Economy of Love- Latest Greatest in the book Department for Me

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." Mahatma Gandhi

The King will reply, " Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matt 25:40

I am sitting here thinking about who might be "the least of these" in my neighborhood this morning?
I am thinking how do I go about helping "the least of these"?
Am I one of the "least of these"?
I don't feel like I am although, I know I live well below what America would deem the poverty level for a family of 6, I don't feel poor.
I know when I drive my kids over to friends houses that are significantly bigger than my own that there is a difference between the way I live and the way they live, but still I don't feel like they have more than me(well... maybe a second bathroom would be nice (JK) because honestly, my life is rich in so many, many other ways.
I feel rich in love and protection, health and hope from my Creator, love from my husband, love from 4 children, these are things I measure as far as what I have and what I don't have. My "have nots" list is pretty slim and really I feel as though I want for nothing!
I feel I have a lot to give in the love department, but only because of the love that has been given to me. I would venture to say that most peoples love banks are more bankrupt that this Country right now and that is where I feel rich.
SO, what can I do for "the least of these"?



These quotes and the one to follow are all still coming from the book, Economy of Love. They have got me thinking again about what it looks like to live communally and what it is that God might be asking of me now.

"I'm not anybody's savior; I'm just another vulnerable human being. To remember this fact was to be rescued from my own self-sufficiency and from an inflated sense of my own importance. This experience of seeing myself as one of the least was both painful and beautiful at once, which is often what it feels like to be ushered a step further into the kingdom of God."

Well, those are my big thoughts for today.
I pray I can turn them into more than words.

A Quote

"Among us English-speaking peoples especially do the praises of poverty need once more to be boldly sung.

We have grown literally AFRAID to be poor.

We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save inner life.

If he does not join the general scramble, we deem him spiritless and lacking ambition.
We have lost the power even of imagining what the ancient realization of poverty could have meant; the liberation from material attachments, the unbribed soul, the manlier indifference, the paying our way by what we are, NOT by what we have, the right to fling away our life at any moment irresponsibly- the more athletic the trim, in short, the fighting shape."
William James

I have been reading everything that I can get my hands on written by Shane Claiborne for quite some time now.
The most recent book that this quote came from is out of a workbook that goes along side a video titled, Economy of Love. I got the workbook first and read it quick. Then I went back and realized that almost every page was tagged for me to return to some day. You know you have your hands on a good read when the top corner of your book starts to fan out from all the folded corner tips. And that is what I have here. There were just so many good tid-bits I felt compelled to share. Thank you for obliging me in this.

So this above quote was just the first quote of many that got my attention. It reminded me of some things that God had stirred in my husbands heart quite some time ago and I was too afraid to admit that those stirrings might be prophetic.

He told me that he had a dream or vision that black birds were flying out of his eyes so quickly that he could no longer see. When interrupted the dream was said to be about our finances and us loosing everything of financial value. This scarred the crap out of me. It still does scare me. This was a dream given 1 year before we were to lose our home through a foreclosure.

Sitting here now, I am no longer afraid of losing everything because the funny thing is once you go through something like what we experienced last year you realize two things;

1 God is still on the Throne
2 We survived

I am not saying that I would wish what happened to us on even my worst enemy(of which I have none) but still we not only survived, I feel by the grace of God we thrived.
Why this was our story I am not really sure. I can only attest to God's grace that covered us like a big bubble in the midst of some of the hardest months that MoNoSco has ever faced.

More thoughts on this topic later

Facts for my 2011( or I guess some you could say are Resolutions)

Here I am re-capping the first week of 2011 and thinking, "WOW what a great week!" Okay, so only one week in does not = a great year already, but you know me, the eternal optimist that I am I think it really will be a great year.

In this year ;

I will have an official teenager in the house, one of my own this time. Not just one of those random teens that show up on my door step! That's right the Scofield's head into the official teen years on May 28th as Emma turns 13.

I will no longer be "forsaking" hanging out with some of the coolest people on earth on Sunday mornings just because I don't
feel like it, or my bed seems more attractive, or because truthfully I just don't want to be vulnerable. I am done with the theme song being "I am a Rock... I am an Island" so not true!

I will have only one child left that is NOT in double-digits, when Solomon turns 10 in October. This is a really, really big deal considering that some of my favorite people on earth are those that don't belong in the double-digit club!

I will reclaim not only my waist, but more importantly my physical health! I am over being lazy and carefree about what I eat. I am done not caring about myself because frankly, if I don't care then no one else will ! BBKH- here I come!

I will see my oldest sister Jenny get married to her "Mr. Brownskin" in June. And will be in the Brown state for that month as well :) Looking forward to this , really so much. WOW, what a treat this will be!

I will master the art of crocheting.

I will have lived 2 years outside the state that I was raised in. Some said,( Alyse Locke) we would be back after 2 years. We shall see!! Tempting for sure, happening probably not, sorry Weezer.

I will be going back to school in the Fall to finally, FINALLY get a stinking piece of paper that says I am an official teacher now ;)
Sheesh, that will change everything!! NOT!! But at least I will have the sense of accomplishment there that is long overdue.

Some of these you could call resolutions, some you could say are promises, and some of this is just plain hard-core FACT! I am one determined person so I am gonna go with FACT- this will happen! And then of course I do plan on doing the work that will make it so!