This week Jared and I went out to see Zootopia! It's been on our list for a while. But if you know me, I can barely stand going to see a movie when I know it's nice outside. Low and behold a rainy day came and we made our way out to our local movie theatre for an afternoon showing.
Now, to give a review without a spoiler...
The premise of the movie is that Judy Hopps wants to be a police officer. Thing is, bunnies don't become cops. So her whole career is mostly trying to prove everyone wrong.
Judy unsuccessfully trying to make friends.
On the other hand, there is Nick who is a sly fox and lives up to societies standards that no one can trust a fox.
The two end up working together when Judy is assigned a case that her career as a police officer rides on.
The great message of this movie is that society tries to bunch us together. Bunnies do this, foxes do that, zebras do this, etc. But for much of the movie animals wrestle with this. Do they go for it and break out of the stereotype and chase their dreams? Or do they concede and become who society tells them to be?
In a day and age where many of us are grouped and labeled and those labels are used to divide us, this movie couldn't be more timely. Whether we group ourselves by race, faith or political views, many loud platforms try to then take these differing groups and pit us against each other. Why? Political gain, news ratings, who knows what goes on in our hearts to motivate this. However, it is so interesting that we can take a "kids movie" to gain perspective on what's going on in our society. We have gotten to a point where we are so divided we don't talk to anyone of an "opposite label" because we want to avoid the confrontation we are told we are supposed to have.
While life has kinda beat me into a realist, I can't help but hold on to a little bit of idealist that still lives inside of me. I know not everyone is going to believe the same things that I do. But I do believe we can still respect each other not despite, but because of our differing views.
So as the title song goes for this movie, "I won't give up and I won't give in." "I wanna try even though I could fail."
Trying even though you may fail and make mistakes, is one of the purest forms of courage.
One of the many "fun" administrative jobs of mine is to send out our newsletter for our ministry every month. I always begin by dreading it. By the end I get excited by all I get to share about what's going on with our team!
I wrote this as an encouragement to our volunteers, but thought some of you could use it and apply it in our daily lives. Community is being slowly replaced by technology and it is crucial to God working in our lives!
"October is such a fun month. We have cooler temperatures, pumpkins are coming out. Everyone seems to be on board with October being super fantastic. What is also super fantastic is the teams we are building within Redeemed in Dallas. We have some incredible people stepping up and answering the call God has put on their hearts to serve the women who are being exploited within our city. With all the awesome activity, the thing that has been on my heart has been the word "sustainability." These women are used to people coming in and out of their life, never sticking around long term for them. The question most people ask of them is "what can I get out of you?" We are working to have them ask the question, "What does God think about you?" We all know the answer to that is God hold us in high value. We are his most prized creation. He knows our thoughts. He knows our hurts. He knows our dreams. He loves us unconditionally, which is a concept that is hard for us to wrap our heads around. But once these women know God is for them and not against them, we know it can turn their whole situation around. So the question I ask of myself and our teams is how are we going to sustain these efforts to reach these women? When burn out comes, when we experience fear, when life seems too complicated to continue, how are we going to continue reaching out to these women who are desperately looking for God's love? The answer is two fold: 1) continuing our personal walk with Christ, asking for him to stretch time and energy so that we can obey the call and 2) reaching out to those we work with for support and help with the things Satan is throwing at us to try to stop us. Redeemed is unique in that we are not just a non-profit that you check in and out of in order to get service hours or experience. Rather, we are a community of believers from all over the metroplex gathering together in Christ to reach out to those in the darkest of situations and offer them a light of hope. On top of that, God isn't just using us to change the lives of the women we minister to, but he's using our community and those we volunteer with to change us to become more like Christ as well. So I encourage you to not just check in and out and add this work to the list of things you do to be a "good Christian." Rather I encourage you to really plug in and build community with the people doing this work alongside you. I know the people that have stepped up and volunteered for a while have already changed my life. I pray that God does the same in your life."
In the past, I have frequently belittled people for "just" posting on social media about social justice issues. I've talked about how just drawing a red X on your hand and posting a photo of it wasn't doing much for the actual victims of human trafficking that I work with every day. And to a certain extent, that's true. However, a few things have happened that have made me take a step back and rethink how I view social media and it's role in our society today.
This last month I feel like I am now just able to come up to breathe after a very long dive underwater. I got to catch up on the DVR a little bit and checked out the presidential debates that happened last week. While the political theatre was fun, it wasn't the policies that the candidates put forth that struck me the most. In fact, it really wasn't the candidates themselves that stuck out to me at all (which might be a different blog post in the future). What stuck out to me was the fact that this was the Fox News Debate PARTNERED WITH FACEBOOK. You couldn't look anywhere on the screen without seeing the little blue box with the "F" in the center. The mediators were bringing up questions that people had posted to Facebook specifically so that they might be asked to the candidates in the debate. Statistics and graphics showed what people were talking about the most and where in the country people were talking about specific hot topics. It was crazy. Honestly, I don't know why we need the NSA anymore if we can glean all this information just by what people are posting on social media.
However, it was interesting to me that Fox News, arguably the biggest news network on cable television (The Blaze doesn't count since they are blocked out of cable politically right now) is driving their subjects and questions based on what people are saying on Facebook. That speaks volumes about the news media today.
Many people, including myself, have blamed the media for not reporting well. "Well" can mean many things to different people. But overall, there seems to be a consensus that the media uses their own agenda and platform to try to influence public opinion. This has driven people away from watching the news because they don't want to deal with it any more. Now, many people get their news from...you guessed it...Facebook. If I had a nickel for every time somebody started a conversation this last week with "did you see on Facebook?" I would be able to buy me a new Go Pro!
On that note, can we also count all the times false stories have been sensationalized and shared on social media simply because a catchy title and a photo causes people to have a strong emotion towards it and make them want to share it on Facebook without fact checking it? It's done over and over again. Cecil the lion is a great example. The public outcry for a lion no one knew existed becomes an overnight sensation on Facebook while no one shares the planned parenthood videos because no one "wants to see that. It's too overwhelming." What's overwhelming is people's lack of passion for what's going on in our society. We would rather talk about if a dress is blue and black or white and gold instead of talking with our friends about the babies being mutilated next door to us.
I understand it's not pleasant. I have a hard time accepting the reality of human trafficking sometimes, and I work with it on a daily basis!! Many times I want to just live in a nice, happy Disney-fied world where magical things happen every day. But the reality is, we won't be able to enjoy feeling like Princesses when we have nukes pointed at our front porch or terrorists blowing up our buildings. We won't be able to afford Blue Bell if we have no money because we have to pay off a huge national debt. I know these are extreme cases, but they are possible if we head down this road and ignore the unpleasant things because we would rather talk about cat videos and pictures of cute hedgehogs with funny memes.
While I'm talking to myself as much as I am to my friends, there is hope for us. If Fox News is getting their ideas and leads on what to report from social media, what does that say about our influence in what society talks about?? We all now have an amazing ability to help shape our society just by clicking "post" or "tweet." We can influence what other people see just by sharing. But, just like Spiderman, "with great power comes great responsibility." While it's certainly fun to share dogs doing funny things, we have a responsibility to talk about important issues that we must address. What's cool is you don't even have to get out of your pajamas to do it. However, we have to provide a united effort to actively discuss and share ideas in order for them to get seen and shared by others.
However, this should be easy for us right? We are the UNITED States of America. Ok yes, we can insert a sarcastic meme here. As one of the candidates said on the debate, we are more like the Divided States of America right now. But we really need to change that. Instead of being polarizing arguers when we discuss politics or social concerns, we need to be active listeners and respectful debaters. If we can calmly discuss these issues, we can certainly come out the other side better people having listened to the opposing argument and expressed our ideas. Are we going to agree on everything? Heck no! But we have to have the conversation without ending up hating the other person.
So, therefore, yes. I have come to the conclusion that drawing an X on your hand and posting to social media has some merit. Sharing stuff on social media helps bring light to issues needed to be discussed. Then if you want to get the gold star, you would find a way to input your ideas and beliefs into your actions on a daily basis. If it's to stop planned parenthood, find a way to help adoption agencies. If you want to change a policy, contact your congress representative and let them know. If you want to fight human trafficking, I might be able to hook you up with a pretty awesome non-profit...
But ultimately, stand firm and united with your fellow American. Don't you think it's interesting that in order to gain more power, the current leaders in Washington D.C. have sought to divide us? All the more should we not see our neighbor as an enemy, despite their politics. Instead, we should treat everyone with respect and love them as humans.
Use your platform. Stand united. Love your neighbor.
Then we can enjoy those dub-smash videos in peace!
I honestly sit here inspired tonight. It's been the culmination of a million pondering moments and a million questions all converging at once.
I had the honor tonight to attend a concert in the Botanical Gardens with one of my dearest friends Ashley and her family. Honestly, when I found out I was going to get to hang out with them tonight I was so excited. I love their family and how funny, genuine and hospitable they are. It takes a special kind of people to invite me over to a dinner and cater to my gluten free needs and they did so with flying colors. Literally. Mr. Mark's shirt looked exactly like the American flag when you held up our patriotic napkins to his shirt!
But I guess I should start explaining things a little bit, first starting a few months ago when I attended a training for work. We talked about trauma and how it affects the brain. We like to talk in symbolism to get our points across, naturally. We discussed how trauma affects the brain and how the brain achieved healing. The metaphor that the speaker used was that trauma was not a linear model where we travel in a straight line and get to point B from point A. Rather, it's a spiral model where we start at the bottom. Some times we move forward and other times we move back. But regardless where we are in the spiral, we are always moving up.
This is an important thing to keep in mind when we consider all that has been happening recently.
Personally, I've been under a ton of stress. Between my work with the women I mentor and my personal life, there is a ton going on. I can't elaborate. But let's say the new essential oils I received are definitely helping along side some very long prayer times for my anxiety.
Meanwhile, I couldn't even look at Facebook for a while. I feel like a recent post I saw from Glen Beck summed it up exactly:
Personally, I believe my first citizenship is to God. I am a daughter of the King. He says homosexuality was not a part of his design. So therefore, I believe that if you are living a homosexual lifestyle, you are not living in the will of God. However, God gave us the freedom to make our own choices. That's what makes His love so spectacular; He doesn't force us to love him. So in accordance to my second citizenship to the United States of America, you have the ability to do whatever you chose to do, as long as it doesn't cause me to deviate from my freedom to follow my beliefs in God.
What I do have a problem with is how this, among other decisions, was passed down through our court system. We have a constitution which is the most unique piece of governmental procedure in the world. No one came up with something like this before America. I feel like if we are to really protect freedom to live the way we want to (whether you choose to follow God or not) that monumental document needs to be followed so that everyone has the freedom to live the life they chose.
So meanwhile, I see the hate and the divisiveness that is coming across in social media and I feel like I've been stabbed in the heart. I wonder how such a court decision could have happened. Then on top of that, how can we have become a society where if you have a differing opinion than I do, it makes you an enemy that I can never talk to again?
So this Fourth of July, I am very reflective and prayerful as I consider what we are actually celebrating this year. While I'm very disappointed in what has happened in our country recently, I still can't help think about the spiral model of healing. Sometimes we will go forward. Sometimes we will go backward. Yet we will always be going up.
As I watched the fireworks tonight above my hometown, I couldn't help but judge which fireworks I thought were the prettiest. I'm pretty consistent. Ever since I was little I've loved the ones that sparkle and have lots of twinkling lights that linger even after the initial explosion. As I watched (and maybe had to wipe the ash from my face) I thought, "What is it about those fireworks that makes the sparkle ones so exceptional?" In my reflective mood, I thought about how there are thousands of tiny pieces of the fireworks that catch the energy from the initial explosion and then ignite to create the light and the sparkle. Consequentially, that causes those fireworks to last so much longer than the other ones.
I can't help but draw a parallel from those fireworks to our society. Right now we have a ton of fireworks that draw our attention. From Obamacare to church shootings to confederate flags to homosexuality...there are so many things looking to draw our attention and create a divide amongst our country right now. But the fireworks that last and actually make a difference in our lives are the ones that see the goodness and the kindness in our society. While they may not make the front page or the top of the news, they are the stories that actually pierce our hearts and cause us to aspire to be better versions of ourselves.
So amongst all those that have expressed despair for the future of our country, I actually have hope in our America. I believe that God is bringing up a generation of people my age that have caught the initial spark of the gospel and are propelled to make a change where God has planted them. That obedience, grace and love causes them to spark and make a difference in the lives of those around them, who therefore also catch the spark. God is creating a huge firework, the kind that lingers long after the others, and spreads the good news of love and redemption.
We may be in a backwards trend of the spiral right now. Trust me, I know it's NOT pretty. But I have hope. I refuse to give in to the idea that we are beyond repair. America was built on hope and it will only fail when hope in something better is lost by the people that live here. It's a hard road to travel. These days the road seems pretty tough. But if we do not give up, we will be that shining light on a hill the Bible talks about.
We will be a huge firework signaling freedom to everyone in the world looking for it.
So my question is, what spark is God calling you to be?
My little brother graduated college last month. That statement in itself makes me feel older than I actually am. 😳
However, this is not a post to talk about yelling at kids on my lawn. This is about something that has been on my heart for a couple of weeks. Now that it's marinated, I figured it time to pop it on the grill and share.
At the graduation ceremony, the president of the school addressed the crowd and said if he had one thing to advise to the graduates, it would be to learn how to listen. It caused me to tilt my head to one side and go, "hmmm."
He talked about our polarizing culture. Between ISIS, the upcoming presidential campaigns, Caitlyn Jenner and open carry legislation, you can be barraged by a number of opinions on all these things just by opening Facebook or turning on the news. With the dawn of social media, everyone get to have their say. Isn't that special?
Issue is, I learned in Elementary school that when everyone is special, no one is. We see this phenomena in social media constantly. While we post our opinions on blogs and Instagram, we can't wait to see how many likes or website visits we get. Then when we are underwhelmed by the response, we look to other blogs who say if you really want to be followed, you have to post more frequently, post about more controversial things, give your opinions more. More, more, more. It's the social media equivalent of shouting to be heard in a virtual world that is already on par with the decible of a jet engine.
The more we post coupled with the less people respond, we become defensive and battle lines are drawn. We post comments on other people's posts with differing opinions, hoping others will back us up. Or, we just filter out differing opinions so that we can have a feel good pow wow in our minds, Anyone who gets more hearts or a differing opinion is instantly an enemy because they are taking all the likes. We pick fights just to win and make ourselves feel better.
But ultimately, this behavior isn't driven by the desire to be heard, but actually by the desire to control people. Take an example from a heated argument Jared and I had when we first got married. He didn't do something that I wanted him to do. I had asked him to do it before because, after all, our marriage depended on him showing me love, right? When I asked him why he didn't do it if he knew that I had asked him to, he didn't have an answer. As the conversation went on, I just talked, and talked, and my voice got louder and louder until I was yelling at him and threw a pillow for good measure in order to communicate my anger. But what was driving me wasn't my desire for him to love me or understand me. It was my desire to control him and his actions.
When we engage in social interactions either in person or virtually, many times we are just trying to control what other people think. We want to be a movie star so we can influence people. We want to inflict what we think on others by implementing political policies we like. We want to win the argument on social media so we can win over more followers who will wait with bated breath for our words on what to do or say. We want to curb the actions and attitudes that we don't agree with so we don't have to deal with them.
This is the source of our polarizing culture: control. Everyone wants to control everyone else. Problem is, I can't even control Jared, much less a community of people. Our argument in our marriage wasn't settled until I actually shut up for a second and allowed Jared to talk without me planning my next retort in my head. Our society's arguments won't be settled until we do the same.
I can't control what other people do, but I can decide how I am going to respond. Letting someone make a different decision after I have communicated my opinion is the most vulnerable I have ever felt. As I think about it, I feel like it's how God feels whenever we decide not to listen to him. However, He gives us true liberty to have free will and not be controlled by Him. I feel like in our culture, we will not have true liberty either until we decide to give up control. We need to shut our mouths and actually listen to people for what they are actually saying. We need to be ok with them not agreeing with us. And we need to give people the freedom to make their own decision. It can definitely be scary when everyone seems to be making a different decision than you. But I think we would be surprised by the impact we can ACTUALLY have once we finally decide to just listen.
So I have been upping my mileage the last couple weeks and this last week was my first week of running five days out of the week! I was thinking running the same course in my local park might be monotonous. And now that I'm officially a member of my local running club, I figured I would take advantage of the social runs that they host and recommend!
So Tuesday, I joined three fellow runners downtown for some hill repeats. The hill we ran up and down had a serious incline...much higher than my treadmill! I had a really great workout with them. Hill repeats are much easier when you have someone to chase! We all got along well for sure and met a fellow Disney fan. It was fun listening to everyone talk about their past race experience, upcoming races planned, what they did for a living...all that good stuff! I loved the break from my normal running routine and appreciated the company for sure!
Wednesday, Jared got to come with me to our first large social run. Also downtown, there were about 100 people that met up at the local food truck park and took off on a four mile out and back course down the riverside and back. While my introvert seriously came out and I didn't get to meet many new people, it was really fun to see the diversity of runners. There were moms with strollers, people with dogs (us included!), fast runners, slow runners, runners that sit on rocks (haha). There was a camaraderie that made the finish feel like the finish line at a race with people cheering you on as you came to the food truck park! We all gathered for a group photo at the end. Many people stayed for a beer and food. We opted out for our pocketbook's sake. I see this Wednesday routine being a really great way for me to meet new friends locally!
So the question is, which is better...group running or solo running? While I think there is something to be said for solo running and the need to be able to find it within yourself to keep going when things get hard, group running definitely helps breaks the monotony of training. While you still get your miles in, you can get your mind off the training on easy runs and meet new people. So I say both...I'm an "and" kind of person! If you get a chance to try group training in your local area, I highly suggest it!
I had the privilege to attend one of the most beautiful weddings last night.
For obvious reasons, my favorite wedding was my own. I was able to marry the most amazing man on Earth and so other weddings simply do not compare. So for fairness' sake, I'll just take my wedding out of the competition.
But last night's wedding was definitely a top pick, if not the top pick, of weddings I have had the privilege of attending. I love weddings. I think there should be more of them. I think they are super important and special to God's heart. Marriage is a reflection of the love God has for us. Just as a man loves a women and the women loves the man back, Jesus loves the church just as the church loves Jesus back. In a culture where increasingly more and more people co-habitate and don't get married, I treasure the times I get to witness two people committing their lives to one other with no take backs in front of their communities.
What struck me the most about this wedding is the back story of Uncle Ray and his new wife, Patty. I remember sitting in the hospital, close to Thanksgiving right before Jared and I got married. Jared's Aunt Linda was in her hospital bed, breathing slowly. She didn't talk and while the family had to leave the room to discuss things with a nurse, I had the honor of holding her hand and just getting to talk to her. I told her how beautiful her family was. How privileged I was to get to marry into it. I told her how wonderful her kids were and how I was so lucky to get to be with them and get to know them. In her pain, she managed a smile. It was the most beautiful smile I ever saw.
I watched Uncle Ray at the funeral and the days after. I saw how much he loved Linda. From a distance and through the grapevine I watched the family grow together. And then last Easter, I got to meet Patty. She was so gracious. So kind. I learned that she also had lost a spouse and in talking with her, I saw how much love she had for people.
Watching them say their vows yesterday was breathtaking. Here were two people who had loved fiercely and lost those loved ones. They both had been tested with their vows. They had lived through sickness and health, for richer and poorer, and until death parted them. And here they were. They believed in the power of marriage and commitment to each other so strongly with their first marriages, they were willing to walk through it again with each other. Despite how heartbreaking it was to go through what they have gone through, God has
gifted them a new love to walk through the rest of life together with.
And that's when it struck me. Words to explain what I have felt in the first 18 months of marriage with Jared. Marriage is a gift. When I was single I never felt I had the capacity to love someone the way I felt I should in marriage. But thankfully, God has given me the love I need to inexplicably walk through life with Jared unconditionally. We support each other in the hard times and giggle like kids with each other in the great times.
So Patty and Ray, you are probably going to get a thank you letter in the mail from me...fair warning! Thank you so much for inviting me to this wedding. Thank you for the love you have for another, the example you have set for me and for the amazing party and celebration last night! Jared and I love you both and pray for your marriage to grow in love abundantly in the future!
