this idea of beauty got me thinking of a song by my favorite, sara groves. it is called 'add to the beauty' and speaks of adding to the beauty of what god is doing in the world. i recently attended a concert put on by sara and my other favorite sandra mccracken. they played along with derek webb, charlie peacock and brandon...i can't remember. the point is they were going on a tour to raise awareness of different social justice causes in the world, like slavery and the sexual exploitation of children. this night was heart wrenching and empowering. i left feeling like there was something i could do, i HAD to do. but by the next day i was disheartened and confused. there is so much hurt, so much injustice, what can i do? being a mom to small children is not something i take lightly, and not something that i can sacrifice. but there has to be something that can be done while i am in this season of my life. i have one very tangible idea that i am cooking up. i've sent off the idea to some who are wiser than i, and i'm waiting to hear back. but in the mean time, this is what i'm doing. i'm talking to my children, a lot, about our world. and we have decided, as a family, to make homemade christmas gifts this year, and then use the money we would have spent to buy a goat for a family or put towards digging a well. (john is actually planning a trip to honduras in the spring to dig a well for a village- i'm so proud of him!) and little moonpie, who knows a thing or two about beauty, has accepted the invitation to get her preschool friends at church involved. she wants them to raise money to buy 2 chickens for a family through world vision! man- my heart is full!
the thing about hurt is that it is every where. i think it feels more noble to go to africa to help, but honestly what we ALL can do is attend to the hurt around us. i am a firm believer in living locally. and part of living locally is to care locally. i know that it is ok for me to want to go to far off places and share the love of god, but i'm really missing it when my eyes are set on such far away places that i can't see what is all around me.
"I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
that's burning up inside
This is grace
An invitation to be beautiful"
-sara groves
4 comments:
well put
I agree. I'd love to talk more.
let's get coffee.
;)
Excellent post. I love everything you said, and I wish you didn't have embedding issues, it would have fit so well in your post!
That sounds like a great concert you got to attend. Were they in Houston?
steph- i'd love to grab coffee with you! anytime!
rachel- it was an unbelievable concert! they were at a church in the woodlands. we were lucky enough to be their last show so it was extra fun, and special for them. each musician had a 3-4 song set and in between each they would show some type of media about a social justice issue (provided through the international justice mission). they did several songs together, read scripture and then there were some times when we ALL sang along. a really lovely night...
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