Amy’s New Year’s Resolution 2008

I’ve had several years to solidify my New Year’s resolution habits, so I’m pretty sure where I’ll be on January 1^st.  Of course, there’s the typical weight loss one, and I expect to forget about that somewhere around the second week of January.  Actually, I stopped making that one official a long time ago.  I was just setting myself up for disappointment.  It’s just penciled in. 

My unique contribution to the world of New Years’ Resolutions is my “low risk” resolution. Every year, I’ll resolve to make some change in my life that is practical yet infinitesimally small, so I’m guaranteed to accomplish it  Therefore, when I check it off my list, I get to feel all proud and happy that I’ve fulfilled my resolution for the year.  I also don’t risk too much disappointment for failure.

One year, I resolved to organize my sock drawer.  On Janurary 1st, I completed my resolution in under 15 minutes, and I happily went on to look forward to next year’s pathetic accomplishment.

Other years, I tackled “learn to bake a pie” and “learn German.”  Now, learning German might sound complicated, but I chose to interpret it as “any amount of the German language.”  I settled on “ein Flugzeug,” which is very helpful in airports. 

This year, I’m thinking about resolving to memorize more scripture.  But, of course, I won’t say it that way.  I’ll probably commit to memorizing one verse of scripture, and on January 1^st, I’ll turn to “Jesus wept” (John 11:35), memorize it, and feel satisfied with my accomplishment.

By now, you’re probably realizing there’s something terribly wrong with me.  I think I’m finally coming to terms with it too.

You know who I remind myself of?  I’m just like the foolish servant in Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30).  In the parable, a man entrusts money to three servants, and two of them invest it wisely while he is away, while one of them digs a hole in the ground and hides it because he is afraid of the master (25:25).  The master rewards the servants who invests and earns returns, but the servant who does nothing gets punished.

Like the foolish servant, God has entrusted me talents, abilities, and resources that I’m unwilling to risk for his glory.  I’m too worried about disappointing him or feeling like a failure. 

Maybe this year, I should resolve to take more risks.  Of course, I’m not talking about foolish ones, like dumping all my money into one stock or devoting my life to becoming a tap dancer.  Then again, plenty of people in the bible have taken “foolish” risks in the eyes of this world for the sake of the next one. 

So, here’s my official New Year’s resolution:  In 2008, I will take more risks for God’s glory. 

(By the way, today’s your last chance to submit for the context to win the book.  Click here to enter.)

The Letinsky Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I certainly did.  Friends, family, presents, cats, and a day in the hospital…what more could anyone ask for?

The hospital part isn’t as bad as it sounds.  Dan was on call on Christmas Day, and I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving him alone at the hospital on Christmas.  So, I camped out in the residents’ on-call room all day and evening, catching glimpses of him as he ran between patients. 

After only seeing him for one or two minutes at a time, it looked like we were going to get a full dinner together, but shortly after we sat down to eat, the loudspeaker announced a code.  His response time was incredible, and he shot out of there to perform CPR on someone.  I sat there, fork still in midair, watching the door close behind him. 

I’m thankful that my family was willing to celebrate Christmas a little early this year, so we didn’t have to open presents between resuscitations.

My big Christmas surprise this year was a piano from my hubby.  It’s one of those realistic electric types that I can plug headphones into when he’s post-call and sleeping in the middle of the day, or when I’ve got insomnia and feel like playing a little Chopin at 2:00 a.m. (which has been known to happen).  What a thoughtful guy!

The Transformers that I gave him don’t exactly hold a candle to that surprise (although it’s awfully cute seeing him re-living his childhood with those things)!

The piano came at just the right time because shortly after Christmas, we both came down with the stomach flu, and about all I was good for was laying on the couch and reading, watching TV, or plinking around on the piano (with vomit bucket near by). 

I’ve been out of commission for a few days, but mercifully, food is slowly starting to look better.  Dan sprang back into action after a relatively short period of convalescence, making me grossly envious of his immune system.  I think guys just bounce back from these things faster, but I don’t have any proof or studies to back me up on it.

The main reason I’m writing today is to remind you all that my book contest is rapidly coming to a close.  Your last chance for submissions is on the 31^st.  If you have no clue what I’m talking about, and you started salivating at the mention of a contest, click here to learn more about the upcoming drawing for a free book.

Magi Inspired Gift #12: Giving the Word

Today, Christmas Day, I’m posting my final magi inspired Christmas gift idea.  This whole series was supposed to be 12 gifts on the 12 days of Christmas, but after I started, I realized that the 12 days of Christmas are technically the 12 days that follow Christmas.  Whoops. 

I saved today’s gift idea for the day that celebrates Christ’s birth. According to John, Jesus is the Word made flesh.  John begins his gospel by announcing that the Word of God has come to the world to save us all: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). 

Jesus is the Word, and the bible, God’s word, is a beautiful Christmas gift to honor him.  Many of us have several copies of the bible floating around our homes.  People across the world don’t have access to bibles, let alone their own copy of God’s precious word.  This Christmas, why not give the gift of the bible to those you love, those who have never read it before, or those who long to own their own copy.

Brother Andrew’s book, The God Smuggler, introduced me to bible smuggling and the dangers missionaries face in getting bibles to people in foreign lands.  Today, his organization continues its efforts to bring them to areas where bibles are scarce and sometimes illegal to own.  Click here to learn more about the ministry and how to contribute.

Our troops overseas are requesting copies of the bible.  Campus Crusade for Christ is meeting this need through donations to their Rapid Deployment Kit Ministry (click here to donate).

Another aspect of getting bibles to people is making sure there are translations available in their native language.  Wycliffe Bible Translators works to translate the bible into languages for unreached people groups (click here to learn more).

Have you ever stayed in a hotel room and noticed a bible in it?  Typically, it’s due to the work of the Gideon’s International Bible Society.  They provide low cost copies of the bible and distribute them all over, including hotel rooms.  I have several copies of Gideon’s pocket New Testaments that I keep in my car and hand out to people, often homeless people who come up to my car at stop lights.  If you’d like to find out more about contributing to their efforts or get inexpensive copies of the bible to distribute on your own, you can contact them through their website (click here).

Merry Christmas everyone!  Let’s celebrate our greatest gift by sharing Him with others!

Joy in Poverty

This is my final post in the short stories on joy series (here’s the original post describing my project).  I’m sad that it’s come to an end, but it’s time to move on.  I’ve had a great time sharing these stories with you.  Thanks for joining me in this fun experiment.

For those of you who are following along in the Bible, this section focuses on Philippians 4:10-23. 

(Click here to watch or listen to the sermon on this topic.)

Because the last story falls on Christmas Eve, I thought it was only appropriate that I give it a Christmas theme. 

Merry Christmas everyone!  May you have joy in poverty, in riches, or wherever God has blessed you in between! 

Joy in Poverty

One December morning, the children decided to throw a birthday party for Jesus.  They’d spent all their money on presents for their families, so nothing was left over.  But they could throw a party.

The children prayed that God would help them with his son’s party. 

Rachel remembered some leftover streamers from her birthday.  Mary knew how to make lemonade from her summer stand.  But what about the cake? 

Caleb said, “Don’t worry.  God will help.”

The guests arrived.  All the decorations were in place. 

Then, Aunt Molly arrived, carrying a big cake that said “Jesus” in white frosting. 

Magi Inspired Giving #11: Giving the Gospel

This is the second to the last gift idea post, and even though I’m not necessarily doing these in any particular order, I saved two very special ones for last. 

In a season where we celebrate our Savior’s birth, I think it’s a wonderful time to spread that message as a gift.  Jesus has been the greatest gift I’ve ever received, the greatest gift the world has ever received, and he’s a gift you can give to others by supporting missionary efforts throughout the world. 

My home church supported a missionary in Lebanon for several years.  Her name was Bonnie Weatherall, and you might recognize her name from the news.  She was murdered in 2002, when a gunman opened fire in the health clinic where she was a nurse (click here to read the news story).  Missionaries make great sacrifices to share the gospel with others, and many risk their lives every day.  When you give to support missionaries, you honor the sacrifices they make, in addition to giving a gift of spreading the gospel. 

Missionaries come in all shapes and sizes.  When you think of a missionary, you probably imagine a man or a woman living in a tribe of people somewhere in a rural setting, in a part of the world where they live in huts wash their clothes in rivers.  But missionaries serve in all kinds of unique capacities, some that might surprise you.  Missionaries live and serve in the US, in Europe, Asia, and all over the world.  Sometimes, they hold office jobs for Christian organizations.  Sometimes, they travel around the country, putting on marriage conferences, like my friends Ross and Taya.

One of the most successful missionary projects today is The Jesus Film.  It’s been translated into many languages and used by missionaries across the globe to teach people about Jesus (click here to support the project).

The Christian and Missionary Alliance supports 880 missionaries in 58 countries.  To learn more about their work, or to support missionaries in specific areas, click here.

Of course, you can’t say missions or evanglism without mentioning Billy Graham, one of the most influential evangelists in history.  His organization, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, sponsors many missionary efforts around the globe (click here to visit the site).

If you’re interested in getting involved with some short-term missions, make sure you check with your church home to see if they are sponsoring any trips.  Organizations such as Youth with a Mission (YWAM) also have short-term missions available for people of all ages (click here to learn more about the organization).  In addition to sending money to support missionaries, you might want to visit the trenches yourselves, to offer encouragement to those who are working full-time in the field. 

Magi Inspired Giving #10: Giving Anonymously

In one of my favorite novels, Magnificent Obsession, Lloyd C. Douglas tells the story of a doctor who devotes his life to living a principle he learned from the gospel of Matthew: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (6:3-4). I’m not a big fan of taking scriptures out of context, or picking and choosing parts to live by (as the book’s protagonist does), but this passage offers a great way to think about giving gifts, especially Christmas gifts.

In this passage, Jesus is chastising the Pharisees for their showy acts of charity. The Pharisees had been seeking praise from men, not giving for the sake of glorifying God. There’s a big difference. One is self centered; one is God centered.

I’ve seen the how powerful this kind of gift can be as a ministry to others. My husband and I both attended Westmont College, and it recently benefited from a huge anonymous gift of $75 million dollars, the second largest gift ever given to a national liberal arts college (click here to read the article). We love our former college, and it’s so encouraging to us to hear that it has been so richly blessed by someone who believes in this sort of anonymous giving principle.

When we were students there, I recall a smaller anonymous gift that was dropped off at the campus. It was “only” one million dollars, but it was the talk of campus for weeks. All of the students were inspired by the incredible act of generosity and Godly sacrifice on our behalf.

If you’d like to practice this form of giving in your community, it’s as simple as not associating your name with donations to charity or leaving gifts without names attached to them. There are organizations out there that assist you in practicing this principle. Appropriately, one is called The Magi Gifts, and they help you donate anonymously to needy families in your community (click here to learn more).

I’d considered not labeling all my Christmas presents this year, but I think my family would figure it out, based on the process of elimination. This principle might be best practiced outside the family gathering. However, some of you might even think of ways to do this as part of the family Christmas tradition (perhaps if everyone agrees not to put the giver’s name on any of the gifts). I’d love to hear your ideas!

Magi Inspired Gift #9: Giving to our Troops

When I was in Elementary school, I had a pen pal.  His name was Duane.  Our friendship became well known in our town when our local newspaper did a feature story on us.  Duane was stationed in Iraq during the first gulf war, and we continued to exchange letters throughout the war and after he returned home.  I’ve long since lost contact with Duane, but I wonder if he’s in active duty today and serving over the holidays to protect our country.

My family met Duane when we “adopted” him as our service member and sent him care packages.  We didn’t send much of significance, a few toiletries and some games and books to fill his time.  But I’ll never forget how thankful he was for our gifts.

Christmas is a wonderful time to reach out and bless a service member, to thank them for their sacrifice on our behalf.  There are many great organizations who offer opportunities to send them gifts that are meaningful and represent Christ’s love.  I found most of these on Kim Kommando’s website, and I suggest you check it out yourselves because there are many more that I won’t list here.

If you are inspired by my story about my pen pal Duane, there are several organizations that facilitate care packages for service men and women.  Soldiers’ Angels matches you with a specific person, whom you will commit to sending a set amount of care packages and letters for a specific duration of time (click here to learn more).  Any Soldier is an organization that informs you about specific needs that you can meet without committing to a particular service member (click here to visit their site).

If you like the idea of sending a gift to a specific service member that you know, who is serving somewhere overseas, consider sending them a gift certificate to the Army and Air Force Exchange Services, which is where many of them can shop.  You can purchase them online through this site (click here).

In the recent blockbuster film Transformers, Captain Lennox talks from the battlefront with his wife and newborn baby girl via satellite videophone.  A nonprofit organization named Freedom Calls is making this sort of communication a reality for our troops, but it takes a lot of donations to keep it running.  If that scene from the movie choked you up, maybe this is something you’d like to give for Christmas (click here for more).

This idea is right up my alley.  Books for Soldiers coordinates book donations to soldiers serving overseas.  If you have extra paperbacks sitting around, and you’d like to send them to a service member, click here to learn more.

Here’s my final troop oriented gift option, and it has a different focus.  The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association reaches out to service members, at home and abroad.  If you have a heart for our troops and want to give them the gift of the gospel of Jesus, through an organization that has a long history of doing it well, click here to find out how to contribute.

My Salt Dough Nativity

One of my yearly Christmas traditions is making salt dough ornaments.  Last Christmas, I started making a nativity set for our home. So far, I’ve made the core trio: Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, whom my husband lovingly refers to as “peanut Jesus” because, well, you can see the resemblance. 

You’d think that a nativity set is fairly standard.  It wasn’t until I started making my own that I realized how many decisions needed to go into the process.  I needed to sort out the biblical nativity from the traditional ones and also all the commercial images that are available to us. 

Let’s start with clothing.  What did Mary and Joseph wear?  It was Israel, not the renaissance, so this sort of clothing is out. 

I went for simple, earthy colors, and robes that people who traveled long distances might wear. The biblical account (Luke 2:4-5) says they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem (a little over 70 miles as the crow flies). Mary’s veil looks a bit like a bonnet, but I wanted to make her look a little more feminine.

Jesus is wrapped in purple, which I admit, has no biblical origin.  Purple cloth was expensive, and these folks were poor.  But I like the symbolism of the Prince of Peace wrapped in kingly colors.  I painted his manger gold.  Feed troughs weren’t typically constructed from this material, but once again, I liked the symbolism.

This year, I’m tackling the wise men.  First, I have to decide how many to make.  The bible doesn’t say how many there were, just that they brought three types of gifts.  I could make two or 20 if I wanted, but 20 wouldn’t fit very well on my mantel. 

Clothing will be a problem here too.  I’m not going to use this as my model.

I’m fairly certain the magi weren’t three white guys dressed in circus clown outfits, bearing potluck casseroles. 

We’re all used to the song “We Three Kings,” but the New Testament accounts don’t refer to them being royalty.  Old Testament prophecies are the source for this tradition, especially Psalm 72:10:  “May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!” The Magi were from the east, and they brought very expensive tributes.  It’s not a long shot.  John Piper connects another prophecy to the Magi in a 1997 Advent sermon. Isaiah 60:3 mentions light and kings: “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” 

You might be wondering why I’m putting so much thought into my nativity set.  “It’s just a Christmas decoration,” you’re probably saying.  I admit, I get a bit obsessive compulsive about my artwork.  But I think it’s important to continually sort out what our culture teaches us about Jesus from tradition and what is actually in the Bible.  When it comes to putting my faith into practice, before I fire up the ovens and let the dough harden, getting set in my ways, it’s good for me examine the Jesus I worship and hold him to the light of scripture. 

Magi Inspired Gift #8: Gifts that Keep on Giving

One of my favorite parts of Jesus’ earthly ministry is his interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well.  That particular portion of John’s gospel (chapter 4) has spoken to me over and over again this year.  During their encounter at Jacob’s well, he offers her the gift of living water, a gift that keeps on giving.  It’s ultimately the gift of himself, a well that never runs dry.

Christmas is a season where we celebrate Jesus, so our gifts should ultimately celebrate him. Jesus, our living water, the continual giver of good gifts, provides us with a great model for giving.  He gives gifts that are never used up; they can be enjoyed forever.

I’ve come across a few noteworthy gift ideas that keep giving back to the recipient.  When you give one of these gifts, it’s not a one time deal, but it’s something that can continue blessing them for years to come.

In honor of Jesus, the living water, you can contribute to clean water projects in areas of the world where drinkable water is hard to come by.  The Grammy award winning band Jars of Clay has an organization devoted to providing clean water for people in Africa, in addition to serving those with AIDS.  For more information about the work they are doing and for ways to contribute, visit the Blood:Water Mission website (click here).  WorldVision also has several types of water projects, from purchasing a well to contributing a smaller sum of money to their general clean water funds (click here to read about all their projects).

Americans might balk at the idea of finding livestock under their Christmas tree (I can just imagine a pig with a bow on its head under mine), but that’s exactly the kind of gift that would richly bless many people who live in agrarian societies across the world.  World Vision gives you opportunities to donate a goat, which can provide milk and cheese to feed a family or to sell at market (click here for more information).  You can buy an Alpaca for countries such as Peru and Ecuador, where people can raise them and earn money from their wool (click here for more information).    There are many other animals available for purchase, which you can read about on their website.

Just keep in mind that if you decide to give this sort of gift to a family member or friend, it might be nice to check with them first.  Before giving them a cow or a horse, it’s nice to know if they have a pasture…or if they like cows or horses. 

Magi Inspired Gift #7: Giving to Your Neighbor

In the Seattle Times today, there was a great story about neighbors loving each other with a sacrificial and sweet kind of holiday gift.  In Marysville, a town about 45 minutes north of Seattle, a woman started a giving trend at a local Starbucks drive-thru.  Inspired to love her neighbors, she paid for coffee for the people in line behind her.  The car behind her was so touched by her gesture that they did the same, and so it continued, to almost 500 customers blessing their neighbors with coffee (click here to read the story).  By the evening, numbers surged to over 800 people who paid for their neighbor’s drinks, sometimes well beyond the cost of a cup of coffee.  Our local ABC affiliate did a story for the evening news on it, which you can watch here.

You might think that coffee isn’t much of a gift, and I suppose in comparison to ministering to an AIDS patient in Africa, it doesn’t quite have quite as much of an obvious impact.  However, we can’t neglect the importance of giving gifts to the people in our towns, to those we work and serve with everyday, the people we meet on the street and might not know by name but with whom we share a common home and community.

Giving generously to your neighbor is biblical.  Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27).  If you’re treating yourself to a cup of coffee or a donut, why not purchase one for somebody else, especially someone you don’t know very well?  Anyone can bless a friend, but it takes God’s love to bless a stranger.

I have to confess that this doesn’t always work well for me.  At the place where I get my car serviced, there are a few vending machines with snacks and sodas.  I typically get the munchies and get something while I’m waiting.  I always offer to purchase something for the people who are waiting with me, and nobody has ever taken me up on it.  I’m not sure if it’s because people have a hard time accepting gifts from strangers (maybe they’re too cynical and expect a catch of some sort), or maybe I’m just overvaluing the vending machine products.  I’ll keep trying, but I’m not expecting any takers anytime soon.

I’d love to read about more coffee giving trends happening as a result of this one news story.  Wouldn’t it be great if this became a holiday tradition?