October « 2009 « Sidewalk Theologian

does my hair smell like a urinal cake?

12 10 2009

What are your favorite travel products? Things you can’t be away from home without? Tomorrow I’ll leave for a three-day trip to Cleveland, home for a writers conference this weekend and then to Madison, WI next week. Here are a few of the things I always bring with me or have started to bring:

check out lush.com for fresh, handmade products from Canada, eh!

My sister in law who regularly travels to Africa to do research on pediatric AIDS, ordered the Lush shampoo bar pictured above for her last trip. Since travel restrictions on liquids have become a pain to figure out how to pack everything, I thought I’d give it a try. When I tested it out it smelled nice & I didn’t even need a conditioner because it left my hair so soft! Too bad when I excitedly showed it to my friends JB & April, April and I were admiring the cute packaging and subtle scent, when I handed it to JB, he said “looks like a urinal cake”. Then he sniffed it and exclaimed, “smells like a urinal cake too!” So even though I like this product, now all I’ll be able to think when I use it is: “my hair smells like a urinal cake.” Thanks JB for that great association. But, I still say: score for fewer products and less waste! The second thing is facial cleansing wipes, for the same reasons on travel restrictions. I typically prefer Dove brand because the cloths aren’t pre-moistened and it feels much nicer to wash your face with a warm cloth rather than a cold one from the package. However, now that Meijer carries their own brand, I’ll see how I like it since it’s about 1/2 the price!

The other thing I’ve loved having on trips is my iPhone, (beyond the obvious reasons why I love having an iPhone). Even when I’m in a totally unfamiliar place, I use the white noise app and can be lulled to sleep by the sounds of an oscillating fan.

i love having a familiar sound with me no matter where I go.

People, (usually women) often say things to me like “wow, that must be really hard to be away from home so much” when I tell them I do regional consulting in a 4-state region and travel a lot for work. It is hard, but what is harder is often feeling unsupported by a seemingly benign comment like that one. I don’t know how men who travel a lot for work and have wives and families back home get questioned or what kinds of responses their career choices get when they tell people what they do but it feels like a double standard at times, even if people don’t mean it to be. For sure, I miss Dave and Reuben when I leave. Typically for the first 1/2 hour of a trip I feel really sad I’m leaving. And then I start thinking about the wonderful people I’ll be meeting with, the innovative ideas we’ll generate for growing the spiritual lives of college students, the heartfelt conversations and prayers we’ll have and the plans we’ll make for shaping the next generation of Jesus-followers. And then I don’t feel sad because I remember that God called me to my job and that even with some of the sadness of leaving my family behind, I experience the joy and pleasure of being faithful to his calling on my life. I would be far more bummed if I wasn’t doing what I felt God was directing me to do. It also helps to have an amazingly supportive husband, a great network of family and friends who helps to care for Reuben while I’m gone and things like skype, so I can actually see Reuben every day and tell him goodnight. Yay for both people and products that make traveling easier!

Comments : 7 Comments »
Tags: double standards, facial wipes, lush, white noise apps
Categories : mom blogs, random things I like, travel

what would your caption be?

9 10 2009

Do you ever just see random stuff around that makes you laugh for a really long time? On a trip to NY this summer, Dave and I were out for a run and saw this:

really?

We actually ran past it & then doubled back to take a picture of it with Dave’s iPhone. It was too good not to share. Does that sound weird to say that someone’s gravestone is too good not to share? I especially like the combo of classic cars, wedding rings, a picture of the couple, and the winter santa scene. What was this person’s life like for them to immortalize themselves on a gravestone by choosing these specific things? So, I’m curious- what would your caption for this picture be?

Here is mine- “In this life we are santa, in the afterlife, Rudolph. Long live the abominable snowman.”

Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Uncategorized

regretsy

8 10 2009

Been dying to get one of these for your living room coffeetable?

it's almost as cool as the jackalope.....

I was getting some decor inspiration at apartment therapy while I took a break from writing a talk on human trafficking and the work of International Justice Mission work to free child sex slaves. It’s such a heavy topic that occasionally I need something light and beautiful to look at/think about to keep going.

While I was on the page, I came across this gem of a website that literally made me laugh out loud. If you’re the type that gets easily offended by the words of the swearing variety, there are a few on this page. But the bad artwork is good enough to brave the vulgarity simply to see what kinds of bizarre stuff people create. So, click on regretsy and have a good laugh. And don’t keep believing that you can actually sell the “I love karate” plaques that you make in your basement on the weekends.

Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: apartment therapy, international justice mission, regretsy
Categories : random things I like

pick your five and lose five pounds

7 10 2009

You’re proactive when it comes to your calendar, scheduling times to spend with friends, projects you’ll do at work and the vacation you’ll enjoy- why wouldn’t you do the same thing with the food you eat every day?

Before I started to strive for five I would dread cooking and would respond to the grumbling in my stomach by grabbing whatever was easiest and most convenient- usually a granola bar or some type of carb. Occasionally this would be an apple or banana but more often than not it was something other than fruit. The problem with this (for me) was that I was just mindlessly trying to fuel my body without actually thinking about the type of fuel I was putting into it! I love bread, pasta, baked goods- you name the carb & I’ll slather it up with butter- so it has always been difficult for me to either give these up completely like on the South Beach Diet or Body for Life. It was torture not to eat bread and spaghetti!

mmm....pasta! I eat whole wheat pasta now- it takes a little while to get used to, but it's nice that it's so filling so you eat less!

When I started strive for five I realized that I had to think about what I was eating a lot more than I normally did. I would mentally scan through my meals during the day to count the servings of fruit/veggies I’d consumed and then it became easy to make food choices after that because I was motivated to reach my goal. I started thinking more about what I was eating and this helped me to have a practice of anticipating when I would fit in my next serving of fruits/veggies. This also helped at night when I was tired & had less self-discipline of what I ate. I was less likely to overeat at night because I had eaten whole pieces of fruit or veggies all day- high fiber items that kept me full longer than a granola bar or crackers and were more nutritious too.

When you set a goal like this for yourself it becomes like a fun challenge to be more creative how you can work fruit and veggies into your diet rather than a chore to whip out a meal. I know every body is different but it’s medically documented that keeping a food journal- or in this case being accountable and mindful of what you’re eating helps with weightloss. Here are my “top five for five”; some of the easiest ways I’ve found to get my five fruits or veggies a day and have a healthy outlook on food.

Eat fruit or veggies with breakfast. I’ve felt like this starts the day right & helps me begin with working towards my goal. Whether it’s bananas sliced on cereal, raisins in oatmeal or scrambled eggs with some sliced peaches on the side, the fiber helps to keep me full and fueled as I begin my day. I’ve really liked eating omelets with peppers, onions and mushrooms to get a serving of veggies and having some fruit on the side too. If you don’t have time in the morning to make an omelet consider whipping up some of these- Veggie Quiche cups easy to make and they keep in the fridge! Really, you could throw any kind of veggie or cheese into these & just use normal eggs. I made these when I was doing South Beach & I still like them because they’re convenient & healthy.
Plan ahead. When I would drive home from Grand Valley State University when I began working for InterVarsity Christian fellowship as a campus minister I would drive through what I named “the gauntlet.”
get thee behind me cheeseburgers!

I would be hungry, exhausted and emotionally spent and as I drove past Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s their siren song of salty, greasy, cheap food called to this nutritionally wayward pirate. I’d find myself ordering a ton of food because, hey, it is a value meal after all, wolfing it down in the car and then going to sleep 1/2 an hour later. There isn’t anything wrong eating food late at night according to my smarty-pants sister in law Rachel who researched this medical myth in her book Don’t Swallow Your Gum!

eating late at night & other medical myths debunked in this great book!

The problem isn’t eating at night- it’s eating when you’re so tired and hungry that it’s too difficult to exercise self-restraint! Now if I’m going out to run errands, will be taking a long drive or will be in an all-day meeting, I tuck a bag of almonds, dried fruit or an apple into my bag to eat later when I feel like I could eat a horse. That way I won’t just wolf down what’s in front of me or the cheeseburger thats forever tempting me. This has really helped working with college students where there is ALWAYS a piece of pizza or cake that’s being offered to you! I had to realize “hey- I’m not 19 anymore & sure don’t have the metabolism I used to!”
Work it in everywhere: Like I mentioned in my first post about this- my goal was to add more fruits and veggies to my diet- not cut out everything that was “bad” for me. You can easily add in veggies to almost anything you’re making:Making mac & cheese from the blue box? Steam some broccoli to throw in! Real Simple magazine has this awesome recipe for mac & cheese with cauliflower that I really liked this past winter when I was craving comfort food. Dave and I like to make pita pizzas for an easy week-day meal- pita bread with spaghetti sauce & cheese and whatever toppings we have in the fridge. Throw a 1/2 cup of sauteed peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach or whatever toppings you like & you can get at least 1/2 of a serving of veggies this way! Toast the bread first to make sure it doesn’t get soggy from the sauce, pop it in the oven at 350 and let it cook until the cheese melts to your liking. The other night we had ramen noodles for dinner because we had sore throats & wanted soup- not exactly the healthiest choice but I still got my serving of veggies because we steamed some cauliflower, carrots & celery to throw in the soup.
Mix it up: Variety is the spice of life! I once read that Jennifer Aniston ate the same salad everyday for lunch while she was on the cast of Friends.
sometimes I still feel a little sad that she and Brad split up

I could never do this even if it did promise me her svelte thighs and toned arms! We all get in a boring routine of things so it helps to browse ways to mix it up. I just got a recipe for a turkey-apple panini from the Michigan Apple association when I went apple picking this past weekend. Here is a similar recipe- open-faced turkey apple sandwich at epicurious.com- I love that name . If that sounds gross to you, just think about the fancy-schmancy restaurants that serve salads with ham, gorgonzola cheese and pears. You can make your own fancy sandwich or salad at home! Having a good variety of veggies and fruits at home helps with this. I also found having different kinds of salad-dressing I could use as sauce helped with this too- asian sesame dressing works great over chopped cabbage for a quick salad, sweet vidalia onion dressing is yummy on a sweet-savory sandwich or salad like the one above!
it's way too easy to get in a salad rut- think about what kinds of veggies you eat at restaurants & then try to recreate it at home for yourself!
Don’t stress about the fat. I used to rationalize that it was better to eat a granola bar than some carrots and dip because the ranch dressing had too much fat in it. I didn’t think about the fact that the carrots were high in fiber, low calorie & that if I looked at the recommended portion size of dressing on the back of the bottle, I was actually eating less dressing than the average portion size of 2 TBSP. So, 4 carrot sticks = 15 calories, 2 TBSP ranch = 180 for a total of 195 calories. An average granola bar is anywhere from 120-200 calories. And let’s face it people- we all go for the chocolate chip granola bars when left with a choice between that and a raisin granola bar My philosophy is; better to eat broccoli with cheese sauce than no broccoli at all! At least you are getting the fiber and nutrients this way. I know everyones body is different & I’ve learned that I need to watch my intake of refined carbs to feel good all around. This is what worked for me- it may not work for you.

What have been some creative ways that you’ve worked in more fruits and veggies into your meals recently? Dave made a great spaghetti sauce recently & threw in some summer squash, mushrooms and eggplant. It was so yummy!

Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: don't swallow your gum, eating on the go, mac and cheese with cauliflower, strive for five, veggie quiche cups
Categories : food, recipes, Uncategorized

friends, let us invoke M.C. Hammer together

6 10 2009

As we kick off this month of spiritual challenge, I only thought it appropriate to take a minute to enjoy the 1980′s glory of M.C. Hammers hit song “Pray.”

I totally rocked hammer pants in the 80′s. Anyone else fall prey to that fashion back in the day? How about skidz?

we are friends, and we like skidz!!!

Ok. Enough about bad 80′s pants. Last month on Sidewalk Theologian I challenged people physically to Strive For Five fruits and vegetables a day to try and eat healthier. If you participated- keep it up! If you didn’t, there’s no time like the present to make healthy choices

This month I’ll continue to blog about healthy eating on Wednesdays, but on Tuesdays we’ll focus on the spiritual challenge of being prayerful. Now, I know for some of you, prayer conjures up images like this: prayer Or this….

prayer-1 Or maybe even this???

prayer-2 The point is that some of us have ideas about what prayer is or isn’t. The cool thing is that because God has created each one of us, he loves to hear our voice no matter who we are or where we’ve been in life. I know that some people might feel uncomfortable with prayer and if you are, I want to encourage you to participate in this months challenge. After all, sometimes we need to feel slightly uncomfortable to grow as a person. Here are two options for you to participate in.

The first is to pray a prayer that I’ll post each Tuesday and use it as your guide during the week. There is no magic in these words, they are simply a way to express to God what you may not be able to express otherwise. I often like using prayers that have been written out because I like being part of a larger community that is praying them. The prayer for this week is from the book Prayers from the Heart by Richard Foster. I’ve been using prayers from this book for the past few weeks & I’ve really been enriched by them. Here is the opening sentance of the book: “My whole life, in one sense, he has been an experiment in how to be a portable sanctuary,” writes Richard Foster, “learning to practice the presence of God in the midst of the stresses and strains of contemporary life.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds good to me.

The second choice is to pray the office from the Northumbria Community in Ireland. The office is a series of fixed prayers through the day, including scripture and a meditation. I like doing these in the morning, mostly because I can just go to this webpage when I sit down at my computer first thing in the morning. You may want to use this prayer in the morning, at noon time or at night. Again, the idea is to be present to God in the midst of our day, not to fit some regimented idea of what prayer should be like.

The choice is up to you whichever you’d like to do or if you want to do something entirely different. The point of this months challenge is to be mindful of how our spirituality is growing and to be present to God. Some of us are very familiar with these practices, others of us are exploring what this might look like in daily life.

Here is the prayer from Prayers from the Heart:

Be The Gardener of My Soul

Spirit of the Living God, be the Gardener of my soul.
For so long I have been waiting, silent and still-
experiencing a winter of the soul. But now, in the strong name of Jesus Christ, I dare to ask:
Clear away the dead growth of the past,
Break up the hard clods of custom and routine,
Stir in the rich compost of vision and challenge,
Bury deep in my soul the implanted Word,
Cultivate and water and tend my heart,
Until new life buds and opens and flowers.

Amen.

Please let me know if you’re planning on participating in this months challenge so I can be praying for you as we learn how to be present to God together!

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: m.c. hammer, northumbria community, richard foster, skidz
Categories : inner world, jesus, spirituality, Uncategorized

livin’ on a prayer

5 10 2009

I was thinking both about Martin Luther and Bon Jovi as I looked at my calendar this month, which is unusually full. I’ve been trying to cram in as much as possible before beginning a year-long sabbatical in January (only 85 days to go!:) Martin Luther is quoted as saying that if he felt too busy to spend an hour in prayer and devotion he immediately stopped everything and took two hours. He realized that the busyness of life could impede what would actually give him life- a connection to God through prayer. I’m feeling mindful that I need to be conscious of taking space to be with God and to ask for his strength because I’m sure there will be times, like Bon Jovi, that I’ll be livin’ on a prayer. Good thing that tomorrow kicks off our month of spiritual challenge- a time of focused prayer- more about that in tomorrows post!

I hate it when people list off stuff that’s going on in their lives like we’re living in a busyness competition, but I would love for you 1- to be praying for me during this busy month, and 2- to be an encouraging community to stay on track with body, mind and spirit goals during a busy month of travel.

Last week I began what I’m calling “rocktober” as in- “Rockin’ out with Jesus in October” by driving to Detroit to speak to students at Wayne State University in Detroit on the topic “about me” and the narcissism that can easily skew our perspectives.

whatever? no! W is for wonderful wayne state students! Yes- I totally took this picture during my talk.

I love my job working with college students- helping them reflect on how spirituality is intersecting with their daily lives and learning how to talk about Jesus in natural and relevant ways. I had never spoken at Wayne State before during my 9 years with InterVarsity, but I’ve always enjoyed meeting students from their campus at different events and conferences. They were so lively and eager to learn! It was a long, but very fun day. If you’re interested, here’s the talk the sound quality isn’t very good- I’m still learning how to record myself in Gargage Band on my mac.

This week I’ll be driving to U of M Flint and giving a message on “Is there Hope?” and speaking at Grand Valley State University on how Christian spirituality intersects with the issue of human trafficking. Next week I’ll be in Cleveland, OH for some regional meetings, at a writers conference that weekend back here in West Michigan, in Madison, WI for some national meetings the next week and then home-sweet-home to take some time to recover during a silent retreat. whew! I love my job but this will be an intense month!

What are some big things you have coming up this month? Things you’re excited about? Dreading? One of the biggest things I’m looking forward to is being there for the delivery and birth of my friend Gracee’s second son! I’m just praying I’ll be in town when she goes into labor. My husband Dave & I went down to help them get their house ready for baby boy #2, which Reuben has been calling “baby Steve” for some unknown reason. This is Gracee about a week ago when we went to Meijer to get groceries for dinner. still stylin' and profilin' even when she's tired

I could barely stop laughing at her driving the motor cart, but could totally relate to the pain of being on your feet for hours as a preggo lady. But that’s Gracee- still stylin’ and profilin’ even when she’s dead tired and still in her jammies

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Categories : Uncategorized

Friday fluff-”as seen on TV”

2 10 2009

Have you ever been to a place you’ve seen on TV or in the movies your whole life? Was it as cool as you thought it would be when you went there?

Recently a friend tagged me in a photo of this:

"there's always money in the banana stand"

This is a frozen banana stand on Balboa Island. For those of you who aren’t familar with the show Arrested Development the characters in the show own a frozen banana stand & talk a lot about family responsibilities in staffing said banana stand. My friend wrote under the picture: “balboa island is just how i imagined it. (it’s where lucille lives on arrested development.) hello george michael bluth!”

What is it about seeing things in person that we’ve seen on TV? Maybe it’s something about feeling part of something bigger or validation that there is truth in fiction (the banana stand is real!!!)

When Dave and I were on a road trip to New York a few years ago we were on the highway and I saw this:

anyone remember the episode of SATC where the girls go to Richard's beach house in the Hampty-hamps?

I was so excited you would have thought I spotted Sarah Jessica Parker in the flesh playing Carrie Bradshaw!

SJP- a fashion inspiration to me and so many others....ahh the shoes, the shoes.

A few of my other “as seen on TV” moments have been:

When a colleague and I visited Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee killing time before we caught the ferry across Lake MI. All I could think about as I saw bottle after bottle of miller light, natural light & other famous beers of Milwaukee traveling down a conveyor belt was “Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!” Anyone know what TV show that’s from? Here’s a clue:
"we're gonna make our dreams come true! we're gonna do it!"

I actually asked our tour guide, “do you have any Laverne and Shirley memorabilia in your gift shop?” As soon as the question left my mouth I realized how incredibly lame that was. I was pleasantly surprised when the tour guide told me that was one of their frequent questions on the tour since Miller was the real brewing company that the fictional brewing company Laverne and Shirley worked at in the show.

Funny enough the same colleague and I were on another trip to California driving to LA and then San Diego to visit other InterVarsity chapters. As we passed exits for Ventura boulevard, drove down Interstate 5, we started singing Sheryl Crow’s “I wanna soak up the song” and any Tom Petty song we could remember. Being in California brings all these songs, movie scenes or TV episodes clearly into memory. Like this shot that one of my friends AC Slater put on her blog when she was getting ready for a trip to San Francisco: 800px-PaintedLadies(5) Who remembers which 1980′s sitcom this is from?

I think the reason seeing these places or people in real life is so exciting is because it’s like meeting a pen-pal (whoa-that’s a dated phrase)in person. You’ve seen their pictures, know their likes and dislikes and yet the first time you see them, you experience them in a whole new way.

So, where have been some places you’ve been that you’d seen on TV or movies? Where would you want to go that you’ve seen on TV or in the movies? I think it would be pretty cool to see where they filmed this:

I'll give you my vial of felix felicis if you can guess what scene this movie is from.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: arrested development, balboa island, full house, hampton jitney, harry potter, laverne and shirley, miller brewing company, sex and the city
Categories : movies, pop culture, Uncategorized

reverse robin-hood

1 10 2009

Recently I stole took some food from a homeless shelter here in Grand Rapids. Not just a little, but at least four or five full bags. Some homeless guys even offered me some bananas which I also accepted.

I was on my way to book club to discuss “The Memory Keepers Daughter” when I remembered it was Wednesday & that neither Dave nor I had picked up our share of veggies from our CSA (community supported agriculture) farm. My friend Sarah was pulling out of off of our street when I realized this and started to exclaim “shizzle-shizzle-shizzle!” I really do try not to swear- having a toddler who repeats everything is great motivation to be mindful of what I mutter when I’m frustrated. I checked the dashboard clock-It was 6:20. Our pick-up is supposed to be from 4-6. grrrrr. After realizing Dave can’t pick them up because he’s watching two toddlers I angrily realize:

We will have no fresh veggies for the week. (We committed to using what we had while we did the CSA and not buying more).
Worse- our friends who spilt the share with us will have no fresh veggies for the week or will have to buy more. This seems worse than us not having any veggies.
I will be incredibly late to book club which I’ve been looking forward to all day and this has now thrown me into a state that looked something like this:

I wasn't wearing a suit, I was just seething.

I was looking forward to unwinding with friends during a pleasant evening but now all I could think about was getting our produce. Some of you remember that I REALLY hate wasting food. In this case, I knew that the farmers would donate our share to a local homeless shelter in Grand Rapids, but in this case it wasn’t food I was wasting but my money and the money of my friends who had also paid for the vegetables. So what would you have done?

Thankfully my friend Sarah agreed to drive me to the pick-up site to see if the farmers were still there. After searching for the new pick-up location where I hadn’t been to in a few weeks I see both of the farmers trucks parked on the street with crates of veggies (empty? half-full?) hoping I can still scrounge what’s left of our share. Just as I run up to the window of one of the trucks, the other pulls away down the street and our famer lady tells me “all the food is in the other truck, she’s dropping it off at God’s Kitchen shelter- you can still probably catch her.” I jump back in the car & Sarah & I head off towards where we think the red pickup truck is heading.

follow that truck!

Sarah & I drive past the men and women milling around outside the shelters, keeping our eyes peeled for the red pick up truck. We wait outside the shelter that farmer girl said she’d be at. No luck. I ask a security guard about a veggie drop off. no luck. I run inside and ask the people inside about a veggie drop off (one of whom happens to be a former boss of mine & was trying to be chatty- I was too stressed and driven on my quest for kale to stop and talk). no luck. Sarah drives me around the blocks a few times where the homeless shelters are. no red pick up truck. I’m getting angrier by the minute, embarrassed that Sarah is seeing me in such a state and annoyed that we’re late for what was supposed to be a relaxing evening.

As we’re driving around the block again, we spot the red pickup coming out of a gated parking lot. “There she is! Follow that truck” I yell as Sarah pulls to the curb & I jump out of the car and run over to catch farmer girl. “hey, I missed our share pick up- did you have anything left?” I pant as farmer girl eyes me like a crazy person. “It’s all in there” she tells me as she juts her thumb towards the open garage door. “take whatever you want.” I thank her and then jog to the open garage door where some guys are milling around. All the produce is in bags on the cart.

At this point I feel like a real tool because:

I’m at a homeless shelter. Obviously these guys are worse off than me losing a few bucks on some squash and beans. Even though I’ve paid for what I’m taking it just feels greedy and wrong.
Grand Rapids has many homeless shelters to provide meals, programs and housing for people on the street.
I’m worried that they’re going to think I’m stealing from them. Or that they’ll think I’m a nutter for rifling through bags of turnips and potatoes.
I hadn’t brought any bags with me so I had to ask farmer girl who was kind enough to give me some.
I’ve inconvenienced Sarah & will now have to explain to my bookclub why we were so late.

But the part where I felt like the biggest tool was when the homeless guys were so generous to me. They kept telling me “take it all! take as much as you want! we get tons of this stuff all the time!” waving their hands over the whole cart of produce. I kept explaining why I was there & that I had missed our farm pick-up which just sounded lame & like I was some kind of vegetable addict jonesing for my next fix of beets. It was so humbling to have people who have little to nothing offering me even what few things they had. I kept trying to tell them “no, no, I’m just going to take what I paid for. This stuff is really good, I want you guys to enjoy it. Which made me feel like even more of a tool because if I really felt that way I would have just told Sarah to drive straight to bookclub instead of making her drive me on a wild eggplant chase.

As I packed up the bags of produce I introduced myself to a guy named Doug who lived there and we chatted about what kinds of produce we enjoyed and how nice it is to live in Michigan where so much food grows. As I finished I thanked him & the other guys who had come into the garage to see me take bagfuls of their food. I trotted back to the car with the bags dangling from my arms and as I climbed in to her car Sarah, looking slightly frantic asked me “where did you go? I grabbed a tissue to blow my nose and you were gone! I thought you got in the truck!” Then I felt like even more of a tool because I had scared my nice friend who thought I was taking rash measures to get my veggies than is normal.

Later, when I got home after an enjoyable evening at bookclub and brought in our bags of produce I told Dave my reverse robin-hood story. “Wow, that’s pretty tenacious. I’m not sure I would have gone through all that just to get our veggies.” Dave grinned as he loaded the carrots into our crisper drawers in our fridge. Thank the Lord I had cooled down by then because if not for the Holy Spirit acting like muzzle on my mouth, I think I would have gone off on Dave and whacked him over the head with a leek.

So, what kind of stuff motivates you towards crazy tenacity? Saving money? Food? Getting exercise? Spending time with someone you love or your family? Hot cheetos? What would you have done in this situation? Let it go? Take the veggies?

Comments : 5 Comments »
Tags: book club, community supported agriculture, grand rapids, homeless shelters, hot cheetos
Categories : Uncategorized

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