Cheers!

Peacock is the name of the guy that works on my car - he doesn't have a shop (or probably any mechanical schooling, for that matter); he just hangs out under a banana stand on the side of the road and fixes (is that a word?!) cars people drop off. Mike is the guy who owns the little coffee stand off the dock in Red Hook and who makes my lattes every morning: Triple Two-Pump Vanilla ICED Latte (I no longer drink hot coffee, it's too dang hot here). Brian is the lifeguard that sits 0n the stand where I lay out on my favorite beach. Glenn (and his wife) own Island Time where I spend way too much time with my friends eating pizza. Danielle is my hairdresser and happens to rent me my movies at the local video store, Sharon is my Yoga instructor, and the point is this . . . they know my name and I know theirs, and there is something to be said about wanting "to be where everybody knows your name" (insert Cheers' theme song). As much as I struggle with certain aspects of island living, I like that I know people's names, and I like that they know mine . . . I like that when I walk into any establishment here, the expectation is to say hello to one another. When I lived in Arlington, people rarely looked you in the eyes when you passed them on the street or ordered a coffee from corporate-y Starbucks, let alone took the time to learn your name. I used to go to the same Starbucks every day and not once did the people behind the counter stop to ask me my name, although admittedly, I never stopped long enough to ask them theirs either. Rarely did I take the time to just stop . . . and breathe . . . and get to really know the people around me. We live in such a fast-paced world; we are so caught up in our own lives that we don't invest time into others, and isn't that what we (especially followers of Christ) are here for? To create relationships and be a light in others' lives? We were created to be relational and yet we (myself included) often forget it, or minimize the significance of investing into other people. Just another one of the things I'm re-learning here . . .

When you get right down to it, there is nothing more important than investing in the lives of other people, and very few things that make you feel as special as when someone invests in yours! Challenge of the day: next time you walk into Starbucks, or your local grocery store or gas station, ask the person with the familiar face their name! :)

10 days til Hanna get here . . . can NOT wait!

Love . . .

Ridin' Fences

"Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin' fences for so long now
Oh, you're a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you
Can hurt you somehow."

These Eagles' lyrics have been running through my head for the last few days. Random? Yes and no. While I can't remember the last time I heard this song, it doesn't surprise me in the least that I've been humming this particular verse. I think God can (and will) use anything to grab our attention when He needs to, even a song written by Don Henley. I know He's telling me to get off the fence . . . at least in one area in particular.

Those who are experts in "riding fences", or at least have taken a ride on one before, know what it feels up there. It can be exciting at first, no doubt; you might even feel free with one foot in and one foot out, like you "beat the system" somehow. But, unless you jump off the fence quickly, feelings of confusion, lonliness, and, yes, even pain begin to creep in. It's inevitable.

C.S. Lewis, the great philosopher, once wrote, "If you are continually stirred and fail to act, the time will come when you will be unable to act." In other words, passivity (or in this case, fence riding) can and will lead to paralysis. And in the life of a believer, paralysis is the worst ailment to have.

Fence-riders are cowards; they're afraid to make a decision one way or the other, afraid to take a stand, worried about what people on one side of the fence or the other will think of them. Fence-riders are selfish; they want what they think is the best both sides of the fence have to offer. Fence-riders are ineffective and insecure, respected by no one.

I don't want to be a fence-rider.

Three Gifts for Hard Times

Michael Easley sent this article out the other day. Such great perspective and wisdom for dealing with the hard times of life. There is purpose...and God is good all the time!

It's a little long, but worth the read!
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/august/34.44.html?start=1