Archive for June, 2008

Link: Red Bubble

June 30th, 2008

Yesterday I discovered a new sight – www.redbubble.com. There’s a link to my profile on the side of this page.

It’s basically like flickr but they also will sell your work for you. They also let you upload more than just photography – you can upload art work, stories and poems you’ve written, etc , etc. So, I’ve been enjoying it and thought I would tell you all about it as well. If you are interested in the arts at all I definitely recommend you check it out. Enjoy!

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Conversations with God: Rest Child

June 27th, 2008

I hear God whispering questions to my soul…

God: “Are you going to listen to me or are you going to listen to your circumstances. Are you going to follow me or are you just going to to give up? Are you going to let me walk you through the desert or are you going to run back to Egypt? Are you going to let me spin my cocoon of change around you or are you going to fight to remain a caterpillar? Will you follow me, Bethany, even when the way is unclear and everything seems to be upside down? Will you follow me into my upside down kingdom?”

Me: “Lord, I want to follow you, but the way is unclear and the path uncertain… and I’m scared.  I don’t want to give up… I won’t give up. I won’t just run back to the easy road. I won’t return to Egypt… but, Lord, could you just tell me where to go instead? Would you tell me what to do next?”

God: “Rest. Stop doing. Just be. I will lead you and I will tell you what you need to know when you need to know it. For now, just be. Be the beautiful, creative, intelligent woman I made you to be, Bethany.”

Me: “But, Lord, I don’t FEEL beautiful, creative or intelligent – I feel awkward most of the time.”

God: “Bethany, it’s not about feeling, it’s about truth. Let me speak my truth about you.”

Me: “But, even if I did believe what you say about me… I wouldn’t know where to bring my beauty, creativity, or intellect – what should I do with the gifts you’ve given me? Where do I fit? What are you calling me to?…”

God: (Interrupting)”… Shhhh. Quiet, my dear child. Be still. You do not have to have all the answers. You do not have to know what to do right now. Just do the small things that I place in front of you. Follow me. Listen to me. Rest in me. And slowly I’ll take you where I want you to go.”

Me: “… Here, I am…Speak, Lord, for your servant listens…”

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Links: Food and Health

June 27th, 2008

So, as some of you know Bryan and I like food – we like food A LOT J My dad is an amateur gourmet chef, all of my grandparents are excellent cooks, Bryan’s mom is a superb cook who comes from an Armenian background where food and eating together as a family was seen as very important – so from an early age we were both taught the value of good food. We have been taught the importance of really enjoying food and taking pleasure in eating good food with good friends.

Over the last few years though we have started to eat more intentionally. My health problems (I have a chemical sensitivity) have lead us to learn more about what we put into our bodies and has led us to avoid pretty much all processed and packaged foods. It’s actually been a fun adventure. We make almost all of our meals at home from scratch now and I think that has really improved our cooking skills.

I think all of this plays together to create a keen interest in food and especially in how food relates to health. So, when we came across these videos recently we were quick to watch them and we weren’t disappointed.

This first video is of a lecture that the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food and even though it is a bit long (about an hour) it is definitely worth watching. I found it totally fascinating and interesting and more than a little entertaining as well. If these issues interest you at all I highly recommend it. And if these issues don’t interest you then I still highly recommend that you check it out.

This second video is one of the TED lectures given by Mark Bittman. He talks about meat and meat consumption in the US in extreme but fascinating terms. I really enjoyed watching this video as well.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

 

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Links: Ritual and Missions

June 26th, 2008

I recently came across two articles on rituals and particularly on how rituals should interact with missions. I found these articles to be really interesting. I have for a while now believed that God can and does use ritual, myth and symbolism to speak in a very deep way to his people and these articles spoke more to that belief.

Here’s a link to the first article

Here are some quotes from this article that I really enjoyed:

 “To neglect ritual is to ignore a holistic way of deepening people’s faith in Christ. It also ignores the fact that the human person is a ritual being. Ritual brings order to communications; builds a sense of security and belonging, and opens people to a sense of the sacred.”

“Since ritual works on the trans-rational level it generates wholeness because it engages the whole person and in the active engagement through myth and symbol, gesture and movement transformation occurs.”

Here is a link to the second article

This second article was much more scientific and talked about research that biogeneticists have done on ritual and how people relate to rituals. Very interesting. I really liked at the end though when the discussion turned to “Two Threats to Ritual”. The article commented that those two threats were “an ideology of intimacy” and individualism.

I found both of these very interesting and will definitely be thinking more about the role of ritual and symbolism in the life of faith communities…

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Peace and Stirrings…

June 26th, 2008

The last few days have been interesting.

I feel really good about the whole job thing and don’t really feel at all worried or stressed about it. I can really see God’s hand in our lives in the last few weeks and days. I really know and feel that we are exactly where He wants us to be and that He will provide for us. This is very unlike me – I’m usually sort of a worry wart and have a very difficult time trusting God.

It’s strange though because there have been a lot of things that have happened lately that could discourage me and even make me question what we are doing in Prague and if we are suppose to be here and when I think about the events I feel like I should start asking questions about whether or not we really should be here. But, when I ask myself and God the difficult questions of where to go from here and what Bryan and I should be doing. I always come away feeling very convinced that we are suppose to be in Prague. Circumstantially it looks like God’s closing doors, but that’s not at all how I feel. In a weird way the things that have happened over the last few weeks (visas, job loss, etc) have only made me more convinced that Prague is where we are suppose to be and that this is where God wants us. And I don’t feel like it’s just me fighting against a wall – I don’t feel like I just want to be in Prague so I’m closed off and not listening. I really feel like I’ve been listening to God better lately then ever in my life and I still feel really convinced that right here, in Prague, even amidst all these situations, is exactly where He wants us.

Amid that peace though I have also felt a sort of restlessness lately – a flightiness even. I have almost constant butterflies in my stomach. I haven’t been sleeping well. I can’t sit still for long. It’s sort of an anxious excitement type feeling that won’t seem to go away. I feel like God really is doing something and setting us up for something, but I’m not sure what and that makes me excited and nervous all at once.

“Lord help me now to unclutter my life,
to organize myself in the direction of simplicity.
Lord, teach me to listen to my heart;
teach me to welcome change, instead of fearing it.
Lord, I give You these stirrings inside me,
I give You my discontent,
I give You my doubt,
I give you my despair,
I give You all the longings I hold inside.
Help me to listen to these signs of change, of growth;
to listen seriously and follow where they lead
trough the breathtaking empty space of an open door.” Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)