Spirit Day

October 20, 2011 is #SpiritDay  and it is to support LGBT youth in an anti-bullying movement.

Today, I wore my purple shirt in support of this movement. I changed my twitter picture to have a purple cover. I support this movement to end bullying and hatred towards the LGBT community.

The Christian perspective on LGBT men and woman is complicated and extremely messy. I don't have all (or any) of the answers to the questions running through your mind right now. I may never have those answers. But that doesn't mean I won't still love my neighbor, who might be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. And it doesn't mean that God doesn't want us to still ask Him those hard questions. It also doesn't mean that he will give us the answers we are looking for (or any "answers" at all, but at least we're in a discussion. I'm not here to judge or be judged, I am here simply to love and learn.

Today is mainly about bringing awareness to the senseless crimes committed against LGBT youth and this is something I will always be against, no matter what my religion. I do not believe that ANYONE should live life in fear simply because of their sexuality. We are called to love one another and that's what I'm trying to do. Love.

Wearing purple as a straight ally for LGBT youth

All the Single Ladies (and Men)..

"Speak Up! No one will know how to help you, if they don't know you need help"

This was a recent  topic at church and it really struck a personal nerve. The previous sermon was about serving the children in our church and community. It was great because our church is called to the children and youth of the neighborhood. But what struck me was the exclusion of the singles in these discussions of family. What about the single, 20-30 year olds (or more) who make up a large portion of the church? What does the word "family" mean for us? Personally, I was struck at how invisible my singleness seems to be to the larger church. I began to feel very frustrated that I "wasn't included" in discussions about the church family. I asked myself, "Would we ever devote an entire sermon to singles like we have with families?" This thought was in a fit of anger, so take it with a grain of salt, but I think the desire behind it is legitimate. I've read a lot of blogs talking about singles in churches and how complicated it can be is for the church to include singles where families are the main focus...so this isn't some radical new topic. But for many of us singles, it's too much of an emotional and complicated issue to be ignored.

So I talked to a few friends to gauge how legit my emotional response was to the sermon (sometimes my emotions are terrible judges of what actions to take). Overall, the response was similar, which made me want to speak up and let them know that this isn't OK and I'm feeling overlooked. We decided to email the leader who gave the sermon to sit down and discuss how we were feeling. We met recently and the discussion was very helpful and eye-opening for everyone.

I can't say what the outcome in the church will look like, but I'm glad that we spoke up and voiced what our concerns are as people in the church who are single and still need support and inclusion. I pray that we find ways to include all the groups who feel overlooked in church and truly make it a family.

I randomly found my old blog (which was only abandoned due to google and me changing my email). It's interesting that I haven't been able to just connect the two...since they are both still me.

Anyways, I wanted to post a link in case you're bored and wanted to know what my thoughts/life was like prior to August 2010. Here's my link: http://partnerofservants.blogspot.com/

As you can see, I have a thing for daisies.