* Michelle Thoughts – Page 18 – Simply Intentional

Comfortable

September 13, 2009September 26, 2009 mcmeeshi

An excerpt from Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

“What are you doing right now that requires faith?” That question affected me deeply because at the time I could think of nothing in my life that required faith. I probably wouldn’t be living very differently if I didn’t believe in God; my life was neither ordered nor affected by my faith like I had assumed it was. Furthermore, when I looked around, I realized I was surrounded by people who lived the same way I did.

Life is comfortable when you separate yourself from people who are different from you. That epitomizes what my life was like: characterized by comfort.

But God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.

(See Isaiah 58:2-14)

This excerpt really hit home for me. The people I’ve met in the Dominican Republic and Haiti showed me what it means to truly live with faith and trust in God every day. It’s a challenge to live with that kind of trust when we have the means to “take care of ourselves” along with the temptation to keep ourselves safe above all else. But is life supposed to be about being safe? Do we really have the power to keep ourselves safe anyway? What is “faith” if we never have to rely on God?

* Michelle Thoughts

Low Car Diet #4

August 7, 2009September 5, 2009 mcmeeshi

I can’t believe I’m in the last week of the Zipcar challenge already! Looking back, I see several contributing factors to my ability to go car-free. One: location, location, location! Living just 1.3 miles from work with no hills in the way makes it easy to bike or walk. Two: summer season! Doing this in the summer helps because the weather is not an obstacle and I’m not quite as busy, so I can take my time getting from one place to another. Three: incentives! Having something to work toward and the extra benefits that Zipcar has provided makes the challenge worthwhile. In summation, as with many challenges in life, the way to set yourself up for success is to: remove obstacles and add benefits.

* Michelle Thoughts

Low Car Diet #3

July 30, 2009August 18, 2009 mcmeeshi

I always thought that rain and snow would be the biggest weather deterrent from biking or walking to work- never did I expect to encounter 107 degree weather in Portland. Sheesh! Biking at least is a little more breezy and less effort than walking so I’ve been surviving.

In other news: I used a zipcar for the first time! Made the reservation online, got dropped off at the local Prius, swiped my card, drove downtown, hung out with a friend, got back in, stopped for free gas, parked it back where I found it, and went home. Altogether, it was a positive experience, and I was pleasantly surprised that the gas station attendant was already familiar with the zipcar gas cards!

* Michelle Thoughts

Low Car Diet #2

July 26, 2009August 18, 2009 mcmeeshi

I wasn’t able to blog by Friday this week because we’ve been traveling “out of range.” I have been riding in cars quite a bit, though each time has been in a shared vehicle, so I haven’t been cheating! Last weekend, Jedd and I traveled with our housemates to Vancouver, BC by car. We thought about taking Amtrak, but paying for four train tickets would cost a lot more than the gas to carpool. I also had to pick up a student from the airport who was returning from our East Africa Immersion pilot trip, however, I used a vehicle from the Moreau Center for Service and Leadership at U.P. (which is kinda like Zipcar for University volunteers). Finally, I also got to take a long weekend to travel with my husband to Crater Lake and camp at Black Canyon. Other than that, I’ve been enjoying walking and biking to work during the week! As long as the weather holds up, I think I’ll be fine.

* Michelle Thoughts

Low Car Diet

July 17, 2009July 18, 2009 mcmeeshi

I am not one to accept a challenge if I’m not sure I can accomplish it. Not too long ago, I received an e-mail from Zipcar, issuing a challenge to go car-free for a month. I threw my name in the bucket and soon enough, I had been selected as one of 30 Portlanders to participate! We can walk, bike, bus, carpool, or zipcar but no going solo in the cruiser. Our car keys are locked up for the month, so to speak.

If you know where I work and where I lived all last year, you’d know that it took me a mere 8 minutes to wander over to the office by foot. Driving to work would have actually increased my commute time, having to first get the car from the parking garage and then maneuver around construction while stopping periodically for pedestrians. So I always walked. I got some exercise, saved money on gas, avoided stressful traffic, and kept my carbon footprint to a minimum. I could even eat lunch every day from the comfort of my own kitchen. It was unbeatable. I knew I was spoiled, and the dream commute couldn’t last forever.

Eventually it was time to move out (due to Jedd’s job transition). We were blessed to have two different couples open their homes to us over the summer while we figured out what’s next on the horizon. Though still fairly close, our new locale(s) were no longer that convenient 8-minute walk away from my office. I wanted to keep my commute car-free. And Zipcar served me the incentive on a silver platter!

I’m sure the experience will have its challenges as well as its rewards. I’ll be posting weekly about my unconventional “diet,” so I invite you to follow along as I go!

* Michelle Thoughts

Small things with great love

July 10, 2009 mcmeeshi

The following are some thoughts from past journal entries…

The world we live in has so many distractions. “Important” work pulls me away from deeper, truer relationships with people. Retirement funds convince me that the end goal is security. Shopping malls pretend to be a form of entertainment, a means of finding “satisfaction.” Somewhere along the way, I was seduced to strive for independence over interdependence, for safety over sacrifice.

Author Gary Haugen described his world as “a reasonably pleasant backyard patio.” That is, until “confronted with the massive, violent oppression in our world.” Life around me here in the USA seems to shroud the need for God. The culture draws me to reverse my priorities and to become accustomed to living upside-down. The more I am immersed in this culture, the harder it is to focus on what’s important and to see things for what they truly are.

I want to be loving but I care more about my own protection. I want to show appreciation but I keep it in for fear I might be overwhelmed with tears. I want to serve others but would rather keep my distance. I want to give up all I have but I choose to invest in myself.

Another piece of our American distraction is thinking that the majority of the world lives like we do. They don’t. This world is broken and torn apart. Injustice overwhelms countries like cancer and plagues lives too numerous to count. Yet I sit here warm and well-fed on a leisurely Saturday afternoon as if it were all just a made-up story and the “real” world is calm and peaceful. Having opened my eyes to the suffering, I can never truly rest peacefully, knowing I am one of the few privileged- by no accomplishment of my own.

I sometimes wonder what “God’s Kingdom come on Earth” is supposed to look like. I know our world is far from the order, unity, and love found in God’s realm. Our world is broken. Broken. Broken. Broken. Wars over pride, envy, greed- one after another. Slavery, abuse, inequality, unsanitary conditions, violence, broken homes, broken families, broken relationships, broken countries, broken leaders, broken governments, broken churches, twisted values, shallow love, depression, despair. Not a thing, person, or place is untouched by The Fall. Nothing is perfect, nothing is as it should be. It is said: the whole world groans.

But still, throughout this beat-up planet, there are sprouts of vibrant, healthy roots that battle the broken land. Agape is alive in big and small ways. In every thing, person, and place God is also flowing through their veins, persistently bringing hope, restoration, and love to every corner of the Earth. It is my faith that allows me to trust. I know who is the Victor. Though I see just the smallest fraction of the big picture, I trust that I need do no more than that which God has entrusted to me: Small things with great love.

* Michelle Thoughts, Other Travels, Videos

Haiti Recap Video

June 30, 2009November 19, 2013 mcmeeshi

Here’s a quick video montage I put together of our trip with Haiti Foundation of Hope in June 2009. I wanted to show everyone a little piece of each aspect of the Foundation we saw without getting too in depth or lengthy. It’s about 6 and a half minutes. Jedd graciously obliged me by doing some narrating. Enjoy!