2017 In Review

Another year is coming to a close only for another one to begin. We celebrate this time each year to reflect on our past and prepare for our future. This is the time of making goals that you hope will last and know many will stop after a few months...if that. As I prepare for the coming year I want to reflect on this year in order to prepare for the next. Below are some of my favorite moments of 2017 which I have decided to call "The Domestic Year".

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1. We bought a house: 2017 was the year we bought a fixer upper! We did not begin 2017 with plans to purchase a house or even to move, but when we found our new place we knew it was the one for us. We have done a lot of work on the house already--my wife has done most of the work as she is a better handyman than I am--but there's still more work to do. It's been a great learning experience.

2. We adopted a puppy: This year we welcomed a new addition to our family: Petra Lucille. We adopted my wife's dream dog this year as a puppy. She's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and she is as spunky as can be! This year has been a joy watching her grow with our other dog and cat and seeing how they interact together. It's also been a learning experience as we engaged in the act of potty training. It's still a work in progress, but our girl is getting there!

3. We researched: As many of our family and friends know we have a heart for adoption. Not only do we know many friends and family members who have adopted, but we, too, want to adopt one day. This year has been a year of hardcore researching to figure out which is the best route for us: private infant, foster care, international, agency, or county. It's been an interesting journey, but it is one we need to take together. We have wanted to adopt since before we were married, but this year was when we really buckled down on our researching. We are still in the process, but we are getting close to figuring out what is our best route for our forever family.

4. Our extended family grew: This year our extended families have grown in multiple ways. My brother-in-law got married and so I gained a new sister. My younger sister also is pregnant and within the next week or so I will be an uncle! 

5. I read: Naturally, as I love to read, I read many books this year. Not as many as I have in previous years, but a good bit despite all the changes that happened this year. I have continued reading The Expanse series, I read some standalone books, I read a lot of Wendell Berry's writings, and I read Redwood--the fifth book in the series The Familiar. I still enjoy reading Sci-Fi, but this year my reading focus shifted to food and gardening. Though I did not read as many books as last year I feel as if I have appreciated the books I read this year more.

6. We Coordinated a Community Garden: This year we didn't just utilize the community garden, but we became the coordinators of it. We learned the difficulties that can come with coordinating a free community garden, but we also learned the blessings that grow with it too. We got to know other gardeners and gardens while embracing the spirit of planting your own food. This year I think we began to appreciate gardening for more than just a way to save money on food--although that is a great aspect of it--but as a way of life!

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This year has been a great year overall and though we have had ups and downs throughout it I can't help, but look back and see all the ways that my family has been there and made it an even better year. I am excited for the next year and all the adventures to come. When I began this post I considered ending it with my goals for 2018, but I realized that sometimes when I make goals they can limit my imagination. Instead of listing S.M.A.R.T. goals for 2018, I'm going to list an overall goal that will encompass all I want to accomplish this year:

Focus on my family. 

Grace & Peace,

Tanner

Love

Hope.

Peace.

Love.

Week three of the Advent season is all about love. What a fitting theme for such a time as this. There are so many issues and catastrophes around us today, but we can never have enough love. We can never be reminded of love enough. We need more love in this world and in our lives.

And yet I feel as if that word gets tossed around so flippantly. People us it as a means for control. People put stipulations on it. People make it conditional. They lose it's meaning.

But the Love of YHWH is unconditional and it never fails.

When we're caught in the web of the most often asked question: how do we love properly without condoning certain practices? My response is: if you have to ask then are you actually loving? 

Yes we can't condone every action out there. Yes there are dehumanizing things that individuals do. Is love condoning something? Or is love simply loving them regardless? Loving them as a human, as an individual, for who they are not who they could become.

When I think of love I think of the Old Testament reading for this week which comes from Isaiah 61:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me;
He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
To bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And release to the prisoners, 
To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, 
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn;
To provide for those who mourn in Zion--
To give them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
The planting of the Lord,
To display his glory.

They shall build up the ancient ruins,
They shall raise up the former devastations;
They shall repair the ruined cities, 
The devastations of many generations.
Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, 
Foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines;

But you shall be called priests of the Lord,
You shall be named ministers of our God;
You shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, 
And in their riches you shall glory.

Because their shame was double,
And dishonor was proclaimed as their lot,
Therefore they shall possess a double portion;
Everlasting Joy shall be theirs.
For I the Lord love justice,
I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants shall be known among the nations,
And their offspring among the peoples;
All who see them shall acknowledge that 
They are a people whom the Lord has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My whole being shall exult in my God;
For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
To spring up before all nations.

(Isaiah 61:1-11, NRSV, Italicize and Bold added for emphasis).

Peace

Peace.

This week in the Advent season is the Peace Candle and so many things come to mind when I think of the word "peace."

What is peace?

I think of those who fight in the name of what they call "peace." I think of Jesus' words on the Sermon on the Mount about turning the other cheek, carrying a coat farther, and loving your enemies. I think of the phrase "a peace that passes understanding" which is often prayed for. I think of the hectic chaos of the holiday season and how many are desperately seeking peace. I think of refugees fleeing persecution looking for a place of peace. I think of how in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells His disciples to look for People of Peace. There are so many connotations that arise when I think of the word peace.

This morning, though, I reflect on a story I was told not too long ago. Just two weekends ago I had the privilege of visiting for the second time the Behalt Cyclorama in the Amish and Mennonite Heritage center in Berlin, OH. The purpose of this piece of artwork is to tell the history of the Amish, Mennonite, and the Hutterite peoples, also known as the Anabaptists. Both times that I visited this museum, I was struck with wonder at one of the stories they shared. That story is one that I think is so poignant for us to read during this week where we focus on the word "Peace" and that story is shown below:

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In 1569 Dirk Willems was captured and imprisoned for being an Anabaptist. He was able to escape, however, and as he was fleeing a palace guard saw him and began to pursue him. Dirk was able to safely run across a section of thin ice, but as his pursuer chased him the ice broke and the guard fell through. Dirk heard the cries of the guard and turned back to rescue him. Upon his rescue the guard seized Dirk Willems and brought him back to a more secure prison until he was burned to death. Despite the consequences Dirk Willems knew that Jesus had called him to love his enemies and he could not leave this guard there to die even if it meant risking his own life.

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How have we responded to the call for peace? The call to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? 

Grace & Peace.

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Resources:

https://www.goshen.edu/mqr/dirk-willems/

https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/dirk-willem-burned-after-rescuing-pursuer-11630015.html 

What's in a name?

What's in a name? The question that the great Romeo Montague asks in Shakespeare's tragic tale.

A lot is in a name.

Names have power. Names give meaning. Names turn the generalized into specifics.

There's a reason why we give names to babies. There's a reason why in some Christian traditions when a child is baptized they are also christened and given a "Christian Name." Names give us an intimacy that generalizations cannot.

It is easy to hate a group or a stereotype. It is easy to look at a large general group and come up with opinions against them. With groups it is very easy to create an us verses them barrier. It is easy to build walls.

But names change that. In the words of my beloved partner, Brianna Cooper-Risser,"When we place names on the generalization it may not change our opinion, but it at least makes us feel uncomfortable." it shows us that "life is complicated". How many times have you heard a story where someone shares their disdain for a group of people and then they meet someone who happens to fall into that category and it completely changes their mind on the matter? You know what I am talking about. I don't even need to give a specific example for memories to come flooding to your mind.

When we give something a name it changes things. The same goes to barriers in our life. When we name what is holding us back we can come up with a solution much easier. Giving a name to our problems is the first step in overcoming them.

So, do names matter? Absolutely. Names are what differentiates me from just another heterosexual white male. Names are what remind us that each person has a unique story that has brought them to where they are today. And sometimes, some people, need a new name to remind them that their story does not always need to stay the same. Our names are part of what makes us human.

So the next time you make a general statement about a group of people first ask yourself: Do I know anyone in that group? How well do I know them? What is their name? And what is their story?

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Resources:

1. http://www.theliturgists.com/podcast/2017/8/15/names 

2. https://robbell.podbean.com/e/we-are-the-committee/