Thursday, June 30, 2011

Allons-y!

My bags are nearly packed... by which I mean most of the clothing I own is scattered on the floor of my sister's old bedroom.  My apartment is emptied and cleaned (thank you moving team of excellence, family, friends, and relative strangers!).  My temporary goodbyes have mostly been said.  And I'm nearly ready to go.

This upcoming adventure to London, a place I love deeply, is daunting in that the mission ahead of me seems like a big one.  This seems like what call might feel like - when people you love and who love you back rally around you and send you forward with all kinds of emotional, spiritual and financial support to follow that which speaks directly to your heart.  Daunting, an honor, thrilling.

I'll miss you all tremendously.  But three months in a magnificent city, working with innovative and lovely people to help rid the world of modern slavery?  Apparently this is my life, but I find that hard to believe most days.  Who is this lucky and blessed?

I'll be posting here often to keep everyone apprised of my journeys (geographical and spiritual), so feel free to drop me a line and let me know how you are doing.

with love and moxie,

Laurie... Geronimo!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Cosmic Misery-Based Brownie Points



            And other weird ways of life...  I can’t quite discern whether this is a Midwestern thing, a church people thing, or maybe just a me thing (seriously doubting it’s the last one), but I get the distinct impression that a lot of us feel the need to justify our behavior and choices by citing how not-fully-happy we are with them.  As if it is somehow more socially acceptable to do what you feel is right for you as long as you’re not doing it to make yourself happy.  As if someone is keeping a cosmic tally of the points and you get more if you're miserable.
            Sometimes this gets taken so far that we look at people who are doing what they want to do in life and are happy and succeeding at it and we think… whoa.  What the heck.  That is NOT how it’s supposed to be!  When really, it is not their happiness we oppose, so much as our lack of courage to believe that God wants us to be happy too.
            Now I’m not advocating some kind of solipsistic, greed-based approach to life.  I’m operating under the assumption that, for most of us, we get at least some genuine pleasure out of making other peoples’ lives happier.  But I think it’s perfectly acceptable in the Christian paradigm to believe that sometimes following your call will ignite a powerful and joy-filled part of you… and it’s absolutely right to be happy about that.
            Food for thought, and an accompanying promise for more frequent posts soon.