Merry Christmas!

Last year in my family we had all come to the conclusion that the stress of buying gifts, that really we don't need, is silly and wasteful, so we stopped. I still exchanged gifts with some close friends because it was kind of too late to back out, as some of them had already gotten things for me. Don't get me wrong, I do think it's fun to pick out a surprise for someone & see their face when they open it. But I've become rather disgusted by American consumerism pretty much every day of the year, and I won't even get started on Christmas. Seriously*. I shouldn't even go there**. Plus, I just can't stand the meaningless "obligated gifts" because they got you something, or the "I don't know you well enough to pick out something you'd actually love, so I got you this uber-generic gift" or the "just tell me what you want & I'll go to the store and get it for you gifts" blah-blah-blah. Growing up I don't ever remember making a list of what I wanted or really even asking for some big thing. My mom just knew me well enough to pick out something I'd like (plus, we didn't exactly have the money to do it any other way). It just seems like telling someone what you want defeats the whole purpose anyway, especially now that we are all old enough & make enough money to buy what we want when we want it. Never mind the fact that presents is not what Christmas is supposed to be about anyway! Gah!

I have decided to individually participate in the Advent Conspiracy this Christmas. It's a wonderful thing! And, I'm so glad it has exploded and gripped so many people this year. So, my group of friends that I exchanged gifts with this year grew much smaller, and in light of Advent Conspiracy, I am giving relational gifts. I bought a board game & Kids in the Kitchen cookbook for a family to use together, a cake decorating class for a friend and I to take together, etc. And it must be getting to other people, too, because I have gotten really great sustainable gifts from my friends this year (either that or they just don't want to set me off for fear of having to listen to hours and hours of my ranting)!

I feel like all of this discussion is leading to more questioning and searching, and eventually deeper relationship. After all, Christmas actually is all about our relationship with Christ!


Okay, I could make a list a mile long, but I can't hold these back:
*We spent $455 BILLION last year on Christmas in the United States alone. Excuse me while I go throw up***.
**Have you seen the Wal-mart commercials? The ones with the message about how shopping at Wal-mart saves you thousands of dollars a year, and that way you can give more at the holidays? Right! If I shop at Wally World where I continue to support the evil empire & oppress more & more people, then I can give Wal-Mart executives even more money for crap that will end up in a landfill more gifts to charity. Isn't that nice of me? Gosh, shopping at Wal-Mart really makes me feel good about myself.
***Did you know it costs about $2500 for a well in Africa? And that divided by the number of people who use it, that averages out to about $10 per person. We spend more than that on stalking stuffers. We could give not only CLEAN WATER, but LIFE, to those who desperately need it, and practically at no cost when you consider how much we overspend at Christmas.

Hello, I'm Katie. I cry 27,000 times more tears than the average human being.

So, my new friend, Lindsey, is reading The Irresistible Revolution. A book that changed my life. She emailed me a quote from it the other day, "Rather than waiting for God's special plan for your life - you should just go find where God is at work and join in." This is such good advice! I think too often I've been waiting for some crystal clear sign that God wants me here or there, doing specifically this or that, and while I'm waiting I get distracted and end up doing nothing.

I went to the first Africa team meeting this weekend. I cried almost the entire time. But, I also had this relief from the fear that I am not good enough to go there. I know I will be used. Everything has fallen into place effortlessly, and I trust that He has work for me to do on this mission.

As the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect." I'm committed to doing something until I figure it out, and maybe that is all God was waiting for.

He's littler in real life

It's too bad I'm not a fan of Michigan, because I think Mars Hill would be an amazing church to attend. Even with the enormous numbers. I've read Rob Bell's books, seen a few Nooma videos, and also went to The God's Aren't Angry tour last month. I love his approach to communicating God's love. This is a pretty good article about him in Time Magazine.

Read his books. Tell me what you think. If you have a chance to hear him speak I strongly recommend you do so. I love that the proceeds of that tour (although I will say I don't know what percent of the ticket price qualifies as "proceed") goes to microfinance projects. That is simply beautiful.

Toffee

A long, long time ago in a land far away, I worked with the sweetest lady ever, Sandy. She was the best baker, too, and at Christmas we always had plenty of goodies in our office! This toffee is one of the many recipes I got from my dear friend, and it always feels like the holidays have arrived when I make this yummy treat.

Before you start cooking the toffee, unwrap all the chocolate bars and chop the almonds. I buy the already sliced almonds & then chop them up into almost dust!

Make sure you stir constantly & reach all the way to 300° (this step is important, Tonya!). Once you pour the toffee & set the chocolate bars on top (I've used both milk & dark and it is excellent both ways!), it will only take 30 seconds or so to melt, then I use a spatula to spread the chocolate all over the toffee.

1 1/3 cup sugar

3 tsp water

2 tsp corn syrup

1 cup butter

6 Hershey bars

almonds

Cook sugar, water, corn syrup and butter to 300°. Pour into buttered cookie sheet. Top with Hershey bars, spread when starts to melt. Top with chopped almonds. Enjoy!

Signs of aging

My car insurance went down and my health insurance went up.

Script Swap

I was reading a post today on Fix. Basically she was sharing how she went to the dermatologist to have something serious looked at, and after that was addressed, the doctor went on to try and sell her a bunch of unnecessary products that he could prescribe. She was questioning why her insurance would pay for these things, but not more medically necessary stuff. She proposed the idea of a program where we could sort of "donate" the expense that would have been used for our prescriptions, should we choose not to fill them, to people without insurance who need other prescriptions filled. I'm sure nothing like that will ever happen, but until we get a President who values health care, it seems like a great idea to me!

No bueno!

This photo isn't very clear, but I had to document that there was a SCORPION on my floor. Where I walk barefoot.

Officially gone off the deep end

Once a month at Poiema we do a potluck dinner after service. It's a great time to hang out with peeps and chat a little longer than usual while enjoying dinner. Last month, as I was helping to clean up, I smuggled someone's empty Coca-cola box to save it from the trash. The thought of that entire big, old 24-pack piece of grayboard going into a landfill made me feel sick inside. And although I thought I was sneaky about my rescue efforts, I got caught by a fellow Poiemian. Luckily, she already knows about my recycling habits, so she didn't give me a hard time.

There is just something about large groups like churches or businesses not recycling that drives me mad. I left church that night feeling a little defeated. The amount of waste we threw in the trash in just one evening was more than I can recycle in a month! Why do we bother individually if big groups can single-handedly destroy our hope with no effort? But, this also means that big groups can recycle so much more without much effort, either.

So, this month's dinner is rolling around on Sunday and I've prepared a plan! I'm bringing bins for recycling and made a sign with the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" slogan, included a factoid about recycling & a bit about stewardship for God's creation. Maybe even a little clip art. It's hot off the presses and just now as I was admiring my work I realized, I've seriously lost it.

Think Green®

Waste Management, I'm calling you out! You're "Think Green.® Think Waste Management." slogan is a fraud. I'm going to highlight just one reason this is true: billing.

I work for a company that uses your trash and portable toilet services at multiple job site locations. When you send us a statement of services each month you manage to space out about three lines of information onto two 8.5"x11" pieces of paper. Then you neatly package those papers together with a return envelope and at least one flyer about how environmentally responsible you are. For every single solitary service at every single job site.

Suggestion: Combine.

You could fit all of our services for all of our job sites on one piece of paper in one envelope (or better yet, email it!). And actually doing so would make me believe you care about the environment instead of telling me you are every month when I have to throw your excessive mail in the recycle.

Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone

As much as I love being around my friends and family, there is just something inside of me that craves being alone. And I almost never get to indulge. But last week I traveled to Portland for four whole days without really telling too many people. I needed to be alone. My first afternoon there I was stopped by a Green Peace-er. He asked me what I was doing in Portland and I told him I came to be alone. He thought I said, "to get a loan" and then asked why I couldn't get a loan where I was from. Apparently it's odd to want to be alone, especially on vacation.

But, I have to tell you, it was one of the most relaxing weekends ever. I spent the majority of the time wandering around neighborhoods, taking pictures, enjoying the cold weather and the fallen leaves, sitting in coffee shops to people watch and read a couple of books. I had no schedule, no computer, and my boss only called once. It was great!

A few snowflakes even floated around on my last morning there... it was the perfect end to my weekend!

Stuff

I think you should watch this. I know everyone won't agree, and if you would like to prove it wrong, be my guest. But actually watch it. Think about it. Research it. I think the thing that bugs me the most about people who "disagree" with environmentalism is that they don't really believe it's a bunch of phewey, they just don't want to think about it or have to change their actions, so it's just easier to deny that it matters. This kind of mentality, whether it's about social justice, the environment, politics, religion, etc. just drives me crazy! You have a brain and a conscience. Use it.

P.S. This reminded me of a bumper sticker I saw yesterday. "Support America, Buy a Congressman" LOL!

Change is good

"Change isn't always easy, but it is necessary if you can't suppress the yearnings deep inside you, if you haven't yet fooled yourself into thinking you know exactly who you are."

I have absolutely no idea who I am or am supposed to be, but I'm enjoying the slow, messy process of figuring it out.