blow up stuff in science class or practice those snappy little dance numbers? However, the writers are deep into the sex theme. Apparently, they’re so uncreative, they can’t think of anything else to write about.
Well, I’ve had enough. No more Glee for me. I’m going back to the DVDs of The Dick Van Dyke Show. The Hollywood twin beds and pristine PJs the Petries wear every evening aren’t any more realistic than Glee’s hot pants, but the singing and dancing ranks right up there. And the writing iss stellar. Do you suppose Carl Reiner would come out of retirement and get Glee back on track?
I wish.
by jphilo | Apr 26, 2010 | Current Events
“How long has our church been meeting in the high school?” someone asked at Small Church the other night.
“Nine years,” I said. It’s easy for me to keep track since we started using the auditorium the spring Allen graduated from high school.
Has it really been nine years? Nine years of hauling sound equipment for the worship band, setting up the nursery in hallways, and Sunday school in the foyer. No wonder the storage bins full of nursery toys and Sunday school materials are wearing out. No wonder the people who pack the trailer were dog tired.
But this spring, a little spring has returned to their step.
A little zip is zippadying their doo-dahs.
A little vim is vitalizing their vigor.
Why?
Because in a few months, our new church building will be finished. The sound equipment will stay put from week to week. The nursery will have four solid walls where our babies will be safe. The Sunday school classes will meet in rooms – maybe not completely finished when we move in, but they’ll be put to rights soon. Very soon.
Living through it, nine years seemed like an eternity of hauling tubs and hustling to get out of the building on time each week. But looking back, it seems like hardly enough time for a small group of people to find property and pay for it, raise half a million dollars, secure a loan for the remaining costs, and build a church. And looking forward, nine years seems like nothing compared to the enormity of the task – spreading the good news of a risen Savior so others will come to faith and spend eternity with Him.
Once we’re in our new building, what will God do then? How will he change us? What will the next nine years bring?
by jphilo | Apr 13, 2010 | Current Events
If you’re checking in for wedding news, please be patient. As soon as I get through the post-wedding pile up, you’ll get the skinny. In the meantime, maybe you’ll enjoy this post about aging brains. I’ve been saving it for a busy day like this, and being rather tired, my brain is feeling its age, too.
In a recent blog post, I mentioned a study of teen brains which motivated me to reroute my morning walks to avoid teen drivers. Of course, another choice would have been to stop walking daily. But information in a second NPR news report on aging brains nipped that idea in the bud.
Brain researcher Gary Small shared this old fogey bad news first: “Reaction time is slower,” he says. “It takes us longer to learn new information. Sometimes it takes us longer to retrieve information, so we have that tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon — where you almost have that word or that thought. That’s typical of the middle-age brain.”
Well, I was despondent upon hearing such an accurate description of my brain, but then Small shared the good news that there is “continued improvement in complex reasoning skills as we enter middle age…This increase may be due to a process in the brain called ‘myelination.’ Myelin is the insulation wrapped around brain cells that increases their conductivity — the speed with which information travels from brain cell to brain cell. And the myelination doesn’t reach its peak until middle age. By this point, says Small, ‘the neuro-circuits fire more rapidly, as if you’re going from dial-up to DSL.’ Complex reasoning skills improve, and we’re able to anticipate problems and reason things out better than when we were young.”
With those words, I preened a bit. After all, myelin was the stuff teen brains lacked, but middle-agers like me have plenty of the stuff. And, Small added, older people have more empathy than teens.
But his next words kept my head from swelling too much. To keep middle-aged brains growing, studies show that learning new skills is important. Another study by brain researcher, neuroscientist Art Kramer, from the University of Illinois, found that memory can improve with treadmill workouts. “Over a six-month to one-year period,” Kramer says, “three days a week, working up to an hour a day, people improved in various aspects of both short-term and long-term memory.”
So there it is. Daily walks aren’t just good for the body, they’re good for the brain, too. There’s no wiggling my way out of them now. How can I with examples like Small and Kramer? At the end of the radio report the reporter described their daily exercise routines: “Kramer, 56, goes to the gym four or five days a week, getting aerobic exercise on a stationary bike and strength training by lifting weights. Small, 58, does a New York Times crossword and numbers puzzle every morning, as well as a series of toning and stretching exercises and at least 20 minutes of aerobic exercise each day.”
Sigh. Time to take this aging brain on another walk.
