tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76555221826571612162024-03-14T10:02:30.771-05:00Behind the Veil:...a public journal of a hidden life.Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.comBlogger128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-25217592631607411532023-01-30T20:58:00.004-06:002023-01-31T10:01:12.139-06:00Henna Mary's Story<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3tRlOP9yzn1omCPV1PBz0G9kTL2w_AaPkl7rzvX3hLLh2zbnv_510wexMXpeBAS3m8y6V61vS953w1b9noSBBpcgNG84XZKPnpCNG7whcST4pvwYyey-ZJxp29iuke82NJepn4ETMj5lxk-vfyPnFvfrQ-UReFHMiXXzNJ4WzZE3cB-62YPTdJXt4Q/s720/Mary-mother-of-our-Lord.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="516" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3tRlOP9yzn1omCPV1PBz0G9kTL2w_AaPkl7rzvX3hLLh2zbnv_510wexMXpeBAS3m8y6V61vS953w1b9noSBBpcgNG84XZKPnpCNG7whcST4pvwYyey-ZJxp29iuke82NJepn4ETMj5lxk-vfyPnFvfrQ-UReFHMiXXzNJ4WzZE3cB-62YPTdJXt4Q/s320/Mary-mother-of-our-Lord.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><br /><p>Mary's story in henna art is a delicate tracing of flowers and circles demonstrating the mystery of the Holy Spirit's work, resulting in Jesus' birth. The pathway back to God is visible in 5 circle designs. </p><p>The design includes Mary, Joseph, the Wiseman, two Shepherd's staffs, and points of the star. </p><p>Check out my video applying henna art of Mary's story to my friend! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c5uH1youVs8" width="320" youtube-src-id="c5uH1youVs8"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pP8REBN_x0dlm5ZqQjVScWoHmsbgWKm2/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><br /><i>Mary's Story Design PDF</i></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-art-to-tell-bible-stories.html" target="_blank"><i>Henna Art Intro and Getting Started</i></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oRRH0fGbC8AFr2Wc_p46RlUlSQxVo3DT/view?usp=sharing" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><i>Full PDF Instructions with Video Links</i></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-stories-wages-of-sin.html" target="_blank">Henna Romans 6:23</a></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-bible-story-every-womans-story.html" target="_blank">Henna Every Woman's Story</a></i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-9222704309121595512023-01-28T21:03:00.006-06:002023-01-28T21:03:57.649-06:00Let Your God Love You<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtmD79vCld9vse8L5xwH00hyKenSwow77OWzw9am0R3-kemfR31MMdxIXygreQ0iDzX5urlPsGAz5sbA_ubHsn4fIeaz_gpec71U4RqH9Kg0UQJYRKWm0nDVWKXh3meLYohrm4MmIps-9JazBI73tEyup67trj6UDBQyljRh2NhmFtw59GsCxmVBMQw/s645/gods%20love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="645" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtmD79vCld9vse8L5xwH00hyKenSwow77OWzw9am0R3-kemfR31MMdxIXygreQ0iDzX5urlPsGAz5sbA_ubHsn4fIeaz_gpec71U4RqH9Kg0UQJYRKWm0nDVWKXh3meLYohrm4MmIps-9JazBI73tEyup67trj6UDBQyljRh2NhmFtw59GsCxmVBMQw/s320/gods%20love.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Be silent.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Be still. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Alone. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Empty. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Before your God. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Say nothing. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ask nothing. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Be silent. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Be still.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let your God look upon you. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That is all. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">God knows.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">God understands. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">God loves you </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">With an enormous love,</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And only wants</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To look upon you</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">With that love.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Quiet.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Still.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Be.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let your God - </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Love you. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">by Edwina Gateley, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Sisters-Women-Scripture-Speak-ebook/dp/B00JJWD00M/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VQKD4WBZCZI5&keywords=soul+sisters+by+edwina+gately&qid=1674961198&sprefix=soul+sisters+edwina%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Soul Sisters</a></span></p>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-69032987506714876892021-07-24T20:12:00.000-05:002021-07-24T20:12:15.056-05:00Painbearing<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOVerMPXmloZRTxf25pAh5pwzYBq_1XkOEQSlSMqY3VrPRIrmqJkkA8wKna0ic4QO1r9oVREQmiLZ7cSqLM9TAuFj6EHNymep_4YC8UTWo_CRNRCVi-8MsJM2KfYb_rJQBaTLPLdDWi8N/s474/carrying+cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOVerMPXmloZRTxf25pAh5pwzYBq_1XkOEQSlSMqY3VrPRIrmqJkkA8wKna0ic4QO1r9oVREQmiLZ7cSqLM9TAuFj6EHNymep_4YC8UTWo_CRNRCVi-8MsJM2KfYb_rJQBaTLPLdDWi8N/s320/carrying+cross.jpg" width="320" /></a>Times of sorrow and suffering can be powerful experiences that invite reflection on Jesus' own sufferings and facilitate His presence and comfort. </p><p>He was betrayed, abandoned, slandered, imprisoned, tortured, falsely condemned, and executed. In fact, the first disciples to follow Him left nets, family, indeed everything to follow him; but those same followers abandoned Him. And the last disciple to forsake Him (Mark 14.52)<i> fled naked</i>, a symbol of the total abandonment of Jesus by his disciples, ultimately leaving even his clothes in his frantic haste to get away from Jesus. </p><p><b><i>What does a healthy man or woman go through when they are treated this way?</i></b></p><p><b><i>What angers and resentments tested Jesus? </i></b></p><p><b><i>What bitterness? </i></b></p><p><b><i>How did Jesus handle this even when it was his free choice? </i></b></p><p>Jesus could have retreated into his divine nature and blocked off the psychological and physical tortures and remained in infinite peace and calm. Instead, He "hid" His divinity and fully experienced the pain and horrors of the cross in all His sinless humanity. </p><p>Jesus went through this suffering for us, because of our sin to save us from the destruction we inflict on others, ourselves, and the world. Deep heart pain comes when those closest to you are suffering or inflict pain upon you. The way of entry to minister to those who work among the persecuted and least reached is the way of deep heart pain. </p><p>When we suffer slander, abandonment, rejection, attack, persecution, we enter into Christ's sufferings, and while that is "Christlike", <u>it is also extremely painful.</u> Yet somehow, by His wounds our own wounds are healed (Job 36.16; Is 53.5; I Pt 2.24)</p><p>As we picture ourselves coming to join Mary and the other women standing at the foot of the cross, watching His tortured death, there is little to say that will comfort them. Only a wordless presence of compassion, tears, and grief is all we can imaginatively offer her. </p><p><i>The ministry of silent compassionate presence.</i></p><p>The Ministry of Presence has increasing scientifically validated research behind it. "[When we create a place and time to sit and compassionately listen to people], the openness experienced throughout the body, listening from increasing stillness; fewer thoughts and less planning [reliance on the Holy Spirit!], a deepening trust develops that such holding [of their story allows a place where healing begins]..."</p><p>Physical pain constricts our reality. What is beautiful even in the horror of the cross is Jesus' clear presence of mind despite immense physical pain to create a new family of disciples of those who do His will. <i>"Woman, here is your son. Then He said to the disciple, here is your mother"</i> (John 20.26-27).</p><p>Resurrection Day can't come too soon! </p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Works Cited: </u></b></p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Raymond E. Brown, <i>Crucified Christ in Holy week: Essays on the Four Gospel Passion Narratives. </i></p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bonnie Badenoch, <i>The Heart of Trauma: Healing the Embodied Brain in the Context of Relationships</i> (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) </p><p>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>James Tetlow, <i>Choosing Christ in the World</i></p><p><br /></p>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-5630024866425186562021-02-17T20:58:00.004-06:002021-02-17T20:58:50.573-06:00The 6th Stage of Grief...Meaning<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFlDHMDvZ0hU66chVcwpb706NnPMbCtGuNr10biTW1qavprncxenvC7mrodZXQXQEPYzi-y0oySjNP_3BTTO3hTCqDaQtPji63C6J49w8pdZSvGIU-YExJnxbvCIseXv-5VIQv0B3xJLGh/s1010/kubler-ross+grief.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1010" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFlDHMDvZ0hU66chVcwpb706NnPMbCtGuNr10biTW1qavprncxenvC7mrodZXQXQEPYzi-y0oySjNP_3BTTO3hTCqDaQtPji63C6J49w8pdZSvGIU-YExJnxbvCIseXv-5VIQv0B3xJLGh/w640-h480/kubler-ross+grief.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Elizabeth Kubler Ross and David Kessler did a great service in putting forth the theory that Grief has 5 stages. (See their book: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grief-Grieving-Finding-Meaning-Through/dp/1476775559/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=on+grief+and+grieving&qid=1611098160&sr=8-1" target="_blank">On Grief and Grieving</a>). <p></p><p>These are: </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Denial</li><li>Anger</li><li>Bargaining</li><li>Depression</li><li>Acceptance</li></ol><p></p><p>Another way to look at grief in 5 stages is through the Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills picture of grief: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpDLI5wwOLfOe_nike2G5pkXmpASf-_je9bH8W4elveAUyda5efV77ISycPGcbG3B4HL9J9NbjKaz-zWR7rpgio9C1T1dhsAVSi-yWBfLZScRM12XsgU8EZJn9xi4YT8qJWnliRg1VI6o/s888/grief+curve.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="888" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpDLI5wwOLfOe_nike2G5pkXmpASf-_je9bH8W4elveAUyda5efV77ISycPGcbG3B4HL9J9NbjKaz-zWR7rpgio9C1T1dhsAVSi-yWBfLZScRM12XsgU8EZJn9xi4YT8qJWnliRg1VI6o/w400-h315/grief+curve.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>I've even seen 7 stages of grief! </p><p>There are important things to know about grief: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Grief is carried in the body, and all of us carry it differently. </li><li>Some of us get headaches, our stomach gets twisted up. </li><li>Breathing may feel constricted, or a tightness is felt in one's chest. </li><li>Grief can be felt in the body as a sluggishness or exhaustion. </li><li>It can be a part of how we are doing psychosomatically.</li><li>Grief is not linear – people experience and express grief very individually based on who they are and where they are and what they are grieving.</li></ul><p></p><p>It's necessary to see whatever loss we have experienced (not just a death) as a disruption in our system of meaning. Something in our story changes when we go through grief, and we grapple with it. What is our story, and how does this loss impact our story? What is the meaning behind this change, this loss, and how should we move forward? </p><p>This leads us to the 6th Stage of Grief, according to David Kessler, in his book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Meaning-Sixth-Stage-Grief/dp/1501192744/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WFBH37A3UI98&dchild=1&keywords=david+kessler+finding+meaning+the+sixth+stage+of+grief&qid=1611098262&sprefix=david+kessler+%2Caps%2C190&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Finding Meaning: The 6th Stage of Grief</a>. </p><p>Here are some of my favorite quotes: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>He offers the hope that post traumatic growth happens more often than post traumatic stress.</li><li>However and whenever meaning is found, meaning matters and meaning will heal us. (p15). </li><li>And healing doesn't mean that the loss didn't happen, it means that it no longer controls or dominates us. </li><li>All of us get broken in some way. what matters is how we get up and put the pieces back together again. (p. 28). </li><li><u>Grief must be witnessed. Grief should unite us, not be experienced in isolation</u>. He tells the story of a researcher on an indigenous village in Australia. In that village, the custom is that the night someone dies, everyone in the village moves a piece of furniture or something into their yard. The next day, when the bereaved family wakes up and looks outside, they see that everything has changed since their loved one died - not just for them but for everyone. That's how these communities witness and mirror grief. They are showing in a tangible way that someone's death matters. Loss is made visible. (p.30)</li><li>It's important to realize that "the grieving mind finds no hope after loss. But when you're ready to hope again, you will be able to find it." (p14). </li><li>The act of witnessing someone's vulnerability in grief can bring the person out of isolation if the witnessing is done without judgment. (p.30)</li><li>When people ask me how long they're going to grieve, I ask them, "How long will your loved one be dead? That's how long. I don't mean you'll be in pain forever, but you will never forget that person, never be able to fill the unique hole left in your heart. </li><li><u>Hope has a very close relationship with meaning.</u> In the same way our meaning changes, so does hope. Sometimes when someone is stuck in grief, I'll say, "It sounds like hope died with your loved one. It seems all is lost." Surprisingly they perk up. "Yes, that's it!" They feel witnessed. But then I'll tell them their loss of hope can be temporary. Until you find it, I'll hold it for you. I have hope for you. I don't want to invalidate your feelings as they are, but I also don't want to give death any more power than it already has. Death ends a life, but not our relationship, our love, or our hope." (p. 33)</li><li>The story we tell ourselves about the death or the loss shape our grief and help us heal or keep us mired in suffering. What story are we telling ourselves? (p.51)</li><li><b>The first step in finding meaning is acceptance.</b></li><li><b></b>Next is deciding if we will allow ourselves to heal from the loss. Not making a decision is making a decision.<i><b> Healing doesn't allow for neutrality.</b></i> It's an active process, and we have to decide if we will live again. </li><li>Many people spend years looking for the why of the loss, the why of the death. However, it is often more helpful to look for <i>the why of the life. </i>why did the loved one live? What did you get out of knowing the loved one. Sometimes we just need to reframe the question! </li></ul><p></p><p>He states, </p><p></p><blockquote>"Each of us has the ability to choose how we respond to even the most terrible circumstances. 'We who have lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken fro a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.' Frankl suggested that when we are faced with a situation that is hopeless, unchangeable, 'we are challenged to change ourselves.' When we make the choice to do that, we can turn tragedy into an occasion for growth."</blockquote><p></p><p><b><u>Resources</u></b></p><p><i>The Sixth Stage of Grief</i>, David Kessler</p><p><i>Man's Search of Meaning</i>, Viktor Frankl</p><p><b><u>Other Grief Blog Posts</u></b></p><ul><li><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/07/jobs-wife-heroine-of-suffering.html" target="_blank">Job's Wife: Authenticity in Suffering</a></li><li><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/03/grief.html" target="_blank">Grief</a></li><li><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/03/my-grief-bag.html" target="_blank">My Grief Bag</a></li><li><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/embracing-gift-of-grief.html" target="_blank">Embracing the Gift of Grief</a> </li><li><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/12/four-aspects-to-not-being-overcome-by.html" target="_blank">4 Aspects to Not Being Overcome By Evil</a> </li><li><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/i-went-to-woods.html" target="_blank">I Went To The Woods</a> </li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-30732858845907202952021-01-29T06:36:00.004-06:002021-01-29T07:28:15.143-06:00Caught Between the Nails<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi14KjokfcynEU5k8G4zJQe3kW-cuxpXuq_Woba_dT7K9BHECqUTQgCz5NUtWJizRRGYwJyACBw_QE0pYd5GegCrVCEmGPs7TDb_QYGApI732wn1iN4IwbbSkXnpEkzwfvyNvgyBwrIq2g4/s974/hand+nailed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi14KjokfcynEU5k8G4zJQe3kW-cuxpXuq_Woba_dT7K9BHECqUTQgCz5NUtWJizRRGYwJyACBw_QE0pYd5GegCrVCEmGPs7TDb_QYGApI732wn1iN4IwbbSkXnpEkzwfvyNvgyBwrIq2g4/s320/hand+nailed.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>This post is by <span style="text-align: center;">Betty W. Skinner</span></i></p><p>As we all endure this new sorrow and uncertainty; as we seek common ground in a world shattered by disease, hostility, and violence; as we stumble under the weight of loss and grief, how can we know and believe that God is with us?</p><p style="text-align: center;">Oh, Good Jesus, </p><p style="text-align: center;">Hear me, hold me, love me</p><p style="text-align: center;">in this, the season of</p><p style="text-align: center;">my spirit's loss and grieving, </p><p style="text-align: center;">in the anguish of my waiting, </p><p style="text-align: center;">in the silence of familiar voices gone, </p><p style="text-align: center;">in the pain of all the change, </p><p style="text-align: center;">in the twilight of my years</p><p style="text-align: center;">before Perfection dawns </p><p style="text-align: center;">and I am gone. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Oh, Good Jesus, </p><p style="text-align: center;">I try the letting go, </p><p style="text-align: center;">to understand my weakness,</p><p style="text-align: center;">to trust You in my darkness,</p><p style="text-align: center;">to make room for Your grace to heal.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Yet there is no return, </p><p style="text-align: center;">only the echo of my own crying.</p><p style="text-align: center;">It seems I, too, with you,</p><p style="text-align: center;">am caught between the nails. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Oh, Good Jesus,</p><p style="text-align: center;">in this holy place of crucifixion, </p><p style="text-align: center;">broaden the boundaries of my heart. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Soften the hard places that defend, define, deny. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Teach my heart to love.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Make it a refuge for others who, too, </p><p style="text-align: center;">are caught between the nails. </p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">My dear Friend, Jesus, eases the intensity of the pain and helps me stay focused on love, enabling me to go forward and release everything to him, knowing that no matter how circumstances unfold, all shall be well. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Jesus was always talking about love - nothing else mattered to him. Everything he did was about setting the example of love. He fed the poor and healed the desperate sick - never to show off his power or gain a following, but because He was moved to tears by their suffering. </p><p style="text-align: left;">He refused to bend to the hypocrisy of the religious without love. When an angry mob of churchmen threw a woman caught in adultery at his feet, he rose powerfully to her defense in a very volatile situation, daring the one without sin to throw the first stone. After they slunk away, he helped her to her feet and totally without judgment, called her to a higher way. </p><p style="text-align: left;">The way of love. </p><p style="text-align: left;">On the quiet Thursday evening before Passover, Jesus, knowing it would be their last time together on earth, called his little band of friends together for supper. When they came in, he bent down and tenderly washed their dusty feet to demonstrate for them once more, the great humility of love. After supper, he did another strange thing - he lifted a loaf of bread and told them it was his body which would be sacrificed for them. Then he raised his glass of wine and told them it was his blood which would soon be poured out for them. The very last thing he said to them before he went to crucifixion and death for the was, "My dear friends, I only have a brief time left to be with you. So, I give you a new commandment: Love each other just as much as I have loved you."</p><p style="text-align: left;">Love. <br />The great imperative is to love.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Loving others is the only thing that lasts and the only thing that changes anything. Such a simple thing, yet we miss it. As God's children, chosen and beloved, we are asked to watch carefully and learn from Jesus how to receive the love, and then go out and offer it to the hungry hearts of others. We are asked to stand together in the midst of a broken world, redemptively available, open and vulnerable to all its sorrow, suffering, and pain. Our goal is to be true to Him, to carry out His plan, to be captives in the procession of His triumphs. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-18276160316948827862021-01-17T08:31:00.010-06:002021-01-17T08:32:49.219-06:00Grieving the Impact of A Global Pandemic<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicDrFLaytVfIZmZpiV_Tvk5UpHnksuocVXpFfoLb7pvf7ZqunFZRZVC5XBZrWYj5B8XqOEjNgV_5v1nZds7-BWFq2CyaFR0o43SJbovxrEybqhlRMFQ3v7m9nJNuvjdFrBQtax3NvoNdm0/s490/empty+chair.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="474" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicDrFLaytVfIZmZpiV_Tvk5UpHnksuocVXpFfoLb7pvf7ZqunFZRZVC5XBZrWYj5B8XqOEjNgV_5v1nZds7-BWFq2CyaFR0o43SJbovxrEybqhlRMFQ3v7m9nJNuvjdFrBQtax3NvoNdm0/s320/empty+chair.jpg" /></a></div>There is much to grieve in 2021, now that the shock of the pandemic and resulting months and months of quarantine are wearing off. <p></p><p>Not acknowledging through <u><b>naming</b></u> and <b><u>feeling</u></b> and <b><u>facing </u></b>the grief and loss we've experienced results in not being able to move on and forward with hope and joy in the future. </p><p>Here are some named losses, but what would you add to the list? </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>We grieve the deaths of loved ones - permanent losses. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We grieve the future we have to face without those loved ones who died because of the pandemic, whether from the actual disease or because they could not get medical attention due to overwhelmed medical systems. </li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We grieve not being able to grieve together at the funerals of these loved ones. </li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Even when the pandemic ends, our world is forever altered. We can never go back to how it was before. We grieve a lost world. </li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We lost a year of in-person relationships and being "present" in key events of loved ones. Graduations, weddings, births, bridal showers, dying (last moments) and death. We grieve all of those losses. </li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We grieve how our lives were disrupted. Our personal and global narratives are forever marked by "the pandemic." </li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Future loss will often find their roots to losses in the pandemic. We grieve what is to come directly due to the pandemic.<i> (Anticipatory grief)</i></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We grieve the loss of finances due to loss of work. </li><li>We grieve the loss of our desired routine. </li><li>We grieve the loss of opportunities </li><li>We grieve the loss of traditions we could not engage in due to quarantines. </li><li>We grieve the fear now pervading the world. </li><li>We grieve the changes of public life and having to wear masks. </li></ul><p></p><p></p><div><br /></div><div>It's important to realize that <i>"<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Grief stays with us in some
profound way. Our relationship with it might change, and to the extent we
haven’t processed it, another big grief down the line may trigger a prior
grief. </span></i><i>All of our grief has a past and a future. It finds its place
on the timeline of our life. One loss
triggers another loss that preceded it." (</i>Nicholas Collura)</div><p></p><p></p><div>This past year has produced heightened sense of </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">loneliness</span></li><li>being out of control,</li><li>concern about our mental
health</li><li>feelings of isolation, chaos,
uncertainty</li><li>feelings of our life was being waster or
passing us by because we couldn’t do what we want to do,</li><li>a unique time of personal and collective trauma</li><li>feeling despair for the earth, society, and the world</li><li>the feeling that the pandemic and resulting tragedy is keeping us from
participating in something meaningful</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>These feelings and the losses associated with them - a loss of the innocence of not having them are all significant results of the pandemic to grieve. </div><div><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We all have grief work to do, and it's crucial to recognize that doing this work is fundamentally an invitation to
growth and healing; it won’t be easy or pain free.. It's also important to recognize that g</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">rief is not the enemy; rather, grief is our
own spirit’s best attempt to respond to the antagonism of loss.</span></div></div><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Grief is natural, normal, not easy, but <i>it’s sacred.</i> It is a time to turn to God, the God of all comfort, and grieve with Him. He grieves these losses that we experience and he is present in our losses and griefs. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>What do you need to go and grieve today? </i></p><span></span><p></p>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-38216168626833429672021-01-13T06:39:00.006-06:002021-01-14T08:17:08.756-06:00Silence in Grief<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Job became silent. </div>
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Heaven was silent. </div>
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God's presence brings silence. </div>
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The Holy Spirit groans when I can no longer find words. </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">Within the 5 stages of grief.</div>
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Denial-Anger-Bargaining-Depression-Acceptance...</div>
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<b>There is also:</b></div>
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<i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>Silence.</b></i></div>
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Grief so pervasive,</div>
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So continuous,</div>
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So deep,</div>
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How long, Lord? </div>
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Perhaps Friday and Saturday were like that. </div>
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After You died.<br />
<br />An end of one life, one hope, one dream<br />not knowing even that the next one will begin.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<b>Silence.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><div style="text-align: center;">From the depths of painful death and loss</div>
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I stand silently before the Throne</div><div style="text-align: center;">face-to-face with Justice </div><div style="text-align: center;">and demand Mercy. </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">In the silence and bitterness<br />of not knowing when it will end</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><br /></div><div>To be like Him means </div><div>continuous grief and pain</div><div>but also</div><div>compassion, loyalty, faithfulness</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
Walking thru </div>
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the world of souls</div>
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Accepting healing means</div>
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accepting new Life </div>
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Accepting He always cares.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">In the Sacred Romance </div></div>
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Longing is fulfilled</div>
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Lament is comforted</div>
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Beauty arises from ashes</div>
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Belovedness imparts identity</div>
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My heart and soul is comforted</div>
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By the Lover of My Soul</div>
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Who always Sees Me with Delight</div>
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He Stays with Me </div>
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In His Delight in me I focus<br />
The eyes of my soul </div>
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On His face </div>
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No longer estranged from the soil of my soul,</div>
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I swim in the river of light</div>
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Radiance returns</div>
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Beloved acceptance</div>
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Known in</div>
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Delight in.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Author unknown)</div>
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<i>Rend your heart and not your garments; turn back to God. Joel 2:13</i></div>
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-33300368477086194632020-09-27T16:32:00.003-05:002023-01-30T21:01:13.366-06:00Henna Bible Story - Every Womans Story <p style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNKB4z6JrCrR-_c9NLsyboDxjRppP2fE8ThFtghi7DTigTh5iscvz7z5NsnOzHXK-AGQ-ftk1TDd1r-F8finY7v4A4P6PcEdgA8MVg2VC1PLJm5l6EyACFf5E_SskjFrQU4wQj1FOKy1M/s1063/Henna2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1063" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNKB4z6JrCrR-_c9NLsyboDxjRppP2fE8ThFtghi7DTigTh5iscvz7z5NsnOzHXK-AGQ-ftk1TDd1r-F8finY7v4A4P6PcEdgA8MVg2VC1PLJm5l6EyACFf5E_SskjFrQU4wQj1FOKy1M/s320/Henna2.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br /><br /></b><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Every Woman's Story - telling the story of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. </b></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p>Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGJ6E-bJbNQ&t=333s" target="_blank">How to make your own Henna cones</a></p><p>This lovely lady does a way better job showing how to make your own henna cones from cellophane paper. </p><p>Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpFQOXAYJGo&t=310s" target="_blank">Mixing up your own Henna paste </a></p><p>She shows you how to get the right consistency and stir out the lumps. </p><p>So my henna cones are getting better after doing what the henna lady in the videos above suggest. <i>Progress, not perfection! </i></p><p>I'm starting with mostly the Arabic designs from the hennastories.org website, because I prefer them (ok, and they are easier, too!). <br /></p><p><b>Notes & Drawing:</b> <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QeUZ5tP9C3ATOHI0fJLdfsrI_FEMsT5Z/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Crucifixion, Burial, & Resurrection - Matt 27, Mark 15, & John 19. </a></p><p><b>Youtube Teaching Video: </b> <a href="https://youtu.be/g30YLykSb5Q" target="_blank">Telling the Every Woman's Story with Henna</a></p><p> </p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="197" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g30YLykSb5Q" width="350"></iframe><div> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhup5ZmcLelYiNzASn_RWjh1oQE5yj6BY91d6SUDYuOu5E0X6mbGM75A8b-CoLlrptfZy1K8i-33sWP55zbL3pCWtm1NEgWaVO6Kzv2fjIoevoU0JxooZ1AMSWV4DvsKNJ1H7MOGvf7GXPC/s724/henna2.1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="478" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhup5ZmcLelYiNzASn_RWjh1oQE5yj6BY91d6SUDYuOu5E0X6mbGM75A8b-CoLlrptfZy1K8i-33sWP55zbL3pCWtm1NEgWaVO6Kzv2fjIoevoU0JxooZ1AMSWV4DvsKNJ1H7MOGvf7GXPC/s320/henna2.1.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bwW5xaG94_5G5a1Ji5LrxoN69KPuOUSjayb2CVbXNdjzZ556jHXFY-rGVFE2VsSY4FqP_g0rT2klLijcQvBfgjCUyqE7B0LvY99EK5qqnEYdRznNOsfrjJUWKfvlEB5DD9_hYC1mLckf/s715/henna+2.2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="460" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bwW5xaG94_5G5a1Ji5LrxoN69KPuOUSjayb2CVbXNdjzZ556jHXFY-rGVFE2VsSY4FqP_g0rT2klLijcQvBfgjCUyqE7B0LvY99EK5qqnEYdRznNOsfrjJUWKfvlEB5DD9_hYC1mLckf/s320/henna+2.2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-art-to-tell-bible-stories.html" target="_blank">Henna Art - Intro and Getting Started</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-stories-wages-of-sin.html" target="_blank"><i>Henna Romans 6:23</i></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2023/01/henna-marys-story.html" target="_blank">Henna Mary's Story</a></i></div><br /></div>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-54215538218861758782020-09-21T15:58:00.007-05:002023-01-30T21:02:48.973-06:00Henna Bible Stories-The Wages of Sin<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirDqN7eKnrJw-U9dbU6cNBUxrAvBkTHhgMb9Oo91dDJYdbD3915XBuVTQxtmqEmCmTtGP1gRm58Wjw5Tg7djRXVhjC9Qj9YomOkFDgk5AUd-8hCsRJiv7HBO5t9Zb2ChQmjbRbcuSjR-lf/s242/way+of+life.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirDqN7eKnrJw-U9dbU6cNBUxrAvBkTHhgMb9Oo91dDJYdbD3915XBuVTQxtmqEmCmTtGP1gRm58Wjw5Tg7djRXVhjC9Qj9YomOkFDgk5AUd-8hCsRJiv7HBO5t9Zb2ChQmjbRbcuSjR-lf/s0/way+of+life.jpg" /></a></div><p><br />There's definitely a lot of room for me to improve my henna technique! I always got a "C" on my art projects in school. However, I'm happy to share my journey of becoming a better henna artist for a significant purpose! </p><p>Here's a sample of using Romans 6:23 from the design by <a href="https://www.hennastories.org/" target="_blank">Henna Stories </a>to share the Good News from more of a shame and honor perspective. </p><p></p><p>Feel free to download these docs if you find them helpful to you. </p><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FPuYJibnMK8gOoDdzfaFJnmu0N1c-iEo/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Henna Design of Romans 6:23</a></p><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PcCCvueTpJMLDiGbDKKoCNlDjasTw4WY/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Clean Copy of Notes for Romans 6:34 </a><br /></p><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12reEn3ciyNzCWCUchuOgTsavY72TUfFf/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Anna's Notes for Romans 6:34 </a></p><p> Video Links: <br /></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPf4OoXKtiQ" target="_blank">Youtube Video link</a></p><p> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="197" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rPf4OoXKtiQ" width="350"></iframe></p><p><br /></p><p><i><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-art-to-tell-bible-stories.html" target="_blank">Henna Art - Intro and Getting Started</a></i></p><p><i><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-bible-story-every-womans-story.html" target="_blank">Henna Every Woman's Story</a></i></p><p><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2023/01/henna-marys-story.html" target="_blank">Henna Mary's Story</a></p>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-16784638455155292712020-09-20T21:03:00.007-05:002023-01-31T15:24:56.207-06:00Henna Art to Tell Bible Stories<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4afLcsjOPqAWIKhCOv-DHgiyIsrVZwS6eXtUGcAK6h5s48gHceDaeZwBiA5wgbt8D-Iwy_zyaTtHqm0TMdpC6Ix6WXm4ae6ckMMHqaTuOdLNT9kdo-qZMlcrZG_Vkv7NQ8dwoo7CBKj_V/s274/henna+hand.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4afLcsjOPqAWIKhCOv-DHgiyIsrVZwS6eXtUGcAK6h5s48gHceDaeZwBiA5wgbt8D-Iwy_zyaTtHqm0TMdpC6Ix6WXm4ae6ckMMHqaTuOdLNT9kdo-qZMlcrZG_Vkv7NQ8dwoo7CBKj_V/s0/henna+hand.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oRRH0fGbC8AFr2Wc_p46RlUlSQxVo3DT/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Full PDF Instructions with Video Links</a><br /><br /><div>Henna is a great tool to share the Gospel. Islamic women don't often need formal theological discussions. They need friendship, love, and to learn the difference Christ makes in our lives. <br /><p></p><p>There's a henna website I've been watching for several years, and decided to share with a broader audience. I know what I wish I had available for me to learn, so I'm sharing my learning curve with you to try to improve my own henna art skills, and hopefully this will help you! <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"Henna tattoo art is an ancient art form that is part of women's culture in African, Arabic, and Asian cultures. For hundreds of years, henna, a natural dye made from the leaves of a henna plant, has been in used as a temporary tattoo in India, Pakistan, across parts of South East Asia, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. </i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Henna accompanies engagements, weddings, births, religious events, festivals and everyday life. Henna is largely worn for cosmetic purposes. Henna is also thought to have medicinal uses and rumored to also be a sunscreen as well as a hair dye. Before weddings, women will often host a party where the bride’s hands and feet are decorated with intricate henna designs." </i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>(https://www.hennastories.org/) </i><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oRRH0fGbC8AFr2Wc_p46RlUlSQxVo3DT/view?usp=sharing" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Full PDF Instructions with Video Links</a></p><p>It takes practice to mix it to the correct consistency, roll it in cellophane or plastic paper into a henna cone with a very small opening, and than practice applying it in pretty designs on hands and feet. An entire story can be told through Henna art! Henna will fade after 1-4 weeks, depending upon how long it's been on the skin.</p><p><b><u>Practice Videos:</u></b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAwdB-jltuQ&t=222s" target="_blank">Henna Drills </a>for Beginners</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2iV12pyrRU" target="_blank">Mistakes Beginner Henna Artists Do</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxOq-smazgU" target="_blank">Henna for Beginners</a></li></ul><p></p><p><br />The goal is to learn to mix from scratch and make your own henna cone. Store-bought henna cones are fine, but you may prefer to cut them open and transfer to your own cellophane or pastry bag, as the cone tip is often not fine enough. </p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/AF0dNzQVH5Q" target="_blank"><b>Henna Ingredient List Video: </b></a></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="180" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AF0dNzQVH5Q" width="320"></iframe>
<p><br /></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/lBkMsT059iY" target="_blank">Video: Making Your Henna Cone </a></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="180" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lBkMsT059iY" width="320"></iframe>
<p><br /></p><p>In the Middle East and across Asia and Africa, henna cones in your local grocery store, pharmacy, or local beauty supply or accessory store. (They are also available on Amazon). I would use caution however, as those from Amazon may be dried out and may not be good. </p><p>Alternatively, you can purchase the store-bought premade henna cones, then make your own henna cones out of cellophane paper from the florist. Strain the store-bought henna through a nylon sock into your homemade cone. This will likely be a much better henna cone. </p><p>Or - mix your own! One way to ensure having fresh henna is buying fresh henna powder and learn to mix your own. Henna, once mixed, can be kept in the freezer for a month. <br /><br />Generally, I have avoided purchasing black henna, as it often has a substance called PPD and is allergenic and adds to the toxic chemical load on the body. However, I saw some gorgeous henna design that has made me rethink this for arts' sake. A mix of black and brown henna in a design can be stunning. There are pics online where sparkle has been added which is pretty too. <br /></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://youtu.be/2vTZpxcqNSI" target="_blank"><b>Video: Mixing Your Own Henna from Scratch </b></a></p><p><b>Here's the supply list for making your own:</b></p><ul><li><b>body art quality (BAQ) henna powder (recommend Rajasthani) (2 tablespoons (tbsp) or 6 teaspoons (tsp))<br /></b></li><li><b>eucalyptus oil, lavendar oil, tea tree oil, or mustard oil (2 teaspoons)<br /></b></li><li><b>lemon Juice - mix until (American) pudding or mashed potatos consistency<br /></b></li><li><b>airtight container</b></li><li><b>plastic paper (cellophane used in gift wrap works) or pastry bag with a fine tip. Cut to 4x6 inches (= 15x10cm)<br /></b></li><li><b>transparent tape</b></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://youtu.be/nggLxW2OOY8" target="_blank">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="180" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2vTZpxcqNSI" width="320"></iframe> </a></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>You want to purchase body art quality (BAQ) triple sifted henna: </b></p><p>Another site that explains about this is here: <a href="https://bodyartquality.com/" target="_blank">Body Art Quality</a></p><p>- Henna that has a very high natural dye content<br />- Henna that is very finely cleaned, ground and triple (or more) sifted<br />- Body Art Quality henna is often referred to as BAQ henna (not henna for hair)<br /><br />You'll have to brush off the henna once it's done drying, and clean up the mess. Henna needs to stay on for 4-24 hours to really soak into the skin to get dark before brushing off. So if you plan on going somewhere right after applying, just be advised of this. </p><p>When scraping henna off the skin, I always think it looks like mice poop so don’t be alarmed! </p><p>Please don't hesitate to write and ask questions about any step.</p><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oRRH0fGbC8AFr2Wc_p46RlUlSQxVo3DT/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Full PDF Instructions with Video Links</a></p><p><i><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-stories-wages-of-sin.html" target="_blank">Henna Romans 6:23</a></i></p><p><i><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2020/09/henna-bible-story-every-womans-story.html" target="_blank">Henna Every Woman's Story</a></i></p><p><i><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2023/01/henna-marys-story.html" target="_blank">Henna Mary's Story</a></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p></div>Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-63891733263875341762020-04-19T11:18:00.002-05:002020-04-19T11:21:52.172-05:00How I Survived 8 Months With My 3 Children in Lockdown In a War Zone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Kabul, Afghanistan</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It was the fall of 2008, and Gayle
Williams had just been killed<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/20/afghanistan-internationalaidanddevelopment"><span style="color: blue;"> (1)</span></a> by "The Vampire of Kabul"
Gulbadine Hekmatyr. (2) Within a few hours, all foreigners went into lock
down, meaning no walking on the street. Non-essential staff were to stay
home (women and children especially). All students were immediately
returned from school back to home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We were also required to have planned
randomized departures for work for "essential employees" (i.e. my husband) , try to send our guards for any shopping, and
avoid going anywhere out of our homes. It was shortly determined the lock down
would continue until Spring. Presidential elections were looming 8 months later. Depending on how the election went, our lock down could continue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So, there I was, looking at 8 months of
lock down in the war zone of Kabul, Afghanistan. I knew immediately
it would take something extra, some special awareness and focus to make it
through for me and for my children without long-term psychological problems for
all of us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">How could I do this with joy out of serving my Heavenly Father through this? </span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He gave me no promises that we would live through the lock down. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He gave me no promises that we'd all survive. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He did not promise we wouldn't be kidnapped or killed. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>But He did promise to be with us. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is no simple "right"
answer or one-size-fits-all for living through lock down. I tend to reject
banal simplistic conceptual spiritualized answers that don't really answer the
practical questions of lock down in risk. <i>(i.e. "God is
sovereign", "He is in control" etc.....yes, I <b>kno</b>w these things,
but that doesn't answer the lock down question and stays on the surface of the
problem). <br /><br /><b>The risk question is situational and demands a practical AND theological response. </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I testify that it IS possible:</span><br />
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to do well,</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to love well, </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to serve well, </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to relate well, </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to glorify God well in lock down situations. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It can be done with joy and supernatural peace. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lock down and quarantine can be lived through with
supernatural joy - joy even when things are not going well. </span></li>
</ul>
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<u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So let's try to break it down into
helpful pieces: </span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What's Normal? </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Isolation, loneliness, sadness,
grief, loss, mild depression, and more are all common experiences, even when
you do your best, and are nothing to be ashamed of. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the case of Covid-19, we
are globally collectively experiencing many of these things. Almost none of us (except perhaps the very rich) are able to escape. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">All of a sudden, the Church has woken up to the reality of isolation. Wouldn't it be great if church people could somehow "connect the dots" that<i> what they are feeling during a very short time in their home culture is what Global Workers feel much of the time in a foreign culture</i>? What a helpful thing would be to more effective shepherding of global workers! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are numerous tools available to help with isolation, loneliness, sadness, grief, loss, depression and more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">See </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.mmct.org/mcresources/" target="_blank">MMCT,</a> (English, Spanish, Korean, French)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sentwell.org, </span><br />
<a href="https://www.barnabas.org/resources/member-care-downloads" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Barnabas International Resources</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">for access to numerous resources on this. Recognize that what you are going through is normal. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Maintain</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Perspective: </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
Gift - </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">lock down is a gift. It is a gift to detox from our normal routines and demands of daily life, and focus on less things and people. Focus on what truly matters if you were to die tomorrow. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Recognize Emotions -</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Recognize that whatever emotions you are feeling, these are normal. Anger, shock, fear, uncertainty, etc. Let these emotions drive you to God, not to numbing activities. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">See what God is doing - </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What is he doing to transform you more into His likeness? What is He doing to put you in touch with neighbors you rarely talk with? Where is He working near you to draw people to Himself?</span><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Steward your body, relationships, (Don't die with unresolved issues) -</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> It's easier to maintain eternal perspective when you pay attention to stewarding yourself so you have the margin and energy to pour out to others. </span><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Categories to Pay Attention
To and Steward : </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Physical Health</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Emotions</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Mental Health</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Relationships</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Spiritual Vitality</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Environment</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">One of the most important things for good mental health is paying attention to our environment. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What I mean by environment is the sounds, site, smell, and taste. Make your home inviting and clean. Light some candles and make it cozy. Bake some cookies or good smelling scents. Take time to bake or make something delicious as often as you can. Turn on some worship music in the morning, and fun music in the afternoon. Make this environment an enjoyable place for all members of the family. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I took time on a daily basis to have a quiet moment reading my theology books and having an afternoon cup of coffee. I kept "mom's chocolate shelf" stocked (as did Neal) so that I could have occasional moments to myself. <br /><br />Neal would give me an hour break from the children or the night off. This helped me maintain my sanity. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Work Through Conflict and Give Everyone Quiet/Retreat Time. </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We all need a break from each other, even extroverts. Make a routine for the day, and include time for everyone to have alone time when they can read, nap, listen to music, or do something on their own. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Try as best as you can to work through the conflicts of the day, because we don't know what tomorrow holds. Don't be afraid, however, to let emotions cool overnight and talk it through the next morning. If you need help, please reach out - Neal or I are happy to help, especially if you are alone and isolated. I've also had friends who are counselors write and tell me they are available via secure video to help folks. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Recognize that Effort is Not enough: There are 6 ethical postures we can try to rely on during a long-term lock down:
</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Reason, principle, conscience, duty,
absolute freedom, private duty. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Reason
and principle of right action are not enough. We can allow our
feelings to dictate what we do and ignore our conscience.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is not absolute freedom, because there really is no such thing - we are constrained by Christ's calling. </span>Recognize that the only thing that will carry us through is Christ's love - His love for us and our desire to love Him back. This is a free choice, not duty. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Check In With the Family 1-2 week. </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even during this lock down, we are checking in with our teens to see how they are doing, what changes they want to make to do better during lockdown, what goals they have. Check in with the emotional and mental health of your household members. </span><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Most Important? </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Eternal Perspective - This will pass, and the world is not ending. There is still a task to do, to reach all the nations, so ignore all the Christians saying we are about to be raptured. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fun and Humor! - have a laugh and go about your day, no matter what is involved in your day. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We found creative ways to make life fun for our children during lock down, including 4pm "Dance" time. This is the time when little children usually get a little crabby, so I used to make them stand on our coffee table and turn up the music really loud and dance! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Make an "orange" meal, and try to list as many things that are orange. Go crazy and have fun. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Serious things are always coming ahead. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Remember, God is in control, and He takes no pleasure in death, sickness, decay, and this pandemic has NOT taken Him by surprise. He is faithful to never leave us in what He has called us to during this time. </span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sources Cited: </span></u></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">1. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/20/afghanistan-internationalaidanddevelopment"><span style="color: blue;">Gayle's Killing. </span></a>Numerous sources on this, but I
lived it in real time. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">2. Hekmatyr is known as the
"vampire of Kabul" (told to me, Anna, by Afghans themselves) and in
press reports as the Butcher of Kabul. <i>"Hekmatyar is responsible for
deliberately slaughtering roughly 50,000 Kabuli civilians during his
bombardments of the city during the extermination campaign westerners still
quaintly refer to as the "Afghan civil war," that hellish
ISI-wrought, Khomeinist-contested and Saudi- funded interregnum between the Red
Army's massacres and the Taliban despotism" </i><a href="https://transmontanus.blogspot.com/2012/02/gulbuddin-hekmatyar-return-of-vampire.html"><span style="color: blue;">(Source)</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Hekmatyar stands out with an
almost unparalleled record of human rights abuses. Aside from indiscriminate
shelling of civilians, he is accused of assassinating intellectuals, feminists
and royalists. His followers have run torture chambers in Pakistan and thrown
acid at women." <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/04/afghan-warlord-gulbuddin-hekmatyar-returns-kabul-20-years-call-peace"><span style="color: blue;">(Source)</span></a> </span></div>
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-47328088794252438572020-03-05T08:37:00.002-06:002020-03-05T08:37:50.609-06:00The Last Week of Furlough<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>(Guest Post) </b><br />
<br />
Before I served overseas, I would never have guessed the reality of this crazy life. Romanticized notions of living in a different country, ideals about engaging the culture there, preconceived ideas on what “ministry” should look like, all crowded my head and clouded my vision. Looking back, I would even say they often stopped up my ears to the voice of the Holy Spirit.<br />
<br />
Experience can be a harsh teacher. Thank goodness it is always tempered by grace. I’ve got a long way to go, but the One who walks beside me has promised not to give up forming my character and teaching me to follow Him. I am glad to be on this journey.<br />
<br />
Now I’m looking at another trip home. We are in the process of planning the three month itinerary, attempting to balance family obligations and events, and looking at ticket options for flights. It’s that last one that has me reflecting on what it’s like to leave again. Our home town is complicated to fly out of, and we’re reviewing several possible scenarios for the trip back overseas. A family of six isn’t cheap or easy to move around, but consuming my thoughts even more as I wrestle through the options for the trip, are all the things we struggle with during that last week. Some of the stress load, we’ve managed to mitigate a little better each time, but a lot of it is simply part of the leaving process. The emotions we experience are intense and often contradictory. And in a family, we are sometimes processing different feelings at different times.<br />
<br />
If I had read an article like this one before I headed overseas, I would have done so with skepticism and more than a little judgmentalism. Who on earth do these international workers think they are to be whining and complaining about their stress levels and all the transitions and emotions they have to deal with when they get to serve God and see the world?<br />
<br />
<b>The truth is:</b> I can’t sleep the night before flying out. We board 3-4 airplanes on route to a country that is a twelve hour time difference from our home in North America—literally the other side of the world—and it takes almost two weeks to feel normal again once I get there. <br />
<br />
<b> The truth is:</b> we are overwhelmed by grief at leaving many of our family and friends, and harbor guilt ridden relief at leaving others. <br />
<br />
<b> The truth is:</b> we wonder if what we’re doing is really worth all this. Have we really heard God’s voice? Does he really want us to continue laboring such rocky ground as He’s called us to, with so little fruit to show, on nothing but the promise, “Follow me…”?<br />
<br />
Here are some of the emotions we wrestle with, particularly that last week:</div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Grief and Loss</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
We leave people. Friends who understand us, groups where we truly belong, cousins, grandparents… We leave places. We leave milk that the kids will actually drink. And Romaine lettuce. And rather a lot of healthy things that I would be feeding my family if we lived in a country where those things were available. We leave sanity. We leave a country where people help each other, in general, instead of taking advantage of others at every opportunity. We leave high speed internet and trustworthy healthcare. <br />
<br />
My husband’s grandmother is ninety-four—the same age as the Queen of England. She has the same hair-do, too. In our family, she is the queen, and my hero. Will we see her again, or are we saying good-bye for the last time? We leave my parents; they will miss us a lot and will make an effort to stay in touch while we’re away. We leave my in-laws, who won’t. </div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Stress and Anxiety</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Will we be able to make the 18+ hour drive (over five days of poignant family good-byes) with our old RV over rugged terrain to the town we need to store it in without incident or breakdown? Can we manage to pack all our bags to 20 kg exactly, maximizing space and weight? Can we somehow fit in that last package of gourmet chocolates our well-meaning loved one just gave us? Is there any way—as we promised ourselves last time—to minimize our carry-on luggage? <br />
<br />
Are we forgetting anything important? Did that crucial item (passport, driver’s licence, or Amazon order) arrive in the mail? Did we send off that last batch of receipts to HQ? Did our friend’s church come through with that support they promised? Are we going to be able to pay off our visa bill? How did we manage to spend so much money when all our friends and supporters have been feeding us and taking us out to the point that I’m downright embarrassed? How did we manage to gain so much weight—again!?</div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Anger and Confusion</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Why does my close relative seem to resent me and put me down at every opportunity? How can I foster some sort of relationship with her? Why does my father-in-law have time and energy for his step grandkids but not his own, especially when they’re only around every two years? We are once again surprised to find out who left their spouse, who stopped following the Lord, and what idols have come into the temple of the North American church. Why isn’t the Great Commission important to many believers here?</div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Gratitude and Humility</h4>
<br />
Some new supporters came through. A man we’d only just met told us God spoke to him and said to pray for our kids every day. Our church came around us in love and prayed over us, sending us away even though they wish we could stay. I don’t feel worth it at all.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Guilt and Uncertainty</h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Why didn’t we call that one older couple who supports us sooner? I didn’t know the husband was bed-ridden. How can we leave …? We are needed here. Will our ministry even bear fruit? Is it worth it? Is it worth the cost?</div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Enjoyment</b></h4>
<br />
One last swim in the lake. One last meal at … One last drive through what I still think is the most beautiful green countryside in the world. We are together with our kids.<br />
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Anticipation and Hope</h4>
<br />
We look forward to seeing our friends again! What a wonderful community we get to be a part of in our country of service! Our team is like family. It will be so good to get home, to settle in and start school, to begin work and to see what the Lord does this next year. <br />
<br />
The particulars will be different for other families and individuals who serve, but I wouldn’t be surprised if every worker who heads back to the field after home assignment cycles through these emotions and more, simply as a matter of course. Some things get easier with time. Some get harder to be honest. <br />
<br />
One thing I do know: our Lord has had difficult, intense weeks himself, one in particular. He knows all about it. And Him, we can trust.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-19890917058457415342019-09-09T13:48:00.002-05:002019-09-09T13:50:14.644-05:00Being A Ligament In The Global Body<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Guest post, used with permission)</i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If I had known that it would be this way, I never would have come. I’ll bet almost every global worker says that at some point. The particulars might be different, but we all come with expectations that are then slowly and painfully stripped away, rather like being flayed alive.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A real global worker engages the culture. A real global worker has meaningful interaction with local people. The really good global workers have children who speak the language and play with local children. You wear the clothes, eat the food, talk the talk, and share the good news. Nights in despair and defeat—maybe. Those who sow in tears will reap with laughter. But you do it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I looked in scorn at the families who didn’t invite local friends over. What a waste. What’s the point in being here if we don’t engage? What’s the point?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So here I am. There is no point in being here. By “my” standards, I am a complete and utter failure. My family is a complete and utter failure. I grieve. I cry. I become numb. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: large;">My husband is allergic to the food and introverted. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">My daughter is traumatized by the thought of speaking even one word to a local person her age. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">My son could have learned the language if the teacher hadn’t terrorized him for being a wiggly boy. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Another daughter is dyslexic and we’re doing speech therapy—let’s get English down before we try to pick up a second language again. </span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My youngest daughter and I are the only true extroverts in the house. The rest come crawling home, craving a quiet haven of rest from the outside world.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My husband is gifted in practical matters. He fixes broken things. He fixes machines of all types and sizes. He also does meetings with the local government, hoping that our project here will one day truly take off. He thinks outside the box and perseveres. Will it ever come to anything? There is no guarantee. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But that’s not what bothers me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am good at teaching music and drama and High School English to TCK’s. It is rewarding and life giving and fun. I pour myself into my children. I build up and am built up by other expat women. Moving overseas, I experienced for the first time what it is actually like to identify with and enjoy being around my own peer group. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My whole life I’ve been out of place. It’s nice to have friends here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am not a mouth. That doesn’t mean I’m not part of the Body. I am not a hand. That doesn’t mean I’m not a part of the Body. Some time ago, the thought came to me that perhaps I am a ligament. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Could I be happy if I were just a ligament—hidden away, supporting and connecting the body? It’s not glamorous, but I wasn’t seeking glory by coming out here. I think maybe the hardest part about being such an obscure organ is not being able to see the big picture. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes I catch a glimpse of what the body is doing and how it’s growing, but muscle and skin are hard to see through and I get stretched out of shape sometimes to the point that I feel like I’m going to snap. And still I wish I could engage locals while I’m here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I wanted to be a global worker since I was in the fifth grade, at least that’s when the thought first came to me. By eighth grade, the desire was there, too. After all, what could be more meaningful? What could be more worthwhile to do with your life than to serve God overseas like all those men and women who came through with their videos and their brochures and their masks and spears? I listened to their stories, propped global work up on its high, high pedestal like the church usually does, and waited for my turn to go. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I finally made it on a short term trip to a former Soviet country with a Bible college choir. How wonderful! That was the same year I married and we waited more than a decade before we finally got to go ourselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It wasn’t that I married the wrong guy. I made sure I married a man who wanted to go, too. We were sure of God’s leading in our relationship, and I have no regrets. It wasn’t that we were stalling. God had quite a roundabout path for us to take before we were ready. He opened the doors in His time, and I can see His hand. I am thankful for every step of the winding path that finally led us overseas. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I just thought things would be different when we got here. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Truth is, neither one of us has the gift of evangelism. I know there are other gifts, it just feels sometimes like if you don’t have that one particular gift, you’re useless.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Of course there was the time God miraculously preserved us from a terrorist attack and we were on the news. I believe He brought glory to himself through that. In addition, it seems logical that He must have some reason for keeping us alive. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is also the fact that I love living here. I love what it does for our family. I love the international community. There isn’t anything else I’d rather be doing or anywhere else I’d rather be living.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And there’s the impact back home. It seems to mean something to people—Christians and non-Christians—that we are willing to go. The fulfillment of my lifelong dream looks like a sacrifice in the eyes of some. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But my dream looked more like life in a village, with open doors and windows and children playing all around. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I speak the language. I’m even fluent depending on the subject matter and the particular dialect of the person I’m talking to.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Why am I like a soldier on standby?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-21994981899841568322019-03-12T13:45:00.000-05:002019-09-10T08:49:18.824-05:00Purple Vs. Orange Hoops and The 5C's<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<br />
In the 21st Century world of reaching the unreached, two significant characteristics of organizations, teams, and individuals is becoming urgently necessary:<br />
<br />
<b>Agility and flexibility</b>.(1)<br />
<br />
What do these two terms mean?<br />
<br />
<u>Agility:</u> 1. Ability to move quickly and easily. 1.1 Ability to think and understand quickly.<br />
<br />
<u>Flexibility:</u> 1. The quality of bending easily without breaking. 1.1 The ability to be easily modified. 1.2 Willingness to change or compromise. (2)<br />
<br />
Our experience in working with hundreds of organizations is that there are a few areas of conflict when we will not move forward in partnership with an organization, because we experience a lack of agility and flexibility with them.<br />
<br />
What is the nature of what we are experiencing?<br />
<br />
<b>Is it relational, theological, or ecclesiastical?</b><br />
<br />
<b>If relational, </b>it usually stems to a lack of trust, an inability to communicate well and be understood, and most importantly, a lack of chemistry. See the 5 C's below.<br />
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<b>If theological,</b> is there a significant lack of ability to look past the disagreement and move forward in partnership?<br />
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For example, we've seen this on the field where the theological value in terms of a missiological belief were held to so tightly the team was willing to break relationship over it, even though it was not related to soteriology but to modality in the local environment- how the mission should be done (although Winters (3) would have probably used the term sodality here, the fact was the main issue was how the local church should be implemented and funded).<br />
<br />
Our perspective as conflict mediators was that the missiological belief originated from a cultural (North American) missiological value that was in direct conflict with what local believers wanted and what the cultural advisors were asking for.<br />
<br />
In this sense then, the expatriate (North American missionary) was imposing theological and missiological cultural imperialism, using sophisticated spiritualized language. It did not end well, the team broke up leaving all parties hurt and relationships unreconciled for years after.<br />
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<b>If ecclesiastical, </b>how restrictive or liberal is the potential partner being? We believe in the liberal affirmation of gifts, and by liberal, I mean absent of cumbersome restrictive processes. Time, money and resources are wasted because an organization or denomination says "It (the ministry) has to be done THIS way." In order for this task to be done, it must have a certain Evangelical-truth-focused-our-way "stamp" on it. <b>This means you have to go through our training and do it our way, even if you already have had the training elsewhere and we've interviewed you. </b><br />
<br />
In other words, (read with sarcasm)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Oh, you went through some hoops? Yours were purple, but ours are orange. You have to go through our orange hoops, too, even though in the end, you'll have the exact same skill...again." </i></blockquote>
<br />
I know that one response to this could be that organizations need to protect "their hedgehog" in order to not have missional drift. (4) However, at some point, (re) training becomes ridiculously unnecessary and poor stewardship.<br />
<br />
Henry Cloud wrote, "The best predictor of the future is the past." What has already happened in this partnership to give us pause? What objective hope do we really have that anything will change? If we don't have anything tangible, we need to be willing to end the partnership or even talks of a partnership.<br />
<br />
What do we look for in partnerships? There are many different web pages suggesting a variety of different "C's" but here are the ones we use to analyze if we should move forward:<br />
<br />
<b>The 5 C's of partnerships:</b><br />
<br />
<b>1. Chemistry</b> - is there an easy, natural, relational chemistry with this individual or organization? It's a bit of an intangible thing to describe, but we ask: "Do we like being around these people and do they appear to like being around us? Would we want to use some of our relax time to be around them?"<br />
<br />
I've experienced chemistry with brothers and sisters from cultures all over the world. Chemistry crosses cultures, genders, even religion. There are some Muslim brothers and sisters who I love dearly and enjoy partnering with in projects together.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Communication</b> - do we seem to be able to easily communicate with each other and understand each other? Is there an easy manner of clarification (assuming the best) and does it take a lot or a little to go into conflict over communication? When conflict is addressed, are both sides able to enter into it gently and with humility? Does the process of working through conflict result in increased trust and loyalty on both sides?<br />
<br />
<b>3. Competence</b> - are we competent for the task and are they? If not, can the skill be learned and improvement shown rather quickly? Or is the energy needed on our part or theirs simply too much for us right now to "get to competence" for the task?<br />
<br />
We used to think that competence can be gained, but after watching people over years and agonizing over them and our own responses, we realized that some truly cannot gain true competence (as we may define it), or we simply cannot get the competence needed (as they define it).<br />
<br />
In some ways, it can be simply the wrong fit. We've seen a person trying to do the best job they can and just not being competent. But move them to a totally different job, and wow! They are flourishing and great stuff for the Kingdom is happening! So "competent" can "masque" "wrong fit" and leadership is wise to make changes.<br />
<br />
However, since many mission organizations do not quickly "let people go" (fire them, make them redundant, etc.) over lack of competence, in the end, with all the trainings we do, we train people that we'd never send folks to, simply because our philosophy is that a bit more training could help the incompetent folks perhaps do a better job since they are already trying to do it and their organization isn't stopping them even though they probably should.<br />
<br />
We trust God's sovereignty here as He works through individuals, and occasionally, we are happily surprised to see growth. I am also well aware that there are some who know me and think <i>I'm not competent</i>, so at some point, while we may not enter into close partnership with some folks, we also trust God working in and through each one of us with our limitations.<br />
<br />
<b>4. Character</b> - do they have character that matches their words? If we have an uneasy feeling about this, we'll pull back and wait until we see reality and evident fruit of poor character or Holy Spirit character.<br />
<br />
For example, I watched Neal once interacting with another gentleman as we explored partnership with another couple together over dinner. I observed my husband more insecure and being verbally trod over, "schooled" by the other man. At the end of the evening in the privacy of our room, I reflected to him what I observed and that it was clear to me we were not to enter into partnership with the other couple.<br />
<br />
The reality was that neither of us couples were being pulled to be our best-- we clearly couldn't do that for the other couple either. So we work in different parts of His harvest field, and we cheer for them from a distance.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Calling</b> - is there a clear calling to partner together?<br />
<br />
Usually, if one of these is not going well, we won't enter into a partnership. As a husband-and-wife team, if one of us has an issue with a ministry partnership the other is engaged in, we'll ask for a <i>Necessary Ending</i> (5) analysis to see if/when we should end the partnership.<br />
<br />
Humility is called for here, and a careful listening to the Holy Spirit on what we should do when things aren't going well, either before we've formally entered into a ministry partnership or are already in one and are considering ending it.<br />
<br />
Either way, it is often a carefully walked path with wise advisors to know what we are called to in partnership with others for the sake of His Kingdom.<br />
<br />
It requires tolerance for ambiguity - we can't know everything, as well as acceptance of knowing we'll disappoint others. Some have a much harder time with ambiguity and loose ends.<br />
<br />
It also requires time. This blog post is short in describing all of this, but it takes a lot of time. Neal and I have spent probably 80 hours simply discussing one specific partnership to try to understand them and ourselves, and what our response was and why we were reacting the way we were. We agonized over those folks. We tried to understand what was bothering us, why did one little statement bother us, was it us or was it them? In the end, when it was that hard to figure things out, we knew that there would never be a partnership.<br />
<br />
While we always want to be willing to work through conflict and difficult partnerships, it seems that some things just cannot be resolved on this side of Heaven in our human finiteness. But knowing our own boundaries and what His Spirit is calling us to helps us know how to navigate complex situations and keep pressing on in the race He has called us to.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Sources:</u></b><br />
1. Daniel Wagner, Dante Disparte, <i>Global Risk Agility and Decision Making</i><br />
2. Oxford Dictionary Online, accessed 3.12.19<br />
3. Ralph Winters, <i>Perspectives of the World Christian Movement</i><br />
4. Jim Collins, <i>Good to Great</i><br />
5. Henry Cloud,<i> Necessary Endings, </i>chapters 5 -7.<br />
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<br /></div>
Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-47728412891284896372019-03-01T21:47:00.004-06:002022-08-19T12:04:41.885-05:00My Grief Bag<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBFmHayVJ6SRC3BqJnmJlx4cuRv9rYkLRx-yUkwWDAykSea4FuW4LmbCd0M0deE6jhOOgHOyIKA059b8CC8hPVLFNX1FEma_OhNnFUb_x_jSzHfWwOUadGo8nFqc3HbmXP6FD0tZyRJu6/s1600/WEIGHT-GRIEF-300x224.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBFmHayVJ6SRC3BqJnmJlx4cuRv9rYkLRx-yUkwWDAykSea4FuW4LmbCd0M0deE6jhOOgHOyIKA059b8CC8hPVLFNX1FEma_OhNnFUb_x_jSzHfWwOUadGo8nFqc3HbmXP6FD0tZyRJu6/s1600/WEIGHT-GRIEF-300x224.jpg" /></a><br />
My grief bag<br />
Surprises me<br />
It opens at the most inconvenient moments<br />
My hand can't help but go in<br />
And draw out more<br />
Pain<br />
Tears<br />
Sadness seeps<br />
Into my bones<br />
Exhaustion sets in<br />
The pain expands as I gently place it back<br />
In my grief bag<br />
Heavier and bigger<br />
Today than yesterday <br />
Birth, death, and life-in-between marked <br />
By wounds.<br />
I sit in my grief once again<br />
And grieve.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth. It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.…Ecclesiastes 7:1-3</i></blockquote>
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<b><u>Related Posts</u></b><br /><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/embracing-gift-of-grief.html" target="_blank">Embracing the Gift of Grief</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/12/four-aspects-to-not-being-overcome-by.html" target="_blank">4 Aspects to Not Being Overcome By Evil</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/i-went-to-woods.html" target="_blank">I Went To The Woods</a><br />
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-39588790379642596502019-02-26T18:46:00.002-06:002019-02-26T21:40:21.386-06:00Spiritual Debriefing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Debriefing is like unpacking your suitcase 4 different ways. </b>There are at least three primary types of debriefing workers may receive during a career, and this post introduces the fourth.<b> </b><br />
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<b><u>1. The Administrative Debrief. </u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
This debrief is when the HR/Team Leader/Director of Operations sits down with a worker and discusses administrative details and what went well, what didn't, what the worker may need to do or hand over to another for the smooth functioning of the team and/or project. This is primarily task oriented and does not address the soul (inner life) of the worker.<br />
<br />
Administrators should be extremely cautious of making any judgment of a worker at this point - usually administrative debriefs occur right after a worker comes off the field and is back at headquarters. Often it takes a worker up to 3 months to "feel normal", but even then is still in major transition and recovery. The administrative debrief should not include the term debrief.<br />
<br />
<b><u>2. The Term Debrief</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
This type of debriefing happens after a worker has completed a term, is much more related to "their story." It focuses on the highs and lows of the term, joys and challenges, things learned, relationships built, griefs and losses. This is much more about understanding the whole term and what happened to this person - their expectations met and unmet, what unresolved conflicts there may be, etc.<br />
<br />
The term debrief should also not include the Administrative debrief, and if a crisis debrief has not been done even though a crisis occurred, that is separate from a term debrief.<br />
<br />
<b><u>3. The Crisis Debrief. </u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
This we call the Critical Incident Stress Debrief (CISD) Neal and I often give this training (how to give a CISD) to teams, organizations, and communities. Lay people are able to give this debrief, but we no longer broadly advertise it - the right kind of individual at the right stage of life is necessary for this one to go well. Instead, if the leaders in a community or organization would like this training, please simply contact us to arrange it.<br />
<br />
This type of debriefing occurs after a crisis event - could be a car accident, a bombing, even a birthing experience in a cross-cultural situation. The severity of the event depends upon how it impacted the individual. Often times, the people surrounding the person in crisis also need a debrief.<br />
<br />
This type of debrief focuses on just the crisis event, and is a guided process that helps the individual work through the trauma. It has been proven that a trained peer debriefer providing the crisis debrief can help a worker avoid or dramatically decrease the effects of PTSD.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:annahampton00@gmail.com" target="_blank">Contact me </a>if you are interested to discuss how to schedule this training for your group/area.<br />
<br />
But I want to discuss another type of debriefing.<br />
<br />
<b><u>4. A Spiritual History Debrief. </u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
This type of debriefing is not discussed or rarely discussed. There is not a book or article about it that I am aware of. If you have inner healing prayer training, or are well versed in spiritual warfare, it will help.<br />
<br />
It also helps to know the actual physical/geographical history of the land that the worker has been in, including the types of holidays they celebrate. What idioms do they have in their culture? What phrases are repeated a lot? How do the average people practice their religion?<br />
<br />
Knowing this background is extremely helpful. I advocate member care workers also learn and pay attention to both history and current events in the countries of the workers they shepherd and care for.<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A spiritual history debrief is a subset of a term debrief, and would also definitely factor in what happened from a crisis (hopefully the worker had a crisis debrief ). </li>
<li>A spiritual history debrief is <b><u>not</u></b> a subset of a crisis debrief. A Crisis debrief stands alone, and should not have much if any element of inner healing prayer. That should stay separate. </li>
<li>Like any debriefing, the person being debriefed should do the most talking. </li>
<li>The person providing the debrief should refrain from teaching. </li>
<li>This is also not spiritual direction, not coaching, and not counseling. </li>
</ul>
This is asking questions that the worker has not had time to think through, and requires silence and waiting while they realize some of the spiritual elements of what they've experienced. It also requires trust - this is pointing to the person's inner life, and often we do a great job judging/criticizing ourselves.<br />
<br />
God desires truth in our inner being, so this is a way of drawing out those deeper truths about who they are, who God has been for them this past term, and recognizing why He put them in that place for their own transformation and for others.<br />
<br />
<b>Here are five areas we focus on when incorporating a spiritual debriefing element with a person: </b><br />
<br />
1. What have you learned and discovered about yourself during this term? How have you recognized and celebrated that you sense God's goodness and you are acting in his pleasure? What would it look like to celebrate His goodness in your life and that He is pleased with you?<br />
<br />
2. What have you discovered about yourself that God wants you to work on? What "room" in your soul do you need to invite God into and let Him touch and heal you there?<br />
<br />
3. Externally - During this term, what did God invite you to participate in there? And to what degree did you participate in what He called you to?<br />
<br />
4. What external challenges and/or threats did you face, in whatever form? These could have been the forces of darkness battling you, your own choices, opposition from others - both other workers or locals? What do you sense God had in mind for you to engage in and how has that impacted you?<br />
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5. Where did you brush up against evil darkness and what has been the impact on you?<br />
<br />
Again, these are questions to ask gently and softly, and nuance as you feel led to. But often times, workers do not have safe places to discuss these questions. <b>I would strongly urge any leaders or administrators to refrain from offering a spiritual debriefing to anyone they have responsibility for.</b> Ask other trusted folks to help your workers.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-58483174349502386212019-02-23T19:59:00.003-06:002022-08-19T12:14:27.210-05:00Embracing the Gift of Grief<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><u><i>Embracing the Gift of </i></u><i>Grief <u>(1) </u></i></b></div>
<br />
What is it to wrap my arms and heart around grief?<br />
What is it to accept ongoing pain?<br />
What is it to not get cold-hearted?<br />
<br />
Unhealed.<br />
Unexpectedly ripped open,<br />
Unrelieved.<br />
<br />
Suffering old losses, fresh and new.<br />
Anguish...that hole in my heart<br />
Incessant presence.<br />
<br />
Risk and Grief<br />
Risk and Lament<br />
Intertwined<br />
<br />
Complaint<br />
Loss<br />
Appeal<br />
<br />
Directed to a God who<br />
Seems silent<br />
Distant.<br />
<br />
Desolation<br />
Out-of-control<br />
Where is He?<br />
<br />
Those who know little of lament and grief (2)<br />
Of death breathing down my neck daily<br />
Don't find comfort Good Friday<br />
<br />
Your Presence felt more<br />
Good Friday than<br />
Easter Sunday.<br />
<br />
Who named it Good (Friday)?<br />
It was the day of your suffering and death<br />
How long that day has lasted for your people<br />
<br />
The taste of hope fading<br />
bitter<br />
dry<br />
acidic<br />
gasping for air yet<br />
finally peace in acceptance<br />
<br />
No longer meaningless words<br />
Hope arising from deep grief<br />
<i>An instructed hope. </i><br />
<br />
Lament and grief as a form of resistance<br />
The status-quo is never acceptable.<br />
Grief - a way of standing in the midst of suffering<br />
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<br /></div>
Let me stand with my brothers and sisters who have stood in the tragic gap. (3)<br />
Let me stand along side those suffering by being with not doing for or to. (ibid 1)<br />
Let me enter Your grief and thereby hope for a longed for future.<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"The strange interconnection between lament and martyrdom [that highlights] the strange hope that the death of the innocent offers to Christians in their struggle for peace..." (4)</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>"There are things that can be seen only with eyes that have cried." (5)</i></div>
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<i>I see, Lord. Help me to always see, even if it means filled with grief, eyes filled with seeing horror.</i></div>
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<u><br /></u>
<u>Sources: </u><br />
1. Paper presented by Cathy Ross at Women in Missiology June 6, 2018. "Lament and Hope."<br />
2. Brueggemann, W., "The Costly Loss of Lament." <i>Journal for the Study of the Old Testament</i>, 11, no. 36.<br />
3. Parker J. Palmer http://www.couragerenewal.org/the-tragic-gap<br />
4. Katongole, E., <i>Born from Lament, The Theology and Politics of Hope in Africa</i>, 2017.<br />
5. Archbishop of Bukavu, Christopher Munzihirwa, martyred, 1996.<br />
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-11263018537177335762019-02-17T18:55:00.001-06:002019-03-02T11:57:24.824-06:00Response to #missionarywomentoo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>Here is a response to my previous <a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">blog post #missionarywomentoo. </a></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>From a mature, Christian woman who yes, submits to her husband but also enters into Co-Regency with him to steward all they have been given to steward:</i><br />
<br />
<br />
In reference to <a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">your last post about women</a>......a hot topic for me as a woman on the field for 15+ years....<o:p></o:p><br />
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**I'm not a feminist either, but I am a woman and I do have a voice and I do have giftings to share. Imagine if someone invited me share a few words--so much I could share about the one-on-one time I have with our Persian ladies and the Syrians and other refugees when we lived in Turkey. I have stories to tell, but does anyone want to listen?? [DH] and I complement one another as team leaders. He has said countless times over the years that he could not do what he does if he didn't have me. </div>
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**If I had a dime for every time we went back to the US & how much people make a big deal about my husband and "his ministry (we usually always refer to it as God's ministry that He called us to). It is God's, really, and He chose us as instruments to do the work. <o:p></o:p></div>
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**The year that another woman said to me, "well, we hear all about [your husband's] ministry, so what do YOU do?" And then I start to explain all that I do only to have her say, "Oh, so you are [your husband's] secretary." Ugh!!!<br />
<br />
Sorry, the years our kids were growing up and I cleaned the house (in Central Asia manner...with a cloth wrapped around the end of a wooden stick to mop the floor), cooked, home schooled or help with homework, had locals into our home--cue: get the cookies, candy, and tea ready!! </div>
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Aside from this I was heavily involved in security and getting one org to adopt a policy and our current org--pushing for the importance of making it more wide spread and being a voice and advocate. Our many years in Central Asia--organizing short term teams to come, host them, prepare them from a cultural standpoint to be in our culture, organizing travel. I've helped with women's conferences, in the children's camp we started in 2005, English club I attempted, and I'm sure there are about a ton of other things, too. I do a lot of administrative stuff. Now in recent years I'm a team leader alongside of my husband and we are over many countries.<o:p></o:p></div>
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**The real zinger is in 2017 when we took our teens back to the US to start college (that was when we had been overseas 14 years), someone (a supporter, actually) walked up to me at their graduation open house and said these words that made me freeze in place, <i><b>"As the wife of a missionary, what are YOU going to do now that you won't have any kids at home."</b></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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On the field I have tons of responsibilities but when I go back to the US, I feel about an inch tall, if that. I feel stupid. I feel like, [Dear Husband] gets to speak and I'm "just his wife." Does anyone want to hear what I have to share? I get to sit there and just "smile."<br />
<br />
I'm not that great at languages, but I have studied Russian, Kazakh, Turkish, Georgian, and now starting to learn some Farsi so I can communicate with our Persian folks.<br />
<br />
One of the worst churches is our own home fellowship. Even though Dear Husband speaks all over the world, he doesn't feel welcome in our own home town, so to speak. He isn't invited to speak on a Sunday morning when we see other Missionaries get to (I guess because we are more about business).<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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And then what I get from other women..."oh you are so brave" (as if women are supposed to not be?) or "I could never do what you do." Hah! What do they think I felt when God called my heart back in 2001? <i>Who me, God? You sure you got the right girl?</i> And then I only knew that he wanted us to go to Kazakhstan and minister to the Kazakh people. Neither of us knew what that looked like or what exactly we would do. And here we are 15+ years later, living in [Central Asia] working with Persian peoples having started [the work here]. We just keep obeying and it is God, not us, who make us able. I'm not brave....God Himself has given me courage, it does not come from me. And if they read their Bibles deeply enough, they would know that it is by His strength and not my own. It is His plan and not our own.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Go to <a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">#missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<br />
<b><u>Related Posts</u></b><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/03/womens-bodies-as-battlefield.html" target="_blank">Women's Bodies as Battlefield</a> - conservative Evangelicals highest domestic violence rate in USA.<br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/10/christianized-purdah.html" target="_blank">Christianized Purdah</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/silenceisnotspiritual.html" target="_blank">#silence is not spiritual</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/response-to-missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">response to #missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">#missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-if-good-samaritan-was-orthodox.html" target="_blank">What if the Good Samaritan was an Orthodox Sunni Muslim Woman?</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/10/sexual-harassment-in-cross-cultural-work.html" target="_blank">Sexual Harassment in Cross-Cultural Work</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/08/women-with-wartime-mentality.html" target="_blank">Women with a Wartime Mentality</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/08/single-woman-un-heralded-heroines.html" target="_blank">A Tribute to the Single Woman Missionary</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/03/androcentric-translation-poem.html" target="_blank">Androcentric Translation: A Poem</a><br />
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-21110076410002957372019-02-17T18:54:00.001-06:002019-03-02T11:57:41.278-06:00#silenceisnotspiritual<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of the biggest fears most godly Christian women have is to be labeled a liberal, a feminist. I've even heard the term "femi-nazi.." But as this article on the <a href="https://www.cbeinternational.org/blogs/how-american-evangelicalism-has-been-weaponized-against-women" target="_blank">Weaponizing of American Evangelicalism against Women </a>discusses, these types of labels are dehumanizing, demeaning, and shut down dialogue.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdCghgbD9KHB_MLBhgARjXIl7eiwHo2q0IfKBe8-tu1Cj3ksKjnpKgL0kyIvyXAAP-uUOl-qjSPUOzRokjRoZeidIfRkJTwEW3fFtZYmaFubHELbb44hYuhoRK2PgnOlfxv8X_UPEudvK/s1600/church+too.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdCghgbD9KHB_MLBhgARjXIl7eiwHo2q0IfKBe8-tu1Cj3ksKjnpKgL0kyIvyXAAP-uUOl-qjSPUOzRokjRoZeidIfRkJTwEW3fFtZYmaFubHELbb44hYuhoRK2PgnOlfxv8X_UPEudvK/s1600/church+too.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdCghgbD9KHB_MLBhgARjXIl7eiwHo2q0IfKBe8-tu1Cj3ksKjnpKgL0kyIvyXAAP-uUOl-qjSPUOzRokjRoZeidIfRkJTwEW3fFtZYmaFubHELbb44hYuhoRK2PgnOlfxv8X_UPEudvK/s1600/church+too.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdCghgbD9KHB_MLBhgARjXIl7eiwHo2q0IfKBe8-tu1Cj3ksKjnpKgL0kyIvyXAAP-uUOl-qjSPUOzRokjRoZeidIfRkJTwEW3fFtZYmaFubHELbb44hYuhoRK2PgnOlfxv8X_UPEudvK/s1600/church+too.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>It is time for the Western Church to listen and to change...for women of our generation, for our sons and daughters, and for future generations.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>One humanitarian said: “No matter how subtle, dehumanizing ideas of people lead to dehumanizing actions.” </i><i>Throughout American evangelical history, theologians used Scripture to support slavery, racial segregation, and male supremacy. They aligned God with maleness and whiteness, and then weaponized these ideas against women and especially women of color. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>In short, American evangelicalism—viewing women as inferior—has been weaponized against them for the benefit of male power and domination. While Christians like John Piper and Brad Wilcox insist that gender roles protect women from abuse, the data and the stories of the #ChurchToo movement stand against them.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Power and sex are two sides of the same patriarchal coin, according to abuse survivor Christa Brown. She explains: </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Because complementarian theology promotes a power differential between men and women, it fosters the sort of abuse of power that devolves into sexual abuse.” </i></blockquote>
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Evangelical women are beginning to speak out in larger numbers. See <a href="http://time.com/5076537/evangelical-women-church-speak-out-metoo/" target="_blank">this article here</a>. I sincerely hope this movement does not fade, but continues to grow. I see women and men in increasing numbers longing for a different way, a different dynamic in our Churches. I know I want something different for my sons and daughter.<br />
<br />
Also see the statement signed by over 3000 Evangelical Women urging the Evangelical Church to address issues of abuse in the church.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>#metoo</b><br />
<b>#churchtoo</b><br />
<b><a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">#missionarywomentoo</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.silenceisnotspiritual.org/statement" target="_blank">#silenceisnotspiritual</a></b><br />
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<b>Just a Few Articles on Sexual Abuse in Independent Baptist Churches</b><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://shoebat.org/2014/05/06/sexual-abuse-protestant-churches-catholic/" target="_blank">More Sexual Abuse in Protestant Churches than in Catholic Churches</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/Southern-Baptist-sexual-abuse-spreads-as-leaders-13588038.php" target="_blank">A History of the Church Turning a Blind Eye</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2007/06/18/80877.htm" target="_blank">Insurance Report on How Often the Church Covers Up Abuse</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2018/12/20/more-please-evangelical-leader-offers-serious-reaction-to-forth-worth-churchtoo-blockbuster" target="_blank">Evangelical Reaction </a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/february/southern-baptist-abuse-investigation-houston-chronicle-sbc.html" target="_blank">Southern Baptist Abuse Investigation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/february/james-macdonald-fired-harvest-bible-chapel.html" target="_blank">James MacDonald Fired</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/05/evangelical-church-metoo-movement-abuse/" target="_blank">Evangelical #MeToo</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2018/09/22/elmbrook-resignations-latest-rock-evangelical-christian-churches/1396562002/" target="_blank">Elmbrook Resignation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/march-web-only/sexual-misconduct-affair-pastor-ministry.html" target="_blank">Sexual Misconduct in Pastoral Ministry</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/living/religion/article222576310.html" target="_blank">Star-Telegram Article that revealed hundreds of victims of abuse across American Baptist Churches</a>. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/independent-fundamental-baptist-churches-sexual-abuse_us_5c117f67e4b0835fe326602e" target="_blank">Independent Fundamental Baptist Church Sexual Abuse</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/02/sex-abuse-among-southern-baptists" target="_blank">Sex Abuse Among Southern Baptists</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/u-s-missionary-group-apologizes-child-sex-abuse-victims-after-n972321" target="_blank">Missionary Group Apologizes</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/southern-baptist-sexual-abuse-rape-predators-scandal-church-christian-leaders-1325750" target="_blank">Database of Sexual Abuse perpetrators and victims</a></li>
<li><a href="https://religionnews.com/2014/07/18/abuse-mission-field-treasuring-institution-instead-little-ones/" target="_blank">Abuse of Missionary Children</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/march/frank-page-resigns-southern-baptist-executive-committee-sbc.html" target="_blank">Pastor Resigns</a></li>
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<b><u>Related Posts</u></b><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/03/womens-bodies-as-battlefield.html" target="_blank">Women's Bodies as Battlefield</a> - conservative Evangelicals highest domestic violence rate in USA.<br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/10/christianized-purdah.html" target="_blank">Christianized Purdah</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/silenceisnotspiritual.html" target="_blank">#silence is not spiritual</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/response-to-missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">response to #missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">#missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-if-good-samaritan-was-orthodox.html" target="_blank">What if the Good Samaritan was an Orthodox Sunni Muslim Woman?</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/10/sexual-harassment-in-cross-cultural-work.html" target="_blank">Sexual Harassment in Cross-Cultural Work</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/08/women-with-wartime-mentality.html" target="_blank">Women with a Wartime Mentality</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/08/single-woman-un-heralded-heroines.html" target="_blank">A Tribute to the Single Woman Missionary</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/03/androcentric-translation-poem.html" target="_blank">Androcentric Translation: A Poem</a><br />
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-18257849132418680702019-02-13T00:00:00.000-06:002019-03-20T16:34:23.490-05:00#missionarywomentoo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsLVPC69DDe9RgOl1UsQlPjIV4tSocjLPQxVmllaLFBOjA79z_Rxozlred75mK_7hbY6EXfAEU0C1-ek6CXuwFDyssEmxVgKleAKWr6qEqNpz-Wc2Cy4Eltokor4qsWWXRndz8DCm205W/s1600/women+in+leadership.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsLVPC69DDe9RgOl1UsQlPjIV4tSocjLPQxVmllaLFBOjA79z_Rxozlred75mK_7hbY6EXfAEU0C1-ek6CXuwFDyssEmxVgKleAKWr6qEqNpz-Wc2Cy4Eltokor4qsWWXRndz8DCm205W/s320/women+in+leadership.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
There are <a href="https://www.jenwilkin.net/blog/2015/02/three-female-ghosts-that-haunt-church.html" target="_blank">the 3 Ghosts that Haunt the Evangelical Church, graciously shared by Jen Wilkin</a>.<br />
<br />
Then there's <a href="https://blog.lproof.org/2018/05/a-letter-to-my-brothers.html" target="_blank">the recent letter of coming to reality</a> by Beth Moore. I was always embarrassed when told she regularly stated: "I'm not teaching you men here." I'm so glad she's grown on this issue. Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile responded to her <a href="https://www.cbeinternational.org/blogs/response-thabiti-anyabwiles-apology-beth-moore" target="_blank">with a gracious apology of his own. </a><br />
<br />
But the gender wars of the American Church are not that way in the Global Church or on the mission field.<br />
<br />
My <a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/04/belly-shaking-laughter-in-kenya.html" target="_blank">Kenyan sisters don't face </a>the same issues I do on a Sunday morning. Women preach and teach...men and women.<br />
<br />
And I was shocked and quite nervous last summer to be invited to teach the Bible (devotionally) in Europe to a well-known translation group (more men then women in that group).<br />
<br />
On the mission field, it is not uncommon all over the world for women to take leadership, to plant churches, disciple men up into leadership, and more.<br />
<br />
It's when we return back home (to USA) for descriptions of what women on the mission field do, that we enter back into a misogynist interpretation and description.<br />
<br />
<b>mi·sog·y·nist</b><br />
<b>/məˈsäjənəst/</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>noun</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>1.</b><br />
<b>a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against women.</b><br />
<b>adjective</b><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
First, there are also ghosts in the reporting of women in missions and secondly, how they are treated by pastors, theologians, and churches back home.<br />
<br />
In our day, we see this when a single women is given an evening service to "share" but a single man is given the morning sermon to "preach."<br />
<br />
Since so many churches no longer have evening services, the single missionary woman is relegated to the Tuesday night Women's Bible Study, or 90 seconds on a Sunday morning with the pastor standing next to her.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The Current Debate: <u>Distorted Facts and Theology:</u></b><br />
<br />
<b>1.</b> David Barrett & Todd Johnson's stats show that the ratio for foreign missionaries is 54% men and 46% women but the projected figure shows the women will outstrip the men by 2025. See https://www.gordonconwell.edu/ockenga/research/Resources-and-Downloads.cfm.<br />
<br />
Not sure where buried on this page that a man found the quote above, but I couldn't find it.<br />
<br />
I normally love and appreciate all the statistical research Barrett (did) and Johnson still does. Theirs is a valuable service to the Global Church.<br />
<br />
But this just sounds off, if it is truly what they have published. Is it possible Barrett and Johnson were not counting the wives of the men as "the missionary"? That would be totally wrong. It would be helpful for Johnson to clarify where and how they arrived at this figure, as there is overwhelming anecdotal evidence that the contrary is true, that there are a higher majority of women then men in numerous missions, both in N America and from the Global South.<br />
<br />
A married woman is as much a missionary as the single woman. To say anything less is to once again, impose white American male evangelical patriarchy on the married Christian woman <b><a href="https://www.faithtrustinstitute.org/churchtoo" target="_blank"> #churchtoo.</a></b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. Pa</b><b>triarchy is associated with a set of ideas, a patriarchal ideology that acts to explain and justify this dominance and attributes it to inherent natural differences between men and women.</b></blockquote>
The Bible no where sanctions Patriarchy. Jesus exploded all stereotypes and ways of interacting with women. Patriarchy is man's sinful treatment of women and an Evangelical rationalization of how women should be treated.<br />
<br />
<div>
<b>2.</b> There are male mission leaders who say that if a woman is allowed leadership or the preaching role, then those encouraging her are heretics because they are not following the Bible. Hmmm, God must be a heretic, as He seems to have used women planting and leading churches for the last 2000 years to further His Kingdom. <a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/how-has-persecution-and-martyrdom-of.html" target="_blank">See this post. </a></div>
<br />
<b>3.</b> John Piper doesn't think a woman should be in the role of elder on the Mission field, saying it would be disobedient to the Bible. <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/preachers-debate-role-of-single-women-in-global-missions-56651/" target="_blank">See this link here. </a>He goes on to say that <i>if </i>a woman is leading on the mission field, when a man comes along, the woman will naturally want him to lead even if she is doing a fine job of it, <i>just because he is the man. </i> I'm not the smartest person, but isn't this an inconsistent application of the Complementarian View in direct conflict with the sound teaching of Scripture???<br />
<br />
<i>Hmmmmmm.......</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b><u>My experience: </u></b><br />
<br />
How many times have I suffered through a poorly exegeted sermon in an International Church, and had no opportunity to remedy it, simply because I am a woman? Last I checked, just having a [male organ] does not make one fit to teach or lead or be an elder. I would tend to think that if it was THAT IMPORTANT the Bible would be VERY clear if it was sin for a woman to be an elder (and that's without a microscopic view of the translation Greek embedded in a 1st Century Hebrew Rabbinical worldview using <a href="https://www.christianbook.com/meet-rabbis-rabbinic-thought-teachings-jesus/brad-young/9780801048180/pd/048180" target="_blank">Hillel's Rules of Interpretation)</a>.<br />
<br />
How many times have I seen a totally gifted woman - married or single - ready for leadership, spiritually gifted in administration and empowering others, with extensive time on the field in the culture with fluent language skills, but she is passed over for mission field team leadership simple because it needs to go to the man on the team. Yes, that one, the one who can't speak the local language as well, doesn't know the culture and who has no clue about administrative details? <i><b>This is some of the worst misogyny on the mission field, usually dictated by the sending organization back in the USA. </b></i><br />
<br />
At the same time,<u> not just any</u> woman should be given a leadership, preaching, or teaching role. That would be militant feminism. We don't "choose a minority" just to have a minority and diversity. They should be women who fit the description of elders and mature women as described by Paul. Women who know how to hold their tongue and how to speak with wisdom. Women who know how to lift up men and women, and not usurp authority or have a "chip" on their shoulder against men. Those type of women are incredibly damaging, as much as a sexist man is.<br />
<br />
We should choose elders and leaders who are anointed by the Spirit. As it was in Moses' time, the Prophets's time, and the 1st Century church, so it is in ours.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Let's take a brief look at some more recent history: <a href="http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/women-in-mission" target="_blank">(Excerpted from a paper by Marti Smith):</a></b></u><br />
<br />
A. The Significant Presence of Women in Missions<br />
<br />
In spite of the challenges women in many times and places have faced by following God’s call in missions, they have followed him in numbers. By 1910, more women than men were serving in missions.<br />
<br />
<b>(1)</b> In the coming years the numbers of women would continue to climb until women in some areas outnumbered men by 2:1.<br />
<br />
<b>(2)</b> Statistical studies on the topic are few, but one in the late 1980s, a survey of 19 mission agencies representing 20,333 missionaries, showed that 56 percent of them were women, with unmarried women outnumbering unmarried men six to one.<br />
<br />
<b>(3) </b>A more recent report, from 2002, found that some 54 percent of Southern Baptists’ 5,241 missionaries were women, about a fourth of them single.<br />
<br />
<b>(4)</b> In short-term missions as well as in situations that are considered too dangerous to send families, including many areas with a Muslim majority, the foreign mission force is composed largely of workers who are single, and a majority of these laborers are women.<br />
<br />
Representatives of Frontiers, which works solely in the Muslim world, report that they are seeing women respond to the call in great numbers. In 2002 women comprised 75 percent of their short-term team applicants.<br />
<br />
<b>(5)</b> Anecdotal evidence produces similar numbers. In a 2002 personal interview, a woman working with Operation Mobilization reported that of the 100 people working with her agency in one Asian country, 60 were women and 40 were men; and in ratios that seem fairly typical, these included 35 married couples, 25 single women, and five single men. Colleagues currently studying in Yemen say the expatriate community in their city includes 26 couples, two single men, and 21 single women. We must conclude that women have a significant presence in the mission force: not that of a minority, but a majority.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What is astonishing is that the American Church debates these issues as a matter of life and death (heresy and not heresy) when people by the tens of thousands are going to hell every single day. </span></i></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What does it matter if it's a woman or man leading and teaching them to understand the Gospel Truth? </span></i></b></blockquote>
<br />
<u><b>SOME RESOURCES</b></u><br />
See Kenneth Bailey's excellent exegesis of Paul's complex thought and Rabbinical cultural commentary in his book, <b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Through-Mediterranean-Eyes-Corinthians/dp/0830839348/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=kenneth+bailey&qid=1550016310&s=gateway&sr=8-6" target="_blank">Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes. </a> </i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b><i>I wept when I read his chapter on women's role in the church. Ladies - his interpretation will sooth and heal your bruised souls, and men, this will empower you to discuss interpretation of Scripture with those who want to continue to marginalize women in the Church. </i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Also, take a look at Dr. Skip Moen's thorough exegesis and discussion of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guardian-Angel-about-Design-2010-11-18/dp/B017WQB2PG/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=skip+moen&qid=1550017055&s=gateway&sr=8-15" target="_blank">the role of women from Genesis to Revelation. </a><br />
<br />
Finally, pick up a copy of "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Changed-Mind-about-Women-Leadership/dp/0310293154/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=why+i+changed+my+mind+about+women+in+leadership&qid=1550017104&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull" target="_blank"><i><b>How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals</b></i></a>" edited by Alan Johnson. Noteworthy is Stuart Briscoe's discussion of the values in tension of stewardship of the talents vs. a potentially misunderstood one single verse of Paul. He chose the stewardship value and encouraged his wife and daughter to preach and teach.<br />
<br />
I was also impressed when I saw that I. Howard Marshall, one of the most preeminent conservative New Testament Theologians of our time also contributed to Alan's book. His New Testament Theology is the gold standard used in seminary classes today.<br />
<br />
Oh, and I was an elder of the CCCK - Christian Community Church of Kabul, under the blessing of my husband (who is way more progressive than me particularly on this issue) and the leadership of the (male) pastor and with permission of our male mission leadership. I was one of 3 women on the elder board, along with 3 additional men and the pastor.<br />
<br />
I think these "gray" areas are why Jesus gave us a tool to navigate them quite well when He taught the Sermon on the Mount, particularly <b>Matthew 7: 15-17:</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>15. Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. </i><i>16. By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? </i><i>17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit...</i></blockquote>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps we need to start a #missionarywomentoo movement. </span></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Related Posts</u></b><br />
<div style="display: inline !important; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/03/womens-bodies-as-battlefield.html" target="_blank">Women's Bodies as Battlefield</a> - conservative Evangelicals highest domestic violence rate in USA.</div>
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/10/christianized-purdah.html" target="_blank">Christianized Purdah</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/silenceisnotspiritual.html" target="_blank">#silence is not spiritual</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/response-to-missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">response to #missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">#missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-if-good-samaritan-was-orthodox.html" target="_blank">What if the Good Samaritan was an Orthodox Sunni Muslim Woman?</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/10/sexual-harassment-in-cross-cultural-work.html" target="_blank">Sexual Harassment in Cross-Cultural Work</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/08/women-with-wartime-mentality.html" target="_blank">Women with a Wartime Mentality</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/08/single-woman-un-heralded-heroines.html" target="_blank">A Tribute to the Single Woman Missionary</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/03/androcentric-translation-poem.html" target="_blank">Androcentric Translation: A Poem</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>#missionarywomentoo</b><br />
<b>#churchtoo</b><br />
<b>#metoo</b><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/silenceisnotspiritual.html" target="_blank"><b>#silenceisnotspiritual</b></a><br />
<br />
(1) Ruth Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya (Grand Rapids: MI, 1983), p. 232.<br />
(2) Tucker, p. 232.<br />
(3) Howard Erickson, “Single Missionary Survey,” Fundamentalist Journal, January 1989, p. 27, cited in John Piper’s Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), p. 23. The foreword to this book, which addresses single men and women, includes some very helpful thinking on the topic of singleness and includes thoughts from a number of single missionaries throughout history.<br />
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-11023895917355268292019-02-10T22:14:00.001-06:002019-02-11T05:58:43.338-06:00I Went To The Woods<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQgYo06orwL1fMt74fvYsJQ8FowXw7bzozd8j0Z8SOfb-p1mSAPR56OdRXa5dLtO2L1wZGUcoKMoQOIOPQ0_s_BRZmaOf9EOlOFuiy5XO7soluf2ZeHYgSKvYHj5RqSbTCOmgq18dPLd9/s1600/woods.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQgYo06orwL1fMt74fvYsJQ8FowXw7bzozd8j0Z8SOfb-p1mSAPR56OdRXa5dLtO2L1wZGUcoKMoQOIOPQ0_s_BRZmaOf9EOlOFuiy5XO7soluf2ZeHYgSKvYHj5RqSbTCOmgq18dPLd9/s320/woods.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
try to pretend to settle in to middle class American life and American
Evangelicalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But 20 years living in war zones and unstable environments continue
to reap fruit on numerous levels that continues to surprise me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
can still hear the sounds of bombs and gunfire in the distance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I vividly see my living room
window go convex then concave within seconds of a suicide bomber detonating on Darulamon Road (Parliament Road).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I remember
clearly the first time I drove slowly past a burkha-clad woman holding her
baby. It was my very first day there in 2000, and she was sitting in the middle of the busy main road from Goat’s-Head
corner to the bombed out Main Post Office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She held her tiny baby with one hand, and the other she held up to cars
passing in both directions, hoping for a few coins. Car exhaust belched noxious fumes around both of them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
remember watching discretely through a crack between the curtains as a mob progressed past my gate, chanting against the foreign infidels as they went. I reminded my children of where to run if
bad people began to jump over our walls. We regularly practiced evacuation
drills within our own home, in the hopes our children would run to safety if we
began to be attacked. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Visitors
to Kabul were always surprised at the amount of guns around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had grown used to them. Kabul is a war
zone, a fortified city, with the walls increasingly higher and thicker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the Nepali and other dark-skinned
guards who guard the outside gates. They are the first ones killed if a suicide
bomber attacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on the inner gate
is usually the white European or American guards, the specially trained ops guys
working security contracts now, because it pays better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It
wasn't uncommon when traveling to the grocery shop to have a soldier’s gun pointed at our car if our driver
got too close. I once looked up at my driver as I held my veil around my face. I saw the red laser light on his forehead, and realized the American soldier riding in the tank in front of us was ready to shoot. I calmly asked my driver to slow down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
past 20 years have taken their toll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While there’s been excitement and adventure, there’s also the worst that
humanity, war, and militant Islam does to people. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it has also allowed me to live life at its
rawest terms, as Thoreau said, to experience the genuine meanness of it as well
as the totality of the rawness of life and death. Several lifetimes wrapped into a couple of short decades. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The distractions of American Middle Class life, the “teletubbie”
existence as one pastor describes it, the focus on 1<sup>st</sup> world problems that impact less than 3% of the world's population have emasculated the American Church. </span>It won't matter shit who wins the debate if we are debasing the Gospel by sharing the stage with a Catholic leader at a national prayer breakfast when a <a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/04/what-should-you-do-when-you-have-gun.html" target="_blank">gun is cocked and touching our temple</a> and we are asked if we follow Christ or not. Most are not prepared for that scenario, and are so blinded by the idol of "Evangelical Truth" that they can't see the value of loving our neighbor by building relational bridges to them. </div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Increasingly, I am sensitized to <a href="https://youtu.be/D9Ihs241zeg" target="_blank">the danger of only telling one side of the story</a>, including the American theological
interpretation of the Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus was
not white. He was a dark skinned Middle Easterner, born into the lowest
minority group dominated by the superpower of the world. This puts Him on par
with the Native Indians and African Americans of our day, or the Gypsies of Romania or Turkey or the Hazaras of Afghanistan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As
Dr. Nott recently said, “Extreme events, whether a war or a natural disaster,
stretch the boundaries of performance and what is possible.” Living on the edge
of existence where food, water, and electricity can mean the difference between
life and death; where people are truly hungry for a ray of hope..this is what Liminality is – the point of
time when a risk is taken and the outcome
is not known. </span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is the time when one is truly alive, and even the smallest
good is precious-like-gold, like a barely-dry match finally flares into flame so a
candle can be lit in the darkness. <i>Anyone desperate for light knows the overwhelming relief of the simplicity of such things. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When
life and death became precious, when resources were scarce, and a simple daily
task could end in kidnapping or death, where one feels so alive: </span>over two decades this is the place where daily my values and theology were honed. It is impossible to change back, and nor would I want to. My world, my mind, and my understanding of God and His Word has expanded much deeper and farther than I thought possible. Living in a
challenging place is fulfilling, stretching, where everything I am and am not
is used, refined, distilled.</div>
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Rejections and spoken curses seek to destroy my soul. My mind overlays these with the gunfire, the bombs, the dirt, the
violence I experienced, the numerous times I experienced the dehumanization of being a woman in Islamic culture, the daily occurrences of being the victim of sexual objectifying, and I am thankful.</div>
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<br />
I am thankful for all the darkness and blackness of these past 20 years.</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
am thankful to know what it feels like to live continually on the edge of life and death,
of rejection and acceptance, of approval and disapproval, of warmth and
coldness, of laughter and <a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/03/grief.html" target="_blank">deep grief</a> when it seemed my tears would never stop. </span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I am thankful to have looked at evil in the face and lived another day. </span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I am thankful to have been protected by the Shadow of His Wings and for my children to have their parents alive this long. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I am thankful to know what unconditional love feels like to receive and to give. </span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I am thankful for my red chair and glass of red wine where I can now sit in peace and quiet to ponder and reflect and understand and discern. </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><b> I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. </b></i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i><b>I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.</b></i> </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<i><b>For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it, whether it is of the devil or of God, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it is the chief end of man here to "glorify God and enjoy him forever.</b></i><i><b> </b></i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<blockquote>
<i><b>Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862) American Author</b></i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-78450090347646575752019-02-06T15:53:00.001-06:002019-02-06T15:53:42.227-06:00Healing Life's Hurts Part 3 - The Denial Stage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
We learned in Parts 1 & 2 that healing past hurts must go through the 5 stages of healing: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. There are also two feelings with God about God to work through as well. <br />
<br />This post addresses the 1st stage, <b>the Denial Stage. </b><br />
<br />
Denial brings in its wake the psychological defense mechanism and patterns of sin that try to make me feel important again.<br />
<br />
Some of the most common defense mechanisms are:<br />
<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rationalization - an attempt to prove by reason that what happened is fine.<br />
<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Repression of hurt feelings – sometimes with mind and body numbing pornography, alcohol and drugs, but also more acceptable forms such as eating, tv, ministry, work, sleep<br />
<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Approval seeking – seeking approval from others and God rather than willing to listen, receive correction, and be challenged.<br />
<br />
We control what we hear by doing all the talking, even in prayer. Rather than face weakness and tender feelings, we pray eloquently, hoping God will be impressed.<br />
<br />
Usually He is silent, so we begin to pray less because it isn’t rewarding, and God becomes less important to us. When God is unimportant and I am insecure, I try to hide my insecurity under the dark cloak of sin, continuing to cover up the insecurity with additional coping mechanisms.<br />
<br />
Rationalization, intellectualization, repression, projection, fantasy, reaction formation, compensation...sin returns whenever we are hurt. The deeper the hurt, the more we utilize these defenses and they become unconscious habits.<br />
<br />
We see denial in Scripture, such as Luke 15 – the two sons both had problems they were unwilling or unable to admit.<br />
<br />
Just like we can have physical shock, we can also have emotional shock and be in denial. Denial can be good in this sense, preventing us from being overwhelmed by too much anxiety, disapproval, or insecurity until we are ready to face reality. We can use denial to our advantage, too.<br />
<br />
For example, one particular ancient church practice was to focus on correcting only one rather than five faults during the day. If we focus on eliminating gratitude by thanking God for whatever is happening, my other four faults will disappear because when grateful we can find God better, listen better, pray more, and come prepared to give thanks. It’s a healthy way of being in denial, choosing not to look at all the ways to improve but just focusing on one memory of hurt.<br />
<br />
Whatever the hurt, we can be healed like the disciples at Emmaus by the same steps they were healed:<br />
<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tell Christ how we feel (Luke 24:13-24);<br />
<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Listen through Scripture to how Christ feels (Luke 24:25-27; and<br />
<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With hearts burning live out Christ’s reaction (Luke 24:32-35).<br />
<br />
When we allow Christ to absorb our reaction and then absorb Christ’s reaction we are somehow able to forgive. In essence, we are gazing lovingly on the humanity of Christ, we are filled with His divine love and forgiveness, and then we are healed of the painful memory.<br />
<br />
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-68118775017641342092019-02-04T15:20:00.000-06:002019-02-05T15:37:00.824-06:00Unseen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTc5B6JUUfF1mxHQ5Z757j15oYh-HzXyiuvIkLMkuHf9t-XCgj48nE4dD-9TNRVGVZP0_Pi8YuN2H8-of-QHbkqFnLfG4_5M8gAlYd9i1mV14YkciXcfVT0aAnpD47demSSVU_PNgpcjE/s1600/halls_of_blind_____by_haliestra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqTc5B6JUUfF1mxHQ5Z757j15oYh-HzXyiuvIkLMkuHf9t-XCgj48nE4dD-9TNRVGVZP0_Pi8YuN2H8-of-QHbkqFnLfG4_5M8gAlYd9i1mV14YkciXcfVT0aAnpD47demSSVU_PNgpcjE/s400/halls_of_blind_____by_haliestra.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><u>unseen</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>the one who is unseen is...</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>unknown </b></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
unhugged </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<b>unheard </b></div>
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unhopeful</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<b>unapproved</b></div>
</div>
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unappreciated </div>
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unaccepted </div>
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unvalued </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
unhappy</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
unconsulted</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
uninformed </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>unincluded</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>those who don't see are...</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
uninterested </div>
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unthoughtful</div>
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unexcited</div>
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<b>unaware</b></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>the one who is unseen feels...</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
interrupted </div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>ignored</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
inferior</div>
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<br /></div>
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incompetent</div>
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<b>insignificant</b></div>
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incapable</div>
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<br /></div>
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misunderstood</div>
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<b>paralyzed</b></div>
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anxious</div>
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misinterpreted</div>
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<br /></div>
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stifled</div>
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suppressed</div>
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small</div>
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<b>slandered</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>an actor</b></div>
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fearful</div>
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<br /></div>
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tolerated</div>
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<b>tense</b></div>
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disappointed</div>
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______________</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Jesus wept.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Jesus saw the blind man.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Jesus knew their thoughts.<br />
Jesus asked.<br />
Jesus went with them.<br />
Jesus heard.<br />
Jesus marveled.<br />
Jesus had compassion.<br />
Jesus looked.<br />
Jesus touched.<br />
Jesus walked with them.<br />
Jesus blessed.<br />
Jesus felt.<br />
Jesus prayed.<br />
<br />
<b>"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you....as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them." </b><br />
<b>Luke 6:27 - 28, 31. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-78720987580986131442019-02-02T15:27:00.001-06:002019-03-02T11:59:03.016-06:00What if the Good Samaritan was an Orthodox Sunni Muslim Woman?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Good Samaritan was hated. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He was hated for his religion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He was hated for his nationality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He was hated for his proximity to his Jews.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He was hated for everything he stood for. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Muslim in America is hated. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Muslim man and woman are hated for their religion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They are hated for their nationality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They are despised for how they dress. They are hated because they are "here." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Americans are afraid of the Muslim man and woman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Americans tell them to leave "our" country.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What if an American Republican Evangelical Christian man got in a car accident on a deserted road? He was trapped in his car, bleeding from his wounds, unable to reach his phone to call for help? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A democrat White nationalist sees the wreck and assumes someone else has already called. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An upper class Asian bicyclist speeds by - he is in the middle of a workout. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An Evangelical Mega Church pastor goes by in his car, late for another <strike>business </strike>meeting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A veiled Sunni Muslim woman stops. She sees the damage and pulls him out of his car. She applies pressure to his bleeding wound, and calls 911. She stays with him until they come and put him in the ambulance. She follows the ambulance to the hospital and stays near, helping to call his wife and family until they come to the hospital. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">_____________________________________________________________</span><br />
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Luke 10:25-37<br />
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25 Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”<br />
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26 He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”<br />
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27 He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”<br />
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28 “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”<br />
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29 Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”<br />
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30-32 Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.<br />
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33-35 “A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’<br />
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36 “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”<br />
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37 “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.<br />
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Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”<br />
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<b><u>Related Posts</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/10/christianized-purdah.html" target="_blank">Christianized Purdah</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/silenceisnotspiritual.html" target="_blank">#silence is not spiritual</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/response-to-missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">response to #missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/missionarywomentoo.html" target="_blank">#missionarywomentoo</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-if-good-samaritan-was-orthodox.html" target="_blank">What if the Good Samaritan was an Orthodox Sunni Muslim Woman?</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/10/sexual-harassment-in-cross-cultural-work.html" target="_blank">Sexual Harassment in Cross-Cultural Work</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/08/women-with-wartime-mentality.html" target="_blank">Women with a Wartime Mentality</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/08/single-woman-un-heralded-heroines.html" target="_blank">A Tribute to the Single Woman Missionary</a><br />
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2019/03/androcentric-translation-poem.html" target="_blank">Androcentric Translation: A Poem</a><br />
<br /></div>
Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7655522182657161216.post-41430700022575984772019-02-02T15:09:00.001-06:002019-02-03T00:13:15.386-06:00Healing Life's Hurts Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/12/healing-lifes-hurts-part-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1 Here.</a> <br />
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In Part 1, I discussed the first of two important heart attitudes we want to cultivate in order to succeed at moving through all five stages of healing from a deep hurt. This is necessary to heal painful wounds of the past, or even remove fear of death. This post focuses on the 2nd heart attitude.<br />
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The first heart attitude is: <i>Our view of God and our view of ourselves.</i><br />
The second hart attitude is: <i>Sharing our feelings with God.</i><br />
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These two heart predispositions are two areas that seem to block our being able to forgive and move past our fear, as well as block the process of learning to love. There can be the tendency to either judge those who share their authentic feelings as unspiritual and weak or to simply dismiss "feelings" people as less rational.<br />
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•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Job’s wife, for example. She has been judged for almost the last 2000 years, even though God did not request Job to make sacrifices for her although Job’s friends apparently needed them.<br />
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•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jeremiah is another example – he bluntly tells God he feels attacked by him in Lamentations 3.<br />
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•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Job curses the day of his birth.<br />
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•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Psalmist asks God to crush the heads of his enemies and leave their wives as widows and the children of his enemies fatherless.<br />
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<b><i>These Old Testament saints scandalize us with their ability to pray and speak from the heart. </i></b><br />
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It’s easy to thank God for positive feelings, but much harder to honestly and authentically share our negative feelings. We use the words “I feel frustrated” to mask our anger at God and others.<br />
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<i>What would it be like to share with God our loneliness and isolation that we feel and tell Him that it feels like He has left us?</i><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“Too often I come to Christ, the Being of Light, wearing the same smiling mask I wear for anyone I can’t trust with the feelings I want to hide. I keep unconsciously thinking, “Maybe if he really knows me, he won’t like me.” </blockquote>
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The real problem is that I feel Christ won’t like me because I don’t like myself.<br />
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When I feel angry, fearful, depressed, frustrated, etc., I project onto others and Christ what I am feeling towards myself. I’m really saying, “I don’t like myself, so Jesus won’t like me either. If I can’t accept my own anger, fear, and depression, I will be facing a Judge, not the Being of Light, and seeing my edited rerun and not his review of my life.<br />
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How can I accept my feelings so that I can pray and be healed?<br />
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Some ways we tend to err in dealing with feelings:<br />
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1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I ignore my feelings and don’t acknowledge them.<br />
2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I mislabel my feelings to sound better. (Frustration as anger, for example).<br />
3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I pamper my feelings – I follow my feelings by doing and saying what I feel. But this is not freedom but slavery to feeling.<br />
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I recall one toxic global worker yelling at me, “I just need to tell you how I really feel.” So she did, and I flinched in the face of her verbal abuse. I have never met such a toxic person, and was sad she was working in a remote area among an unreached people group.<br />
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No, freedom means welcoming whatever I am feeling, whether it be coldness, fear, loneliness, frustration, anger or joy, and then deciding how to react, remembering the 2nd Greatest Commandment is “<i>to love your neighbor as you love yourself”</i> in our tone, choice of words, timing, and facial expressions.<br />
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Ignored or mislabeled feelings tend to manifest themselves in tension headaches, back aches, stomach aches, or tiredness. It takes courage to face our real feelings, feel them, and choose the path of response that will lead us back to authenticity with God and community.<br />
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I don’t have to wait until death to meet the Being of Light. I meet him like the disciples at Emmaus or the Samaritan woman every time I face with him my deepest feelings from being hurt and then absorb every detail of his loving, healing view.<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Am I like the disciples at Emmaus willing to face with Christ the fears, frustrations, anger, rage, and self-hatred that I have buried through the years? </li>
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<li>Am I willing to let Christ show me through the Scriptures that I like to nurse grudges, feel sorry for myself, look down on another, feel taller, and have a narrow view of what another is doing? </li>
</ul>
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<li>What I don’t want to share with anyone else, can I still share with Jesus? </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Am I ready to be healed, or do I just want to smile and pretend everything is O.K.?</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://better-than-gold-faith.blogspot.com/2018/12/healing-lifes-hurts-part-1.html" target="_blank">Part 1 Here.</a> <br />
*This series has many quotes from and is based substantially on a work by Dennis Linn and Matthew Linn.<br />
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Anna E. Hamptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07625985735271030287noreply@blogger.com0