With You ... Post-Election Commitments

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We belong to one another other.

To those who find themselves on the outside of the white evangelical church, I weep with you. 
To my brothers and sisters of color - and my children - I stand with you. 
To my fellow women, I fight with you.
To my LGBT friends, I value you.
To my friends of different religions, I respect you. 
To my immigrant friends - and our children - I welcome you. 
To family and friends with disabilities, I celebrate who you are. 
To all the misfits who feel "other", I grieve and lament with you.

We belong to each other.

I am with you and will do my part to use my privilege and knowledge to bring the Kingdom more on earth as it is in heaven. When much is given, much is required. Therefore, I will use the much I've been given to the best of my ability for your sake, for all our sake.

I am as committed as ever to stand in the gap of the marginalized, the historically unheard and undervalued brothers and sisters of our world. My voice and my vote will be with you because when you suffer we all suffer.

Brian and I are committed to learn, grow, and be changed by the voices of the oppressed. We are committed to be Kingdom citizens and global citizens second over national patriots. This world is not our home, and yet we will also do what we can so the world reflects the world Jesus described in the Sermon on the Mount.  

I'm committed to weep with those who weep, to empathize with others' pain, and to not use unhelpful spiritual language to try and convince you that your pain is somehow exaggerated or not real. I will honor your grief, knowing that anger is a very necessary part of the healing process. 

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I recommit to be a person of faith, hope, and love, knowing that love will triumph and win the day. I'm so very committed to finding little lights in the midst of darkness. I'm committed to announcing God's new mercies every morning because this is the day he has made we can - and will! - have joy. I'm committed not to fall into despair over what seems so very real and dangerous right now. I will choose hope.

Finally, but most importantly, I am committed to raise our three children to first follow Jesus wholehearted because I believe the God of Scripture is ultimately LOVE and despises injustice in all forms - racism, sexism, xenophobia, and more. Then, in the name of Jesus, we are committed to raise our children to be freedom fighters in this world. 

We belong to one another. 

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I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

GO CUBS GO!!

As the late Harry Caray might have said,
"It might be ... It could be ... IT IS!"

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I can hardly believe it!
The Chicago Cubs are the World Series Champions!!!!!!!

It was unquestionably the best baseball game in history! Brian and I stifled screams and yelps as the kiddos slept. For nearly 4 hours our hearts skipped enough beats to kill us. Our stomach was in knots and we felt like we might throw up at times. We stayed up until nearly 1am, through a myriad of pitching changes (Hendricks and Lester were confusing ones), a 17-minute rain delay at the end of the 9th inning, and a yo-yo of scoring changes to see the Cubs break the 108 year old curse and win the World Series in game 7 in Cleveland! The alarm went off less than 5 hours later to get our kiddos off to school on time. We are exhausted and it was totally worth it.

CUBS WIN! FLY THE W!!!

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This morning I called my 85 year-old Gramps, a lifelong Cubs fan. He was on Cloud 9. I asked him, "Did you ever think you'd see the day when the Cubs won the world series?!?" Immediately he bursted out, "NO!" He went on to tell me how grateful he was to see the game AND watch it with 3 generations of his family. Just a few hours before the game, he expected to watch the game alone. My Uncle Doug (a Cards fan, boo!) and Granny were supposed to be on a plane and their flight was cancelled last minute due to Chicago weather! Then, my cousin, Casey, (also a Cards fan...we have a family breakdown in baseball) drove hours to surprise my Gramps so he wouldn't have to watch the game alone. AND YET, Gramps was able to share the best sports night of his long life with his wife, son, and grandson.

Divine. Epic. 

The whole thing is epic.

We've waited a long time, friends. Time to buy all the newspapers and World Series gear and share all the memes and celebrate for the next year. For now, I need a third cup of coffee!

“Don’t curse the rain—it might just be a divine delay!”

— Keith Robinson, my Slingshot co-worker