burnside writer's collective

I don't know how familiar you all are with Donald Miller, but he is the author of Blue Like Jazz, and he recently published a new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. He started a website called the Burnside Writer's Collective with friends of his to publish writers writing on Social Justice, Current Events, Reviews, Poetry, etc.

I was recently published on their new site, so I thought I would give you all a chance to take a look at it.

The web address is www.burnsidewriters.com and the article is titled Stereotypes and Sin in the Social Justice section. Here is the link directly to the article http://burnsidewriters.com/2009/09/13/stereotypes-stories-of-sin/. This essay was originally written as part of my old blog, pursuing peace.

Thanks for reading, enjoy this lovely autumn day!

transient

The last couple weeks I have been thinking about the transience of this life. I'm sort of embarrassed to claim it, lest it seem that I'm trying to sound more intellectual, brilliant, etc. It seems like the sort of thing you would say to impress. Ok, I'll cast those doubts aside... the transient state of our lives can be a scary and intimidating thought to dwell upon for too long. It makes you feel, well, mortal.

All these things are passing away. It's all been said before, "All flesh is grass, and all it's beauty is like the flower of the field."

My life has been compared to that of a flower, which may last but one day.

How do I live in light of my passing? Well, a short examination of my thoughts this morning led me to believe that my life is more often than not wasted on useless things. For example, I will give a snapshot of my thoughts as I donned my brown sweater in front of a full length mirror.

"What if brown goes out of style, thus invalidating 75% of my wardrobe? Will I conform, or will I suffer the consequences of fashion? Wait, is brown in style to begin with?"

I worry to often about things that don't matter, and push to tomorrow the things that are necessary for life. Yesterday at the high school youth group Tim and I work with Pastor Bob talked about the Word of God and how vital it is that we know it, study it, and ask the Spirit to work in our lives through it. How often is that forefront in my mind? Out of the thousands of hours I have already lived, how many have I used meditating on God's word?

"The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."

Isaiah 40:7-8

God knows I'm grass. God knows I have a sheep's IQ. In His grace He has given me His word so that I can know my frailness and invest in His kingdom with the breaths left to me. He knows my limitations, and in my weakness, He proves strong. Give me Your strength Lord, that I may know you through Your Word, and work in Your kingdom until You call me home.

I don't need to be afraid of this transient life, I serve the eternal God and His love never ends.

beginning again

I haven't written for awhile. My last blog seemed to die on the vine with the approach of my wedding. Busy days, turned to busy weeks and the blog was left alone. It wasn't only the busyness, but it seemed like my inability to think one coherent thought with the list of tasks and life changes that were looming immediately underneath my eyelids kept me from writing.

All that being said, I'm starting a new blog with my new married name. So many things change with a wedding, and then you get to live out those changes in marriage. And I love it. Tim is wonderful. Being his wife is more beautiful than I could have imagined. I am his beloved, and he is mine.

Since he has given me his name, I have taken a new URL, a new blog.

The title of this one may seem confusing, but it is an idea that has stuck with me for awhile. I have been on a sort of pilgrimage to understand the grace of God, and it seems to me that grace is one of the most wonderful gifts, something that is inexplicably beautiful and it consistently runs counter to the world I know. In a word, it laughs at the ways of this world, offers us the Son, and brings us into the Father's love. This blog is about living in this grace, a grace that I don't understand, seek to know, need to receive, and need to give.

This blog, similar to pursuing peace, will have essays, thoughts, poems, and perhaps some drawings and photos as well.

So, to you my dear reader, this may have been less than understandable. If so, my deepest apologies. I will try better in my next post. And so it begins, again.