FlowerDust.net

“i can’t stand perry noble!”

i said that a lot to my husband a few years ago.

so, why the empathic disgust?  well, it’s obvious, don’t you think?  perry was bold and brash.  he had and shared his super strong opinions on church growth, how to do ministry, and a plethora of other terrible topics.  he was one of those pastors.  the ones that only cared about relevance and numbers.

a spiritual leader? pssshhhaw. what-ev-er.

and of course, the world needed to be warned.  back in my xanga blogging days, i actually encouraged people to send perry emails about a katrina relief campaign he was doing, saying how he was using a tragedy to get people into church (of all things!) i got into blog comment fights about him.  and once, i even had to ask tony morgan to remove one of the comments i left because after sleeping on it, i realized how flat out mean it was.

seriously.  perry and his blog made me so angry, i actually unsubscribed from it for a year or so.

and then my world got flipped upside down on me a few times.  i came crashing down in a pile of pride and self-righteousness and oh wow, was it ugly, and messy, and shameful.

and over the last year or so, i’ve had such clarity in how stupid i was.  how i was projecting my own lack of confidence and faith and pride and issues on perry.  i don’t know why he became the target, but he was.  i sent an email apologizing.  and perry was gracious enough not only to forgive me, but to selflessly contribute a “second opinion” section to mad church disease.

last night, i was talking to my husband chris at cracker barrel (which is what honestly sparked this whole post.  if you know anything about perry, you know his affinity for their biscuits).  and i saw the whole journey, from five years ago until now.  and how perry hasn’t changed much, but my perspective of him has.  and how that has little to do with him and more to do with the fact i stopped am trying to stop being a self-righteous jerk ball.

and i also think how i still read church blogs where someone thinks someone else’s church or ministry is awful, or how they’re doing things wrong, or for the wrong reason. or how they’re spending money inappropriately, or how “trendy” they are, or…whatever.

GET OVER IT.

that’s it. GET OVER IT.

it’s not worth it.  and if you’ve ever had the mirror turned back on you, you know exactly what i mean.

phillipians 1:18 has been a key verse in this journey of mine:

“So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!”

it’s easy to forget in general, but ESPECIALLY on blogs, there are so many people who aren’t believers looking in.  what kind of example are we setting?  that we’re a bunch of cry babies who can’t get along? a lot of the time…YES. that is exactly what we’re saying.

suck up the pride, bite your tongue, and listen to your momma.

if you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.

people will know us by the love we have for each other.

remember that.

how true. watch until the very end.

happy thanksgiving.

[ht: message in hand]

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**if you haven’t yet, donate $5 to buy 2 pairs of shoes for the needy and be entered to win a chance for two round trip southwest airlines tickets! just visit 50000shoes.com

just wanted to let y’all know about a few behind the scenes things have been going on over the last several weeks! it’s only a couple of months until mad church disease releases (woohoo!) and so far, the endorsements and reviews coming in have been exactly what i hoped for - that this book will spark thinking and discussions about our health as we help others.

since it would be a wise choice, i decided to develop an author site to be the hub for all things anne jackson. it does not have a separate blog, but links here instead. anyway, many props to brad ruggles for his amazing design work on the site AnneJacksonWroteThis.com. go check ‘er out!

we have also spiced up the MadChurchDisease.com site with a new look…wanted to keep it really simple and hopefully engage people in the interactive forum (which is obviously not complete yet) but i am really looking forward to the discussion that is stirred up in that arena. we point people to it in the book and i really hope it can be a place for people to share their stories, offer encouragement and pray for each other because we are NOT in this alone!

other fun mad church things would be some places i am speaking early next year, a soon-to-be-announced contest/partnership with relevant magazine and neue, that our friends in both the UK and australia can order the book online, and that it will also be available via audio book, ebook, and symtio.  oh, and if you’re signed up for the catalyst filter, you’ll be getting a copy of it inside the aqua box!

you can still get the book for $11.55 (that’s for a hardcover!) on amazon right now.

thanks for all the MCD love and support over the last year and a half. can you believe that?!  PHEW!!!

goodness. i need a nap. :)

i said i had some exciting news to announce today. here it is!

first of all, anyone who donates a pair of shoes on 50000shoes.com from today until midnight (CST) on december 6 will be entered into a chance to win 2 round trip tickets for wherever southwest airlines flies!

you don’t need to leave a comment (although it would be nice to know!) because we will be tracking the entries from the 50000shoes.com site. the more shoes you buy, the greater your chances are of winning the tickets!

also, we have a special challenge during this time frame too.

if we can have 1000 shoes donated between now and december 6, we have a very special corporate sponsor who is willing to match 500 of those shoes. so, for every 2 pairs donated, this sponsor will donate 1 pair. how incredible is that?

we are currently at 6314.  we need to be at 7314 by december 6.

we have some other fun giveaways coming up, but don’t let this one pass you by. now is a great time to re-invite your blog readers, email address book people, facebook friends, and everyone you know to participate. don’t forget to tell them about winning the SWA tickets and the fact that we basically have 500 “free” shoes will be donated if we reach our goal of 1000 shoes by december 6th!

donate now…donate often! and please, for the love of thanksgiving turkey, spread the word!

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ABOUT THE SPONSOR

Lipo in a Box is ah-maz-ing body shapewear. Guys, you may not have a clue about this stuff, but ladies, you know where I’m going with this. We all love our Spanx. I confess, I do too. But Lipo in a Box is BETTER than Spanx. It lasts much longer and fits more comfortably.

Don’t take my word for it. Connie Elder, the brains behind Lipo in a Box, has had her products featured on Oprah, QVC, MORE Magazine, The Today Show, The View and in author Charla Krupp’s NY Times best selling book, “How Not to Look Old.”

Lipo in a Box is super excited to partner with Soles4Souls and the 50,000 Shoes campaign.  They can’t wait to chip in 500 shoes…you guys just have to show them what you’re made of and get 1000 pairs donated by December 6!  You can save money by not buying a new holiday dress - instead, getting Lipo in a Box to help you fit into that dress from last year, and put the savings to some shoes for those in need!

(interested in your company or church doing a match sponsorship? email me!)

i love that so many people have been challenged to not only give, but creatively contribute to the 50000shoes.com campaign.  we’re still need over 43,000 shoes, but i have a feeling we’ll get them.   i have some really cool news to announce tomorrow about how some people have decided to partner with the campaign, as well as some really cool give-a-ways you’ll be entered in when you give.

anyway, i just wanted to give a little love to some videos and ideas people have put together.  there are probably more out there, so i’m sorry if i haven’t found yours yet.  if you have done something cool, please leave a comment!

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my friend and coworker jenni talks about how many shoes she owns. she decided that she’s not only donating 20% of her shoes to soles4souls, she’ll also purchase a pair for every pair she owns. so she’ll be buying 51 pairs! jenni, like me, works in a church…so she’s sacrificing eating out and not buying any new shoes during the holiday season. hello? that’s hard core!

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bryan, who writes the blog prayers for blowouts, made this cool video and threw his kids out in the cold…

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fellow nashvillian amigo newton dominey owns a rock climbing gym called the crag. see what their big goal for the challenge is in this video. they ended up raising enough for 108 pairs on the night this video was shot!

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crystal’s been a friend of mine for years. last week, she asked people to give shoes in honor of her birthday. people obliged!

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so, enjoy these creative ways to spread the word about the 50,000 pairs challenge. make your own! let us know how you’re spreading the word. and again, tomorrow, i’ll have some very cool announcements to make!

and if you haven’t, go ahead and donate some shoes! heck, even if you have, drop another $5!

next week, i am heading down to visit some of my friends at healing place church in baton rouge.  on my itinerary is “midnight outreach” - a late night trip to some of louisiana’s finest strip clubs.

i have to admit, i’m a little nervous about it.  growing up the daughter of a small town, southern baptist preacherman, i never envisioned one day i’d be hanging out in strip clubs for jesus.

but for every ounce of nervousness, there’s about a gallon of excitement.  i can’t wait to meet these girls and let them know how beautiful they are and how loved they are.  chances are, they haven’t ever really heard that in a meaningful way before.  and yet they are so beautiful.  they are so loved.

i’ve never been to new york, but i’ve been wanting to go for the last seven years.  chris and i were planning on going there for one of our anniversaries, but it didn’t pan out.  sure, i can make it to the UK, to europe, and to remote parts of uganda, but i can’t manage to make it to new york.  one day…

where is a place you’ve never been but have always wanted to go?

it was interesting some of the emails i received about monday’s post on depression.  it made me realize a lot of people have some misunderstandings about what depression is and why some people battle it.

now, let me preface this by saying i am not a doctor or a psychologist (although i’ve been to more than my fair share of both) :-)  however, here are some common myths about depression i thought we’d remove so that everyone can have a better understanding.

why are you depressed?  i thought you loved your new job and it seems like stuff is going well for you.

you’re right.  i love my new job and things are going great.  for the first time, we’re not financially stressed out in our marriage, the relationships i have are incredible and i have never felt more at home than i do in nashville.  all of my external circumstances are awesome!  too bad depression isn’t caused by any of them.  sure, environments can influence ups and downs, but a lingering bit of sadness or feelings of low self worth means it’s probably something more.

to further prove this point, last year at this time i was going through probably one of the toughest times in my life.  i had an awful, no good, very bad situation i was walking through over the course of late fall and early winter.  on top of that, i was also weaning off of anxiety medication (stressful!), writing a book (stressful!), and getting ready to move from dallas to oklahoma city (stressful!)

but you know what? i had absolutely no symptoms of depression at all.  nada.

don’t worry.  if you trust god more, he’ll bring you through.

thanks for the kind and faithful words. and i don’t doubt that.  but depression generally has little to do with someone’s relationship with god.   if that were the case, every person without faith would be miserable and every person with faith would be happy all the time.   can i afford to spend more time with god? absolutely. depression isn’t caused by a bad relationship with god or healed by a good one.  if anything, i have to lean even more into that relationship (and the relationships with my husband and friends) to get the strength i need during the seasons of depression.

so, you wrote this book on burnout and you talk about being emotionally healthy.  your past struggles with this and your current struggle doesn’t really give the best example.  what gives you the right to write about this?

i won’t lie. that email hurt (and that is just a small snippet of it).  and the thoughts of my own human inadequacies haunt me all the time when i ask myself, “really, what authority do i have to speak into this topic? i’m struggling right there!” fortunately, i got another email after this one that said this.

Listen, your struggle doesn’t mean you are broken as a person, and it doesn’t make you less spiritual.  The devil is going to lie to you and say you have no business writing about Mad Church Disease with this going on.  Don’t give in to that lie!  Your experience and even your struggles uniquely qualify you to speak authoritatively on this subject.  God uses our weaknesses to demonstrate His strength in us.  I believe our precious Lord wants to take what the enemy meant to destroy you and use it to bring glory to Jesus.

that answer was for both the person who wrote the first email, and the demons that walk around in my brain.  but i know that question is something probably a lot of us wrestle with: what qualifies us to do the work we do when we screw up all the time?

grace.

so there you have it.  depression has little to do with your environment, relationship with god, and capacity to be used in this world.  it has much to do with our bodies’ brokenness, chemical imbalances, and the hand we’re dealt.  we honestly have very little control over it.

what we do have control over is how we manage it if we have it, or how we treat others who are struggling.

both require a little patience, a little wisdom, and a lot of love.

why is it we think that jesus always spoke in metaphors?  sure, he used parables and stories to communicate frequently, but recently i’ve been telling myself, “maybe he really meant that.”

i’m at a point in my personal faith where i have more questions than answers.  where i know the scriptures are divinely composed, yet i question the way i’ve been taught to interpret them over the last twenty years.  in sunday school, they seldom teach you about historical cultural context or literary patterns of the hebrew language.  scripture is timeless, but for the most part, we have taken the words and filtered them through a 21st century, westernized lens.

lots. of. questions.

atop of my questions are positioned relationships i have with those who don’t believe in god the way most of us do, if they believe at all.  most of these insights have challenged me to think about the words of jesus…his obvious call…and what should be our obvious answer.

my friend kary oberbrunner has a book coming out in the next couple weeks or so called the fine line.  since he is also a zondervan author, i begged and pleaded to get a copy early.  they gave in.  and it rocks.

here’s a nifty video about the book, and a sample chapter from the book.

one of my favorite parts of the book (granted, he uses proper capitalization) says,

“i’m not afraid to admit it: the sermon on the mount contains some startling commands.  like matthew 5:40: ‘if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.’ or matthew 5:42: ‘give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.’ or matthew 5:48: ‘be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.’

no wonder we look for ways to get ourselves off the hook of following these difficult sayings.  we toss out rationalizations.  ‘maybe they’re metaphors.’ ‘maybe they’re about some future time.’ ‘maybe they’re just suggestions.’

i think it’s christians who live like they’re ‘off the hook’ who cause people like mahatma gandhi to become critical of our religion.  he saw a disconnection between the way jesus lived and the way christians live.  because of this gandhi said, ‘if it weren’t for christians, i’d be a christian.’ gandhi didn’t disagree with jesus’ teachings.  he went on record to say, ‘i like your christ, but i don’t like your christians.’ and those of us who know gandhi’s story understand the sobering reality that he embodied the ethics described by jesus on the mount better than most christians.”

it is here where i wrestle.  why do people who understand, yet officially don’t associate with christianity live more transformed lives than we do?  why do those of us who say we believe fail to live like we are transformed by what we believe?

i went and visited zondervan last week…i may or may not have gotten a few extra advance copies of mad church disease.

this contest is easy to win. it goes to the highest bidder.

(welp, ego…it was nice knowing you!) :-)

whoever donates the most pairs of shoes to the 50000shoes.com website between 6 am CST tuesday and 6 am CST wednesday wins. and i’ll even autograph it with your favorite bible verse, sprinkle holy water on it, engrave your name in gold, give you a bronze dove plaque, and throw in some snacks from my desk.

click here to read more stories of where your shoes are going!

oh, and here’s the icing on the cake. more truthfully, it’s probably the actual cake. be the highest bidder and not only will you get a hyper-anointed copy of MCD, you’ll also get an autographed copy of seth godin’s newest book, tribes. i know that’s nothing like snacks from my desk, but thought it might sweeten the deal. who knows? maybe he’ll throw in some snacks from his desk.

comment below (and yep, i’ll need proof if you are the highest donor if you do win!)

ready…go! how many shoes did you donate today?

i don’t talk about it much, but depression is something i’ve fought with most of my adult life. it usually comes and goes in seasons, and like a lot of people, it typically gets worse around the holidays.

two years ago, it got pretty nasty and i blogged about it a little bit. but last year, i really can’t say that it even affected me.

this year, it’s back to rearing its ugly head. it’s been about six weeks now and that dark cloud hasn’t left yet.

i’ve decided this time around, it’s time to try chemical help again. last time i was on medication, it didn’t help so much (in fact, it just made it worse), but a pastor and friend i deeply respect has recommended trying something new. he’s battled it for over thirty years, while leading a very large church. he has a ton of insight. he even wrote a book about it.

all this to say a few things: if you suffer from depression, i’m sorry. i know how it envelops your soul, your life, your joy, and turns you into someone you don’t want to be. if you’re married to or friends with someone who has depression, thank you for supporting them. it’s not a fun place to be either and i’m sure a lot of the time, you feel helpless and you don’t understand it. and that’s okay. and if you’re reading this, you know what? i could sure use your prayers and i bet a few of you could use mine.

again, depression isn’t something i like talking about much because, well, it’s pretty depressing. i don’t like being depressing. i like being the girl who has everything all figured out and her life’s all put together perfectly.

(let me let you in on a little secret - that’s SO far from the truth!!!)

on the other hand, depression is something many of us face one way or another, and i just wanted to say you’re not alone.

and i’m pretty sure that i’m not either.

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a few days ago, some of us had a meeting with brian and spence who work for compassion international. of course, the bloggers trip to uganda came up and i can’t believe it’s been nine months since i stepped onto african soil for my first time. it seems like a lifetime ago, but at the same time, it seems like it was just yesterday.

speaking of yesterday, i met an audio engineer on my flight to grand rapids. somehow, we got on to the topic of where americans spend money, and what our responsibility is to help others and i told him about my trip to uganda. i shared with him my breaking moment of stepping into annette’s house, where six people lived in a 6×6 room. that her rent was $9 a month and she was having trouble keeping up. i had probably spent $9 in the airport for my breakfast.

the opportunities for us to do a world of good in a world of scarcity are endless.

many people in the states are feeling the pressure of a maybe-almost recession. people are losing their jobs and their homes. yet i wonder if we will ever truly get to an economical state where we really discover need versus want. even here in america, it blows my mind that we have such an imbalance in our distribution of wealth. that there is so much homelessness and poverty, yet most of us can still comfortably afford a $3 cup of coffee or a $40 meal out. that most of us don’t think twice about spending $200 on a christmas tree or $75 on a pair of jeans.

i’m not sure what all this means…except that i am hoping we are all waking up. we’re waking up realizing we’re not alone, and none of us are guaranteed a safety net woven together with five dollar bills. that while we have it good, we should help others. because in the next moment, we may be the ones in need.

how can we do this? it’s counter-cultural. downsizing, living with less intentionally, and giving more to others. not putting quite so much stock into our 401k and maybe putting more into our neighbor who just lost his job.

idealistic? maybe. but i have hope in mankind. i think (and pray, really, really pray) that we’ll do the right thing, even now…as we sip our lattes and sleep safely in our cozy, heated homes. we can do it.

10 years ago i was a manager at a family christian store in the dallas area. we had our annual sales conference in grand rapids and went to visit the FCS home office.

little did i remember, the FCS home office and zondervan’s offices are in the same building. so yesterday, when i walked into zondervan, it was like a crazy flash back. who would have known i would be back?

today i spend most of my day in meetings with all the people who have worked so hard on mad church disease - my editiors, designer, marketing guy, and a few others in different departments as well. it has been so awesome to see the inner workings of a publisher!

also today, most of us GET PAID!

we are almost at 4000 shoes on the 50,000 shoes website. i challenged the facebook group of 1000 members to all give 5 bucks today (at least!) and so i am challenging you to do the same as well. some of you have already given and i appreciate that, but since it’s payday (and someone suggested the great idea of reposting the need on payday!) here i am. i am going to go donate a few pairs.

it’s my goal to you guys and the facebook group to get it to 8000 shoes by the weekend. i know we can do it…especially if all of us just do our small parts.

visit the site here to see how many shoes we have donated and how much time we have left!

see you guys soon. and thank you.

from my friends at the international justice mission:

“Please pray for our team in South Asia as they execute an operation on a large brothel today. Pray for continued good cooperation with the police and safety for our staff as they enter an especially dangerous situation. Pray that the girls would be rescued quickly as they are currently suffering very violent treatment.”

read more. think twice today.

sponsor a child
donate some shoes

and pray.

today, the world has been heavy on my heart. as i pick up my soon-to-be spoiled bananas, throw away my grocery receipts, hang up my dry cleaning, and get ready to eat overpriced airport food…i am constantly reminded the world is broken, yet in its disparity, has potential for so much hope…

tuesdays are crazy days. meetings from an early morning coffee to service programming to staff meeting and lunch. so normally on tuesdays, my life exists from my phone and not my computer.

just in case you were wondering. i’m sure you were.

so here are a couple of random facts for you on this fine autumn tuesday:

-nine years ago i read my last fiction book until friday, when i finally read the shack (and since some of you may ask, i loved it. especially after spending some time with the author at catalyst.)

most recently, i’ve been reading nashville author chris coppernoll’s a beautiful fall, which honestly, i wasn’t sure what to expect since i haven’t really read any fiction lately. i have to admit…the book is amazing, and i think fiction is growing on me as a new escape.

-what do donald miller, brian mclaren, jon acuff, shaun groves and i have in common? read here. it may or may not involve jock straps.

-so far we have almost raised enough money for close to 3000 pairs of shoes through the 50000shoes.com campaign. that is HUGE! financially, that’s almost $7,500, which, in less than 48 hours is ah-maz-ing.

can i be honest? it’s also super scary. that is FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND shoes away from the goal. and yes, i realize we have 47 days left but i’m already getting a little nervous. interestingly enough, there have only been a few hundred transactions…so most people are giving more than $5…meaning there are a lot of people who haven’t donated yet…which is confusing yet shows there’s a ton of potential!

this is where i want to eat your brains.

how do you think we can build some sustainability into this campaign? turn one-time $5 donors into multiple donations? increase influence and awareness?

i’d love to hear your thoughts.

i’ve been talking about a secret project i’ve been working on the last few weeks…today’s the official launch day!

IT’S THE LAUNCH OF 50000SHOES.COM!

soles4souls is an amazing charity here in nashville that has one mission: get shoes to people who need shoes. over 300 million people around the world don’t have shoes and are forced to walk around unsafe and in potentially life-threatening conditions. not only is it unsafe physically, but having to look down all the time causes these people to also live without dignity and confidence.

just a few weeks ago, i was meeting with wayne elsey, the founder and CEO of s4s and he asked me what is the craziest thing we could do using social media to meet this huge need? what kind of ridiculous goal could we create? and literally ten minutes later we had the answer.

let’s get money raised for 50,000 shoes in 50 days and make it as easy as possible for people to not only donate online, but to spread the word about the campaign. the only way this goal can be reached is if you not only donate $5, but spread the word!

HOW DOES IT WORK?
go to 50000shoes.com. a $5 donation buys two pairs of shoes.

everyone has $5 (or more!). and everyone has 2 minutes. from start to finish, donating is literally three clicks. no fluff. no hassle. anyone can donate. it is so, so easy!

and it’s easy to spread the word. use the graphics on your blog. email everyone you know. join the facebook group and ask your friends to do the same!

YOU CAN WIN A TRIP TO GIVE SOMEONE THEIR FIRST PAIR OF SHOES!
besides the fact that the blogging world can literally impact 50,000 people before the end of the year, one person (and their guest) will be chosen at random to hand deliver the shoes they purchased on a s4s trip to mexico. can you imagine handing someone their very first pair of shoes? it could be a child. or it could be a mother. or a father. or a grandmother. who knows?!

PLEASE DON’T CLICK AWAY…
we could have made the goal attainable - like 5000 shoes in 50 days. i have no doubt that could happen. but we wanted to show a watching world the positive power of social media. we wanted this to be a challenge for bloggers and people to unite in a way never before seen!

50,000 pairs of shoes in 50 days. THAT’S HUGE!!!!!

please donate. please blog about this. please email everyone you know about this.

five bucks. three clicks. two minutes. that’s all and it can make a HUGE difference!!

THE MATH
if 500 people influence 10 people to donate, and those people influence 5 more, that’s 50,000 pairs of shoes (because remember - $5 buys 2 pairs!)…please help make this a reality! let’s blow it out of the water…can we raise enough for 100,000 pairs? I THINK SO!!!

300 million people around the world need you!

chris and i donated on friday. we are spreading the word today.

please join in! even non bloggers can help. just email everyone you know! take up a collection in your office or at your church. do you know someone in the press who can do a story on this? be creative!!!

forbes.com and cnbc.com have already picked up on this…and we have only just begun. with your help (and only with your help) this can be a worldwide movement. i truly believe it can!

are you in?

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Nashville-based Soles4Souls(TM) facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 3.5 million pairs (or one pair every 23 seconds) to people in 61 countries, including Honduras, Romania, Thailand, and the Sudan. The charity has been featured on CNN Headline News, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC News, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.

i was on my couch all day saturday. really.

my “thankful it’s not a full body ache cold” turned into “well, at least it’s not pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis“ yesterday.

and as such, i’ve been bored out of my mind.

read a book. watched four movies. slept a lot. and checked in on my search engine stats. just what has brought people to flowerdust.net lately?

*what if you dont poop for a whole month? (i suggest you talk to my friend)

*can you get a dui on a golf cart (have you seen this video?!)

*the daddle (oh yes. who could forget the daddle?)

have a great sunday. i know you are much more enlightened now.

forgive me if my words are disjointed or fuzzy…they are in my head and it is taking a lot of effort to make them make sense on my computer. it’s late (mavericks game is on ESPN - my one and only sport team), i have a head cold (thankful it is not a full body ache cold), and therefore my blood alcohol level is probably about 1.25 due to the amount of nyquil coursing through my veins.

on to the show…

chris and i got a letter from abdukerim, our compassion kid in africa. we had sent him a $25 gift in addition to our sponsorship and he wrote us back letting us know he bought a sheep. a six year old bought a sheep??!!

he lives in a farming region of ethiopia, so i wonder if it’s like when we buy a dog, but better, because it can actually generate income for his family, whereas dogs just poop and pee and slobber and eat pillows.

does it graze in the front yard of his mud house? has he named it? will it have sheep babies? (sheeplets?)

he also asked us if we had sheep in america, so i think we’re going to drive and find some and send him some pictures. oh, and then he asked if we had coffee in america. i have a feeling he and my husband are going to be soul mates.

which, all this compassion stuff reminds me…there are nine blogging strangers-turned-friends who just returned from a compassion trip to the dominican republic. you can read about their adventures here. i can’t wait to read their posts over the next couple of weeks as they process what they have seen.

now, i know you want to get cool letters about sheep and coffee. or maybe you just want to change the outlook of a child’s life. take a look at some kids who need you.

and speaking of kids who need you, myself and about 150 other bloggers have a super big secret to share with you on monday. it was released on the newswire yesterday and has already been picked up by forbes.com and cnbc.com. so i have a small feeling that it could very well make a big dent on this crazy little world. it’s not too late to get involved if you haven’t signed up already. just email me before monday morning and i’ll send you the details.

have a great weekend…

i’m doing some research for something…

and similar to, but not as focused as my post “sex rules” (wow, did that one get a little crazy or what?)…

can boys and girls just be friends?

and to what extent?

if you’re married? single? how do you keep it healthy? without being legalistic?

what does it mean to “honor your marriage?”

do people shut down potentially thriving relationships because it’s with a member of the opposite sex? how is this approached differently between believers and those who aren’t (especially since divorce rates are identical to each other).

how is this looked at from the viewpoint of those not in america?

are all emotional or intellectual connections between members of the opposite sex potential hazards to their respective marriages?

how much investment or relationship can or should married members of the opposite sex have with each other?

all skate…just share your thoughts on as much or as little of this as you want…whatever they are.

i am not a political person. i don’t enjoy discussing politics much because, to me, it seems almost as fruitless as discussing the grey areas of theology. just lots of opinions going ’round and ’round and ’round. i don’t like things that go ’round and ’round and ’round. but hey, that’s just me.

america is full of mixed emotions now. some are angry that the perceived anti-christ and his liege of evil, democratic minions are calling the shots. some are elated that the party tables have turned around a little bit and are looking forward to the change that could bring. some are disappointed, but hopeful.

this post has nothing to do with obama winning last night. this post has to do with us, the american people. if anything, this election has shown us that change is possible. that hope is present. and that there is a new generation of leaders that are excited and optimistic about the future - regardless of who is hanging out in the whitehouse.

by the time i woke up this morning, my inbox was already inundated with “sure, everyone is hopeful, but once they see obama can’t deliver, they’ll be let down.” and i think that is an immature and ridiculous way of looking at the current state of our country.

why?

we shouldn’t rely on obama. or congress. or the house. we should rely on each other. on the american people. in the last year, we have united like never before. we have celebrated and challenged the status quo and passionately supported people we believe in.

at this pivotal time in our nation, i ask that you do a few things:

1) if you’re whining, stop.

2) look around your own neighborhood. what needs to change? get to know your neighbors and make those changes!

3) what’s going on in your city? more importantly, who is leading your city? get involved and share your voice. and get to work!

4) what’s a cause you believe in? for me, it’s healthcare. there are local and regional organizations for just about anything under the sun. find them. join them. get to know your state representatives and congresspeople. let them know how they can best serve you.

5) pray. obama can’t change the world. but he sure could use your support and prayers, whether you agree with his position on issues or not.

don’t rely on obama to guide this country into the future.

you have responsibility beyond voting.

so ask yourself, as an american, what are you going to do with that?

I used Random.org to generate the numbers and here they are:

Therefore, congrats to:

Mike Mitrovich
Mike Shaw
TJ Reid
Susanne Reeder
Thom McGuire
Th.eophli.us
Randi (Seeds in my Heart)
Ryan Guard
Dan Lacher
Phil

Congrats! If you are one of the winners, please email Chris Fann (chris.fann@zondervan.com) and send him your name, blog name and physical address!

NOW…IF YOU DIDN’T WIN…you still have one more chance.

I will be having a special contest for the “Fight Mad Church Disease” FaceBook group that I will announce to them tomorrow morning, so if you are not a member already, jump in and join it (heck, even invite your friends for good measure!) and maybe you’ll win on Friday when the Facebook winners are announced! Ten more copies will be given away!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP!

Thank you guys SO much for getting excited about the contest yesterday. I can’t tell you how encouraging your comments were to read. At the same time, my heart was broken by many of them. I am praying so much that this book will be a catalyst to start conversations about health and healing.

i voted today at 9 am after meeting a friend for coffee. i was in and out in less than five minutes.

how long did it take you to vote?

Mad Church Disease has officially been sent off to the printer and we thought we’d celebrate by giving you a full and free copy of it. Yep. You can be reading your own copy of MCD at this time next week!

Zondervan has made special “Advance Reader Copies” available and we have twenty we want to give away!

So…for the next 24 hours, ten copies are up for grabs.

HOW CAN YOU WIN?
Leave a comment saying why you want a copy and tomorrow we will *randomly* select ten winners. The books will ship out and you’ll have them next week!

The only catch is that if you win, you have to promise to review it on your blog and on Amazon. That’s not too much trouble is it?

I’ll announce the winners on Wednesday and then share how we’ll be giving the other ten copies away.

So…

Leave a comment & let us know why you should win. I realize that’s kind of silly since winners will be picked randomly, but just play along. Cool? :)

You can also download a free copy of the chapter “Processing through Pain” here…they did a really rad design on the interior. It’s amazing.

in february, i was flying from oklahoma city to chicago on an american airlines flight. after having one too many diet cokes, i walked the green mile to the back of the plane to, well, take care of business.

much to my surprise (and dismay, and fear), i was locked in. the sliding latch that moves the “unoccupied” to “occupied” was stuck. surely there was no oxygen coming in. i was going to die a lonely death in the bathroom on an airplane. fortunately, my certain death did not come, and five minutes later i was back in my seat drinking more diet coke.

now, in chicago, i’d meet up with fifteen almost-strangers and together we’d travel to uganda for a week on behalf of compassion international.

we’d laugh together. we’d play with kids together. we’d run from bats together. and ultimately, we’d fight poverty together. you can read about those adventures - the good, bad, and challenging - here.

yesterday, another group of blogging strangers departed from around the country to meet at an airport in miami before heading down to the dominican republic. from what i can tell, nobody was locked in an airplane lavatory and they arrived safely.

today was their first day in the dominican. i imagine they’re probably at a project now, meeting a pastor and learning how compassion is releasing children from poverty. they’re learning about what some of the local children want to do when they grow up. and they’re probably starting to ask a lot of questions.

i encourage you to follow them on their trip this week. you can read more about it here, or subscribe to their group RSS feed here.

and while you’re thinking about it, do more than just read along. sponsor a child by clicking here.