"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." ~ Blessed Mother Teresa
On the one hand, I’m tired of talking about and being mad about stuff like this. But on the other hand, I think it’s important to be culturally aware and well versed enough in current issues to be able to talk about them.
So.
Officials justified this being funded by taxpayer dollars because the state is required to fund medically necessary care for inmates in regards to both their physical and mental health. I get that. But can we also recognize how there’s a huge lack of research into long-term effects of undergoing this type of surgery?
And even if you were one to generally support the decision of individuals to remove their genitalia and try to construct that of the opposite gender, can we agree that the government shouldn’t pay for this? That’s absolutely an abuse of taxpayer dollars. But yes, I paid for this reassignment surgery. I did not consent, and I think it’s a problem how little control the average Joe has over how our money is used.
Another issue I see here is regarding mental health. The discussion surrounding mental health can be tricky. I get it.
But how can we just say that having surgery will solve the very real issues a person in this situation is undergoing?
If we’re going to talk mental health, I want us to talk about this too.
When our minds do not see reality as it is, then we can pursue treatment to change our minds to conform with reality, or change the physical thing in reality that clashes with our minds.
Follow me for a second here: There’s a 30 year old woman suffering from anorexia and she weighs 75 pounds. But because of the mental difficulty that is anorexia, she will still think she is fat. Would anyone who loves her and wants what is best for her encourage her to vomit or refuse to eat? Now I’m not going to recommend a course of treatment for people in this situation, but I think we can agree that help from a trained professional would be needed. The woman is suffering from not seeing reality as it is, and hopefully with treatment and healing, she will see her body as it is one day.
Now I know the world of gender is a delicate arena. But I don’t see how it’s very different.
A biological woman feels or somehow comes to the belief that she is a man. She is physically and biologically a woman. But somehow our culture has gotten to the point where refusing this woman the opportunity to physically mimic the body of a biological man has become bigotry.
I don’t know about you, but I’d call that biology.
What are your thoughts, and how do you handle this type of situation?
Have you seen all the memes about finally waving adieu to 2016? Most people seem to be counting down to saying goodbye to an eventful year. It’s certainly been quite a year for me, with lots of changes and things I haven’t blogged about. So for posterity’s sake, and because I miss this place, here’s what 2016 looked like for me.
January
The end of Christmas break saw me going back to Kansas for my final semester of college. I was beyond excited to be done with formal schooling. But at the same time, there’s so much to say goodbye to when college ends. I can now tell you that it’s quite possible to be crazy excited and terrified at the same time.
For the fourth time in college, we packed up a ginormous group of people to head to the March for Life in D.C.
Buuuuuut then the morning of the March we turned around and headed back to Kansas early in order to beat a crazy huge storm. It was a hard call to make for our bus company and group leaders. Ultimately, though, I think it was a good decision. The road we had to take heading west was the road many buses got stranded on just hours after us.
February
I treasured many “lasts” of college as the semester went on. At the same time (late Feb/early March??), I discovered that the job I had expected to step into after college was not going to happen. It hadn’t been for sure, but this made the next couple months crunch time to find a job. I was not keen on the idea of graduating without a next step. Anyway, you can imagine what that’s like for someone who likes to plan.
My role in the campus pro-life group senior year was receiving calls from families in need in our town and then delivering items directly to those moms and babies. That was such an enriching experience. I got to literally meet people where they were at and help them through more materially difficult times than I’ve ever experienced. I am so glad that I stepped back from being President that school year to work hands-on with people who needed us. I spent many Saturday mornings outside the closest abortion facility too.
March
I had a lovely spring break trip with some of my college girlfriends in snowy Colorado mountains. We went inner tubing and just had a blast. The job search continued. And I passed my senior comprehensive exam. Thank you, sweet Baby Jesus.
April
Things started to get REAL at this point with impending graduation. Applying for jobs got old fast. I do not envy anyone who is job searching, because at least in my experience, it was horrible. There’s the hope of seeing new opportunities and then after submitting your application you never hear back. I actually really appreciated the rejections I received, because at least it was an answer.
Part of the reason this was such a struggle for me is because with my Business Management degree, I was going to be qualified for any number of jobs in the business world. I know I am capable of doing much in the business world. And going home to Silicon Valley you might think that was my ambition. But I didn’t want to work in the corporate business world. To me it felt cold and impersonal and basically purgatory on earth. In my opinion it’s driven too much by money and other things I don’t care about. I wanted to work with non profits that were either related to my faith or the pro-life cause.
Though I didn’t have a next step yet, I started throwing away paperwork and notes from classes that I didn’t need anymore. Sweet freedom was on the horizon.
On campus our Memorial of the Unborn was unveiled. This was such a wonderful moment for the campus pro-life group, because students had been working on the project and raising money for it for many years. There had been many setbacks, and I was so proud to see it finally installed after much hard work.
It’s in a memorial garden in a nice spot on campus. Here’s what the statue looks like (with some rain on it). The rock wall behind it is a great height to sit and think, and it’s right off of a walkway with a bench directly across from it.
We hosted a baby item drive where all proceeds go to the ministry I was managing of helping local families. It was wonderfully successful and made me happy to leave the ministry in good hands with resources to work with.
May
Toward the end of April (I think – sometime around here), I started facing the reality that it didn’t look like I was going to be working in the fields I was most interested in. And I was like “FINE, GOD, IF YOU SAY SO”. Letting go looks much more like that sometimes than a feel-good Hallmark movie. It felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff and had no idea what was coming. I applied for many jobs that in my opinion looked lame because it was time to be an adult even if what happened wasn’t ideal.
Then all of a sudden, life worked out.
In the couple weeks leading up to graduation, I had interviews with both a prominent pro-life organization and Ignatius Press where I work now. It’s funny because I had sent my resume to IP about 6 weeks prior to this, I think. They didn’t have any job listings up, but I figured it didn’t hurt to send my resume around and see what happened. Since one of their staff members was moving on at the end of May, they contacted me. And two days before graduation (I kid you not), it was official. My goal all along was to have a job before graduation. Of course it would have been nice for things to work out a couple months prior. But I just had to laugh at the way it turned out. God is good. And I had a next step after graduating.
I graduated a said bittersweet goodbye’s. At some point I’ll have to write more about college. My cap said “Believe there is good in the world“.
Then I moved home to California, started training for work 4 days later, bought a car and BAM. I am officially a real adult.
There’s a lot that goes into big transitions like this, and I felt that. Work was a steep learning curve at first. Taking public transportation was a nightmare the first few days before I got the car. But I have a job and I was thankful.
June – September
I adjusted to my new normal, which included a commute of about 1:40 or so each way. Fortunately driving the hills of San Francisco was just fine. After school started (for OTHER people, mwahahaha), it took over 2 hours to get to work in the morning. I listened to Catholic radio, said the rosary, sometimes jammed to music, and avoided accidents in crazy Bay Area traffic.
My first nephew was born and I visited him (and my sister and brother in law) and summer was great. My other older sister and I began looking for an apartment together once both of us had things in order. That was an interesting process!
October
We found a place, were accepted, and moved at the beginning of the month. It really had only taken a couple weeks of intense looking, visiting, and applying to find the right place, but it felt super long. The hardest part was finding something affordable, because local market price is about $3,500/mo for rent. Thankfully we found something under that and have enjoyed it ever since. One of my favorite walls is this gallery wall I’ve been slowly adding to:
Craigslist has come in handy for many furniture pieces, including that awesome chair and bookshelf 🙂 The crucifix is one of my favorite parts, and this phrase from Mama T.
November – December
Since then life has been moving along as per usual. We had a pretty crazy election. If you’re wondering how I voted, you can read this. Oh yeah, my transmission failed right before Thanksgiving (THANKS semi-new car). That was fun! Thankfully it was under warranty.
It’s nice to have my own place and a job to learn from. But I definitely miss the hustle and bustle of everything I did in college. It was so easy to pop across campus for this or that activity and go to events and volunteer my time. The world is so much bigger and takes being much more intentional now. I’m still looking for volunteer opportunities and social groups and figuring out good ways to spend my time. Oh! One awesome way I’ve spent some time is exploring trails around here. There are so many and I love them.
Can you believe this has no filter? It’s sooo beautiful in the hills where I live.
It’s been a year of figuring things out, making lots of decisions, and taking big steps into the world. I am thankful for much and looking forward to whatever the new year brings.
Did you make it this far? Congratulations, that was was long. Cheers to 2016! How was yours?
Hello again! It’s Friday. Did you survive this week? Because it was a little extremely cray cray if you ask me. Let’s take a deep breath, maybe a chill pill, and pull ourselves together. Linking up with Kelly & Co.
1. Donald Trump is our next president. Ever think that’d happen? The shock has worn off at this point, but I was dumbfounded on my couch watching the results unfold. I said from the beginning that Hillary was going to win, and for once I am a teensy bit glad to be wrong.
2. But, like most Americans, I’m not thrilled about Trump. I didn’t vote for him or Hillary, because they both seemed like dumb options. But I’m not going to protest or disrespect my country. He’s said crazy things that I wouldn’t ever defend. But I’m going to give him a chance to do some good. He might. He might not. But I’m going to be open-minded enough to give him the opportunity. He can’t just do the crazy things people are saying he will. We’re a democracy, not a monarchy.
3. Some people are losing their minds and blocking freeways and hurting people. This is obviously very constructive in unifying our country. All the rest I’ve gotta say about the protests is this:
4. This video (from a liberal Australian channel?) came up in my Facebook newsfeed, and I thought it made an important point.
Because you know what? We’re all going to disagree on something. That’s okay with me. I may believe you’re wrong about some life issue or gay marriage. And I’l be happy to talk about my beliefs. I hope that is you’re wrong about something you learn the truth, and vice versa. But that doesn’t change your humanity. Or mine. Opinions and beliefs are part of our identities. But they’re not what we are.
5. Okay, so where do we go from here? I would suggest one step at a time. People are always going to be disappointed and mad after an election. But hey. We’re America. We’ve been through some TOUGH times, and we’ll probably survive a Trump presidency. Let’s keep going to work, raising families, making dinner, reaching out to each other, and living each of our lives trying to make the world a better place.
6. Want a lighter topic? Here’s an article of mine up last week at Live Action News: Why abortion is wrong: the pro-life case. And I’m kidding. It’s not lighter. But it might be helpful if you’ve ever been stumped trying to have that conversation!
7. And now, I believe it’s appropriate to end with a prayer for our country. They’ll know we are Christians by our love, right? Let’s live up to that! And let’s remember in our prayers all the brave souls who have fought for our country since today is Veteran’s Day.
Almighty God,
bless our nation
and make it true
to the ideas of freedom and justice
and brotherhood for all who make it great.
Guard us from war,
from fire and wind,
from compromise, fear, confusion.
Be close to our president and our statesmen;
give them vision and courage,
as they ponder decisions affecting peace
and the future of the world.
Make me more deeply aware of my heritage;
realizing not only my rights
but also my duties
and responsibilities as a citizen.
Make this great land
and all its people
know clearly Your will,
that they may fulfill
the destiny ordained for us
in the salvation of the nations,
and the restoring of all things in Christ.
1. Let’s just ignore the election, mmkay? At this point, I just look forward to it being over. Because you know what? There’s only so much I can control. And the president is not God and can’t quash my joie de vivre. Also, there’s this if you need some humor about it [rude language warning]. I read that when I was sitting in a coffee shop waiting for an oil change earlier today, and was laughing inappropriately loudly over my iced vanilla latte.
2. Want some cooking tips? My sister and I have been watching Food Network shows lately, and I feel like a genius putting some tips to good use: need to thicken a sauce? Cornstarch. Most people know that. But we also know it clumps up. THIS IS BECAUSE THE LIQUID IS ALREADY HOT. So, mix the cornstarch in a little bit of COLD water before adding it and no clumps. Whoa.
3. Another tip? If you add too much lemon juice to your dish, don’t despair! I accidentally added too much to a creamy lemon sauce for dinner this week, which tasted horribly tart. Do you know what? Add a sprinkle of baking soda and VIOLA. It apparently adjusts the pH level, taking away some of the acidic taste. It kind of fizzed for a little bit, but then went down and was completely saved. Thank you, Google, for saving my sauce.
4. Are you ready for Christmas music? I am, BUT I refuse to play it until the day after Thanksgiving. Gotta be liturgically correct. In preparation, I *MAY* have ordered Pentatonix’s new album after seeing this video. SO BEAUTIFUL.
4. I freaked out for a second this week, because all of a sudden I had a huge increase in “likes” on my Facebook page. I thought some sketchy spam activity was happening. But it turns out a story I wrote for Live Action News was making waves across the interwebs. It’s about a beautiful little girl named Coeli who was born at 25 weeks and lived, after doctors told her parents to let her die. Check it out! And if you’re a new fan, welcome! I’ll be posting more over there now.
5. Want another video? Here’s some priests rocking out while carpooling with a bishop. Yes, Catholics are not all dour old rule followers. We have loads of fun!
7. With all the craziness out there, guys, I highly recommend going on hikes and getting off social media for the next week. Here’s a picture of a recent hike I went on. No filters whatsoever. Creation is soo gorgeous!
Have a great weekend everyone! Gotta go take some ciabatta rolls I made out of the oven for our housewarming tomorrow 🙂
In case you haven’t heard, one of evangelical Protestantism’s most well known leaders, Jen Hatmaker, recently announced her support of gay marriage.
Her belief was revealed in this interview, where she agreed that “any two adults have the right to choose who they want to love”, and that a LGBTQ relationship can be “holy”. She came to this conclusion after a few years of study, her husband said in a follow-up Facebook post.
*SIGH*
It’s disheartening, but not surprising. In reading about this, there are a few valuable things we can take away, I think:
1. If you study the Bible to figure something out, and your conclusion doesn’t match thousands of years of Biblical tradition, you’re probably the one who’s wrong.
It’s good and beautiful to know the Bible. But you know what? It can be confusing. False conclusions can be drawn. And I think it’s important to look beyond words on a page into the historical context, word meaning, and traditions surrounding any teaching. You can pray and research yourself into perfect heresy, and you might not even know it: a good reason to look at what’s been consistently taught over time and not try to twist scripture to mean what you want it to.
2. This is why I’m grateful to be Catholic.
You see, problems happen when everything is open to interpretation. That’s what you get with sola scriptura. It must be difficult to feel the weight of having to figure everything out yourself! I consider it such a gift to be be Catholic. I don’t have to figure out everything myself, and can trust the well educated explanations of thousands of saints, philosophers, bishops, theologians, popes, and doctors of the church who came before me. They’re not perfect. But they’re smarter than me and can help me understand issues I might not agree with.
3. We do need to talk about how we treat people who struggle with homosexual tendencies.
This, I think, is actually my biggest takeaway. I think Jen is right that we need to be sensitive to people. But she’s wrong that treating people better involves acquiescing to sin.
We can and should welcome people into our families, workplaces, and churches regardless of what sin they have, are, or will commit. We’re all sinners after all. This is part of what I think Jen was getting at, probably because some people still have a stone the gay people attitude. I hope it’s obvious that stoning people is wrong, as is wishing them ill will. That’s not a good way to love people.
Loving people means we do what is best for them. And since marriage-like relationships with people of the same gender violate how we were created to express our complementary sexuality as men and women, that’s not loving people right. Neither is it loving to endorse things like pornography, incest, or polygamy. Even if people want it. I don’t care if it’s consensual. Can we please agree on that? We can’t base our decisions on what people want because, let’s face it, we all want things that are bad for us sometimes. What we can do is treat people with respect, even when we disagree with them. The answer is not to endorse the sin, but to embrace the sinner.
If we base our “love” for others on satisfying what they want, regardless of if it’s good for them, how on earth is that loving? You tell me.
A Drop in the Ocean 