Mmm mmm good

I just finished sipping a strawberry milkshake made with handpicked strawberries, and I have decided that the whole world needs to go strawberry-picking so that they, too, can enjoy the pleasure of drinking milkshakes made with fresh, delicious berries. My boyfriend and I picked fourteen pounds of those juicy treasures on Wednesday at a local berry farm. John Keats said, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever", and I am going to venture to say that those beautiful strawberries might in fact bring me joy forever! Considering that we sliced, sugared, and froze about half of the total amount, I will probably be eating them forever, too. Yum yum.

Go to Feed My Starving Children!

Did you know it only costs 19 cents to feed a child a meal?

Did you know Feed My Starving Children sends money to SEVENTY countries worldwide, including Haiti and other disaster-stricken countries?

Did you know that each meal has 20 vitamins and minerals?

Did you ALSO know that this summer, Feed My Starving Children is much slower than usual, and that they need YOU to volunteer and help them reach their yearly goal of feeding the hungry??!!

Go to http://www.fmsc.org/Page.aspx?pid=453 and sign up today to help this awesome non-profit organization. You don't even need a big group - I went with my church tonight, but there were others who came on their own, families, other groups, etc. And it is so much fun. It's a GREAT summer activity, and the repercussions extend far beyond what you can see, to healthy, fed children who lead energized lives and can affect their countries and the world all because of meals!

Now go volunteer! :-)

I miss you Ashley

My 16-year-old sister Ashley is gone this week, and I miss her. She's on a mission trip in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee, and the house is quiet without her. She even left her cell phone at home due to mission trip rules, so I can't call her or text her. Since she has a blog too (and I think Ashley is one of the few people who even reads this blog, haha...) I'm going to write her a note.

Dear Ashley,

This is the fifth day you've been gone, and even though I was at college for eight months without you, I already miss your bright smile and your messy presence! I was looking out my window this morning and I saw Mrs. Denninger's daycare pass by our house. Mrs. Denninger was pushing a stroller, and there were 4 or 5 children trailing behind, holding onto a rope. They were SO stinkin cute, and the image of children walking single file holding a rope made me laugh out loud. Then I realized they probably miss you because you play with them and make them laugh. Then I realized that I miss you, because you play with me and make ME laugh! I wanted to go join the line and hold onto the rope and then have you appear and make me lunch, like you do for them when you work.

I hope you are having an awesome time in Tennessee. I hope you are blessing people and praying a lot and enjoying a new part of the country. Most of all, I hope you are listening to God and following his guidance as you work together with your team to get to know the community and help them. I'm wishing for deeper friendships and a deeper relationship with God for you! And that maybe you will come home with a southern accent and a love for fried okra... okay, that's probably unrealistic. But I do hope the trip is wonderful, and I can't wait to hear about it.

Even though the bathroom is neat and clean without you, and the food doesn't disappear as fast from the fridge, I miss you. And I love you! Come home soon, sista'.

Love you,

Brooke

Confessions of a Girl Who Has Too Much

It's not just me. You probably suffer from it too. The disease is not new, and it never gets cured because there is no known vaccine, nor is there medicine to ease the pain. We suffer together from this sickness. Yet you might not realize you're infected because it's a subtle killer, a vermin that lurks in the preaching of Culture and spews from the mouth of Media.

You and I are dying of greed. Slowly, but surely, we are being consumed by this sneaky little monster, and if we don't catch him before he gets us good, his disease - Consumerist Self-Centered Syndrome - will destroy our lives and ruin the possibility of our potential to change the world.

First off, I want to mention that wanting a cute new pair of shoes isn't necessarily an indicator of this syndrome. Neither is admiring someone's flower-shaped cake pan and asking them where they got it. But the syndrome can creep in at these points if you don't keep your focus and perspective on what matters. I've felt it clouding my good sense when I'm at a store I love, like Marshall's or Target. I arrived at the store with good intentions. Buy a zip-up hoodie because I need one. Soon, however, I've convinced myself that I also need three tank tops in bright jellybean colors, a new pair of fraying jeans, a bottle of my favorite perfume, and some amazing looking chocolates sitting by the register. Consumerist Self-Centered Syndrome takes over my mind as if I can no longer make sane decisions, and soon after I leave the store, the fog of greed lifts and I look in my bag in confusion. Did I really just buy all that? And for WHAT reason?

Okay, if you work hard and make a paycheck, I think it's great to go out and treat yourself to something. Or to buy what you need. Nothing wrong with that. We need to eat, drink, be clothed, and occasionally buy gifts and treat ourselves to something we deserve. Yet there's a limit to this frivolous living. When my church reminds me that there are folks in our congregation that have significant needs and that there will be a benevolent offering after church, I feel ashamed if I've spent all my cash on myself and have nothing else to give. When I pick up a brochure about a nonprofit or hear about war, flooding, starvation, human rights violations, sickness, and terrible terrible pain, I wonder suddenly why that syndrome had any power over me.

I came home from college this year to a room full of stuff I hadn't used all year. Basically, I boxed up my college stuff in like 50 assorted containers and still had enough to live on in my room and bathroom. Now that's amazing. I am so blessed with posessions, clothes, etc. that I have enough for two of me! Recently I came to the conclusion that I probably use like 20 percent of my belongings on a regular basis. Sad? Sort of. Pack-rat me is hoarding all the stuff while much of the world, many of my neighbors, are in need.

What's the answer to getting rid of this syndrome? I say the Bible says it pretty clearly... seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (from Matthew 6). And give to the widows and orphans (from James 1). And love others as yourself! (the whole Bible!) When you start listening to Jesus, you start catching his compassion for the world. Now, I am far from living like Jesus. But for starters, I am realizing I need to do more. This summer I've gone through all my stuff and weeded out about 8 bags of things I don't use or need, and I'm going to sell them in a garage sale. The profits are going to Haiti, to people who may not even have a HOUSE. It's a start, but I've gotta keep steering clear of this disease of greed. In a culture that wants you to buy, buy, buy, it's not easy, but I'm working on it.

Like the common cold, you can catch just as quickly as you get rid of it.

Morning Musings

This morning I went for a walk in my neighborhood. Charged by my light roast Caribou coffee, I stalked over the trails with ipod in hand. Thoughts abuzz, I never put those earbuds in my ears. I was thinking about Jesus.

This week I've been reading "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne, who has dedicated his life to living for Jesus and being a radical lover of God. The book is interesting and thought-provoking, and so far Shane has raised more questions in me than answers. Shane is way more radical than I will ever be, an inspiring figure, and while I've struggled with a lot of what he has to say and raised points I disagree, he loves God and really wants to follow him. He asked an interesting question that I have been mulling over... if there were no heaven or hell, and the question of being a Christian simply concerned following Jesus and loving him, would you still be a Christian??

As I walked the trails I pondered this thought. Salvation goes beyond a free ticket to heaven. It goes beyond a safe status and a label. Salvation is about a relationship, between you and Jesus. If I met up with Jesus and he asked me to follow him, not even mentioning a future in the glitzy, gold-filled realms of heaven, would I take him up on it?

Something similar happened to Jesus's first disciples in Matthew 4. Simon and Andrew were hard at work on the Sea of Galilee, fishing for a living. Normal guys, Hebrew, young. Then Jesus came by. And they dropped their nets and never went back.

Do you think Jesus mentioned, "Hey, my name's Jesus, and I'm God's son. Hang out with me, and if you pray the prayer, bingo, you're in to heaven and a future filled with awesomeness." Do you think he said, "Yo boys, I'm the Messiah you've waited for. I'm gonna be king of this world someday and you'd best be on my side."

Jesus said, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." No promise of salvation. No promise of anything, except to show them a NEW profession... one of casting out their nets for men. Nonsensical. What about this encounter attracted these men to Jesus? What else did he say to them? What WAS it about him that would cause some average, sane men to leave their profession behind and become disciples of a complete stranger?

We can ask ourselves the same question when we consider what we've left behind for Jesus. What is it about him that causes us to lay down our lives, give him our time, our money, surrender our burdens and plans and joys and let him take over? Have we even truly done this? I marvel at this simple story of the disciples first meeting their master. I would love to see the video, hear the audio of what went down. How Jesus convinced them. If there was any actual convincing to do. So often we hear this story, and for me at least, I have a lurking suspicion that Jesus lulled them into a trance or did some kind of hypnosis to make them follow along (okay, not really, but you know what I mean!). We wonder at this immediate, simple trust. And we look to the man they trusted and think, wow, he must really be someone special.

If there was no question of heaven or hell involved, would you follow Jesus?

Deep thoughts for a morning walk, huh? I'll let you mull it over too... but let me advise you... it's best to throw in a little coffee with that musing for good measure :-)