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James 1:27
James 1:27 “ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
This is one of my favorite verses. I think so often we get caught up in our own definitions of religion, we forget what God’s definition is. After all, He rescued us and adopted us into His family, should it surprise us that He values caring for orphans? I would argue that it should not, but that so often it does. Or perhaps surprise is the wrong word. Perhaps we just ignore it. I watched a dvd on orphans in America over Christmas and there are less orphans than churches. So if each church encouraged one family to adopt, there would be no more orphans. I know, I know, “It’s not that simple” you say. Perhaps its not. But maybe it is. Maybe it is just as simple as presenting the facts and asking our brothers and sisters to pray and seek God’s leading. Or perhaps adopting is not a reality, but what could you do? Can you offer support-emotionally, financially etc? Check out Show Hope or Hope, Believe, Obey.
See, I know someone that lives this verse. My life has been changed, impacted, and will never be the same because I met James 1:27 in a normal, average person doing extraordinary, incredible things. It’s not something I believe only certain people are called to. It’s the way we are supposed to live. Perhaps it doesn’t always look like adoption, but I believe it always looks like caring for the orphan and widow to the greatest of our capacity.You May Also Like
Being Brave Everyday
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And The Plan Is…
..to have no plan!!!Basically, for once in my life, I have absolutely no clue what is next and I am totally okay with that! Folks, that is a huge testament of the grace of God for two months ago that sentence would have thrown me into a full-fledged panic attack. In fact, two months ago that statement did throw me into one. But God is faithful and through a series of events has brought me to a place of embracing and even, perhaps, being excited(?) about not having plan. Yes-me! The master of planning everything to the tiniest detail has thrown caution to the wind and stepped out into the unknown of the future with no plan, just a whole lot of passion.Therefore, I have decided that I will be home in May and will not be returning to Saipan. God has just given me peace that it is time to move on. I have done a lot of praying and soul searching and through that have realized that I want to be free to pursue those things I am passionate about. I have no clue what I will do next, but I can assure you that it will be far bigger than my wildest dreams could imagine because I have the Creator of the Universe painting the picture of my life. I mean, who would have guessed I would spend a week in Bali riding elephants? 🙂 -
Some Cool Links
Sometimes I keep this blog as more of a reminder to myself. I plan to print it all off someday, but until then I want to remember these and perhaps you might want to check them out too.
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Hash
Today I participated in a Hash Run.
Hashing began in Kuala Lumpur when a group of British soldiers created a way to help run off their weekend festivities and stay in physical shape. They choose a Hare and the object is to chase them through the woods or jungle or wherever is available.Let me tell you, it was literally a run through the jungle. And running is an overstatement..it was more like walking fast. At point we scaled a rock cliff, crawled through a maze of trees and vines, and practically slid down a slippery incline. I have to admit, it was perhaps, one of the most fun things I have down on island. The hares go out ahead of time and set the trail by marking it with flour. Your goal is to follow the flour and find the correct trail and attempt to catch the hare. Our goal was to just get out alive:) After climbing, crawling, and hiking our way through the jungle, we came out to the most amazing overlook..green fields below giving way to the ocean and the sunlight was just perfect. The scene was too beautiful for words.You finish and end with what is called “Religion.” I have to admit, this is the part that may make my hashing days few and far between. It is a rambunctious party and the rituals, being passed down from army days, bring with them lots of swearing and drinking. Thankfully no one is forced to participate, although us newbies got the lovely titles FNG. I will leave you to figure out what it might mean. 🙂 I did meet some really cool people and enjoyed myself. I do plan to figure a way to run through the jungle more..but perhaps not with the hashers.Overall, it was so much fun and one of those experiences that stretch you as a person and makes the adventurous side of me happy for a little while:) -
Relational Tithe
I have been really convicted this past year about my finances. God has blessed me with so much and I have just seen ways that I waste that. Along with that, I have been doing a lot of studying on tithing in the Bible and our finances and how they should be used. This brought me to exploring other ways to tithe. I heard about an organization called Relational Tithe via a book I was reading. After many months of putting it off, I finally visited their website. Instantly I was hooked. I found a group of believers working to create a distributive economy in which everyone has what they need. This is done through relationships. Tithes are given and then doled out to people in our circles that need the money. It is a glorious picture of believers from all over coming together to meet mutual needs in light of scriptural guidance. I joined a group and have been getting to know the members. It is a blessing to have all these new friends from all over the world. I am excited for what the next six months is going to bring about in my own life and in the lives of my new friends. As we journey together exploring what it means to have enough, I know that my heart and mind are going to be challenged to give more and love more.
I can’t wait! Bring on a community where everyone has enough and needs are met on practical and relational levels.In other news, I also got connected with a child sponsorship organization that works heavily in the area of Africa I spent a summer in. I requested a child from the village I lived in and got the most precious little girl. I am praying that Lord-willing I will be able to visit her this summer and connect personally with her and her family. Even if not, I am super excited about being able to pour back into a community that changed my life!You May Also Like
Being Brave Everyday
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2011
So far 2011 has been quite eventful. I spent the first two days in Bali/traveling and the came home to see a relationship end and a new school year begin. Its amazing how God can work in our lives so quickly and through such incredible ways. I would have never thought a week in a foreign land would bring so much clarity to my thoughts and so much boldness to my life.
As I have been processing through some of my thoughts on Bali, I have come to several realizations. First being, I really enjoy hanging out with myself. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love people! But I can and am perfectly content to spend time alone as well. Bali was a week in which for one of the first times I did what I wanted to do. I didn’t have anyone else to worry about and I didn’t feel bad for sleeping in or watching TV amidst the beautiful island. I met people and listened and learned and sorta accepted and settled into the fact that I very often choose the road less traveled and actually prefer it. One of these days I will find someone to journey that road with me, but it is not one many people choose to take. Its not safe or easy, it can be lonely and full of unanswered questions. But it is also full of adventure and excitement! It brings you to places of sharing a meal with a lawyer from Europe, a family from Australia, and a guy from France who is just living. It brings you to new experiences and new cultures and new places in your heart that you were unaware were there.I also realized that so often my central struggle is this whole issue of trust. I just simply do not trust that there is a plan or that I could accomplish the plan or that, even if I don’t know the plan. there still is one. I am learning the hard way that when we take life into our hands, we simply make a mess of it and have to slink back into God’s arms and trust that He can turn our mess into His plan. And that no plan is not a bad thing. I don’t have to know the next step before I take it. Sometimes the answer is to just take a step into the dark and trust that God will keep your foot from falling into sinking sand.Therefore, on that note, I have made a decision about what is next. Or rather, made a decision to trust God for what is next. I will tell you what it is in a few days once I have told those that need to be told rather than reading it on my blog.Thanks for reading my dear blog friends…you are precious to me! -
Bali
Where every building looks like a temple, there is a statue on every corner, and the air smells of incense. Bali is a deeply religious Hindu island that still practices their rituals despite being a very popular tourist spot. The people are incredible and the culture is fascinating. The bad in the world seems to fade slightly into the culture where beauty and goodness are the supreme objectives.One week. 7 days. 24+ hours of flying/traveling. Four islands on my journey. The final destination being Bali, Indonesia. I set out on this journey with a purpose in mind, but as it goes, so often our purposes and expectations can be all wrong. I arrived in Bali Sunday afternoon. It was a taxing experience to wait in long lines to get a visa/clearance to enter the country after traveling so far. I just wanted a bed. After almost two hours, I was settled into my taxi heading towards my first destination-Ubud, Bali. The cultural capital of Bali. I arrived two hours later (the traffic was horrific), settled into my room, and set off to find some food. I found this amazing little restaurant that I would eat at three more times before my stay in Ubud was finished. It was wonderful-all organic and delicious! The food was so fresh and healthy-I could have lived there. And it had this amazing atmosphere; community like where everyone was a friend and a fellow traveler on this journey called life. I met several friends there that would be companions for dinner several times. I learned to savor the moments life brings you-whether it is a good meal, a good friend, or a really good cup of tea.The weather for the most part was cloudy and rainy the entire trip which was a little bummer-mostly because I had not packed for cold weather. Mind you, I now think any temperature below 80 is cold! However, the weather did not stop me from experiencing all that I could throughout that week.I also spent most of the week alone with the exception of dinner two nights and New Years Eve. This gave me the most glorious opportunity to meet new people and to operate on my own time schedule. I spent many hours walking in and out of shops looking at the wares, staring at the beauty of the monkeys and the forest, reading, and thinking. I didn’t have to go to bed at a certain time or get up at a certain time, I didn’t have to wait for anyone else, I didn’t have to keep track of anyone else. And although there were moments of loneliness, I was overall very thankful I went alone. I met friends from Australia, Amsterdam, France, Bali, and Singapore. I ate dinner with people my age, people far younger, and people far older. I spent a day riding a bike down a mountain with a group of Aussies that were the nicest, most hospitable people I have met in a long time. They welcomed me into their family and their day and even bought me a coke at lunch. I ate dinner with a lawyer from Amsterdam and was questioned on many things such as why we call them New Years’ resolutions when nothing has been resolved? It was such an enlightening conversation and I got a good book out of the deal:)I left Ubud on Wednesday and headed back towards Kuta where I was staying for the rest of the week. Traffic was terrible..something I do not miss..therefore, it took almost three hours to get there. It was not far either-maybe 40 km. I checked into my new lodging which was quite a step up-complete with AC, television, a big bed, and a blowdryer. (It’s the little things) I walked around for awhile and then came back and ordered room service. Such a fun thing I have never done before! Thursday I was off on an elephant safari..sort of a must if you are traveling to a country where the option is available. Did some more shopping-it was wonderful walking in and out of the little shops and bartering with the sellers. Ate dinner late and then watched TV. Something I had not done since July. Friday I met up with a lady my dad knows-Yanti. It was such a nice thing to have company and someone to chat with. We went to lunch and dinner and rang in the New Years at a concert. It was one of the most memorable New Years of my life! Saturday began my long trek back home and needless to say, I was ready to be back home. I love traveling, but I love coming home as well.It was a wonderful trip full of new adventures and new experiences. I learned that Americans are perhaps the only people in the world that call it going on vacation..to everyone else, you are on holiday. Which sounds much nicer to me so I think from now on I will go on holiday, not vacation. I learned that thongs are worn on the feet if you live in Australia and McDonalds delivers in Bali. When driving in Bali, lane lines and traffic laws simply do not apply. It is a rather scary system. I apologized several times for being in the way of motorbikes on the sidewalk. Seeing four cars across two lanes was common and creating an additional lane in oncoming traffic was acceptable if there was more traffic on your side of the road. An open mind will get you far in life and bring the most interesting people across your path.I will post another blog on some other thoughts I had when I have sorted them out, but for now Bali was an amazing week and an experience I will not soon forget nor do I ever regret! -
Solitude
Dear friends,
I head off to Bali tomorrow. I am so very excited for my trip and the adventures it will bring. Something about traveling to a new place just makes me quiver with excitement!!As part of my journey, I am leaving behind almost all of my attachments for a week. No blog, no Twitter, no Facebook, no e-mail. Life has thrown some curveballs my way lately and I have some VERY big decisions to make about the future. I sit here having absolutely NO idea what to do. So I figured since I have a week planned of being all alone in a foreign land, I might as well use it to my advantage. I am taking the week to go on a soul-searching journey. I am only taking my Bible, my journal and lots of music. 🙂 (well, and clothes of course!)Know that you will be in my thoughts and I would appreciate your prayers. I will update you when I return of all my adventures.Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!AmandaYou May Also Like
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Pondering This
Among us English-speaking peoples especially do the praises of poverty need once more to be boldly sung. We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join the general scramble, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition. We have lost the power even of imagining what the ancient realization of poverty could have meant; the liberation from material attachments, the unbribed soul, the manlier indifference, the paying our way by what we are and not by what we have, the right to fling away our life at any moment irresponsibly–the more athletic trim, in short, the fighting shape.-William JamesIf each morning I need an Americano from my local coffee shop, I’m not necessarily greedy; I’m just less free to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, to live responsibly toward my fellow human beings.-Shane Claiborne -
‘Staycation’
I suppose its a made up word..but since Anna and I aren’t leaving on our adventures until Christmas day, we decided to vacation at home before we left. It has been wonderful. We have spent the week exploring Saipan, shopping, and spending lots of time at the beach. I have also used to the week to get caught up on some school work. It surely never ends, but I got my classroom super organized and finished up some other projects I had been working on.One morning we rode our bikes down to Garapan. It’s the very touristy area of Saipan. We walked around and went in all the little shops. It was so fun! I got a few things, but we mostly just enjoyed looking and we got donuts for breakfast and ate McDonald’s for lunch. It was delicious. (We also had a little fun with the Christmas decorations so enjoy the picture!)We went to dinner one night with our dear friend Kayla who left island on Wednesday. We ate at Thai House which is a very cute restaurant and the food is not bad either.We have also spent every single day at the beach. I am getting quite a nice tan!! I love it. It has been such a relaxing week.Just Christmas Eve and Christmas day left in our vacation at home and then I am off to Bali and Anna is off to Hawaii!! I am so very excited! We have lots of plans for the next two days and then I will be on a plane to a new paradise:) It makes being away from home slightly easier..Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
