tom brokaw's upper lip

The debate just started, but I wanted to stop real quick and ask you one question: has anyone else noticed that Tom Brokaw's upper lip doesn't move when he speaks?

as it is in heaven

I had parked and was waiting to cross the street at an intersection in downtown Birmingham early Friday morning on my way to school. I saw two young men sitting there on the curb, probably 15 years old, their hands in cuffs.

One policeman stood over them, writing furiously, and another was walking the perimeter, searching the ground around the sidewalk as though he were looking for one particular blade of grass. The boys' faces didn't look frustrated or upset at being busted. They looked hopeless.

I've seen a good bit of this sort of thing over the past couple of years, but for some reason that morning, it hit me harder than usual. And I started crying. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, crying there at the intersection of 7th and 26th in north birmingham. I turned my head as I crossed the street, hiding my tears from the traffic and trying to dry them before walking into a room full of 8th graders.

I kept thinking about how this world is not supposed to be like this. Cities should not be worn down to cracked sidewalks, vacant buildings, and adolescents in handcuffs. This world was supposed to be better. We were supposed to be better.

I thought of a sermon I heard not too long ago, and it quieted my spirit, so I wanted to share it with you. I'll try to summarize as best I can. It was on 1 Corinthians 15, and it was about restoration. I've heard sermons on restoration before, but not like this. Well, maybe I have, but I obviously wasn't paying attention.

In the sermon, the pastor talked about how we, as Christians, have a view of heaven as our final resting place. "Citizens of heaven" we call ourselves. Well actually, I've never referred to myself as that, but I hear that's what they say on Christian radio. I've known that this earth will be restored, but I think without realizing it I've solidified heaven, in my mind, as a mysterious faraway destination that has little, if anything, to do with the physical earth.

If this is true, then we have a dilemma.

True: The curse is broken, restoration is underway. Not way up there in heaven. Here. Now. But what does the return of our King do for us in a world of bondage where there are rotting buildings, chipped paint, decaying sidewalks, people without homes, and where children sit on street corners in handcuffs? In a world where things are not as they should be and where we are dog tired from trying to play a part in this restoration, tired because it seems to be all in vain? The scope and depth of the sadness and destruction the curse left is sometimes so overwhelming it paralyzes me. But then I might ask myself - isn't heaven our home anyway?

I'd never thought about it like this, but 1 Corinthians 15 says to be always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. If I labor here - if I help paint someone's house, serve a meal, or teach someone to read, but this world is not my home, then my work IS in vain.

Actually, to say heaven is my home is to say that creation - this world and our very bodies - are a mistake and can be discarded. But this is not the case. This world will be restored, not discarded. Habakkuk 2 says that the glory of the Lord will cover the earth like water covers the sea. Like water covers the sea. So this earth was designed to be filled and saturated with his glory. Right now, it is but a shadow of what it is supposed to be.

Likewise, we, in all our ugly sin, are mere shadows of what we were created to be. But in the mire, we get glimpses of the newness, of the holiness that He is working into us. The same day I saw the boys handcuffed on the sidewalk, I saw three 8th graders pause in the hallway to pray for one another. This, also, moved me to tears.

This kingdom, where we will cast off the perishable for the imperishable, living in new bodies and a new earth, is coming and is very physically real. And there will be real work to do -- this is what it will mean to be co-heirs with Christ. We will labor with him. We will have dominion with him over the earth, as was originally intended. As we were originally created for. So as he brings his kingdom to be restored on earth, we can labor in the lord now, and our redeemed work will remain.

However small it seems, however insignificant, it is not in vain. He will come out of heaven to us, he will bring heaven to this earth, and restore it once and for all. To quote from the third verse of one of my top three favorite hymns of all time, "This is my Father's world. O let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet."

After the last two years of near constant frustration and feeling like a wheel spinning in sand, I think I get it now. Not that I'll not be frustrated again, by any stretch, but I think I understand better why planting flowers on a street corner matters, even though it is just one of a thousand corners that still sit littered and barren. I think I see why providing an attractive place to sit in the shade matters, and why teaching someone to write about it all in their own words matters, too, though it might be one thirteen year old who wants to learn out of a hundred who don't.

It does matter.

Let it be on earth as it is in heaven.

I'm going to be an aunt!

I've been waiting to post about this...

I AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT! Sammer & Katherine are having a baby in April, and I cannot wait for the little sugar packet to be born. I call it a sugar packet because that's what size it is right now. A sugar packet.

I must admit, I do kind of hope it's a boy with curly hair like Sam's, and I hope he makes up stuff like "Bonnie's restaurant" and "ten, ten, ten is fun, ten is my favorite nuuuuuuumber! Ten, ten, rhymes with ROCKINGHORSE!" (a song Sam composed at age four)

Either way, I cannot wait for a miniature Hardin to join our family.

CONGRATULATIONS Sam & Katherine!

the Halloween dilemma

I've not been posting two days in a row lately, but there's an issue that's been pressing me as of late, and I need my readership to help me put it to rest. I don't dress up for Halloween very much, but when I do, I like it to be good. As you know, my idea of THE best Halloween costume I've ever donned is of course Snoop Dogg. I haven't dressed up since then, out of fear of not living up. Well, Jennifer Hermetz and I dressed up as each other one year since then. I forget.

Well, I've decided I want to dress up this year, because I think there are some good options. I've worked hard to narrow it down to three, and now, readership, I'm asking you to take the baton.

In no particular order...

1. Walking pneumonia

I don't really know how I would pull this off, but I like the idea. A pair of walking lungs? Maybe. A girl in a hospital gown with puffy eyes, red nose and messy hair? Per chance. I'm thinking hospital gown with a giant lung xray taped on the front.

2. Pam Beasley

This one might be just a little too easy. I can definitely generate the slight frizz and the not-quite-curly yet not-quite-straight look. What's not to love about our Pam? All I need is a long, puffy winter coat and a legal pad.

3. Sarah Palin

I gotta say - I'm a little inspired by Tina Fey on this one. Brilliant. Obviously I can't come close, but this is really funny to me. I have the glasses - all I need is hair help. I think I can create the coife. And find an NRA pin for my suit.

Well, these are the choices. Penny for your thoughts, readership. I don't expect to be able to do better than Snoop, but perhaps I can come close.

I'm eagerly awaiting your opinions.

October Road

I'm not sure when exactly I starting loving October as much as I do. It is by far my favorite month of all, and something about it is so energizing to me.

Even though it's fall, and most people would use these words to describe spring, I must say that in October, everything just feels new and comfortable at the same time.

I compulsively write a tribute to October on my blog every year, usually on the 1st. I always include this passage, which I love, and which I think articulates why I love it.

Here it is, for the third year in a row:

Autumn is the season when a year grows old.

Its strength begins to wane,

its light begins to go dim.

It is a reminder of our own mortality and faltering strength.

It is the season when we begin to look,

not to the earth for hope,

but toward a "city not made with hands,

whose architect and builder is God."

Outwardly we are wasting away,

but inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Here's to October, fall, cooler weather, caramel apples, pumpkins, leaves, long walks, shorter days. I love long days, but let's face it, I've started going to bed at an unreasonably early hour, and it being dark out earlier helps me feel justified. Happy October!

Welcome Em and baby William

Good news! Dear Emily Jones is coming to live with me for a month while she does a med school rotation at UAB. She's here now, actually. We're eating tacos and watching The Office reruns, in preperation for tomorrow night's season debut, of course.

We're so glad she and little William (her unborn child for those you who didn't know) are here for awhile.

We've decided to closely monitor William's growth. "Project Grow William," if you will. We took this picture tonight, and we will take one each week that they're here to see how he grows in Birmingham.

Birmingham is a good place for babies to grow. I am trying to convince her of this so that she and Hunter will move to Birmingham for her residency.

Wouldn't THAT be something fun.

speaking of music videos...

I can't seem to figure this one out. Maybe you can help...