Yes, it’s true, dear readers.  The jury was out and I was on it.  Jury duty.  An experience every American should participate in to fully appreciate our justice system and our country.  Rather than leaving me discouraged with our current state of affairs, this was a reminder to me of what we take for granted here in this country.  We take for granted something that many people do not have access to in other places on this planet, which is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the right to be judged by a jury of our peers.   Yes, truth, justice and the American Way are still alive and well.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . . ” (Declaration of Independence)  In our country this is a given, but what does this mean?  Because clearly all people are not created equal.  Some are born with physical handicaps or deformities or genetic diseases.  Some are born into poverty, some into wealth.  Some possess great musical or athletic or intellectual abilities. It doesn’t appear that we are all equal in any sense of the word.  But there is one way, there is one place in which we are all equal in this country.  We are all equal under the law, we are all equal in a courtroom.  Lady Justice wears a blindfold signifying the law’s impartiality to all.  Justice is and should be blind; blind to wealth, power, race, fame, religion- to everything.  We all look the same to Lady Justice.  We are all equal under the law.

Lady Justice holds scales in her hand.  What is she trying to balance?  I think she is balancing justice for the victim with justice for the accused. Both deserve justice under the law.  Can both receive justice simultaneously?  Or is justice for one injustice for the other?  As the twelve of us (jurors) deliberated the case before us, I pondered these issues.  (deliberated is such a perfect word to describe the actions a jury must take, we must be deliberate, that is to say we must be thoughtful, careful, take our time because someone’s “liberty” is at stake.  That is the reason we deliberate)

But there is a weak link in the chain.  Or better said, the foundation on which everything rests is in jeopardy. That foundation is truth.  You see, without truth there can be no justice.  And without justice there can be no mercy.  But it all starts with the truth.  Deciding a defendant’s guilt or innocence is a daunting task. However, decisions based on the truth are always going to be better decisions than those decisions we make based on lies, deception, misrepresentation or omission of relevant, important information.  In other words, if we as jurors are not given the truth, the whole truth; how can we be expected to arrive at a just conclusion?

I debated within myself as I listened to my fellow jurors struggle aloud along with me during the twelve plus hours of our deliberation following the trial.  Were the witnesses we had heard over the past three days credible?  In other words, were they telling the truth?  Could we believe what they had said?  What to do with conflicting testimony?  We are forced to choose who to believe and who to doubt. Decisions determining guilt or innocence are always better decisions if they are based on the truth than if they are based on false information.  But the truth is hard to come by.

This was a murder trial.  There was so much at stake.  I did not take this responsibility lightly, nor did my fellow jurors.  We all felt the weight of the decision before us.  What would be the greater miscarriage of justice?  to imprison an innocent person or to set a guilty person free?  Both weighed on my conscience and warred in my heart.  I couldn’t bear the thought of either outcome.  If only everyone spoke only what was true, decisions would be the right ones, given the facts.

I feel we struggle not because we do not know what is just,  we struggle because we do not know what is true.  Truth must precede justice, truth must be present for justice to occur.  Without truth it is almost impossible for justice to emerge.  But if we can possess the truth we can find our way to justice.  We all want justice for ourselves, for our family members, for our friends. But are we willing to tell the truth so that others as well as ourselves may receive justice when others are the ones to whom justice is due?  Justice denied to one endangers us all.  Ironically, there is truth in the statement that knowing the truth will set you free.  Truth can exonerate the accused, truth can set the prisoner free.

As we continued to debate, I thought of those I had seen in the courtroom.  They had come desiring, demanding justice.  Were they equally desirous of the truth? Would they as vigorously demand the truth?  Because justice will follow the truth, but cannot precede it nor exist without it.  Had they given us the truth or had they withheld it and given us lies in its’ place, all the while expecting us to return with justice?  It just isn’t possible.  (pun intended)

This was not a high profile case.  That is to say the victim, a fifteen year old boy, was not rich or famous.  Shootings of this type sadly, are considered commonplace in this day and age.  Every case should be a high profile case because every life lost is important, every life is of value, actually of infinite value to God.  Having that perspective, I continued to struggle along with my fellow jurors as we did the best we could with what we were given.  We were looking for, truly desiring truth and justice.  Of the two, truth is the more elusive.  Truth seemed to come and go as the hours wore on, evading our grasp by inviting doubt to spend this time with us as well.  Justice, we know in our hearts and we recognize her when we meet her, just as we also recognize her absence.  She is universally known.

Our verdict was rendered, the case was closed.  The loss of this young man’s life will never be closed for his family and friends.  My appreciation for our justice system however was renewed and strengthened.  Such care was taken to do everything correctly, beginning with the selection process by which we all became jurors.  There was dignity and there was due process.  Everything possible was done, it seems to me, to ensure impartiality and fairness every step of the way. Our justice system is alive and well.   The problem I saw is with us, the citizens, when we are called to testify to the truth in any matter we might find ourselves having information about.  If we know something and don’t come forward with the truth, we can’t expect to see justice take place.

If the law doesn’t protect one person, then it doesn’t protect any of us.  We are all injured when justice doesn’t prevail.  When the innocent are incarcerated and the guilty go free, we all suffer, we all pay a price.  That being said, we have the best judicial system in the world.  We should be grateful for it and the protections it affords us.  The system is in place, but for it to work as it should, we have to do our part.  I said earlier that “truth” is the weak link in this system and we are the bearers of the truth.  We are the truth tellers.  That is our right, that is our responsibility.  If we refuse to play the part that is ours to play, then we deserve the less than desirable outcomes that are the result of our not doing what we can when given the opportunity.

“The Lord reigns.  The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.  . . .   they will sing before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His truth.”  (Psalm 96:10,13)

Now that’s the judge I’m waiting for!  He knows the truth, He judges rightly and He grants mercy.  Mercy, the most marvelous of the three (truth, justice, mercy) but without justice we have nothing to apply mercy to.  Actually, apart from knowing what justice looks like, we can’t even recognize mercy when we receive it.  The measure and the meaning of the miracle that is mercy, well that is definitely another post.

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbyes are never easy and this is true with pets as well as with people.  Our pets have their own special places in our hearts and in our lives and when they are gone there is an empty space that wasn’t there before.  In their absence we become acutely aware of the part they played in our life, as the presence of the empty space they left behind confronts us at every turn as we go about our day. Such is my experience today.

I have said goodbye to my furry, four-legged friend of sixteen years, my cat Cinamon.  It was a quiet, peaceful, unceremonious parting.  She had a place all her own in my home and in my heart and I am feeling her absence today.  Pets truly are one of God’s good gifts to us.  They become part of our families.  They bring us joy, companionship, and comfort as they give us the gift of their unconditional love.  Indeed, God gave Adam the job of naming the animals and the responsibility to care for them.

Today it seems we are discovering as if for the first time all the ways animals are beneficial to us.  Seeing eye dogs have been around for a long time and are widely accepted.  Police dogs and other service dogs are increasing as well.  Pet therapies are now being recognized for all the benefits that can result.  Whether with young children or the elderly, in hospitals or other settings, bringing animals in for people to interact with has positive outcomes.   These therapy animals can provide comfort, calmness, evoke a response from less or non-responsive patients, bring a smile, bring hope, establish a connection with hard to reach people. Animals sometimes seem to break down barriers that people can’t cross.

Animals are being trained today as service pets for people with many kinds of disabilities, not just blindness.  These animals become not only care takers but the constant companions of those they are trained to serve.  Pets become family members and teach children valuable lessons in responsibility and caring for those who cannot care for nor speak for themselves.  Pets teach us compassion and bring us comfort. Pets provide a sense of purpose for the elderly by giving them someone who needs their care, someone who depends on them.

I thank God for His good gift of animals of all kinds.  Such diversity and creativity in animals as in all other aspects of creation, for us to enjoy and to watch over. Pets are a particularly rewarding and wonderful part of His gift to us to enjoy.  So today, as I feel the absence of my furry, four-legged friend of these many years, I will reflect on God’s goodness and be grateful that I had such a friend for such a time as I did.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'”  (Genesis 1:26)

“You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet:  all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.   O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”   (Psalm 8:6-9)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

the missing piece of what?  you ask.  The missing piece of the puzzle that is public education, I would answer.  The programs, the partnerships, the personnel are all in place, so what’s the missing link?  Finger pointing surfaces at this point in the conversation, finger pointing that has been going on so long as to eliminate any hope of identifying its’ origin.  Who’s participating in this pointless (pun intended) activity of perpetual finger pointing?  Parents, teachers and school administrators are the participants.

Parents often blame the teacher and/or the school administration for their child’s lack of progress or success in the classroom.    At the same time teachers are desiring more support from parents and more back up from their administrators. All the while both parents and administrators are holding the teacher directly responsible for each student’s success or failure in the classroom.  Who is conspicuously absent from these aforementioned groups of people concerned with the education of students today?  The students!  That’s whose missing from the very public discourse on public education today.

While all the adults concerned are busy blaming each other for the less than positive things taking place in our schools currently,  no one is holding the students’ feet to the fire, no one is holding them accountable for pursuing, participating in and obtaining their own education.  They are flying beneath the radar, watching the battle over public education rage all around them,  content with their non-responsible, victim status where no one is looking at them with any sort of expectation.  After all, the students are the victims of the system. (one of the aforementioned myths)  They are not expected to bring anything to the table of their own education.

Allow me to illustrate.  On a typical day in a typical high school where I work, the bell rings and the students go to their class.  They come to class well prepared, but prepared for what would be the question.  They enter the classroom full to be sure.  Their hands are full of chips, candy or whatever food they have at the moment plus pop or perhaps a sports drink.  Their ears are full of their music as they have earbuds in or beets on as they enter.  They also have their phone, (which they are usually on at the time) their ipod, a charger,  sometimes a hand-held electronic game and sometimes a notebook, not the paper kind, the electronic kind.  This is what they bring each day to the table of their own education.

There is work on the overhead for them to do upon entering and usually papers for them to pick up for today’s lesson as they enter in at the door.  But their hands are already full and they are busy texting, talking and listening to their music. They are too busy for the business of learning, their own learning I might add. The teacher already knows the material and has a college degree.  The need is the students’ need to acquire the skill and the knowledge in each subject area necessary for them to accomplish their goals.  Nevertheless, it is the teacher who is held responsible for the students’ decisions and actions.  The students know this, so there is no reason to change any of their behavior.  If the consequences of the students’ behavior are someone else’s consequences, there is no incentive to change.

So the cycle continues.  Students come to class with nothing to write on and nothing to write with.  (these, the teacher must provide in the classroom) Homework is a forgotten concept and in-class work appears to be following in those footsteps.  Teachers continue to be held accountable for students’ poor academic performances.  This results in more teacher training in methods and management, more requirements and more paper work for teachers showing their planning and accountability, all the while ignoring any notion of student responsibility for their own choices and behavior.

Example, the teacher is held responsible if the student sleeps during class.  But the teacher has no control over nor responsibility for how the student has chosen to spend their time previously, ie.  up late watching TV, playing video games or on the computer.  Schools don’t want to be “failing schools” based on test scores, so even more pressure is put on the administrators of these schools, who pass that on to the teachers.  Standards are lowered in an effort to pass more students.  This ultimately serves no one well, particularly the students, although they appear to benefit from the decision at the time.

Teachers and administrators are under tremendous pressure to produce a “product”, the successful student.  But education is not a “for profit” business and should not be run like one nor evaluated like one.  Schools have gone test crazy in an effort to “prove” that results are being achieved.  Results that are not “real” for many reasons. (referring to test results)  The proliferation of all kinds of standardized testing ( a huge money making business in and of itself) has been forced upon public education as a means of justifying its’ existence, to the detriment of the actual learning experience that used to define true education in the classroom.  Being forced to spend time “teaching to the test” is one of the many negative results of this trend toward over testing, testing that takes up valuable time that could be better spent in actual interactive teaching/learning time.

So the “missing piece” in the education puzzle, the student, continues to be missing from the dialogue and the decisions about how to solve the problems of public education.  In the name of compassion standards are lowered in various subject areas so more students can pass on to the next level/grade.  There is nothing compassionate about this response.  It says we have no expectation that these students are capable of performing at the required level, so we will “rescue” them by changing the standard.  In the name of compassion students are allowed to remain in school despite behavior, such as fighting, property damage, cutting class, verbal assaults etc.  Again, there is nothing compassionate about allowing their behavior to continue without consequences to them.  The consequence to the school if students are expelled is the loss of more funding,  funding which is based on enrollment numbers.  But living “consequence free” at school doesn’t prepare students for the real world.  They come to feel “entitled” to things such as grades without the expectation that something is actually required of them to earn those grades.

Change will come when we start holding individual students responsible for their own behavior; not their parents, not their teachers, not society at large.  I just returned from a country where children are grateful for the opportunity to attend school.  At home they sleep on the floor and go without food and may be mistreated.  At school they behave well and work hard.  They are not victims, they are an inspiration.  These children are no different than the students I see here in that their circumstances are often difficult, they have much to overcome.  But here I see entitled victims,  in those classrooms I saw empowered participants. And that all the difference makes.

Allowing our students’ wrong behaviors to continue consequence free in the name of compassion because they have a hard life and live in dangerous places is not working for them or for the schools or for society in general for that matter.  It’s time to shift our focus to the “missing pieces”  and to hold them accountable to participate in their own education.  Now that just might be true compassion.

sincerely,       Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mystery, mismanagement, misappropriation, misperception;  I could go on,  there has been so much missed and there is so much currently amiss when it comes to public education in this country and in this state, that I hardly know where to start.  I guess I’ll start with my own urban public school system closing schools as a result of what?  well, of so many things.  They site lack of enrollment and underutilized buildings.  But closing schools is the symptom,  the end result of what has preceeded and what has perpetuated this eventual outcome in the first place.  It began with a myth and ends with a mystery.  The myth is that public education cannot compete with and is substandard to private education, followed by the mystery of what will take its (public education’s) place and what will become of all its students when all these  schools are closed?

This outcome has been in process for some time, moving slowly so as not to attract too loud an outcry or too large an opposition, keeping outrage to a minimum. Until one day I see on the evening news my school is closing along with some others, also my schools as well.  I am sad, I am shocked, I am powerless, I am silent.  Who decides these things anyway?  Oh, they go through the motions of holding the meetings to “gather community input”.  But in the end the dollar speaks louder than the voices of the people impacted by the closings.  Voices that represent those that live and work in the community and send their children to school there.

The neighborhood school, this is what is being lost with all these school closings throughout the district.  Having a school right in your neighborhood greatly increases the odds that student attendance will be good, hugely increases the opportunities for parent participation and involvement with their children’s school, lends itself to receiving community support, decreases transportation costs significantly for the district, decreases students’ time on buses (if any is needed) and increases the time students have to participate in after school activities. (which is so much easier for them to do if the school is in their neighborhood.) There is a sense of ownership and pride in one’s school which cannot develop when families do not have the opportunity to be involved due to distance and lack of transportation. (transportation which isn’t necessary if the school is within walking distance)

How did this happen?  this decreasing enrollment?  Where are the students going? To private, church or charter schools seems to be the answer.  Now church and private schools have long been with us, co-existing alongside public education for years, providing an alternative option for those so inclined.  Usually smaller, these private schools didn’t necessarily offer options such as football or band or a performing theater department which require a larger number of students simply to offer the program.  Choices usually involve a trade-off.  Giving up some things in order to gain what might be a better fit for a particular student, such as a smaller educational environment is the prerogative of any parent for their child.

Now here’s where myths and misconceptions enter in.  Private does not mean better (than public) when it comes to education.  A private school is simply an option, which might better meet the needs of some individual students while at the same time not be equipped or able to meet the needs of other students as well as a public school can.  Students with special needs are a case in point.  Public schools are equipped with trained professionals to provide for the needs of students with every kind of learning disability from dyslexia to autism.  Public schools provide speech, language and hearing services as well as services to the physically impaired.  They are required by law to provide an education that is accessible to every student and they have the staff to meet those needs.  Another example is their provision of ESL teachers and classes for all students whose primary language is not English.

Just two weeks ago, I was in a country where school is not available for every child, as it is here in the United States.  Education is not a right there but a privilege for the privileged who have the money to pay the school fees.  Here, even those we consider disadvantaged have access to a free public education.  They are not prevented from going to school and at school they have access to all kinds of services.   For example, the teachers in the schools I work in often stay after school to provide extra help for their students.  This after school tutoring would be costly but these teachers are giving this “after hours” service to their students free of charge on their own time.  In the real world they could charge $40.00 plus an hour for this tutoring and be well within the going rate.

Why has enrollment declined in our public schools?  The idea that private is always better combined with the voucher or school choice program has been the vehicle for much of what has taken place.  The thing is these “vouchers” are paid for with public funds, taxpayer monies which are earmarked for the local, neighborhood public schools.  Those that choose to attend a private or religious school should do so at their own expense.  We are guaranteed an education, but not an expensive, private one.  When I was ready to go to college what was available to me financially was limited to the four state universities in my state. My grades were more than sufficient for me to go anywhere, but financial realities dictated the limits of what was available for me to choose from.  However, I was not denied a more than excellent college experience because of this.  Just because the “perception” that an out of state, private college education would have been superior to what I received does not make it a reality.  The same is true for the students caught up in the public vs. private debate.  Private does not equal better, just different.

As students exit the public schools, so does the funding that follows them where they go.  Charter schools receive the funds due the public schools, but do not provide education for all, but only for those whom they choose to accept.  The public schools are stripped of their resources, resources needed to provide for all their students.  As a taxpayer, I support neighborhood, public schools.  They are good for the community and it is in the best interest of our society to educate ALL children, to insure a prepared workforce and citizens ready to participate fully in a free society.  But I am NOT obligated to send any of them to private schools with my tax dollars.  (my children all graduated from a public high school)

The news that they want to close Broadripple High School is particularly devastating. This high school is the magnate for the performing arts and offers many unique opportunities to its students that just can’t be found anywhere else. These students have the opportunity to participate in band, orchestra, choir, theater, dance and state of the art telecommunications courses as part of their free public education.  The really wonderful thing for the students is that these courses are taught by professionals in their fields, they are getting professional dance instruction as part of their school day, dance lessons that would be cost prohibitive outside of school in the real world.   Students are given private lessons on their chosen instrument or voice or piano lessons during the school day from professional musicians.  These same lessons would be hugely expensive in the real world.  I saw Broadripple H. S.’s production of “Sister Act” this past March and it was great.  What an opportunity for so many students;  from theater, choir, set design (art) lighting, costumes, marketing etc to put their learning into action and benefit the community as well by providing entertainment that was affordable and family friendly.

It’s unthinkable that this community landmark and resource should cease to exist. So much is at stake.  I haven’t even mentioned yet the academic and sports programs which were also thriving.  Nothing brings a community together like basketball does in Indiana!  Broadripple H. S. has a history.  A history that includes David Letterman as an alumnus of the school.  Where are you now Mr. Letterman? We need you.  Time to ride in on your white horse and save the day, well actually the school’s what needs saving, not the day.  This could truly be a “David vs. Goliath” moment, if you know what I mean.  Why must the dollar always dictate our decisions? (the high school sits on a prime piece of real estate in Broadripple. Selling it to developers will push property values, rents, and property taxes still higher in the area and the community will lose the asset of the historical, neighborhood school)  There are more important things than money.  Namely, the things that money can’t buy;  like community spirit,   like a future for our children based on giving them these educational experiences now.

There is so much more to say, dear readers about some of the other public high schools on the chopping block currently.  Public education wasn’t broken,  it’s being systematically defunded while we’re being told that it doesn’t work anymore.  When the funds aren’t there, personnel and programs are let go and it’s the students who lose out.  That’s what’s happening right before our eyes. Hopefully enough of us will wake up and speak out before it is too late.  “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”  includes the right to an education, hopefully at a neighborhood school near you!

“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out.”    ( Proverbs 18:15)

sincerely,            Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

clearing the clutter/ cleaning out closets; could this be a metaphor for something else in our lives?  Could it be our calendars that need clearing and our hearts that need cleaning?  Seems like we focus more on the first of these tasks than we do on the second, to the detriment of the second, I might add.  In our culture we are often burdened by our accumulation of “stuff”  all while we continue to add more to what we already have.  For myself, I know this can be true.  Give me a clear surface in my home and I will clutter it, an empty drawer and I will fill it as I will any extra closet space.  And somehow I manage to do this without going out and buying more stuff,  I apparently already have enough stuff  to fill every nook and cranny, every drawer and closet available.

Blessing or burden?   Maybe the line is fine between the two.  One minute we’re feeling blessed by our abundance,  the next we’re feeling the weight of the burden that our possessions have become.  Consider this, there’s actually a store called “The Container Store”.  That’s right,  we need to buy things to put all our things in. If you had any doubts about our over abundance, just note the proliferation of self storage units, they are everywhere.  Here our unused possessions have shelter (often climate controlled and safety patrolled) while a world away actual people are without reliable shelter and safety.

” . . .  let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”  (Hebrews 12:1)  I can’t read these words without hearing the “Chariots of Fire” music playing in my head as I picture people running and discarding things as they go, letting go of the things they carry in their arms and on their backs, until  they are finally free of all those things that weighed them down, and they run effortlessly, unencumbered toward the goal.  A goal which is unseen at the moment, but of such great value that everything they have discarded along the way is of no consequence to them. They are pursuing the pearl of great price and they are willing to pay that price. And so they run.

So I must ask myself, what is hindering me?  what sin entangles me?  what am I hanging onto that I need to let go of if I am to run this race of life in Christ with dedication and perseverance?  “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”  (1 Peter 2:1)  Wow!  those are heavy burdens for my heart to carry while running the race of life.  No wonder I get tired.  If I could let go of those my load would most certainly be lighter.  “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice .  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  (Ephesians 4:31)  More heart stuff to let go of to lighten my load and something to strengthen my heart for the rigors of the race; kindness, compassion and forgiveness.

Maybe my burden is unnecessarily heavy because of the weights my heart carries rather than because of the objects my arms carry.  How often do I hear the expression, “with a heavy heart”?   What do I need to be casting off?  “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.  (1 Cor. 13:3)  Clearly, I can clean up my physical clutter but unless I allow my Creator to clean out my heart, I will still be running this race burdened and entangled by my own sin.  He’s the only One who can clean my heart because He’s the Maker of my heart.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  (Psalm 51:10)  That is my prayer, if I am to run this race well.  “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, . . . ”  (Philippians 3:8-9)

So for now, I will continue to run, casting off what I can, both tangible and intangible as I go.  My load should be lighter if I continue, as God enables me, to cast off what hinders and entangles me as I run.  By God’s grace, when I get to the finish line, I will be running free and unencumbered.  So I will “fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith,  who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:2)

this post inspired by Kristi Jo, my friend and sister, who runs this race beside me (as do so many others)  we want to be women who finish well

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

Yes, you read that right, I gotta guy.  But before you jump to any conclusions, (now don’t deny it, I know you have already) allow me to explain.  And I assure you, I can explain.  I do have a guy and he’s a great guy;  hard working, handsome,   smart, honest, reliable and personable.  All the things you would look for in any guy.  But he’s not just any guy, he’s my guy, my go-to guy.  No, it’s not what you think.  (what DO you think at this point, anyway?)  He’s my financial guy.  My market guy.  The guy who’s got my back. Everyone should have one such person.  There, the cat’s out of the bag so to speak.

How did I end up with a guy when I didn’t even know I needed one?  Good question.  Well, turns out IRAs and such are kind of tricky and you can’t just turn them into regular money sitting around in say a savings account.  Not without penalties and paying taxes and other such objectionable outcomes.  But there was some new rule about these kinds of accounts which took effect recently.  That would explain all the mysterious, very official looking mail I’ve been receiving over the past year in preparation for this new law being implemented. This has been mail comprised of official looking documents,  telling me about financial happenings that I do not understand, using words that I do not recognize as from my own language.

And so I did with all this mail what any normal person would do with such stuff. No, I didn’t throw any of them away, they looked too legal and arbitrarily binding to do that.  So I “filed” them,  which is to say they ended up in stacks of “important” but incomprehensible papers, stacks that I moved about from time to time, all the while promising myself that I would actually read them one day soon. (but only after taking some financial or economics classes at the local university first in preparation for the reading of my very important money mail)

So little did I know that the deadline for this change in my financial future was fast approaching.  (how could I know?  I hadn’t yet read my mail)  One day recently, I was at the bank on a much more mundane matter, which I COULD understand and take care of myself,  when I ran into my financial guy.  (no surprise, he works at the bank of course)   He clued me in on what I needed to know,  saving me hours, no days, no months of trying to decipher and understand all those letters I had ignored, on my own.  I am forever grateful.  I didn’t know I needed a financial guy, BUT I DID.   He found me, when I wasn’t looking for him.

Such a weight has been lifted.  He is looking out for me.  If I make money, he makes money.  He has my best interests at heart.  He has my back.  He will watch the market for me, I don’t have to.  (which is good because how does one “watch” the market anyway? I don’t have a clue and I don’t have to,  I GOTTA GUY doing that for me.)   So I am free to watch the clouds or the grass grow or the sunset, whatever it might be.

So, all this got me thinking.  I’m glad I gotta guy, a trustworthy, more than competent guy to deal with my temporal earthly money.  But the really wonderful thing is that, I GOTTA SAVIOR!  I didn’t know I needed one, (indeed didn’t realize just how hopeless my situation was apart from Him), wasn’t looking for one, but He found me when I wasn’t looking for Him.  My Savior has paid my sin debt on the cross, a debt I have no power or ability to pay.  He’s got my back, He is trustworthy.  And I have trusted Him with my past (forgiven) my present (He’s working in me now) and my future (He’s preparing a place for me even now in eternity with Him)

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”  (Romans 3:23)

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.   . . .   But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:6 & 8)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  (Luke 19:10)

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God-”  (John 1:12)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.”  (John 14:1-3)

Yes, I gotta guy, a financial guy and that’s good news.  But I GOTTA SAVIOR and His name is Jesus.  He sought me out, paid my price with His own life, He’s got my back and He’s coming back for me! And I can take that to the bank!  (pun intended)

My hope for each and every one of you, dear readers, is not that you gotta guy, but that you, like me, gotta Savior.  He is equally available to all.  “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  (2 Peter 3:9)

sincerely,        Grace Day

 

 

 

 

My preferred mode of transportation is my own two feet, my bicycle runs a close second and a kayak would be my third and final preferred mode of transportation.  My bent toward motion sickness, which seems to increase with the years, makes all other forms of transportation less desirable to say the least.  So what, you ask, would compel me to spend close to thirty hours in an airplane? (one way) Nothing but the love of Christ and the generosity of a sister and brother in law. Believe me, nothing else would get me on a plane for that amount of time! And so, against all odds and logic, that is how I came to be in Zambia for Camp Life. The opportunity to serve a Savior that I love in a tangible way, to make an eternal difference by impacting this temporal world, was an offer I couldn’t refuse.  Who would?

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.'”  (Matt. 25:40)   That’s what Family Legacy is doing.  These children, who are brought to Camp Life, are “the least of these” in their culture;  poor orphans, considered more a burden than a blessing to those who provide what care they can for them which often isn’t much and doesn’t include school because even the government schools cost money that they don’t have.  Without access to education the futures of these precious children don’t look any different than their presents.  They are without the hope that things can get better for them.

This is where Family Legacy comes in and makes God’s word a reality for an ever increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children.  “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress . . . ”  (James 1:27)   ” . . . Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”  (Isaiah 1:17) Family Legacy is living out James 2:15-17 every day,  “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Family Legacy’s faith is very much alive, as their many actions on behalf of these once overlooked children show on a daily basis.  They have built and operate twenty-two and counting schools located throughout Lusaka, that these children can attend free of charge once sponsors are found for them.  You see, the opportunity to go to school is not a given in Zambia like it is here.  I was thinking that the circumstances of some of the students in my inner city school are not that different from those of the children I saw in Zambia.  But there is one crucial difference, here these children have access to a free, public education. They don’t need a sponsor to be able to attend school.  In the U.S.,  education is denied to no one.  And education is the way out of their current circumstances both here and in Zambia.  But in Zambia, the children don’t have automatic access to school. Until now, with Family Legacy in the process of changing that, one child at a time.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg.  There is so much more to this ministry, I learned during my week at Camp Life.  Mark 8:36 says, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”  Family Legacy knows this, their goal is so much bigger than just an education, it’s a Christian education the children are receiving at Legacy schools.  At Camp Life and at school the gospel is made known.  Their bellies and their souls are fed, the first with food, the latter with God’s living word.  Temporal and eternal needs being met together.  As James says, we can’t separate the two,  we’re not supposed to.

So how can I describe to you adequately, dear readers, the ordered chaos of my week at Camp Life with eleven hundred plus campers, at least one hundred Americans and two hundred plus Zambians working with us to minister to these children for the week?  The week was well planned, with intentionality and purpose behind every activity from time on the playground (which they don’t have), to coloring time ( they don’t have crayons), to being seen in the medical clinic, to getting their pictures taken, to snack and lunch times, to singing and bible teaching times, to learning they have a Heavenly Father who loves them and a Savior who died for them, even to participating in communion,  nothing was left to chance.

We got to see some of the Legacy schools where these children are able to attend with the help of a sponsor.  Family Legacy trains and supports all the Zambian teachers in their schools, the result being that these schools offer a superior educational experience that is not available in the existing local government or community schools.  The students were eager to welcome us and show off their classrooms and school.

We also met our children in their neighborhood one day.  I walked around led by my ten girls, with our two Zambian leaders through the streets, sharing the gospel and praying with anyone who wanted to talk with us.  These surroundings felt so familiar to me, I felt I was back in Haiti in the village where I had done this exact same thing many times.  A world away,  how can we be so unique and so similar simultaneously?  But we are.  I was at home.

As we prayed with two women on their front step I was overwhelmed by the miracle of the moment, the miracle of connection to women I had never met and will probably never meet again (here), united in prayer and in the presence of the One to Whom we were crying out,  He showed up, no that’s not it, He’s always there whether I “feel” it or not.  It’s that I got a clearer glimpse of my God for that briefest of moments, so powerful in its’ impact but so fleeting in its’ duration, leaving me to question whether it really happened at all, trying desperately to capture that which by nature eludes capture because it cannot be contained. But in that moment I knew that this was what the months of preparation and the hours/days in the air were for.  They were as nothing when compared to that moment, which is probably all this jar of clay could handle. For in that briefest of moments I knew that His purpose was being fulfilled in me. Now it’s back to walking blind for me, as it should be.  (we walk by faith, not by sight)

There were other miracle moments I experienced during the week as well, just as powerful and just as fleeting, leaving me longing for more,  more revelation from my Creator.  But I will conclude here for now.  Just know there is still more.  I haven’t even talked about Tree of Life Village, where more than seven hundred fifty rescued children live in residential care and go to their own school there in Tree of Life Village, thanks to sponsors who have made this possible for each one of these children.

I talked about the sense of purpose and intentionality that infuses everything Family Legacy does.  I want to live my life like that.  I need to live here at home like I’m on a mission trip.  In truth, I am, or I should be every day.  Because every day is a mission trip if I live like I’m supposed to live.  There are plenty of opportunities right here in my own community to serve and to make a difference.  I don’t have to choose between missions here and missions abroad.  It’s not either/or, it’s both. Always has been and that’s the way it should be.

I want to live on purpose, compassionately, boldly, obediently, surrendered, with intentionality, with my Father’s eyes and my Father’s heart, listening only to His voice, walking by faith in Him alone.

Yes, I am zealous for Zambia, because that is a place where God is at work and I want to join Him there in that work.

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know it.  I feel it.  Something’s off and I can’t quite put my finger on it; but it’s not me.  At least that’s what I tell myself.  It’s not me.  But I can only blame whatever it is on jet lag for so long.   The statute of limitations for jet lag has long since and very officially run out.  So now what?  To what do I attribute this feeling of not fitting so smoothly back into my old life, a life which I didn’t leave for that long, I might add?  I mean nothing has changed in my absence.  (well my grocery store did close while I was gone, but other than that . . . ?)   I’m seeing the same people, going to the same places, doing the same things that I did before,  but something’s off. And it’s not me.  Or is it?

Now as I said, I wasn’t gone for that long and I’ve been on short term mission trips before this one.   So I should have remembered this phase which follows the trip, re-entry.  I am attempting to re-enter my old life, which has remained the same in my absence, but I am changed and the fit is no longer as comfortable as it once was.  But shouldn’t the time needed for re-entry be directly proportional to the amount of time spent away?  That would make sense, a formula could be devised, and re-entry would be predictable.  I could know how long until this feeling wears off and I fit once again into the life I left with such temporary intentions, fully intending to take it up again upon my return.  Only now, it doesn’t fit, something’s off.  My old life doesn’t fit my new, changed self.  I have a new perspective because my eyes have been opened along with my heart.  Would I want to close either after what God has shown me?  Would I dare to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to what I have seen and heard, to the need and the opportunity to be a part of meeting that need in Jesus’ name?   

After all, I’m not the first person to go on a short term mission trip. Nor was this my first trip on a short term mission.  I have seen poverty firsthand, it already has a name and a face, actually many names and many faces.  But nothing has worn off, rather something has been added, become a part of me each time, making fitting back into the life I left impossible each time.  I should have remembered that and acknowledged the re-entry process, signaled by the awareness that “something’s off” and it IS me.  Re-entry is hard, I have been changed and God will help me find what fits now.  “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)   And God’s purposes are always good.  

He has changed my heart, again.  My heart needs to be continually changed. I’m so glad God’s not done with me yet.  There are ten new spaces in my heart for ten little Zambian girls whose names and faces I now know and carry with me. But His burden is light and His yoke is easy.  This is a joy to carry their stories to those who will listen and to those who might also care.  My Heavenly Father is altering my eyesight, my perspective once again; so that I might view His world more clearly, as He sees it.  Not as I would see it on my own with my selfish, limited perspective.  My Father wants to give me His eyes as well as His heart.  I just need to be willing to receive what He wants to give.

Oh, dear readers, if I could only find enough words or the right words to tell you about this Zambian experience and what God is doing there right now.  It would fill your heart with hope and joy to know that something so wonderful is taking place right now in this little part of the world, even as we go about our daily lives knowing only of the danger and despair our nightly news brings to our attention. I have often heard it said to find where God is at work and join Him there.  That is what I had the privilege of doing during my week in Zambia.

There were one thousand one hundred plus children at “Camp Life” the week I was there, the week I had come to serve.  The theme was, “God is your Father and He loves you.”  Simple, direct, powerful, life changing truth that these children need to hear, made all the more relevant by the fact that these children are orphans and vulnerable children who often have no one to care for them.  They feel they have no hope and no future.  But God’s word says otherwise.  “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”  (Jer.29:11)

As God’s words were spoken out, proclaimed if you will, to these children each day, transformation was taking place in them.  Some of it was visible, but I suspect far more will be seen later as God’s truth continues to work in their minds and find its way into their hearts.  I didn’t realize it was a message I needed to hear as well. (not that I hadn’t heard it many times before over the years)  But God’s word is living and active, new every time.  What do I have in common with these poor orphan children living on the other side of the world, speaking a different language, living a very different life?  Pretty much everything, that’s what.

With both my parents gone, I realize how much I feel my current orphan status.  I also understand having an absent or less than ideal earthly father.  I understand what it is to be lonely and vulnerable.  I am a broken child in need of my Creator’s healing touch and powerful presence just as each child at Camp Life is.  I came to “help” them  and hopefully by God’s grace I fulfilled some of that somehow, but I am also one of them.  I was “helped” as well as my Heavenly Father reminded me that He loves me, too.

We were taught God is our provider, which called to mind, “The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.  You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”  (Psalm 145:15-16)  And that He is our protector.  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)  How can such old words have such a new impact each time they are proclaimed?  Because God’s word is living and full of power.  That’s why our words have the impact that they do.  (I wrote about this in previous post “Walking Wounded”)

It’s a surprise to travel so far and feel such a kinship with those who were strangers only the day before.  I look at my pictures from Zambia as I  try to find my new “fit” here in my old life, something’s gotta give. I am forever changed again, so for now,  something’s off.  (and it is me).

more in my next post, “Zealous for Zambia”   sincerely,    Grace Day

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling.”  (Psalm 68:5)

 

 

 

 

 

It is said that love is blind and that may well be so.  Love isn’t the only thing that is blind, however.  There are blind ambition, blind allegiance, blind fury, flying blind and turning a blind eye.  Then there is faith, which by definition is blind.  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)  Faith exists in the absence of sight.  If we could see whatever it was, we wouldn’t need faith. It would no longer be faith, it would be sight.

The words displayed in the entry way of my home give voice to this concept.  “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”  (Saint Exupery)  Which makes perfect sense to me in light of these words, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  (2Cor. 4:18)

Walking blind may not seem a very wise way to live at first glance.  But these words play over and over again in my head, “for we walk by faith, and not by sight.”  (2Cor. 5:7)    and my prayer becomes;  “Lord, I don’t know.  But You know and that is enough, that is more than enough.  because You know, I don’t need to know,  I can rest in Your knowing, I can rest in You.  Thank You for being the omniscient God that You are.”

Yes, God knows, God sees.  He’s not walking blind.  “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”  (Revelation 22:13)  “I am God, and there is none like Me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say; My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”  (Isaiah 46:9-10)

God’s not walking blind, but He requires me to.  It’s called walking by faith and not relying on my own understanding or on what I can see.  It’s trust showing itself in obedience until as the songwriter says,    “the day (arrives) when my faith shall be sight.”   Until then, I will continue walking blind, because I follow the One Who sees all things clearly and truly.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.”  (1Cor. 13:12)

sincerely,       Grace Day

 

“Lord thank You for this food and bless it to our bodies’ use” (or bless it to the nourishment of our bodies)  How many times have I both heard and said that prayer throughout my lifetime?  too many to count, certainly.  It is one of those automatic prayers said anytime we are gathered around food, about to partake of a meal.  Now the first part about being thankful for food has always resonated with me.  I am well aware that here and around the world there are people who are hungry, people who are starving, people who are food insecure.  I don’t take my having access to good food for granted and I am truly thankful, always.

But the second part (bless this food to our bodies’ use) I have never really even thought about until now.  We eat, we are satisfied, we have energy to keep on going and growing and whatever else we need our bodies to do as we work and play and live our lives.  End of story, right? or so I thought but for two dear friends of mine.   You see, I knew starvation, malnutrition and many illnesses result when people don’t have food to eat, or don’t have enough food, or don’t have the right kinds of good, healthy foods.  I didn’t know you could starve in a house full of food, in a country full of grocery stores and restaurants and farms filled with growing grain and livestock and vegetable gardens in every back yard. I didn’t know until now.

You see, my friends have food, they can eat, do eat, like to eat but their bodies aren’t nourished by the food they eat, any of it, no matter how healthy the food. Sometimes our bodies don’t work the way they were designed to work.  In this case my friends don’t get any of the benefit from the foods they eat.  Something I just take for granted, food will sustain my body.  I trust that my body will be able to get what it needs from the foods that I feed it.  I take the prayer for granted.

This got me to thinking about how food is one of God’s good gifts.  One of His best gifts many would say, especially if you are a fellow Foodie.  What if He had designed us just to need a daily shot or a daily pill to meet our bodies’ requirements for health and growth?  But in His infinite creativity He gave us food and gave it to us in stunning variety.  “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.'”  (Genesis 1:29)  “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you.  Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”  (Genesis 9:3)

“He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate– . . . and bread that sustains his heart.”  (Psalm 104:14-15)  Yes, food is one of God’s good gifts to us, one of His provisions for us.  All over the world different foods grow in different climates and soils, but all contain what is necessary to sustain us.  All the different varieties of all the various foods should astound us.  Food is fascinating, food is fun. Food tastes good and smells good and fills more than just our bellies. Can you imagine our culture with no restaurants and no cooking shows?  We trade recipes and hold cook offs or bake offs or chili cooking competitions. We attend picnics and potlucks.  All because of the gift of food.

Food brings us together.  The preparing and the sharing of food is present in every culture, creating community as people participate together in these activities.  We show our care for others by bringing them food when they are ill or there is a death.  We show our welcome and our hospitality to others by providing food for them.  We celebrate with food, our holidays and our traditions include and often center around food.  Food is a way to connect with others.  From funerals to weddings,  food feeds more than just our bodies.  Food fuels our relationships as we break bread together.  Jesus set the example in this regard as He often ate in peoples’ homes and broke bread with His disciples, culminating in His final and most memorable shared meal,  His last supper with His disciples before His crucifixion.

Yes, food binds us to each other and to God in ways no weekly or monthly pill or injection ever could.  Starting with depending on God for the rain to make their crops grow and ending with the offerings God’s people gave Him of the first fruits of those crops,  they gave grain offerings and also offerings of their livestock after each harvest.  From  Adam and Eve in the garden, to manna in the desert, to Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand; from the Passover Supper to the Last Supper,  food has connected God to His people.

Similarly, food connects us to each other every step of the way.  Beginning with the growing of the food, no matter which culture, the planting and the harvesting of the food isn’t done alone but with the help of others in the community.  It’s a group effort as the survival of the group depends on the success of the harvest.  The food is produced in community and consumed in community, creating bonds that would not otherwise exist.    Our need for food serves as an ever present reminder to us that we need each other and that we need God.  We are even told to pray “give us this day our daily bread.”

We in this culture where food is accessible and abundant,  may have lost sight of just what an extraordinary blessing the gift of food really is.  I say this because like any of God’s good gifts, we often misuse or abuse it and food has been no exception.  We either eat too much or too little (anorexia etc.) or eat the wrong stuff.  Of course the wrong stuff only exists because we invented it. We tried to improve upon God’s perfection and fell woefully short.  God’s gift of food to us in its’ natural state was perfectly designed for our bodies’ use.  Our “improvements” to God’s provision for us have not been better for us at all, but often actually harmful rather than beneficial.  Artificial sweeteners are a good example. Turns out they’re not all that after all and they have a down side.  Sugar was ok all along in its natural state.  And Cheetos, are they even really a food at all? And butter is back. Turns out butter is better.  Butter is best.  Actually butter rules.  (ok, so much for my ode to butter)

God gave us so many good and perfect foods, it’s hard to improve upon perfection. (maybe that’s why farm to table is so popular right now?)  “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  (James 1:17)

I won’t take that prayer for granted anymore.  Not knowing what I know now.  Not only is food a gift but that food can keep our bodies strong and healthy is a gift as well.  I will appreciate both, not just the one.  I will appreciate the gift of sharing food with family and friends not just on Thanksgiving Day but everyday.  Food binds us together and fuels community.  God meant for us to live in community. He knew what He was doing when He gave us food, not a pill or a shot.  He was giving us immeasurably more than we could think to ask for or imagine.  But then He always does.  Thank you Heavenly Father,

sincerely,           Grace Day