Embracing Kingdom Hope for a Broken World
Posts tagged Journey
Rafting the Grand Canyon
Aug 18th
I recently wrote a post called “Take a Hike” for our green living series which highlighted the importance of taking opportunities to really appreciate God’s creation. Well, a little over a week ago I had a great opportunity to get out and enjoy God’s creation. I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the Grand Canyon with my dad and two of my sisters.
Now I have been to this amazing place several times before. I have even hiked to the bottom once or twice. But this trip was incredibly unique even after my previous experiences. We had the opportunity to hike down to the bottom of the canyon (about 9.5 miles) and then get into huge rafts to raft our way out of the canyon (about 180 miles).
Traveling this distance allowed us to experience the incredible diversity and beauty of this wonder that God created. We experienced views from the bottom, saw wildlife, hiked through side canyons and streams, sat under waterfalls, climbed up cliffs, and were bounced around by the rapids. I found myself continually amazed at the diverse beauty of this great place.
This was an incredible way to experience the beauty of God’s creation and a great opportunity to praise the Creator for his handiwork.
Rather than bore you with all the details of this week long trip, I thought I would show you a glimpse of the sights that we saw below.
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From Abandonment to Adoption
Jul 7th
Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.
Last night I found myself doing some work late. Not unusual. But I also found myself with a kitten asleep on my lap, another purring in my ear. Very unusual.
How did this happen? How did I suddenly find myself the owner of two tiny kittens?
You see, I thought I was a dog person. I thought that one pet (our beagle) was enough for us. I though I was allergic to cats. I thought we didn’t have any more space in our home to squeeze in anything or anyone else.
And yet there I was enjoying my time with our 2 new kittens that we got on Saturday.
So how did we get here? Read on to see how my journey to care for God’s creation has helped bring me to this place.
Because He Cares
Jun 30th
Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.
There are a variety of reasons to care for creation. Here are a few more popular ones:
We care for creation because of its instrumental value. I care for it so that I can continue to use it and benefit from it (food, resources, etc).
We care for creation because we are commanded to. I care for the earth because God called me to steward it.
We care for creation because by doing so we can love our neighbor. I care for the earth in order to help others, including future generations.
Of course, there are many other reasons. One that I have been learning more about lately is this:
We care for creation because God cares for it. As His follower, His cares and concerns should be my cares and concerns.
If God feels that creatures and creation were created good, that it is worth His effort to care for even the sparrows, and that it is important to reconcile all things, then perhaps I should follow Him in this.
I have often been called to follow our Lord, but it is only more recently that I am beginning to intentionally extend this idea to creation care. Perhaps I did this unintentionally before. Lately, I am seeing a plant not just as a plant for decoration or food, but as a creation of my Lord to be cared for. I am seeing the ant, not just as a nuisance, but as a creature of my Lord to be admired.
I find it easy to go through life without recognizing God’s creation for what it is. Trees, plants, flowers, birds, pets, and bugs abound. They are all around. Recently, however, I am seeing them more and more for what they really are – God’s creations. These are not just scenery, items in the background. No, they are incredible creations that praise God’s name.
I hope I can see this more and more. And I hope you can as well.
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Tradeoffs
Jun 9th
Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.
As you may be aware, next week I will be heading out on a prayer journey to the gulf coast to pray with people there for the effects of the oil spill. Since our trip will cover a large distance (New Orleans to St. George Island) it is too great to walk or even bike. Unfortunately, we will need to travel by vehicle. Additionally, our various constraints and meetings rule out the possibility of using public transportation. At the same time, however, we do not want to use oil excessively to get around since the problem here is oil.
While we thought it would be ideal to take an electric vehicle for the trip, they are not exactly easy to come by. The more realistic solution we came up with was to rent a hybrid for the trip. This would provide us with the mobility we needed, but allow us to signal our desire to opt out of the oil culture.
Unfortunately, after countless hours researching, visiting websites, and making phone calls, I have been totally unable to track down a Prius or other hybrid to rent anywhere in the area during the time of our trip. I have tried just about every last avenue possible in order to make this work. Perhaps it is the conglomeration of environmentally-minded media in town for the oil spill coverage that has reserved all the hybrids. Or perhaps it merely signals how dependent our culture is on gas-guzzling vehicles and that there are very few in stock. Either way, I am pretty much out of luck.
* Image from http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/photo-gallery.html
Often when trying to care for God’s creation, we bump into challenges such as these. We want to opt for the ultra-green choice but it isn’t actually available to us. Sometimes this is due to cost. Sometimes availability. Sometimes information. Whatever the reason – whether we like it or not – the perfect alternative is not always available to us.
The challenge I have had this week is less about the time and energy spent finding the perfect vehicle and more about coming to terms with the idea of not having it. I so wanted to have that gas-sipping hybrid and yet it has eluded my grasp. I have really struggled to let that go.
Fortunately, I am reminded that our God does not just look at the outward appearance but considers our hearts. Perhaps some people will not appreciate the fact that our car will likely not have the little hybrid symbol on it, but I know that our Lord is aware of the effort I put into this.
That is the thing that I have really learned this week. There will be times where we cannot attain that perfect option, but we can know that our efforts and desire to care for creation will not go unnoticed.
In the end it looks like I will have to accept the tradeoff here. While I probably won’t be driving down the coast highway in a shiny electric or hybrid vehicle, I will at least be riding in an economy vehicle. More importantly, I know that I tried my best to care for God’s creation. The rest I place in the hands of the Redeemer of all things.
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Oil Spill Prayer – Update & Prayer Journey
Jun 4th
I want to thank you all for your support and prayers. We are so excited that over 3,000 people have formally committed to pray for the effects of the oil spill through our Oil Spill Prayer initiative in addition to the countless others who are praying as well. These last 45 days have been filled with much tragedy and devastation, but the way that you have stood together to pray and entrust the situation to our Lord has been a bright spot and a great source of encouragement. We believe that our prayers do make a difference because our God is sovereign and listens to our prayers. So, thank you for standing up and making a difference in an impossible situation.
Unfortunately, I have to report that the flow of oil has yet to be stopped. Each effort that has been tried to stop or even slow the leak to date has failed. Furthermore, the estimates of how much oil shoots out every day has more than doubled. The gulf is filled with major plumes of oil. Beaches and marshes have now been infected with oil. Seagulls and sanderlings, Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles and dolphins have been injured and killed as a result. Families are struggling to put food on the table as a result of lost wages. Words can hardly describe the destruction.
*Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/lagohsep/4661384410/in/set-72157624183995944/
The situation is dire, but our God, who is the Redeemer, has revealed Himself in difficult circumstances time and time again. Let us continue to call upon the Lord in this difficult time.
I want to announce to you that we will soon be embarking on a prayer journey across the Gulf Coast. I will be traveling with Ben DeVries, a Creation Hope board member and the director of Not One Sparrow, throughout the affected areas. There we will gather in prayer with those on the ground to pray for this tragic situation. While our primary purpose is to be in prayer, we hope that this will also be a source of encouragement for those who live in the affected areas and that it will create a new level of awareness for those of you around the country and the world. Finally, we pray that it will be an opportunity to share the hope we have as Christians. We must not trivialize this situation, but neither can we ignore that our faith is placed in the Creator and Redeemer. The prayer journey will take place from June 14th – 21st. We will frequently be sharing our adventures with you via the Oil Spill Prayer updates page and the Creation Hope blog. We are really looking forward to how God will use this.
We are excited to know that we are backed by your support and prayers. I hope that in addition to praying for the spill, you will be praying for us during this time. If you happen to be in the area we would love to get together with you for prayer and possibly a meal. If you are not, please pray with us and encourage us from wherever you may be at. Finally, if you would like to further invest in what we are doing, we ask that you consider supporting our trip financially (even if that is simply through a Starbucks gift card). Please contact us if you would like to find out more about how you can be part of this exciting work.
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Buying a New Car
Jun 1st
Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.
A little over six months ago my wife was unfortunately in a car accident. She was fine – thank God – but the car was not. It was totaled and suddenly we found ourselves in the market to buy a car MUCH SOONER than expected, many years sooner.
We quickly had to decide what we wanted and what was important to us. Since it was to be our family car, the one that carried my daughter and any future kids we might have, it had to be large enough to accommodate all of us. We also knew we wanted a car that was dependable and would not break down on us. Of course, safety was another key factor.
Furthermore, we knew we wanted a car that better cared for God’s creation, but didn’t really know how to do that. Seeing as though we thought we had at least 5 years before we were going to be at a decision point, we were completely unprepared.
Let me first point out that we considered the make of the car as an important piece of the puzzle as well. We focused particularly on vehicles that would last a long time, so as to get the maximum duration out of the resources that were put into it. If a car is green in other aspects but does not last long, how green can it really be?
So we started where any reasonable person would: gas mileage. We compared the various vehicles based upon their respective efficiencies. Of course, we would have done this anyways, but it was a good place to start. I built a nice, little spreadsheet where we began comparing this and other things for the various vehicles we considered.
We didn’t stop there, however. We figured out (after a good bit of research) where to find the carbon footprint and other helpful information on our vehicle on fueleconomy.gov. More specifically, we went here where we were able to look up specific info on the vehicles we were checking out. Not only did it include the estimated tonnes of carbon emitted each year but it also included the EPA air pollution score. While many of us may not be able to put into context how much CO2 is emitted or pollution numbers, we can all contrast a series of numbers and tell which car is at least relatively best in each category.
A little more navigating around their site revealed the greenhouse gas emissions for each vehicle as well. The greenhouse gases (or GHGs) are gases that are emitted into the atmosphere when a vehicle burns fuel. These gases are expected to increase the temperature in our atmosphere contributing to climate change. So we again added this to our spreadsheet and began comparing.
In the end we had to balance a variety of factors, including cost, to get the vehicle that was most appropriate for our family at the time. Fortunately, it worked out that we were able to choose a great car – Honda CRV – that also happened to have the best scores in almost every one of those categories (I think it was just 1mpg lower than another vehicle). We were truly blessed to get such a great car through the help of a wonderful neighbor helped us get a great deal. As you can see below, my daughter was quite happy about the decision. She has been bugging us ever since to take it for a test drive.
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Wrestling with Oil
May 26th
Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.
In this Green Adventures series, I have brought you into my own journey to care for God’s creation. I have enjoyed telling stories of how I have tried to live out my call to care for God’s creation. I have typically focused on practical actions. Together we have journeyed through efforts to make bread; to switch to more sustainable, cloth diapers; to develop eco-friendly business cards; to tend a garden; and even to change eating habits. Today’s journey, though, is not a matter of action. Instead, it is a matter of heart.
I’ll be honest, when I first heard of the oil rig explosion on April 20th, I felt bad, but not too bad. In a world where we are constantly battered with news of disaster, death, and destruction, I often find myself numb to the impact of such things. Numbness to such pain allows us to continue functioning in a bubble as if everything is okay. Normally, in this situation I would be “okay.” But this time I am not. The numbness has given way.
This is the result, first, of engaging with the situation and understanding its gravity. You see, when we keep things at arm’s distance, when we engage in only 30 second sound bites, and when we treat them like science fiction movies, it is easy to be disengaged. But when we address a situation, look at the photos, and understand what is at stake, we cannot help but to care for the real pain of the tragedy.
Secondly, this is the result of prayer. Early on I began praying for this, but I later jumped in deep with a prayer for the Gulf Coast Oil Spill and my efforts surrounding the launch of Oil Spill Prayer. How could I possibly go to the Lord day after day without being deeply affected? Prayer has changed me.
I am not a terribly emotional person. I rarely cry. But I cannot help but tear up every time I engage this situation.
People have died.
Others are injured.
Families are hurting due to financial hardships.
God’s creatures are suffering and dying.
Beaches, marshes, wetlands, and other ecosystems are seriously damaged.
Back when I worked at World Vision, I remember reading about how the founder, Bob Pierce, prayed these words: “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” I believe that this tragedy is something that breaks the heart of God. Bit by bit my own heart is breaking.
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Personal Garden
May 19th
Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.
With the arrival of spring we planted our home garden a little while back. Whereas last year we simply grew tomatoes at home, we decided to be more adventurous this year. We planted 14 different types of plants and are considering finding space to add even more. While I mostly planted from seed in my garden for the community, at home we planted seedlings instead (for a few unimportant reasons). The incredible thing is that we are already beginning to enjoy the produce from some our plants.
In the past a lack of available space has held us back, but this season we got creative. Most everything is planted in pots, with a couple things in the ground and a couple tomatoes in those upside down, hanging plant things. Surprisingly, this has worked out quite well for us. All of the plants have done well with the exception of the onions which are barely hanging on. A few of the plants seemed to be in shock after transplanting them, but have recovered nicely.
Here is what we are growing:
- Tomatoes (Roma, Cherry, Champion)
- Cilantro
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Peppermint
- Apple mint
- Bush beans
- Strawberries
- Yellow Bell Peppers
- Red Bell Peppers
- Squash
- Onions
- Chives
- Blueberries
Our garden has not been without some troubles. I have already found a few green worms eating up our plants. We had a couple monsters last year that nearly devoured our tomato plants. Fortunately my eyes are a little better trained, and I have been able to catch them quickly this year (so far). Our problems have not ended there, however. The leaves of several plants, especially the bush beans, are still being eaten by some tiny, black, flying bugs. I am not sure what they are, but they like to hang around on the underside of the leaves and snack away. A round of organic bug spray has killed a good chunk of them, but more have come since. So far the level is tolerable, but I don’t like to have them either way. Suggestions? Finally, some animal has nibbled on a couple of our strawberries. There is a chance it is our dog, but more likely it is the birds that hang out in our yard. I could pick up or manufacture a net to cover them, but I will probably wait until they actually take the fruit or do some real damage.
These past couple years I have really rediscovered the joy of gardening. I love the connection with God’s creation and I believe that there is actually something deeply spiritual about gardening (I will make my case for this in a future post). I also enjoy the connection with the food. In a world where we have been so far removed from the food that we eat, it is great to know where your food comes from, what chemicals have (not) been used on it, and to have the pleasure of raising it yourself.
Gardening has also been a wonderful way to spend time with my daughter. She really enjoys helping me water the plants. She has actually gotten pretty good at it (she used to enjoy watering the bricks and the cement as much as the plants). I appreciate this both as a way to get quality time with her as well as to decompress for a few minutes after work. Also, she gets incredibly excited when we are able to pick ripe produce (especially the strawberries). It has been a bit of a challenge teaching her about fruit being ripe, but she has figured it out now. Of course, she does like to pick a basil leaf off now and then for no good reason. She will take a bite of it, realize it’s not so good plain, and spit it out. But we have come a long way from just ripping of produce or leaves for no reason. Gardening as a family has been a great bonding time that I really treasure.
I will continue to update you about the ups and downs of our gardening journey as we go forward. For now, I would love to hear more about your own experience.
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Green Adventures: Your Adventures
May 12th
Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.
Last night, Tuesday, I met with Noel and Erika, two new friends who are the co-directors of the children’s ministry at Christ Lutheran Church. Not only was it great to be able to work with a church to help implement creation care theology and practices, but I had a blast telling them about why I care for God’s creation and some ways that I have done so. There is something incredibly exciting and encouraging about sharing the ways that we work to follow God and care for His creation.
So, today’s green adventure is not about my story, but about yours. It is time for you to encourage me and each other with the details from your own journeys.
Here’s how:
- Click on the blog title (“Green Adventures: Your Adventures”) above
- Scroll down to the bottom of this article and share your stories with us.
Many of us don’t typically comment on blogs, but this is your chance. Please. By sharing your story you can encourage the rest of us and allow us to see how God is moving in your life. That is important.
If you need a framework for what to share, please tackle any or all of the questions below. Or feel free to share some other relevant story which will be beneficial to the community. If you still don’t know what to share, please contact us and we will personally help you come up with something.
- What is the biggest reason that drives you to care for God’s creation?
- What is the favorite/most exciting/most enjoyable way that you implement caring for creation into your life?
- What is the oddest/funniest thing that has happened to you while trying to care for creation?
- How has Creation Hope been a help in your journey?
Finally, if you are feeling embarrassed, just remember some of my past catastrophes like when the first time I tried to bake bread.
Thank you in advance for sharing.
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Green Office: Printing
May 5th
Green Office: a series in which we invite you into our adventures to try to do business in a way that better cares for creation.
Green Office: Printing
As I’ve said before, it’s not always easy being an organization that promotes caring for creation. You see, it’s not enough to just promote the theology of creation care, we have to embody it as well. Sometimes this is an easy switch, other times it takes a lot more work. Regardless, it is a new adventure discovering how to do business in a green way. So, we have decided to bring you into our journey to care for God’s creation in our organization as well. With this post we are launching the Green Office series, a sub-series under the Green Adventures series.
Here are a few of the things that we’ve done to employ green practices in our organization to date:
- We brought in a few indoor plants to clean the toxins from the office air. I put in a little peace lily, a red-edged dracaena, and (what I am pretty sure is) a Warneck dracaena. The Warneck dracaena was given to me which is why I’m not exactly sure of the name. It’s nice to know that these little friends are hard at work keeping our air clean.
- We aggressively turn off the lights in the office. We ensure that they are never on when we are no one is working inside. We also make use of natural light through a very large window we have. In fact, most of the day (unless really needing the extra light) the lights are off even when someone is working inside.
- Similarly, we employ very strong power-saving techniques on computers. They are set to the following settings: monitor off after 2 minutes of inactivity and PC to sleep after 10. Additionally, the surge protector is shut off after the computer’s powered down each night.
- I recently shared about my quest to make the most creation-friendly business cards I possibly could. While I am still working towards a better ink, we are very happy with the results. I now have a variety of people collecting all sorts of odd packaging for me to use for business cards.
I will share others in future posts. For now, we turn our attention to printing.
I am excited to say that this is one of those places where we have been incredibly successful to date. In fact, since moving into our new office about 6 weeks ago, we have yet to print a single piece of paper. In order to do so we have really questioned at every instance if things needed to be printed. To date I have not found reason to do so. Certainly the day will come, but we are happy about that for now. When the time comes to begin printing, I will definitely be using eco font or other ink-saving technique.
Of course, I realize that each industry and job is different and it might be more difficult for some of you. I just encourage you to think hard before clicking “print” and consider the subsequent tips we have discovered when you do. Note that I have also relied heavily on email and file sharing to enable this.
Another key thing we have done is that I picked up a ream of recycled paper from Staples. I searched a variety of stores before I was able to find their 100% recycled paper. Many of the office supply stores offer partially recycled paper, but I was really excited to find fully recycled paper. The nice thing was that it did not come at a steep price increase. While it still takes energy and other resources to process, it is at least nice that it does not use any more trees. I was shocked to discover from their packaging that, “the average American uses more than 655 pounds of paper every year.” Yikes!
Another way we save paper is to reuse the reverse side of old or mistaken print jobs. I often write or print (back when I last printed something) on the backside of previous print jobs. So, I have client and marketing notes written on the back of an old copy of our business plan. The funny – or strange – thing is that I have taken to collecting other peoples mistaken print jobs, junk mail, and other paper waste to use for my work. Odd, but effective nevertheless.
Finally, we are recycling all print cartridges. We have been doing this already as we have recycled cartridges from others. This is a great way to earn rewards, get discounts, or get free reams of paper as well. It is important that these be recycled. You can take them back to most office supply stores and several other places.
As you can see, our journey to green our office has taken us many places. We are excited about these steps that we have listed here and look for to sharing others that we have already implemented and even more that we have have yet to experience. Please continue to follow our journey to care for God’s creation in life and in the office.
