random assortment

so i've decided to post a bunch of random, mostly unrelated thoughts i've had recently.

first, we're loving our house. we've gotten all the boxes on the first floor unpacked, and we're almost ready to tackle the second floor. honestly, we just really lucked out on the neighborhood. we live on a cul-de-sac where everybody knows everybody. we've had neighbors dropping by to say hello and give us goodies like flowers, banana bread, cinnamon rolls, and cards scribbled with children's drawings welcoming us to the street. right now, there are 8 kids that live on this street. 8!

second, we finally sent in our homestudy application and $1850! our social worker called yesterday to say she'd received everything, so i hope we're quickly on our way to having her come visit our house. we are still waiting for jamie's birth certificates to get here from kansas, but other than that, we are almost finished with our part of the homestudy paperchase.

lastly, something a bit deeper. i was doing my nightly blog reading tonight and came across a quote. i'm pretty sure the words speak for themselves, so i won't offer my own lauren commentary:

for i was hungry, while you had all you needed.
i was thirsty, but you drank bottled water.
i was a stranger, and you wanted me deported.
i needed clothes, but you needed more clothes.
i was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness.
i was in prison, and you said i was getting what i deserved. -- richard stearns, the hole in our gospel

i have been thinking a lot lately about living my life as purposefully as i can. a few weeks ago, we received an email on the divinity school listserv about a former classmate turned youth minister whose church bus blew a tire and flipped several times on the way to youth camp. i followed the journey of one family whose daughter, maggie lee, was critically injured in the crash. after 3 weeks of fighting for her life, she died at the age of 12. what became clear to me as i read maggie lee's story was that we cannot put off the good we must do in this world. we can't act as if we've got an entire lifetime to feed the poor, clothe the naked, and love the stranger. we must be doing those things now, striving to be wise stewards of whatever amount of time we are given.

if you want to be encouraged and challenged, i invite you to visit the caringbridge site set up by maggie lee's parents. their words of hope and struggle are incredibly profound:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/maggieleehenson