LEGO and Let God!

Today we had a backyard party to celebrate my oldest child's ninth birthday.  We have become somewhat known among our friends and family for throwing fun parties... I get really into the party planning, mostly I am a girl who loves a good theme!  You name it we have done it, we released live butterflies for our daughter's butterfly themed party, had tea and sweets to celebrate the royal wedding (alongside a life sized creation of a real British red phone booth); and turned our living room into Hogwarts for a Harry Potter party.

My husband goes along with my insanity by smiling gamely and moving whatever furniture I require and my kids seem to enjoy the craziness and the truth is I just love to work a theme.  From food to decor, to music, to favors and photo opportunities, I just love the organization and inspiration that can be had by conforming to a theme.  I guess the appeal for me is how everything fits so well and flows so brilliantly when there is one overarching aspect tying it all together.  No conflicting agenda, no being confused about what to do or what not to do.  If it fits the theme then we do it, if not then too bad.

Today's theme was "Legos".  We played "Minute to Win it" type Lego games, we crafted with Legos, decorated with Legos and even ate molded chocolate Lego minifigs.  After yet another successful party I found myself thinking as I cleaned up that life sure would be easier if there was a theme to it.  I would know exactly what was important, know what fit and what did not... and then, right there in a yard strewn with Legos that had gone rogue, jackets that were left behind and a dog who was on a serious sugar high... right there I had an epiphany!

 My life does have a theme, I just forget that sometimes, actually if we are being honest I forget that most of the time.  The theme of my life is "Glorifying God".  I spend hours each week trying to puzzle out my life's purpose, trying to make life make sense and then in the still small silence after the whirlwind of a  noisy boy party I remember.

 I am a child of God and if I am going to own that identity then the theme is laid out right in front of me.    Really, its just that exquisitely simple; and in God's true fashion, just that exquisitely difficult (God seems to love a paradox the way I love my themes).  So if I see my Christian identity as a theme for my life, then how do I plan this party?

Food: Does my daily menu of leftovers off of my kiddos plates and crammed bites between deadlines glorify God? No? then I need to find a menu that does.

Time: Does saying yes to this person asking for a favor or another bit of money or my time glorify God? Yes? Then by all means I am in, No? then I am going to have to sit this one out because its not the theme of today's party.

Relationships: Does saving my best energetic self for those outside my home and being drained around my own family glorify God? No? Well then I better find out what needs to change and act on it.

The music I listen to, the shows that I watch, the books that I read... do they glorify God?

That does not mean I can only listen to "Christian music" or read books that can be bought at Lifeway, rather it means that I give as much thought to what I consume both emotionally and physically as well as rationally in my daily life as I do during a two hour children's party.

To understand that the theme of my life is to Glorify God is to give myself permission to actually cut out those things in my life that do not add to that theme.

Can you imagine what a party planned with the theme of Glorifying God would look like?  I imagine that there would be honesty, even when the stakes are high, and truth spoken but spoken in love.  I believe people would be taking care of others but also taking pleasure in treating themselves with love and respect.  I suspect that there would be genuine pleasure taken in hearing of the acheivements of others at the party because there would be the underlying feeling of bounty.  There would be a feeling that there was enough of everything for everyone, there would be enough love, praise, food, shelter, purpose, for every person in the room to feel full.

Image a party with a theme like that... It sounds a little like being in the full on, full time, presence of God.  A party like that sounds, well it sounds just like Heaven!

Cause the good ole days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems..

Oh yeah.. let me go ahead and date myself.  This post is titled after lyrics in the Billy Joel song "Keeping the Faith."  Billy Joel's "Innocent Man" was one of the first cassette tapes I bought after getting my new jam box for Christmas one year... ahh but I digress.


I have been noticing that every now and then I start to idealize my childhood... yeah I know it's not just me but while I do think remembering things fondly is good, there is also room to notice that today is not always worse than the days that came before.  If I continue to overly reminisce there is always the danger that I will begin to look and talk like this guy....

'Nuff said!

So today I realized in talking with some parents of teens that there has been alot of lamenting about the current state of teen fiction. I often hear from parents of teens and sometimes from teens themselves that there really is nothing great to read out there for the junior high to high school age. That "these days" young adult fiction is a one trick pony, a veritable supernatural wasteland. 


Now being the book freak that I am, I do realize that you walk into a bookstore today and in the young adult section you will notice that about 80% of the books are either about ghosts, wizards, Greek gods, fairies, witches, or vampires. So I found myself beginning to reminisce about the literary choices I had as a teen, how I enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables series, Narnia, anything by E.L. Konigsburg (the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwieler), Beverly Cleary, the Nancy Drew books etc.  Now these were some great books, they were about relationships, right and wrong, history, faith, innocent mysteries and friendships.  


Yep I can feel my eyebrows getting bushier by the minute.


So here is the thing: The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was thinking about the books I read prior to seventh grade or so.  The aforementioned books and series were over for me by the time I hit Jr. high.  I got to really thinking and when I was in junior high and high school the popular series that we were all reading were things like:


The Fear Street books by R.L. Stine (yep, the Goosebumps guy)
Books by Christopher Pike (the first one, Chain Letter, scared my socks off)
Stephen King (I can remember reading  "Misery" and deciding that maybe trying to be an author was too scary)
V.C Andrews (jeez that Flowers in the Attic series sure was wholesome, what with the infanticide and incest and all)


Looking back, it is really a wonder that I was even able to sleep during that period of my life.  Yeah, most of our jr. high and high school stuff did not have ghosts or vamps but it had serial killers and psychos.  There was less emphasis on the love triangle aspect of teen life (well, we did have Sweet Valley High but that is another story) and more emphasis on the violence and the need to survive.  Heck, one of my favorite trilogies was about a family whose mom abandoned them in a parking lot and they had to live in their car.  


Seriously I am a happy well adjusted non murderous adult even after reading all that stuff so maybe there is just something in our teenage angst that draws us to violence, fear, and the supernatural?  It is a bit disturbing but I do know that by the time I was a junior in high school I was discovering Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston.


I can still remember how moved I was the first time I read "Their Eyes Were Watching God."  I began to tire of reading things that did not change or stir me in some way.  I began to want a book to make me feel something other than excited or in suspense.  


In a way I guess that is what growing up is.  We begin to look past the passion and visceral emotion and we pursue something stronger, something more life changing.  


I have two books beside my bed right now, one on top of the other, the titles?  


Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand 

and

The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide

Guess we never really lose who we are as teens huh?  We just mix that into who we become as adults. I love that I get to have my redemptive literature, my  higher plane, and still tap into the passion and suspense of life. 

I don't think we ever need to lament the choices our children have in literature (no matter how stale they may seem at first glance) we need to have faith that they will keep reading, keep moving forward and keep adding to their literary oeuvre.  After all, books are only as strong and alive as we become when reading them.

Anatomy of an Ad.. do our teens care how "cool" is packaged? Should We?

I consider myself sort of a pop culture "anthropologist".  I usually keep up with the popular TV shows and celebrity news.. obviously when working with youth and young adults (now that I am no longer able to squeeze myself into that category in any sense) seeing what is popular or trending helps me to see where many of them are coming from, what kinds of things are on their minds...

We know this, its nothing new, pop culture is a view to what we value as a society for the most part.  

Lately, I have notice a disturbing trend in advertising, it seems that the newest thing to do to get people's attention is to do some crazy mock-up glorifying violence against women.  I get that my reaction is probably just what they are looking for.. that in Hollywood maybe all publicity is good publicity but really?  At what point do we decide to make it detrimental to someones image to portray something as painful as domestic violence in a playful way?

Here is one such ad, I had to google what the company even sold, because I could not tell if the ad was for lingerie, a car, ties, or menswear... turns out it is basically a hoity toity suit company... Because don't we all want to wear the suit of a creeper?

I saw that same scene in Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Frenzy", not something I want my daughter to flip open a magazine and see... How exactly does this picture sell that suit and lets face it, what the heck is up with that suit in the first place?


I was pretty shocked when I saw that ad but then just a few days later I saw this one...

Really, really, so the mod wife has a black eye and again creepy husband in the background.. so who is supposed to look good?  The abuser or the victim? both? look good in all you do?  wow! and can you guess what this ad was for? Hint: not bandages or eye-makeup.. it was an ad for a hair salon.  So yes you may very well be a victim of domestic violence but as long as you live in cool retro surroundings and you have good hair, its not an issue as much as it displays your ironic retro style.  Ouch!

Both of these ads disappointed me but again, as frustrating and annoying as it is, I felt that both ads were targeting adults and not so much trying to market to teens (one ad was in Vogue, one in Vanity Fair: both kids were getting haircuts, so it was between these or Sports Illustrated). This is not to say I am fine with these pictures even in an adult context but that is a whole other discussion. 

Then I checked my yahoo accounts the other day and scrolling on the daily news was a ruckus over pictures taken of one of the stars of Glee.  Yep, another crazy picture only this time it featured a girl on a hit show specifically marketed at teens.  These pictures were not even ads,  just part of a photo shoot by a photographer who is known for pushing boundaries .

Lets see, cheap house set with old carpet, retro dress, "woman's work" props, bondage suggestion, and black eye.. yep all the pieces are here.  The worst part of the whole thing is that the photographer was quoted as saying of the pictures,

 ""In no way were we promoting domestic violence, we wanted to do a bruised-up Barbie shoot and that's exactly what we did!" 

WHAT? Is he really that naive?  At this point I hope he is just lying because if he really sees nothing provocative or offensive in these... Don't even get me started on the strangeness of a bruised up Barbie idea, but in what world do these pictures not suggest that perhaps Barbie did not just "trip on the stairs"?

So my question is: what do we do with this?  Do we just think of it as art and understand that it may not be to our taste?  Do we really think this is tasteful to anyone?  What value is this offering to the world and what does it say about us as a society that it has become not only acceptable but "artistic" to portray hate crimes in our media?  Do we just avoid making a big deal out of it and deny the "artist" or company the publicity they crave?

I don't know the answer to this, I do know that as someone who claims to be a Christian, and as a female, a wife, and a mamma; I feel like this is fundamentally wrong. This is not what God created us to create. 

 I don't know what that means for me but it makes me think of what I heard in the sermon preached at our little church this morning.  The scripture was the David & Goliath story paired with the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus story in Matthew.  The gist of the sermon was that even if it may seem overwhelming to make small seemingly insignificant gestures in the face of so much pain and wrong and evil in the world; we still need to make them.  That being God's sanctified and justified people means that we MUST make them.  Why do we fight Goliath when we know it is crazy?  We have faith that it is the right thing to do.  Faith makes us foolish and grace allows us to actually sometimes have the courage to act on our faith.

We hide behind the safe wall of irony and cynicism in the same way that Saul wanted to clothe David in armor before he battled the giant.  I hope to step out in faith, I pray to begin to shed the armor and connect with the world knowing that God may take my smallest gesture and create miracles.

To Blog or Not To Blog...

So I have been wanting to start a blog for awhile now, but I keep coming back to the question "who am I to share my thoughts?", "who will care?". 
I have finally come to an answer (drum roll please)

and the answer is: probably nobody!


So why decide to blog anyway?  Well I guess because I realized I don't really want to be defined by what others care about, I don't want to do or not do something simply because it is valued by someone else, I have finally decided that just by virtue of being God's own child, I have authority.  I have the authority to take up my little desk corner of cyberspace and throw my musings out there, and if they only bounce right back to me then I will consider it time well spent; but if by some odd chance they find someone else out there, who also wishes to connect, consider, laugh, ponder, rage, and wonder at God and at the World then woohoo, wherever two or more are gathered.... 


I suppose God can create community even in pixels... God is great!


This should be fun!