Also desperation

Tonight, I am emotional and sleepless in my emotion. I have received word that my Liberian family are stuck in their homes in fear and without food because of the rapidly spreading Ebola virus.

I feel guilty that I enjoy a peaceful, bountiful life here while they suffer.

I feel powerless that all I can do is pray for them.

I commit to a day of fasting and prayer for my west african family, and I challenge you to do the same.

They are stuck in their homes without food. The least we can do is pray one day without food.

Fast with me this week. I will be fasting on Friday. I have friends who will fast other days.

Choose a day before next Sunday and commit to fasting and prayer for the people of West Africa.

Our Great Physician can heal and will heal if we call on His name.

Fast with me.
-mo

Well done, Aunt Ruth.

My family and I went to my (great) Aunt Ruth's funeral yesterday. It was a small service with mostly family in attendance. But, a couple of things stood out and inspired me:

1- She was described as "a woman who prayed about everything." What an incredible legacy!

and

2- Of the handful of non-family members who attended the service, two introduced themselves. One was her lawyer, and the other was her investment banker. Her lawyer gave the eulogy, and her banker made remarks during the open-floor time. Aunt Ruth and Uncle Don moved around a lot in their lives, and Aunt Ruth's last home was in Florida. So, the fact that few friends were at her funeral in Norcross, GA, is not a huge shock. What is impressive is the obviously positive impact Aunt Ruth had on the people she encountered in her everyday life outside church. Amazing that a woman with such strong faith would have made the most lasting impression not in the church but in the world. What an incredible testimony!

We should love serving God in His church, and we should strive to leave a legacy there. But, if only two people are at your funeral, and if they only have one thing to say about you, I think you will have lived well if your lawyer and your banker are there to say you prayed about everything.

Well done, Aunt Ruth.
-mo

To whom does Marriage belong?

http://triathletewithacollar.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/a-response-to-marriage-isnt-for-you/

My response to the above linked blog...

I probably do qualify as the target Christian demographic for this response. I believe in Jesus as the one Messiah and Savior of sinful man, and I subscribe wholly to the Bible as God's True Word. BUT, I am driven crazy by those who claim "marriage" is somehow a Christian word being hijacked by a secular community. I do believe that my life and that the existence of all creation is for the purpose of glorifying God. But, marriage in itself is not about God. Marriage is about choosing to love with and live with another. Because of my personal convictions, my marriage (if one should occur) will be about loving God and loving my family. But, I find it ridiculous to expect that any other relationship has the same goals as mine. Marriage is word. An English word. Not a Christian word. A Christian marriage may look different from an atheist marriage. A heterosexual marriage may look different from a homosexual marriage. But none is any less a marriage.


Please leave your reply here. I appreciate this conversation.
-Mo

Visiting Immy

Here is my playlist of Immy videos from my visit in October.
-mo

Visiting Joanna

Watching fish with my niece.

Thank you, Daddy...

...for loving your in-laws as though they were your parents. Nothing makes my heart smile more than listening to Granny talk about the time you have spent together, the conversations you have had, and the things you have done for her.

I love that I cannot relate when folks talk about not liking or not getting along with their in-laws. All I have ever known of that relationship is your utmost respect and unconditional love for my grandparents.

Your heart is beautiful.

Thank you, Daddy, for being beautiful.

-mo

only once before...

...have i felt the intense burden, the physical feeling of spiritual heartbreak that i feel today. before, it was the day my sister called to tell me she had joined a unitarian universalist congregation. today, it's my brother.

i don't have a genetic brother. but when one man has been around through your absolute pinnacle of Christian growth (so far) and through your darkest hell on earth (hopefully ever), what are genetics??? even in our relationship, there have been certain peaks and troughs. yet, even when he's not my friend, i cannot deny he will always be my brother.

part of being his brother has been adopting parts his genetic family as well, in particular, our little brother.

when i first met little brother, he was nearing the end of a court-ordered stent in drug rehab, and we, his family, were celebrating not only his coming graduation but also his new-found faith in Jesus. he graduated and moved to atlanta to live with us, where i learned to love his wit, his charm, his thoughtfulness, and his naturally good and dangerously tender heart. in what may now be seen as an incredible irony, this little brother taught me through his calm, quiet example the importance of refusing to battle over petty things. he often shamed me with his ability to forgive and forget.

...
+ four years
...

the fourth year was a tough one for little brother. an influx of old influences, old temptations, old emotions, old habits.

today, i saw his face for the first time in months. but, the face i saw wasn't really his at all. it was the bruised and unshaven mugshot of a man who has forgotten who he is. the emptiness in his eyes, the absence of his characteristic cheesy smile sunk deep into my gut and sent an overflow of tears down my cheeks.

in that mugshot of my little brother, i saw what i heard in the phone call from my sister years ago: my own guilt. while i cannot be held accountable for their choices, i cannot help but think of my own failed responsibility in each situation. how could i have loved better? when should i have sucked up my pride in apology? where should i have lent a hand, a compliment, or a shoulder to cry on? how could i have better represented Christ to his church?

rather than dwell on rights and wrongs done, i ask again the question of ultimate importance: how can i love? and i pray that God will use my thoughts, my words, my time, my actions as answers to that question.

to God be all glory in and through all creation.
-mo

Joanna

asleep on my chest

Joanna

at last!

Granny's secret...

just made my first batch of communion (unleavened) bread by Granny's secret recipe. they're pretty close to perfect, and i'm pretty close to proud.

now, i'm taking off my Aldridge Crafts apron and sitting down to enjoy communion bread and orange (because i don't have grape) juice.

mmm.....
-mo

spirit of adoption

i am so anxious for the day when i get to meet the child(ren) whom God has chosen to be mine. chances are, my child is alive today somewhere in the world. the thought of him/her without a family this christmas is tough. i know, though, that God will bring us together with perfect timing. i am grateful for God's plan of adoption and for His call on my life of sharing His love with children who so desperately need and so earnestly want to be loved. i am grateful that God's plan of adoption included His adopting me into His family.

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery ^[g]leading to fear again, but you have received ^[h]a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8.14-17)

it rips my heart apart...

...to be so far from the baby i love so much. i seriously can't stand it. think about her instead of sleeping, studying, whatever else i should be doing. constantly go over and over my budget in my mind trying somehow to squeeze out the money to visit. i hate this. i hate it to tears. hurting tears.
-mo

immy's parents' parents

as a child, i always found it kind of strange to think that my grandparents are my parents' parents. the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is so different from the relationship between parents and children that i still have trouble picturing my grandparents parenting my parents. tonight, i experienced the strange reality that i am now the in-between.

i was talking to immy (my 6-week-old niece) about how cool her granddaddy is when i was suddenly overwhelmed with pride that immy's granddaddy is my daddy. this cool guy she is just getting to know as her granddaddy is the cool guy i got to grow up knowing as my daddy. i happened to be talking about her granddaddy at that moment, but similar emotions could describe my pride in her grammy (my mama) or our granny and popa. they were mine first, and that makes me proud.

immy may one day find it kind of strange to think that her grandparents are her parents' parents. and, maybe it is kind of strange. (then again, maybe i'm strange for thinking it strange.) but, i find it very cool that these cool people immy will love are the same cool people i have always loved.
-mo

happy in green

Bathed and dressed by aunt wissa today. Happy in green.

immy n me

Aunt Wissa

Found this card on my pillow when I got home from visiting Immy. Thanks, keg.

Eskimo kisses

Immy lubbin Grammy

Immy

Immy yawn