Writing Better Stories

I'm stealing some statements from my friend Tory's blog. These are statements from a training video he's used in working on the San Carlos Apache Reservation.  Tory is working through an organization called 3:18 Ministries to bring hope where there is little hope.  These statements are the statements of a generation without hope. This is how so many of the young people in San Carlos view life:

  1. There is no future.

  2. I think I can't.

Why I Love Compassion

We Teach Children How to Dream (check out this post on Compassion's blog)

Poverty isn't just a lack of resources... it's a lack of hope. I love how this article looks into a few examples of what Compassion is doing to bring hope to the hopeless. LuAnn and I have sponsored kids through Compassion almost from the very beginning of our marriage, and this is why. I know there are a lot of other child sponsorship organizations that do a lot of good things, but we've never been disappointed in our first choice. Look into it.

Help a Child

Love Me Stupidly

Last Christmas, I bought my wife several different gifts.  None of them were really needed, but I wanted to get them anyway.  Nothing really extravagant, but the total was... uh... more than necessary.  We were already getting a computer as a family gift, so money was a little scarce.  Still, I'd been paying attention and noticed a number of things she wanted in the months leading up to Christmas.  LuAnn has a knack for using her 'Christmas money' to buy herself whatever I have wrapped up for her, so I figured this year at least I'd have some backups!  But that wasn't really what motivated me to buy so many things, despite the many reasons not to.

Even though we didn't have enough money to buy these things 'comfortably'... 

Even though LuAnn's not all that into getting things...

Even though I know that she already knows I love her... 

Even though no amount of gift giving is adequate...

Even though the sum total of my efforts may look a little stupid...

I bought gifts for LuAnn because I love her.  I love her in amounts and ways that look stupid.  But she loves me back, and I don't mind looking stupid.

As I was reading Margaret Feinberg's the Sacred echo last night, I came across a perspective on the widow who gave her last bit of money to God that opened my eyes just a little wider.  I'd always read the story and thought of generosity, making God priority, trusting God to provide, etc.  Maybe the simple fact is that this widow was so crazy about God that she did something stupid (at least stupid in the eyes of the people around her).  It makes no sense to give away your last few cents when you don't know where your next meal is coming from.  Widows of that day were

 basically at a fixed income of ZERO + whatever the people around would part with.  She wasn't just trusting God, she was extravagantly, stupidly in love with Him.

Even though she didn't have enough money to give 'comfortably'... 

Even though God's not all that into getting things...

Even though she knew that God already knew she loved Him...

Even though no amount of giving is adequate...

Even though the sum total of her efforts looked pretty stupid...

She gave because she loved God.  And she knew God loved her back, so she didn't mind looking stupid.

Francis Chan hits on this same chord in Crazy Love.  He contrasts the profile of 'the lukewarm' with that of 'the obsessed'.  It makes me wonder if I've been loving God as I should?  What is my love for Him pushing me to do even if it looks stupid or crazy?  Am I really obsessed with knowing God?

Maybe it's time for you to wrestle with these questions as well?  Are you loving God stupidly or from a safe, comfortable distance?  Do you dare to give your last dollar just to tell Him you love Him?  Do you dare to dive deeply into the center of His heart, no matter what you may find you'll want to sacrifice there?