-          We are going to read the Christmas story each of the twelve days of Christmas.

-          We are going to together read the book “The Story of the Other Wise Man” by Henry Van Dyke over the Christmas season. We’ll read seven pages a day to finish it in exactly 12 days. I’m really looking forward to this – I’ve read this book before and really liked it and I’m excited to share it with Bryan.

There’s one more thing we decide to do, but it takes a bit more explanation and it involves YOU and this blog.

-          Each of the twelve days of Christmas I will write about a different charity, non-profit, or missionary family here on the blog. Most of them will be organizations and people who Bryan and I have some kind of relational connection with. This will be a way for you all to find out about some great organizations and people and a way for me to advocate on behalf of others about the wonderful work that God is doing around the world. But, there’s more… Bryan and I will also be giving at least $1 dollar to each of these charities/people. I know $1 dollar isn’t much, just $12 dollars for the whole Christmas season. But, here’s where YOU come in. Each day as I talk about these people and companies I’m going to ask YOU (my readers) to also give just $1 dollar (or more if you’re able). I figure $1 dollar isn’t much for any one person to give, but if we each give $1 then it could definitely add up. So, I look forward to telling you all about some great organizations and people over the next few days and I hope you will join me in supporting the work God is doing through them and praying for each of them over the Christmas season.

So, what are you doing over the 12 days of Christmas? I’d love to hear your ideas for this special holiday season and how you are remembering the incarnation of God and stepping into incarnational living yourself.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Poiema

presents

LIGHT: an artistic exploration of Advent
18 artists explore the significance of Light in Advent

December 12-14, 2008
12:00-20:45

St. Thomas Church, Josefska 8
off Malostranske namesti

Cost: 50 Kc

Hope to see you all there! 

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Life Studio

Life itself is an art form and like any other art form it is strengthened by time spent in the studio. That’s what the Life Studio is all about – we want to provide a place and community for you to deepen and strengthen your greatest art form, life itself. A studio is different than a classroom – it’s all about experience. Everything we offer here at the Life Studio is experiential. We want to give you a place where you can join with both masters of a subject and with others who are at your same place so that through hands-on experiences you can find healing and growth for your whole life.
We recognize that different people have different needs and are at different places in their lives so we offer a variety of different studios all under one roof. Wonder through our art gallery, featuring art work from our various studio classes. Come sit in our organic, fair-trade café and talk to one of our studio specialists. Flip through our brochure and pick out classes and experiences that will be just right for your current needs. Here are a few ideas on what we offer:

-          Coaching and counseling sessions (private or group)

-          Yoga studio

-          Nutritional consultations and personal fitness instruction

-          Photography studio

-          Pottery studio

-          Painting studio

-          Couples counseling

-          Marriage retreats

-          Book club and various other discussion groups

-          Community service events (including a weekly soup kitchen hosted by our café)

That is just a taste of the many opportunities we offer to help you develop your life into a true and free work of art.

Ah… to dream… *smile* sigh*

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

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Today was a really good day. This morning Bryan and I made pancakes and I put homemade pear sauce on them that I made yesterday – it was so yummy. Over breakfast we were chatting and came up with a fun idea for a photography project that we are going to do (even if it ends up just being the two of us doing it). Basically, the idea is to have a few different photographers who all commit to taking one picture a week of “life in Prague” for one year and then we will post the pictures up on a web site. Bryan’s been working on creating the site all day. I’m really excited about it and feel like it will be a fun project that will be challenging, but not too overwhelming.

Then I spent some time catching up on some blogs and looking at photography sites and getting inspired. I love the blogs I read and it was so great to spend some time reading through posts from this past week. I also spent some time reading on of the many yoga books I have to read for my certification program. The one I was reading today deals with anatomy and yoga – it was so interesting.

Then on the way to church we walked past this dumpster and sitting next to the dumpster was a big box of books. I love books, especially old hard cover books, and there were so many beautiful books in this box it made me sad to see them just being thrown away. So, I took 17 of them. It was my first excursion in “dumpster diving” and I loved it. I was soo excited to get all these beautiful old books for free and to rescue them from being thrown away. I love the idea of reusing something that someone else discarded and think that the metaphors that can be drawn from this are so beautiful. I’m planning on using these books for decorating and making my own journals out of some of them. I’m thinking I might have to start checking out dumpsters more often…

Then we had church and discussed the last supper together. There was a lot to talk about in this story and we had some really interesting conversations. I’m sure that we could have gone even deeper in some of the things and even though I have read this story and heard it literally hundreds of times I still walked away with a lot to think about.

Then I came home and got to talk to one of my best friends in the world, Laura Johnson. It was so truly lovely to hear her voice and laugh and commiserate and share our lives together even from thousands of miles apart. My favorite quote from the conversation: “We’re so dynamic. We’re like two elements that when you combine them they explode. We explode!” Seriously, I laughed through so much of the conversation and it felt soooo good! I love my friend, Laura.

Now I’m going to eat some chocolate and hang out with my wonderful hubby. Maybe I’ll watch some Pushing Daisies. I’m thankful for days like today – days filled with creativity, reading, beautiful books, good food, redemption, salvation, deep conversations, laughter, and sharing life with good friends. Thank you, Lord, for today.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

Photographs by Beth Stedman

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One of the things that I have done this past year is tried to enter into, and walk with Christ through, the different seasons of the church calendar (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and “Ordinary Time”). It has been an incredible experience for me and God has really spoken to me through each of these seasons. God has drawn me into deeper truths about my life and my own walk with Him as I have journeyed through Christ’s life and the life of His church during the church year. One thing that I have wanted though was to make that journey more in community and to do so in creative and artistic ways that touch more than just the mind but also reach into the heart – I wanted a journey through the church calendar that would not just be mental but symbolic.

God has shown me a lot over the past few years about the power that symbols and pictures and stories can have and the special ways that God can use these things to draw us to himself. So, I started to think about getting a group of artists and creators together to make an exhibit of pictures and symbols and stories for each season of the church calendar for one year. I dreamed of a group that would consist of all types of artists (photographers, painters, sculptures, potters, writers, movie makers, etc, etc) each bringing their own unique talent and gift to the table to show the different church seasons in an artistic and creative way that would help people to enter into the redemptive moving of God in the world, whether they are far from God or near to him. I imagined a group that would be made up of artists from all different backgrounds, nationalities and churches, united with a common desire to create something that would bring glory to God.

So, that was my idea or vision and honestly I don’t really know what will happen (or not happen) with it. But, I want to take a little step towards it and create an art exhibit for Advent. The weeks before Christmas are often so hectic for people and we all spend a lot of time preparing externally for Christmas day – buying presents, decorating the house, going to parties, etc. But, I would love to see a place and an experience that would help people prepare their hearts and souls for Christmas. I’d love to create a place, through art, where people could experience Advent and what it really means – a place where they could remember that Christ has come and is coming and will come again. And I think that art can speak to that and draw people into the story of Christ and his church better than anything else.

So, I don’t have any of the details worked out. I don’t have a venue or anything yet. I do have a small handful of people who have expressed an interest in being involved though and for that I am really thankful. So, if any of what I’ve written here resonates with your heart I would love for you to join me in praying about this and for it. If you live in Prague and are at all interested in helping make this happen by creating art (in any form) for the exhibit I would love to have your help. If you have any connections with art galleries and know of a venue that might work for this I’d love to hear about it. Or if you are just curious and want to hear more about it I’d love to talk with you about it.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

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There are, however, two things that I would like to keep doing as carryovers from this experience. First, I would like to continue to write daily even when it’s difficult and I don’t have something to say, I think writing daily is a good discipline for me.

Second, I would like to continue to take Mondays to brag about the people that God has brought into my life. I have really enjoyed telling whoever would listen about the beautiful people that God has surrounded me with and how much they each mean to me. I really think it is important to let people know how truly uniquely beautiful they are and how much they mean to you and I find that it’s important to do that in front of others. I never realized how important it was to praise and admire people in public until I got married. I have learned over the last 3 years of being married that it is really important and means a lot to my husband when I admire him and tell him how amazing I think he is, but it means a lot more to him when I tell other people how much I admire him and how amazing I think he is. I think there is something special about admiring another human being in a public setting that increases and magnifies its significance. Hmmm, random side thought, maybe God likes that too – maybe it’s not enough for us to tell Him in private what we think of Him and how much we love Him, maybe it means something more to Him (and to us?) when we tell others how amazing He is and how much we love Him. Anyway, I think I will keep doing Admiration Mondays at least for a while longer.

Thank you all for joining me in my little experiment with a blog schedule, maybe we’ll try it again someday, but for now it’s back to regular UN-scheduled programming. J

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

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Admiration Mondays – Each Monday I want to write about one person in my life that I admire and respect. I think it’s important that we tell the people in our lives how much we care about them and love them and that we take time to admire the beauty in each of them. God has given me some amazing friends and family and I want to take the time to publicly admire them.

Tuesdays Prayers – This will be a day to post prayers and conversations with God, whether they be my own prayers and conversations or the prayers of others that have touched my heart.

Wednesday Reviews – On Wednesdays I’ll review something – maybe a book I read, or a movie I saw, or a restaurant I went to, or a game I played. It’ll be a time for sharing with all of you about things that I’ve tried out or done and what my reactions where to those things.

Theology Thursdays – This day will be devoted to writing theology type things – so anything having to do with the study of God. It will be the time to write about things I believe about God and also questions I have about God.

Free Fridays – Friday’s will be a free day where I can write about anything I want or can take a break and not write at all.

Linky Saturdays – This will be a day to link to blogs, articles, videos, etc that I found interesting that week. A way of sharing what is going on in the larger web community.

Church Sundays – I’ll take Sunday’s to write about my thoughts on church and my own experiences with church.

Ok, that’s it. So, what do you think? I’m open to suggestions and changing this list a little. In fact it is likely that I will change it and likely that even if I don’t change it I won’t stick with it – I have a really hard time sticking with routines, but I know that they are really good and helpful for me. So, I’m gonna start this on Monday and try it out for a little bit.  We’ll see how it goes. I know that I will also probably have other things I want to write about and I will definitely give myself the freedom to write other things in addition to these topics, but I want to start with this structure and then see what happens from there.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth

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Ok, so I think I’ve finally gotten up the courage to share this new idea I had. I’ve shared it with a few friends and even sort of tried it out once but I wanted to put the process of coming to the idea and the idea itself up here as a way to document it for myself and also as a way to open the idea up the community around me….

First, I’ve realized that I’m really out of shape. I would like to be able to be as flexible as I was a few years ago and I’d like to be able to walk uphill a few blocks without being totally out of breath – both things I can’t do at the moment. I used to dance and work out regularly but lately I spend most of my time working in front of a computer and I feel like my body is beginning to feel that change.

Second, I’ve realized (or maybe I should say that I have been realizing over the past few years) that there are a lot of different ways to worship and connect with God. Along these lines I’ve come to enjoy even more deeply things like form prayers, meditating on scripture, taking long walks through creation, and in general acknowledging that God can and does reveal Himself and allow us to connect with Him through anything – movies, music, the arts, and even our physical bodies. For the last few years I have off and on done yoga for much this reason – I feel like putting my body in the various postures has often caused my heart and soul and mind to worship and connect with God in a new way. I’ve also come to realize and learn that we can indeed act ourselves into a new way of feeling quicker then we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting. If I bow down before God even when I don’t feel like it I find that the physical act results in leading my heart and mind to a posture of bowing down as well. When I lay in corpse pose (stretched out on my back on the floor) in a posture of exposed openness I find that my mind and heart become exposed and open to what God wants to tell me as well.

Third, and very closely related to the second point, God has been challenging me to accept and rejoice in that fact that I am a physical being. God created me as a physical being and He declared at creation that the physical world and beings that He created were GOOD. Yes, I do know though that I am a broken and sinful physical being but I also know that God didn’t choose to save me by separating me from my physicality. He instead chose to save me by Himself entering into our physical world and becoming a physical being Himself. God incarnate redeems the entire physical world He created. God has been challenging me to look at the world and my life more holistically. It is not that the spiritual (mind/soul) are good and the temporal/physical is bad. All of me is a good creation of my God and all of me is broken and in need of redemption.

Fourth, this may sound odd, but lately I have been coming to accept more and more my femininity. There were a number of years of my life (mostly quite a while ago, back in High School) when I secretly wished I had been born a boy instead of a girl. I didn’t feel like I fit with most of the girls I knew – I didn’t want to shop and talk about boys I wanted to think deeply and discuss theology and social sciences. And in the circles I ran in I was told that some of the things I wanted to do with my life I wasn’t able to do because I was a girl. Eventually I stopped wishing that I was a boy and came to accept that I would always be a woman and even began to delight in some parts of being a woman. But, I think even after that there was a bit of bitterness still in me against some of the things that I had been taught and had heard all of my life growing up in conservative Christian circles. So, I think over the last two years especially God has been healing me in some of that bitterness and showing me more deeply some of the beauty and strength and grace that belongs to woman alone.

All these things were bouncing around in my head when a dear friend of mine sent me this quick email from China:

I went out early onto the plaza/square here in Chongqing.  And there I saw the most delightful scene….hundreds of women gathered together for their morning dances!!  There is something RIGHT about a country where women congregate in the morning to dance!  And the steps don’t even have to be perfect… I thought out of all my friends, you could appreciate this the most!! May you dance this morning, my friend!!

All these thoughts, and this email, and a few other conversations I have had lately has gotten me thinking and I came up with an idea…

I’d like to get a group of women together at a consistent time once a week (though I would expect that not everyone would be able to make it every week) to work out together but to do so in ways that would also be to worship together and walk along side each other through the special trials and triumphs that the female sex shares. Here’s what I envision… Ideally I would love it if we could all trade off leading so that each time we meet a different person leads out of their own unique strengths and the place that they are personally at with God. So, for example, if I’m leading the first time I would maybe start by leading everyone through a Celtic prayer from the prayer book and then lead through a yoga exercise and some mediation on scripture. Maybe someone else would want to take us all on a walk their week so that we could all just talk and connect and pray while also getting some exercise. Or maybe another week the person leading would feel too tired to work out and would just want to pray together or lead us through a physical prayer that we can do as well as say. Or maybe another week the person leading would feel like celebrating and really praising God and we would all just put on some loud music and dance together. I think ideally I would love it if anyone and everyone would lead at some point in some sort of way but, I also don’t want people to feel that they have to lead if they don’t want to. Really, I envision it being a place where we can stretch and strengthen our bodies as well as our minds and souls and a safe place where we can come together and “dance” together as beautiful uniquely created women – A place where we can discover truth about God and about ourselves. I would want this group to be a place where we can explore God and our physicality and ourselves as being created in God’s image in an open and generous way, and also a place where truth is spoken into our lives and lived into our lives.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

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We have now been back in Prague for a week. The week has been busy – in fact I think we have had something going on every night except one this week. We have gotten to spend time with and reconnect with a number of friends here in Prague and meet some new people as well. We have completely unpacked and we have begun to do some re-organizing of our place here (a bit of a spring cleaning I guess you could say). The week has been filled with emotion for me – mostly with a deep emotion of relief, a deep sigh of calm, and a deep acceptance of peace. I am more convinced than ever that Prague is where we are suppose to be and I have come back anxious to re-start our lives here.

That conviction and desire has made this first week back to be a week filled with visions and dreams for the future and for our life here. I think that I’ve always been fairly creative and a visionary of sorts and I’ve always had these ideas that came to me as if from now where, some small and some big. But, in the last few years I’ve had fewer dreams, fewer visions and fewer ideas and those that did come to me where always quickly put aside as impractical, unrealistic, or impossible. The only ideas I have let myself pursue over the past few years have been the very small and manageable ones. I have been an incredibly pessimistic idealist for quite some time now, causing most of my real dreams to quickly be squashed and killed.

But, lately I have felt a renewed optimism, or maybe just a renewed courage to actually step out and pursue some of my ideas and dreams. I think I owe a lot of this to the support of some new friends and also to the comfort and courage gained from feeling like I am where I’m supposed to be. It’s an exciting combination.

But, I still feel scared. What if my visions and ideas aren’t received well, what if people misunderstand them, or think they are stupid, what if they just don’t work and fail, what if they aren’t what God really wants from me right now and I’m just running ahead of him… These questions still bounce around in my head. But, for now at least they no longer stop me in my tracks. It’s like God has whispered freedom into my soul. I don’t know if all of my dreams and visions and ideas for our life in Prague or even for our life this next year will work out (or even happen). But, I’m starting to feel like I’m willing to try. I’m starting to think that there might be something beautiful just in stepping out in faith and sharing myself and my ideas with others even if nothing comes of those ideas.

It’s been raining again in Prague today.

Lord, may your strong rains wash away that which is not of you from my life, and may your gentle rains water and cause to grow that which is of you.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

Photograph by Beth Stedman

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Basically the idea is to home school the kids and travel once around the world every year from the time my kids are between 5 and 7 until they reach junior high/high school age. We’d start the year off somewhere in South America (most likely Costa Rica since we know people there). We would spend 3 months there. On top of normal curriculum classes (reading, writing, arithmetic, and all that) the kids would focus on learning Spanish while in South America and would also focus on learning a little more about South American history and culture. We would also devote a good portion of the time there to studying science and taking them to see rain forests and things like that first hand. We would also spend time serving the communities of South America – for example building houses in Mexico, etc.
The next three months would be spent in Asia (probably mostly in the Philippines since we know people there but maybe somewhere else). On top of normal curriculum pursuits the kids would focus on learning the Chinese language. They would also spend time learning about Asian history and culture and philosophy. We would take trips to see the Great Wall of China, to serve at an orphanage in India, to see the Samurai fighting fields of Japan, etc.
After that we would spend 3 months in Europe (most likely Prague). The kids would, on top of the normal curriculum, learn one European language (besides English) for example French or German. We would also spend a great deal of time during these 3 months teaching them about European history and culture and traveling around to give them firsthand experience of the places they were learning about. We would take trips to see Athens and Rome other famous European sites, as well as trips to Africa, Egypt and the Middle East (depending on the political climate and safety).
We would then spend the last 3 months in America and the kids would focus more intently on mastering the English language and learning about American history, culture and politics. This time would also include firsthand experiences – going to Washington DC, or to Plymouth Rock, etc.
We would continue to circle the globe like this each year until they reach high school (at that point we would sit down and decide whether to continue doing school this way or to give them the normal US high school experience). Each time we circled the globe the curriculum would get more in-depth and they would learn more in-depth information about the continents/countries they were visiting. It would be a fairly intensive year round schooling but we would keep things at a calm (though steady) pace so as not to get boring or overwhelming. Really it would be school all year, but it would also be like vacation all year too, since we would be going to see some really exciting, unique and interesting places. The kids would also be required throughout the year (where ever we are) to learn at least one musical instrument. They would also be required throughout the year to participate in serving in some capacity the communities that we visit/live in.
It’s sort of a crazy idea but I liked the thought that by the time my kids reached high school age they would have a basic understanding of 3 or more languages on top of English all of which they would have learned from native speakers in the native country (or at least close by it). They would also have a broad view of the world and a wide understanding of various world cultures. They would have friends from practically every ethnicity and nationality and would have experienced firsthand the fact that not every where in the world is like America. They would have seen poverty first hand and been a part of serving those in need in places less fortunate. They would also be experienced travelers, comfortable on planes, in airports, and dealing with the hassles traveling can present. Over all they would have a balanced and well rounded education that gave them a solid foundation for the rest of their lives.

Anyway, that’s my crazy new scheme… Anyone want to join me?? If we could get a few families to do it together we could pool our abilities and skills and hence be able to teach our kids even more – not to mention it would just be fun to travel around the world with a few close friends J

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

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