character

this week at our new denver men's bible study we talked about character.  what does it mean to be a man of character (or a woman)?  we tossed around some ideas of what we thought it meant to be a man of character.

you know:

• honesty
• courage
• doing what is right when no one's watching
• love
• patience 
• surrounding yourself with other people of high character (though this was debated for awhile)
• keeping your word (let your yes be yes and your no be no)

photo via

we spent some time talking about other men of character.  like, who from the bible had upright character.  interestingly enough, most men we look to, outside of jesus, had some major flaw in their character.  they weren't perfect.  just like you and me.  i'm not sure about you, but that gives me some hope!! 

it's funny though.  it wasn't until the end of our group that we recognized we missed one really big trait of character.  servanthood.  jesus modeled that one pretty well for us, right?  why do we forget that?  is it that it shows weakness to serve others?  is it that we're too me focused?  or is it that it's just too hard?  

who can we choose to serve this week?  because, as humans, often times serving is a choice.  if we stripped away all the niceness of ourselves it goes something like this: "i love the idea of serving...but only if it's super convenient to me.  only if it's easy.  only if it fits into my schedule."  

i'm just gonna throw this out there: working on our character, trying to be more like christ isn't easy, it's not convenient, it's not easy.  apart from a miracle, which is possible, it's a choice. 

take a look around your life.  where can you step in to opportunities to serve?  to model what jesus modeled so well for us...will you consider making the choice to serve?   

much love.  

social media fast

for a little bit now, a few friends and i have been "choosing" to be present when with each other.  in other words, we choose to not text, tweet, update, draw, or whatever else you do on a smart phone when we're in each other's company.  we're trying our best to be present and have real and meaningful conversations/relationships.

sometimes we're good at it.  other times we're not.  but we're good at reminding each other.  haha.

friday night, a bunch of us from new denver church were hanging out after our softball games.  one of our pastors, norton, was hanging with us and the topic of twitter came up.  norton, who has intentionally stayed off of twitter/facebook and rocks a text/call only cellphone, challenged us.  he challenged us to give up social media for a month.  there was a lotta push back.  you know, we jokingly called him an "old crotchety man," "old school," or stuck in the "dinosaur ages."  i jokingly joined in on the push back.

photo credit: gethiredfast.com

to my surprise, norton affirmed that social media is good, that there are benefits from it...to a certain extent.  but he also made the letgimate point that we're not as intentional with our relationships now that we have social media.

like i said, at first i kinda pushed back.  but as he was saying it, i realized i resonated with him.  i realized that it's a lot easier to shoot a text, update, tweet rather then pick up the phone and call someone or to sit down with them over coffee, lunch, whatever.

so, i decided to give it a go.  a month without twitter, facebook, instagram.  i mean it's not a big deal. but it kind of is.

here's what i felt as i decided to give it up:
-relief.  weird, but i felt relieved that i didn't always have to be checking/updating/tweeting/liking, etc.
-worry.  admittedly, i've worried that i'll "miss out" on something or that i won't be "in the know."

i'm 24 hours in to the "fast" so it's too soon to make any solid analysis of it.  that said, i'm kind of embarrassed to admit that i've definitely, out of habit/routine, pulled my phone out to check some piece of social media on several occasions.  and while working on my computer, i've definitely typed "f-a-c-e-b-o-o-k" in my browser bar a few times.  it's habit.  weird.

soooo...now that i'll gain at least an hour a day...who want's to be intentional with me?  ;)

much love.

(and the jury is still out on whether or not blogging is social media.  writing/blogging is an "outlet" for me so i will do it from time to time, just not "obsess" over comments, stats, etc.)

three years sober: back to the roots

the other day, in anticipation of today (my three year sobriety date), i wrote this really cool blog about my story and how i first started going to AA and how i never thought i'd make it a day without drinking and how god truly rescued me out of the mess i was in.  but i think it missed the point.

so, let's throw all the crap out of the window...shall we?

today i'm reminded of two basic things that i learned at AA (that i wish remembered all the time!!):  

radical honesty

i learned to be brutally honest about my flaws and failures.    

radical dependency

i know i cannot make it through another day without the help of my friends and without the help of god.

if we accept both of these foundations, we WILL experience true life change.  by god's grace, i'm a living example of that!  three years ago, i hit rock bottom, thought i'd never be able to quit, thought i'd never be able to change my life.  yet, through these basic (but difficult and profound) steps, my life has radically changed!  

may we all incorporate radical honesty and dependency into all areas of our lives.  and as a mentor reminds me on a frequent basis: "make war with your sin...not peace."

1 timothy 1:15-17

much love.

NIV bible app review

in exchange for this short blog, i received a free copy of the new NIV bible app for my ipad from zondervan.

here's my pro/con list of the app.

pro:

• interactive maps, graphs, videos
• study notes in the side bar (that slide down as you read)
• able to see where other key vocab words are used in other sections of scripture
• able to highlight and take notes (which i don't use)

con:

• expensive
• they tried to cut word counts in the study notes by using abbreviations...they're confusing
• it's kind of hard to navigate/find your way around

conclusion: 

if you're into the electronic version of the bible (i go back and forth), then this is totally worth the 26ish dollars.  it's way cheaper then a print version of the study bible (about $95).  and it's way smaller...no one want's to carry a huge/clunky bible around...unless you intend on beating people over the head with it.  haha.  so, buy it.  

much love.         

my firsthand experience with kony 2010

by now you've probably heard of joseph kony and invisible children (IC).  there's a lotta talk/drama circulating about the 30 minute video done by IC.  despite all that, this is a real problem...and kony does need to be stopped.  

but i don't really wanna get into that...what i'd like to share with you is a small portion of my experience in northern uganda while on the world race a couple of years ago.  i spent two months (on and off) in northern uganda, the area that was most impacted by kony and his LRA army.  

while we worked directly with the victims of kony/LRA for the two months, i vividly remember spending an evening with nancy and andrew the most.  nancy and andrew are just two of the thousands of children severely impacted by kony and his army.  we sat in their mud brick house and prayed together and listened to them tell stories (while drinking coca-cola and listening to a huge rain storm roll in...when the storm arrived, it was so fierce that i actually got super scared).  as a result of that night, my life will never be the same.  

a few days later, as i sat to type a blog about the experience in a tiny coffee shop in gulu, uganda, i was at a loss for words (it was a common experience for me on the race; i'd experience something beautiful and not be able to articulate it for my readers).  anyways, here's what i came up with (like my last blog, this is long but worth the read):  

"i spent the last 18 days or so in northern uganda...splitting the time between teams in lira and gulu.  i sat down this afternoon to try and put it all into words.  i tried to describe the pain and suffering the men and women of these communities have endured.  but more importantly, i tried to describe the faith that these people have through ALL of it.  i struggled to paint the appropriate picture but my friend, halley power, did an incredible job...so below is her latest blog titled "children of war."  thank you halley!!  

(beginning of halley's blog) 

'When I was twelve years old, my main concern was surviving middle school. My mind was focused on things like impressing my crush, having my own phone line,and getting my first kiss. I think back to those years and remember how awkward I was. Life was tough on all of us at that age, right? So I thought.

In my last blog, I introduced you to Nancy. Now I'd like to share her story with you.

When Nancy was twelve, her concept of struggle was totally different than mine. In 2003, she was abducted from her home at night, along with 9 other siblings and cousins. The rebels targeted her home after being informed of two things. First of all, a teacher (her father-Santo-also introduced in my last blog) lived there, which to them meant he worked for the government. Second, they were informed that there would be many children there. The rebels came to the house around 11:30 that night. They threatened the bomb the entire house if they weren't allowed in, so the mother opened the door. Santo had left that very day to stay at the university, so he wasn't at home. If the rebels had come one day earlier or later, he would have been killed. Everyone was tied together and taken away. Nancy said she was cryinghysterically, but they threatened to kill anyone who cried. The rebels took all of the belongings from the house and dragged the children into the night. The mother was dropped off and allowed to return home because she had Robin (a small baby at the time). Out of the ten children taken from the home that continued with the rebels, the youngest was six. The commander told them that they wanted Santo to pursue them so that he could be killed. The kids were smeared with a black vasaline-type substance so that they could be identified by other rebels in the event of an escape. This marker meant they would be killed on site. They then began their walk to Sudan.

Andrew is Nancy's brother. I've also gotten very close to him. He has a large part in this story, as well. Andrew was ten when the rebels came. The ten children were separated into different groups. Andrew was with some of the other children, but not Nancy. Andrew had a special job. He was basically one of the commander's personal slave. He carried his equipment, gun, and food. They were given very little (if anything) to eat most of the time. Typically, two cups of beans was split between his group of twenty other abductees. The rebels had no regard for human life. If they came across a river that needed to be crossed, someone would be pushed in to gage the depth, which usually resulted in drowning. They were frequently beaten by canes for being "lazy". They were walking to Sudan to train to become soldiers. Yes, I do mean walking to Sudan. At one point, Andrew said he was too tired to keep going. His feet, ankles, and legs were swollen greatly. Running on barely any food, he had enough. He sat down and refused to keep walking. Keep in mind he is ten years old at this time. The commanders threaten to kill him if he doesn't continue. He tells them that they'll just have to kill him because he can't do it anymore. An older abductee (around thirty) had a similar response with exhaustion. Without thought, they killed him with a machete. Andrew guesses they let him live because he was the coveted luggage carrier. He finally got up and continued walking. 


Both Nancy and Andrew have a similar escape story, even though they happened two months apart. Government troops ambushed the rebels. Planes flew overhead and dropped bombs. Soldiers on the ground fired guns. The commander that Andrew was tied to was shot in the chest. They both fell to the ground. Andrew grabbed the knife from the rebel's waistbelt and cut himself free. He crawled on the ground until he escaped the gun fire. A soldier eventually found him and took him to safety. In the chaos of the battle Nancy encountered, she ran as fast as she could into the bush. She ran and ran until she finally found help.

Andrew was gone for one year and one month. He was the first to return home. Nancy was gone for one year and three months. Out of the ten that were taken, only six survived. Their sister was killed by a government bomb during an attack. Casualties was not a concern. Three cousins died as well, but I'm not sure of the details.Andrew thinks he was the only person to survive the day he escaped. He said, "God protected me...because I was tied to the commander who was shot, I fell on the ground. The bullets went above me. God must have a special plan for my life". Wow.

If you've seen the movie Blood Diamond, you remember the scene where the African father finds his young son who was abducted and turned into a child soldier. The son doesn't recognize his father. I always thought this part was dramatized in the movie. Who could forget their own father? Andrew could. He didn't rememberpeople. He didn't remember how to have normal conversations. He was used to only following commands. War was all he knew. It took time, but he was rehabilitated and is doing wonderful. He's so intelligent and mature for his age.

Nancy is doing well also. She is nineteen and just passed the exams to continue her education. She wants to be a doctor. She sings in the youth worship group and has been at church almost every day since we've been here. I'm really going to miss my friend. Santo, Nancy, Andrew, and the rest of the family have been so hospitable. We spent time at their home again this week and it was amazing, just like last time (refer to previous blog).

These are faces of Northern Uganda. This nation has been plagued with the longest running war of Africa's history. And it's been personal. Every single person we've encountered was affected. It's their story. And there are so many. These stories are no longer just stories. Nancy and Andrew are representations of the mllions ofpeople that  have endured through this conflict. They've all been through so much, but they have hope. They have joy. Last night there was worship time at the church. The last song they sang was one I'd heard before...but never in this light. "Sing for joy to God our strength." I've been in services in which we sang this song. For these people, it has so much more meaning. God has been their strength. And he is their joy. In the midst of the tragedies they've faced, they latched onto the hope of Christ. They glow with joy. Glow. And it's contagious. They give me hope.

If we call to him he will answer us
If we run to him he will run to us
If we lift our hands he will lift us up
Come now praise his name, all you saints of God

Sing for joy to God our strength
Sing for joy to God our strength

Draw near to him, he is here with us
Give him your love, he's in love with us 
He will heal our hearts, he will cleanse our hands
If we rend our hearts, he will heal our land.'"

god is love, nothing is impossible.