Is Safe Really Safe?

I'm gonna open a can of worms here, hopefully sparking some controversy and intelligent discussion.

When is safe not safe?

My church is doing a sermon series called "The Untouchables". The pastoral staff is addressing issues such as homosexuality, racism and abortion. I've written a skit for the abortion sermon that is provocative and as someone said, "unsafe."

Unsafe?

Yep. That person feels church needs to be a safe place where no one feels any condemnation or judgment.

"Old people don't need to see this. It will offend them, and some of use choose to stay away from secular people so we don't have to be around 'this stuff'."

My skit has four vingettes. Two are the personal testimonies of the actors. In the first sketch, a young woman recounts her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. She was a prominent member of the worship team, lead Bible studies, MOPS, landed the lead in musicals and very outspoken in her faith. Two weeks after her divorce, she found out she was pregnant from a one-night stand. Abortions easy solution called to her. In her monologue, she cries, "I hate you baby! You will destroy my life!"

The second skit is a scene where a mother is demanding her daughter get an abortion. The girl was raped. The family is well-known in the church. The daughter has a ballet scholarship. "No one will understand! They'll assume things about you... about us!" The mother says, "I've already made an appointment with Planned Parenthood."

Scene three is a teen boy talking to his best friend. He's in a panic b/c he got the pastor's daughter pregnant (this is pure fiction). He talks like a teen boy in 2007. People have a problem with this sketch in particular b/c I had the "event" happen at a youth retreat and the teends involved are Christians.

Finally, the last scene is the my own testimony. Several wonder how it even ties in to abortion. I dramatized the conversation John and I had when I found out I was postmenopausal and unable to have kids - ever. The pain, the hopelessness of it. I wanted to juxtapose this scene for a startling contrast. People who deal with infertility have very powerful emotions relating to abortion. Every time I hear the word, it feels like someone is twisting a knife in my uterus. Yeah, there's a connection. Concern was raised that this scene would condemn people who had abortions in the past and keep them from coming to God. At the end I cry, "Oh God, this is so unfair! Women who don't want them get pregnant and kill them I want one and... and..."

Let me pose this question: Would you rather ignore these issues in the confines of church walls to keep it a safe, happy place? Leave folks to get their information from the world? Or, would you rather the church take a risk of offending folks in order to blow away deception.

When I wrote the skits, my intent was to cause audience members to consider how easily abortion would "solve" the immediate problems. I want them to understand how and why that option is enticing, not only to non-Christians but Christians as well when the stakes are high enough.

So, do we play it safe? Or if we do play it safe, are we really putting people at risk?

I Love the Earth, Butt...

No one can accuse us of hating the environment. Denver makes recycling so easy, that we truly recycle more than we toss. We turn of lights in unused rooms and keep the heat below 65 degrees. The energy savings are more motivated by $$ saving than loving the Earth, but it counts.

I'm a huge proponent of "No Trace" camping and hiking. John will pack out other people's nasty trash found along Colorado hiking trails.

God made the Earth. Whatever He made, He put in our stewardship. That means we are supposed to take good care of it.

Within reason.

Since Al Gore released his film "Inconvenient Truth", politicians and celebrities - all members of the FSR (Filthy Stinkin' Rich) club are telling the ROU (Rest of Us) to give up our modest lifestyles to live like we're in a 3rd world country!

They DO NOT include themselves in such sacrificial practices. Private planes, multiple mansions - all this takes up more energy per day than the ROU use in one year!! Whose being wasteful here?

Sheryl Crow is on some sort of twisted anti-toilet paper campaign. If such absurdity is put into law, more of us will be stinkin' than the rich!

I've done the no TP thing on a BACKPACKING trip in Central PA where there were plenty of ferns. Who likes to find piles of paper behind every tree? No me. But in my own home? Don't these bozos know about the kinds of diseases running rampant in 3rd world countries?

So, what will America be like if everyone walked around with poo in their cracks? Honestly, 1 sheet or 3 ain't gonna get that stuff off! We can kiss our clean air initiatives good-bye. The stench pollution will force us to walk around wearing those weird masks seen in apocalyptic films. Doctor offices will be inundated by millions suffering from horrible chaffing and butt pimples. The economy will take a major dive b/c no one will want to be around anyone else's butt-stinkies!

What about babies? Imagine the diaper rash!

When Sheryl Crow, Al Gore and the likes start acting like cats... (no more description needed - right?) Then I may reconsider.

I love the Earth...

butt not enough to traumatize it's inhabitants (or myself). I love hygiene!

Americans for Good Hygiene!

Booger Woes and a New Baby

Next week I have to take the Booger to Children's Hospital for a Physical Therapy evaluation. He's showing some gross motor delays and the pediatrician decided it's best to make sure nothing neurological is going on. He assured me he didn't think anything serious is the culprit, but as a mother I can't help but worry. Especially when people tell me how "alarmed" they are that he's 13 months and not mobile. Especially when someone says to me, "My daughter was like that... she has Muscular Dystrophy."

AAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHH!

I wish I could speed up time and get the PT's opinion before I go completely insane. It's hard to trust God. This is really the first major trust thing involving my child. I thought trusting Him was hard when it was for me or John, but when it's the wee one?

On a positive note, I'm gonna be an AUNT any day! My sister was due the 16th. No baby. As of yesterday the baby dropped but as of this morning - no baby. I wish Mystery Baby would go ahead and get here before my mother and I go insane!!!

Tammie decided to not know what it is and keep the names secret. Grrr. Anyway, I hope it looks like me and takes after wonderful little 'ol me :)

Something um, a Little Exotic...

Looks like something you'd find in the litterbox if your cat happens to like raw coffee beans...

Folks, that ain't far from the truth! The stuff you see pictured here on the left (picture from www.animalcoffee.com )sells for $75 per quarter pound and is, uh, processed in Sumatra by some small marsupial kind of animal. I'll leave the kind of "processing" to your imagination.

Kopi Luwak is what it's called. The coffee, that is. A paradoxurous (picture from blueplantebiomes.org) Is the creature responsible for this, uh java phenom. Kinda cute, don't your think?

In an article by Chris Rubin, the coffee is described as "incredibly full bodied, almost syrupy. It's thick with a hint of chocolate, and lingers on the tongue with a long, clean aftertaste." Not sure I'd want to drink anything that came from the butt of a racoon-looking animal.

My dog Caleb on the other hand...

As for me, I think I'll stick to my Starbucks or Village Roaster thank you very much!

Christian Blogoshpere

If you scroll down on my sidebar you will see that I recently joined the Christian Blogosphere blog roll.

I apologize for the messy sidebar. I just can't do the code thing and I'm still trying to figure out how to get the American Christian Fiction Writer's logo with its link (which is split by the graphic of the CB). I have a blogging for dummies book, but it don't go into that much detail!

Why, oh why does this have to be so hard? I'm not a computer techie!

I'm hoping Joe will feel sorry for the pathetic look of my blog... and help me out :)

What's really embarassing is that many authors who are a generation ahead of me have cool blogs and can do all the cool logo/sidebar stuff. I'm supposed to belong to the computer generation! What happened to me?

Egad!

Maybe I need to focus on something else like following all those links Joe sent in a comment on animal coffee...

NOW you're curious!

You'll have to

WAIT!

Unexpected Delay or God's Timing?

We got a letter in the mail today from the adoption agency. We are unable to apply for another adoption at this time.

The agency is swamped by first timers that they must place babies w/ childless couples over those of us who've received placements. It was hard to hear.

When John requested another application while I'm still wiping a tiny hiny, I worrried. What if we get a baby in six weeks? That would be like having twins!

I surrendered to God and figured His timing would be perfect. I have to believe this is His way of saying "not now". It's disappointing. I don't want Kyle to be an only child. I really want him to have a little brother or two.

I also don't want to do the whole baby thing when I'm 40! It was hard enough at 33!

The plus side is that we won't be owing anybody any money right now. That gives us more time to ease the debt that accrued while John's jobs were unstable and I had health and injury crisis that drained our accounts.

It's hard to be told by outsiders when you can or can't have children. It's hard not to be able to make that decision as a couple without bringing in 3rd, 4th or 5th parties. Those of you who can conceive, count your blessings.

A few years back, we were in a Sunday school class that was full of couples with young children. Every week nearly all of the couples complained about their kids, or being pregnant again, unplanned. They knew John and I, along with another couple unable to conceive were in the class. Things got so bad, the four of us had to leave!

Don't take your babies for granted. They are a blessing from God, even when they drive us crazy! That's what kids do to parents, but it doesn't make them any less of a blessing!

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Kind of a fun thing I saw on Free_By_Grace blog. It hit the nail on the head. It's me! Wish some of my teachers realized this when I was in school. Wish I knew this early on so I wouldn't have searched into my early 30's for what I wanted to be when I grew up!