thanks for your abnormalities

Thankfulness. 

That's what today is all about.

I love the tradition of setting aside a space to be with friends and family and to remember all that you have in your life to be thankful for. 

Yes, I know that everyday you should acknowledge what you have to be thankful for, but there is something about intentionality that is special.

Intentionality changes lives.

Or at least, it has changed mine. 

I have blogged in the past about those significant adults in my life who have shown me agape love.

The ones who had nothing to gain yet made sacrifices for me.

I'm really thankful.

Consequently, I'm a fan of the collective intentionality that accompanies Thanksgiving.

Today I would like to set aside time and space to say a special thank you to my parents. 

They're pretty frickin fantastic. 

Mom and dad... you guys are incredible individuals.

You have raised me in a counter-cultural way and for that I can never thank you enough.

You have taught me what it means to be a strong, independent and determined woman of God.

You have not only shown me how to take control of my life and declare my own person, you have taught me how to do that for the purpose of pouring all of me into the lives of the people around me.

I kind of thought that this train of though was the norm.

Ya know, the giving to others both tangibly and emotionally thing...

it's not.

Yeah, definitely not normal.

A few days ago I had the assignment to give a presentation regarding my life and the purpose behind my decided course of study,

I threw it together quickly (because let's be honest... a presentation about me doesn't exactly require research or study) and then presented it to my class.

They were dumbfounded.

So many questions... people just couldn't wrap their brains around the concept of doing whatever it takes to love.

Mom and dad, thank you so much.

I am so extremely privileged to have been raised in such a way that challenges the status quo. 

So Momma... you are one fierce woman. 

Your strength and independence inspires me and Madison is so many ways.

You taught me how to throw the metaphorical middle finger towards those who judge.

You're also super feisty and sassy.

It's great.

Scratch that.. it's fergilicious.

You don't take shit from anyone and that's impressive.

Along with your incredibly strong character traits come incredibly compassionate character traits.

You showed me the meaning of selflessness as I watched you give up everything to be Madison and my number one fan and encourager. 

I watched you spend all day working with your students and was amazed.

Your day with them did not end in the classroom.

You built relatinships with them and poured so much intentionality and genuine love into them...

You taught me how to love the difficult.

You have this knack for working with kids that nobody else can handle.

I watched your heart break time and time again for the lives of your students.

I also watched you take that broken heart and use it to repair theirs.

You repetitively let yourself be broken in order to make the necessary sacrifices to build them up.

Mom, you're a hero.

You're definitely my hero, but I can't claim ownership of this admiration.

There are so many kids out there that have had their lives changed by you.

They are also thankful.

Well dad, now it's your turn.

You are the real Mr. Incredible.

You, like mom, have given your life to others.

I can't imagine how incredibly taxing your work is.

I did only a fraction of it for one summer and I can attest that it was completely exhausting.

The good kind of exhausted though... like the glutton for punishment kind.

Like the I've literally spent the last 150 hours with middle schoolers yet all I want to do is spend more time with middle schoolers kind of thing...

But anyways

Dad, Daddy-O, Paps, Mr. Commissioner,

you live by example. Words are not needed, yet when you give them they are laced with wisdom.

You also have this weirdly awesome ability to create absolutely crazy, unsafe, intense yet doable, competitive, wacky, and super fun games that somehow can be translated into this deep, moral and spiritual lesson. 

It's seriously impressive.

You should probably write a book about it or something.

#bestseller

Keegan and I tried that whole game creation thing once... we came up with "a head of lettuce".

#subpar 

When you are preaching, God flows through you.

You are extraordinarily gifted in the communication department.

Your words hit hearts hard and people never really recover.

Point in case: the fat cow sermon. ;)

You not only connect to people from behind the pulpit though, your counseling skills are magnificent. You can connect with people with such ease and people are quick to let you in.

The number of people whom you have impacted in your life is innumerable. 

We can start with this girl though...

your faith has impacted me in so many ways. Because of you I have a raw faith.

I'm not the pastor's kid who has all of the answers,

I'm the pastor's kid who knows that she doesn't know shit.

Well that's not entirely true... I know the breadth and power of God's love. 

For that I am so thankful.

Dad, thank you.

My parents are really special.

If you don't know them, you really should.

That is anyway, if you don't mind your life being changed in radical ways.

My parents are abnormal. 

For that, I am thankful.

breathe in, breathe out, remember.

I have written of death in the past.

I guess I think about it a lot,

not in a creepy way, 

but in a pensive manner.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the definition of "death".

"The action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism. The permanent ending of vital processes in a cell or tissue."

So scientific.

So mathematical.

So... calculated.

Death of the body is inevitable.

We all know that.

We are not built to live forever.

Things that are built, constructed, formed... they have an end.

What about things that are breathed?

"Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils and the man became a living person."

Genesis 2:7 

The body is formed.

The life is breathed.

This breath is special.

This breath lasts forever.

I mean, come on, it is God's breath after all.

I reckon that it's quite powerful.

This breath, 

the breath breathed into your lungs by none other than the Lord of Lords, 

is not uniquely yours. 

Sorry to break it to you, but this breath is for everyone.

This breath is for the homeless man on the corner that you pass by every day.

This breath is for the single mom using food stamps to support her family.

This breath is for the young African American you switch to the other side of the road to avoid.

This breath is for the billionaire businessman living a life of luxury while from his penthouse he can see young women being forced to sell their bodies.

This breath is for your mother.

This breath is for your best friend.

This breath is for the barista who knows just exactly how much cream to put in your late.

This breath is for your favorite musician, author, painter. 

This breath lives.

We die.

Our breath, however, does not.

This weekend I celebrated El Dia de los Muertos.

It was beautiful.

Mexicans know how to celebrate life.

They understand that though the body dies, the breath does not.

They take the time to remember their loved ones who are no longer physically present.

They take time to share memories.

They laugh.

They cry.

They build. 

They build these incredible altars.

Now, before you freak out, they are not worshiping these altars.

They do not worship the dead.

They appreciate them.

These altars are constructed with the things that were most important, or best represent the life that was lived by whomever the altar is construed to honor. 

My host mother showed me a beautiful altar built to honor her sister who died last year from cancer.

She wept tears of joy as she explained the particulars.

She would point to a food and say 

"Hemos tratado de hacerlo al igual que lo hizo... pero nadie puede cocinar como mi hermana."

"We tried to make it just like she did... but nobody can cook like my sister."

Through this beautiful representation of bodily life she was able to explain to me the spirit of her beloved sister.

Her passions, dreams desires... they are all remembered and appreciated. 

It really is incredible.

It is no coincidence that this day falls during the Catholic "All Saints Day."

This celebration of the dead in Mexico can be traced back for close to 4,000 years.

It used to be a much longer festival of sorts, but when the Catholic church came to the Americas, they combined the two in attempt to convert the indigenous people to Catholicism.

Though it is sad that the lengthy celebration has been lost, I appreciate the semi-combination.

It gives me an opportunity to celebrate the breath of these people in a very tangible way.

The sainthood, as viewed in the many branches of the protestant church, includes all believers who are no longer with us.

This means that on this day I am given the space to both celebrate and mourn the life and loss of many in my life.

I can build metaphorical altars as a means of remembrance.

Now, Gram Anne, your altar:

These altars have three levels

3. Heaven

2. Honoring objects from the life

1. The grave

3. This level would include a beautiful photo of Anne, an ornate cross, and possibly some incense. 

2. Here I would include a book of fairy tales,  home made caramel and some birks.

1. I would place here many candles and possibly a painting of a headstone. 

Gram Anne, I mourn your death.

But Gram Anne, I celebrate your life.

I celebrate your breath.

You used your breath to love me deeply.

You used your breath to fly yourself up to the Harb and go trick or treating with me dressed as Mad Madam Mimm.

You used your breath to record your voice reading fairy tales so that it was you that I fell asleep listening to as a child.

You used your breath to share your faith with me.

This holy breath,

this life that is breathed,

you used it well.

I honor you for that.

____________

May we all use our breath well,

for our breath will last forever. 

"One God and Father of all,

who is over all, in all, and living through all."

Ephesians 4:6