Chosen To Stand For Such A Time As This

I don’t know how to feel.

Right is wrong

Black is white

Left is right

and nothing is really anyone’s fault anymore.

The criminal is conditioned

the terrorist brainwashed

the murderer sick.

If everyone is sick

then is the well person now considered the one with a problem?

No one is to blame…

except you Believer.

Your love is mistaken for hatred.

your freedom for bondage

your acceptance for intolerance.

And it will get worse before it gets better.

So what do you have to say for yourself, Believer?

If you say nothing you are a coward

If you say something you’re an extremist

You can’t win for losing

so you might as well say what He said.

If you’re gonna go down,

go down with His Words on your lips.

Unapologetically.

Unashamedly.

Uncompromisingly.

Let your words be bold,

yet uttered with tenderness.

I want to be the Dangerous Christian

the one who talks about Church in the wild

The one who actually acts like she believes what she says she believes,

With a radical faith.

The one who could be convicted and condemned as a follower of Christ.

Because no longer do we have to travel across the world to be persecuted.

We can stay at home

And they’ll throw rocks at our castle

Windows will get busted

Doors will be kicked down

Houses set on fire

Because your light will shine in the darkness

And the darkness will comprehend it not

And it will try to hide from the light.

blaming the light

for illuminating what must be dealt with.

And in all of this I must ensure that when I am hated

that it is for His sake

Not because I am haughty, opinionated,

angry or annoying.

There is no anointing in annoying.

I know how to feel now…

Honored to live now…

Chosen to stand now…

Entrusted with the challenge

of being true to Him.

This is your time Believer!

To be loyal to His Name,

His Word,

His cause.

Not just to believe in God,

but to believe Him.

To trust what He said

and you can trust that when you recite His Words

that they will move Heaven and Earth,

they will change HIStory,

they will raise up a standard,

for such a time

as this.

When the Enemy Comes In Like A Flood

Remembering this a year ago…

When the enemy comes in like a flood….

And it’s during your non profit organization’s biggest annual fundraiser

Which is planned for outdoors

And you have no plan “b”.

When a deluge of doubt drowns all that was sprouting green

And hope is as damp as the basement floor

That threatens to pool over like the tears in your eyes.

When carefully laid plans seem to lay in waste

And a crew of almost 100 looks to you to make a decision

Whether to admit defeat or somehow trudge on.

When even after clouds empty the air is thick with Mosquitos and humidity

And parking lots are lakes

And dreams threaten to turn to nightmares.

God raises a standard.

And it almost always includes His army

Of mighty workers and trusters

Who look in the face of doubters and dare to defy disaster.

God raises a standard of men and…

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The Practice of Love

Love is a lifetime of do-overs and a discipline to be practiced…will you join me in the endeavor to practice love?

practice makes perfect

or so I’ve heard it said.

and so it is true when

playing the piano

or baseball,

making pie crusts

or pottery,

and if at first you don’t succeed,

try, try again.

No one expects you to get it right the first time.

there is respect in the pursuit.

it requires discipline and commitment,

and can not trust in talent alone,

the quest to perfection.

why is it then, that we expect to get love right

the first time?

love requires practice too.

piano practice has scales

baseball, drills

pie crusts, repetition

pottery, patience.

Love practices in action.

it won’t be suppressed.

Love defies inaction.

for that is what makes it passionate.

Compulsion to act.

to speak.

to do something of value.

How does love act?

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

It is not jealous or envious.

It is not full of pride, or rudeness.

Love…

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8 Things You Kids Will Complain About Now But Thank You For Later

Twinsies

Children complain. They are children after all. But valuable skills and character are formed when we are prodded to do things like lessons or household chores. It may seem easier at the time to manage things on your own, but teaching these life lessons benefits everyone in the family and sets patterns for ongoing participation. Teaching children how to contribute to the family gives children both a sense of accomplishment as well as a sense of belonging by having a positive role in the family. Children feel good when given opportunities to contribute to family life.

Here are just a few meaningful life-long habits to help your children cultivate:

Friends, will you join me at Family Fire?

I want to soar like a…..spider?

Do you want to soar like a spider with me?

Today my son and I went downtown.  He edits video promotions for our church and he needed some good footage for an upcoming conference.  So, he asked me to come along.  Actually, he asked someone else, but they couldn’t go.  It’s interesting how moms are always last on the list…

So we found ourselves romping around the city for a few hours.  One of the places at which he decided to do some shooting was at the Hancock building.  I wasn’t exactly thrilled about going to the ninety-third floor on the fastest elevator in North America.  (It takes only 40 seconds!)  The things we will do for our children.  But, once we arrived the view was spectacular!  It was a beautiful, clear day and visibility was particularly great.

While sitting in a chair waiting for my son, I noticed a spider in the corner of the window…on the OUTSIDE of…

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Unexpected Epiphany

I sat in an auditorium chair; nervous but expectant. This was the first writer’s conference that afforded me appointments with publishers, agents and published authors. Fifteen minutes. How could I possibly communicate my ideas in a mere fifteen minutes? I sat in a chair next to Suzie Eller. This was different than the other meetings, because we belonged to the same community. The blogging community.

So I told her my dilemma. How I’ve been blogging, and writing a novel and now God throws in this twist…Executive Director of a non-profit organization…me? How does a retired home school mama find herself here? And what if I have to quit blogging? What if I never finish the book I’ve spent three years on?

She smiled, and calmly asked in her charming southern drawl, “What is your blog about, Kimberly?”

“I don’t really know, I guess it’s about finding out more about me and how I can influence my world for Him.”

“Do you realize that you’ve used the word ‘influence’ three times in this conversation?” She paused for effect. “What if I told you that it may not be important whether you ever get a book published or not? Whether you continue blogging or not? Clearly the thing that motivates you is to influence the world around you for Christ. However the Lord has you doing that is His business, wouldn’t you agree?”

I felt dizzy. How did this sweet lady figure me out better than I had figured myself out in less than ten minutes? I was struck dumb.

It’s amazing how epiphany bolts through like a bullet train, changing perspective and destiny. I can’t say that there has ever been a conversation that I can look back to that has caused such instant clarity before or since. And after meditating on Suzie’s wise words I realize that there was also wisdom in what I said that this place was all about…”finding out more about me and how I can influence my world for Him.” I guess I just didn’t expect what I found out about myself, or the way that the Lord would have me to influence others.

Epiphany changes the filter on the camera lens you are peering through. Even though the objects haven’t changed, the light in which you view them alters everything. I am called to influence, but how I influence may not be the same filter I saw myself using…and I am learning to leave all preconceptions at the door, because they are rarely what He has planned. What He has planned is usually much bigger.

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6 Reasons I Am Grateful For the Salvation Army

My family at a Salvation Army. I’m the little girl on the far right…

Today is the Salvation Army’s 150^th Birthday. The world is a much better place for the inception of this amazing organization. My world is a better place because of them. In fact, I just cannot stay silent on this day of celebration. So here are 6 reasons that I am grateful for on this Founder’s Day.

• Sound Biblical Teaching: The Salvation Army is a not only an international movement, but a church. As a girl growing up in a second-generation Army household I remember how quizzical faces became when I told them that I attended the Salvation Army for church services. My paternal grandparents were Salvation Army officers as well as most of my father’s siblings. At one time, the Dalberg family was quite a name to drop in the American SA. So it was natural that we attended the Army for our weekly church services. I am grateful for the foundational and scriptural teaching I received as a Junior Soldier.

• Family Heritage: I cannot think of a finer legacy than that of “Heart to God, Hand to Man”, and even though I no longer attend the Salvation Army as my local church I have always had a tender spot in my heart for serving others. In fact, I am now the Executive Director of a Christian non-profit Love INC. I know that this is due to the heritage that the Salvation Army has instilled in my life. I am eternally grateful.

• Radical Love: The Army truly does love the unloved. You know…the ones no one else wants in their church; the homeless, the dirty, the slightly insane, the man or is he a woman, or is he a man? I’ll never forget one of the first Salvation Army church services I brought my children to when they were still elementary students. Scripture was read by a bearded woman…a fully-bearded woman and special music was done by a woman playing the accordion while on oxygen. Not to mention there were several outbursts by an intoxicated man. My daughter whispered to me, “This is better than the circus!” I was mortified by her comment. But this is their calling, my beloved Salvation Army. One of their songs boldly proclaims, “Oh to love the unloved, in the service of the Lord!” They love people right where they are…and many times those same people learn to live better, godlier and more productive lives. Some of them even enter the ministry. I’ve never seen a better record of truly transformed lives. Love changes everything.

• Patience: There have been seasons in my lifetime when I have been more than a little concerned about the direction of my beloved Army. I have feared that like many other charities that they might lose their spiritual roots, but every time God has raised up His standard and the Army has remained faithful to His call. I pray that they will continue to seek wisdom on how to continue this vital ministry in a mixed up and crazy world. But through it all I have learned to give organizations time to correct and autocorrect and to respond to obstacles. This Army is the Lord’s and He is well able to take care of it.

• Love of Others Before Love of Self: I am thankful that as a Junior Soldier I was asked to sign a commitment never to drink alcohol. I am not sure if this continues to be a practice, but this commitment had a profound affect on my life. It was a commitment I took very seriously. And the reason for this commitment was not because the Bible says not to drink. It was for the sake of the weaker brother and sister, for the many who come to the Salvation Army for help. It was for the love of others. Even as an adult, when my first marriage fell apart and I was a single mom confused and alone, I remember having a fleeting thought that maybe I should try drowning my pain in a bottle of wine. But then I remembered a piece of paper that I had signed as a 10 year old and I ran instead to the Throne Room and into the arms of my Savior. He was able to handle my pain better than any bottle of wine.

• Refuge: Recently I have had a family member use the Army’s services due to mental illness. The family didn’t know what to do. The local church didn’t know what to do. Quite honestly, government programs didn’t have any answers. But my beautiful Army they embraced him. They loved the one that no one had any answers for and he is on his way to recovery. It was too difficult for family to fight alone. The Body of Christ needed help caring for this member. When there was no government program; When caring for the loved one was destroying family; When the Body of Christ was weary and weak, that’s when the Army became a place of refuge. This is my Army, and I am forever grateful.

Playing Pool, Pee Wee Herman and Tequila – Pt. 2 New Glarus Road

Because everyone needs a vacation…

This is the second installment of a group of memoirs about my travelings through a small town in New Glarus, Wisconsin. To read the first installment, go here.

The bright July sun baked the inhabitants of southwestern Wisconsin that year.  My family once again stopped by New Glarus on the way home from our camping property.  We were disappointed to find that the New Glarus Bakery no longer operated their upstairs cafe, only the storefront bakery was open.  It was my first lesson in the fact that each moment must be enjoyed to the fullest because it is a rare occasion when its luxury can be repeated.  My best friend since kindergarten was with my family this time.  She, being two years older than I, had already past the awkward first stages of womanhood, and was flashing her perfectly shaped legs in short, shorts, on the street side of…

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Choosing Smile Lines As Trophies In A Plastic Surgery World

Keeping with the theme of a Wrinkle In Time…I am getting older. Being blessed with Scandanavian complexion, I don’t have too many lines or wrinkles, but I am hoping that when I do, I will wear them proudly. I hope most of them turn upward as I sign that I’ve found more good in my life than bad. I am hoping that they tell the story of a woman who had her share (and maybe more than her share) of hard times, but never stopped being inspired by the sunrise, a bird’s song, a blade of grass, a child’s laugh or the sunset.

The post that got me thinking about this is written by my first blogging friend, Adela. Her blog is always so beautifully written and almost always makes me laugh. Please enjoy, Love and Happiness Scars as a part of A Life-Size Catholic Blog’s Pay It Forward Project.

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Necessary Enoughness

He is always more than enough…

It’s afternoon and cool air still rumples the pages of a notebook, and takes a spin with hanging fern baskets. The wind chimes tinkle, birds chirp, lawn mowers hum and a breeze kisses my forehead as I listen to an airplane scrape across the sky.

I am amazed at how much more I enjoy these moments now that there are fewer of them. Not long ago, I was home all day and failed to capture the beauty of my own front porch. Now that I am working outside the home it seems that my quiet at-home moments are condensed like frozen orange juice before water is added. Strong and full of flavor.

And then a thought comes to me, it is difficult to fully enjoy what you have more than enough of.

Even in the world’s financial markets, the surplus of an item reduces its value.

How can I keep…

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