Last week my daughter tried out for an athletic team at our church only to find herself cut in favor of stronger and faster girls. Everyone knew that only a few would make the team, but Alyssa had been talking about it for weeks. She was eager to make the team. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. At first I was worried, knowing how much it meant to her, but by the time we got home, she had calmed down and moved on to the next challenge of life. Instead of crying for hours, she chose to be happy for
her friends who had made the team. Win or lose, she is the embodiment of grace.That is one reason why Alyssa Smith is an American Girl. She is intelligent and creative and vivacious. She is also an avid reader. Between art and dance classes she manages to play sports year-round, never quitting in spite of the fact that she is far from being a natural athlete. Whether it is gymnastics or cheerleading or soccer, she
is always active, always social. At eight years old, she hasn't learned yet how to discriminate; she loves everyone. Her passion is for art and for people, and she gives herself completely to whatever she is doing and whoever she is with.And she cannot help but teach. She seizes every opportunity to lead the cheers for the squad, or teach whoever she's with some new craft she learned. At slumber parties she is the one who initiates and organizes activities. (Her favorite is to make improv plays for the adults to watch.) She just HAS to be in the middle of everything that's going on, not to be the star, but just to have fun with everyone.
Alyssa may one day assume the title as America's craftiest person. Her dedication to arts and crafts is matched only by her giftedness. Two years ago, she rearranged our curtains for us, something unexpected from a six year old, but guests still comment on them today. Likewise the oil painting she gave me this Christmas that hangs proudly in my office. And although not everything she does turns out perfectly (I've thrown away reams of doodles scratched out on whatever paper she can find), she never quits. My wife and I sometimes wonder if she will replace Martha Stewart on television one day!
One of the things I appreciate about Alydoodle, as a father, is that she is careful not to set other-worldly expectations. That is, she's good about setting "girl-sized" goals. Her focus is always on the present, on THIS game, THIS project, THIS effort. Her goals do not extend beyond the current season. She doesn't worry about things beyond her ability to control. Always she is concerned about the challenge of today. Rising to the occasion, rather than suffering anxiety over it.
I don't know who the "Real Girl of the Year" will be, but Alyssa Renae Smith deserves serious consideration. She is amazing.
Monday, February 25, 2008
American Girl
So, Alyssa is really into American Girl dolls; a phenomenon which escapes the male mind, even the Daddy mind. But the company that makes these dolls has a contest to identify the "Real Girl of the Year," and in order to enter you have to have an adult sponsor you. Aly asked me. So below is the 499 word essay I wrote explaining why Alyssa Renae Smith is MY American Girl. And if the doll company has a brain in their corporate head, they'll see through my weak prose and recognize this amazing little girl for the treasure she is.
Friday, February 22, 2008
WARNING: May be offensive to some college students.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed , accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
I weep for the Bride of Christ. I weep because my kids do a better job of this than most of the young 'leaders' in the church today.
In the Spanish epic El Poema de Mio Cid there is a line:
Translation: "God! What a good vassal, if only he had a good Lord."
And it is this line that I am horrifically remined of time and again as I look out across the current generation of young (under-25) leaders in the church. There are so many good followers of Christ, and so few good leaders. On a recent trip to El Salvador I spent the better part of a week meeting with national, regional and local leaders and was shocked, truly shocked at how poor the country is in its leadership. There are a few bright stars in the night sky, but most of the church is flailing about in the darkness, desperate for men to lead them. We visited somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen churches and without exception they yearned for discipleship and evangelism training, and PASTORAL LEADERSHIP. After surveying the wreckage that passes for leadership in the Church in El Salvador, I returned smugly home to my ministry among college students here, thinking how blessed we were in the church in America, only to discover an even worse tragedy; not only is there a desperate need for the same training and leadership, here exist as well the twin spirits of apathy and arrogance.
I am saddened that there is an entire generation of leaders growing up in our churches and schools who think they are soooo cool. Too cool. Many of them are arrogant enough to think they've got it all figured out. Others too apathetic to care. And still others who make the unfortunate mistake of rejecting the present to embrace a future they are ill-equipped to understand, articulate or justify. They're so invested in orthopraxy that they've forgotten orthodoxy completely. They're in such a rush to do good things they forget that it is only through long centuries of hard study by previous generations that they even have the slightest clue what 'good things' are.
I am saddened that they, the leaders, so quickly throw away "traditional" methods of education, like seminary, in favor of their own wisdom, usually gleaned from trolling the internet for quotes, surfing Wiki-pedia, and midnight discussions with peers over pizza. Wow. Now THAT'S what I call "being diligent." The hubris is as heart-breaking as it is spectacular. And many who read this won't even know what I just said. But rather than looking up 'hubris' and 'orthopraxy' in the dictionary they'll write it off as irrelevant because I'm too old-fashioned, or just plain too old. (The King James, BTW, of 2 Timothy 2:15, says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." They believe instead that they can get closer to God, not by studying His word, but by "living it out." (What exactly they're living out, they wouldn't know because they haven't studied the book--indeed, don't know how to study it--which they're supposedly embracing more deeply, but hey, let's not go there.)
I am saddened because if I have to listen to one more ignorant fool raving about how important it is to get on with living the Christian life without taking the time to seriously consider what that means (and by 'seriously consider' I mean study deeply, not just read another Shane Clairborne or Donald Miller novel)... I just might vomit.
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe in my desire to serve God and His people I have overreached. Maybe. Maybe the people I think of as leaders, aren't. Maybe I need to rethink my whole leadership paradigm. Maybe the people I see desiring influence in the kingdom of God are really just a bunch of pretenders. Or maybe they're just a lot more immature than I thought. I should know. I was a late bloomer myself. I piddled through college in a blazing five and a half years with a scorchin' hot 2.4 GPA. It wasn't until I had already been in ministry for a year that I fully realized that in order to be effective I had to get educated. I started in seminary at 28 years old.
Look. What I'm saying is pretty simple. If you think God is calling you to be a leader in the church (music/youth/children/pastoral/missions/etc.) and you haven't taken time to seriously consider your spiritual education, you're a joke. And the Bride of Christ deserves better than that, and God's word demands more from you. "Just Do It" was a greatNike slogan, but they left it up to YOU to define what IT is. That won't fly in the church. If you would be a shepherd of God's flock, a lead in Christ's bride, you have to be the one to define IT, and that requires more than most of you are giving. It requires formal education. It requires reading, STUDYING. The Apostle Paul understood that. He was educated. And apparently the Holy Spirit thought it was important enough to write down. Consider that the next time you open you Bible. Are you skimming though a chapter, or are you meking every effort, being diligent, studying so that you can lead effectively God's people.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed , accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
I weep for the Bride of Christ. I weep because my kids do a better job of this than most of the young 'leaders' in the church today.
In the Spanish epic El Poema de Mio Cid there is a line:
“¡Oh Dios, qué buen vasallo
si tuviese buen Señor!”
Translation: "God! What a good vassal, if only he had a good Lord."
And it is this line that I am horrifically remined of time and again as I look out across the current generation of young (under-25) leaders in the church. There are so many good followers of Christ, and so few good leaders. On a recent trip to El Salvador I spent the better part of a week meeting with national, regional and local leaders and was shocked, truly shocked at how poor the country is in its leadership. There are a few bright stars in the night sky, but most of the church is flailing about in the darkness, desperate for men to lead them. We visited somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen churches and without exception they yearned for discipleship and evangelism training, and PASTORAL LEADERSHIP. After surveying the wreckage that passes for leadership in the Church in El Salvador, I returned smugly home to my ministry among college students here, thinking how blessed we were in the church in America, only to discover an even worse tragedy; not only is there a desperate need for the same training and leadership, here exist as well the twin spirits of apathy and arrogance.
I am saddened that there is an entire generation of leaders growing up in our churches and schools who think they are soooo cool. Too cool. Many of them are arrogant enough to think they've got it all figured out. Others too apathetic to care. And still others who make the unfortunate mistake of rejecting the present to embrace a future they are ill-equipped to understand, articulate or justify. They're so invested in orthopraxy that they've forgotten orthodoxy completely. They're in such a rush to do good things they forget that it is only through long centuries of hard study by previous generations that they even have the slightest clue what 'good things' are.
I am saddened that they, the leaders, so quickly throw away "traditional" methods of education, like seminary, in favor of their own wisdom, usually gleaned from trolling the internet for quotes, surfing Wiki-pedia, and midnight discussions with peers over pizza. Wow. Now THAT'S what I call "being diligent." The hubris is as heart-breaking as it is spectacular. And many who read this won't even know what I just said. But rather than looking up 'hubris' and 'orthopraxy' in the dictionary they'll write it off as irrelevant because I'm too old-fashioned, or just plain too old. (The King James, BTW, of 2 Timothy 2:15, says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." They believe instead that they can get closer to God, not by studying His word, but by "living it out." (What exactly they're living out, they wouldn't know because they haven't studied the book--indeed, don't know how to study it--which they're supposedly embracing more deeply, but hey, let's not go there.)
I am saddened because if I have to listen to one more ignorant fool raving about how important it is to get on with living the Christian life without taking the time to seriously consider what that means (and by 'seriously consider' I mean study deeply, not just read another Shane Clairborne or Donald Miller novel)... I just might vomit.
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe in my desire to serve God and His people I have overreached. Maybe. Maybe the people I think of as leaders, aren't. Maybe I need to rethink my whole leadership paradigm. Maybe the people I see desiring influence in the kingdom of God are really just a bunch of pretenders. Or maybe they're just a lot more immature than I thought. I should know. I was a late bloomer myself. I piddled through college in a blazing five and a half years with a scorchin' hot 2.4 GPA. It wasn't until I had already been in ministry for a year that I fully realized that in order to be effective I had to get educated. I started in seminary at 28 years old.
Look. What I'm saying is pretty simple. If you think God is calling you to be a leader in the church (music/youth/children/pastoral/missions/etc.) and you haven't taken time to seriously consider your spiritual education, you're a joke. And the Bride of Christ deserves better than that, and God's word demands more from you. "Just Do It" was a greatNike slogan, but they left it up to YOU to define what IT is. That won't fly in the church. If you would be a shepherd of God's flock, a lead in Christ's bride, you have to be the one to define IT, and that requires more than most of you are giving. It requires formal education. It requires reading, STUDYING. The Apostle Paul understood that. He was educated. And apparently the Holy Spirit thought it was important enough to write down. Consider that the next time you open you Bible. Are you skimming though a chapter, or are you meking every effort, being diligent, studying so that you can lead effectively God's people.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed , accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
Friday, February 15, 2008
Just when you thought...
So I'm coming home from the Parents' Night Out fundraiser tonight at 10:30 pm, and I almost hit a guy crossing against the light on 4th street. Nothing crazy about that, except he was on HORSEBACK! What an idiot. I assume he was drunk. Why else would you ride through downtown on horseback at 10:30 at night?
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