sheri carlstrom...slices of an ordinary life

A Sober Topic

I wrote about teen drinking on Mother of the What?!
You can read it here.

On Loan

I had a conversation with my sister the other day that has given me a fresh perspective and great inspiration.

She met recently with a new executive officer at her company who brings not only his deep workplace expertise and leadership to his new position, but also his faith. Interesting.

Intrigued by this, my sister asked to meet with him. One of the things he told her is that he views his employment with this company as being on loan from God. Before I go on, think about that, that seems like a big concept to me. Wherever you are putting forth effort right now, you are on loan from God. Whether you are an executive, waitress, stay-at-home mom, engineer, or bus driver, you work for God.

Based on this viewpoint, when this particular executive sits in meetings and walks through his days, he prays and asks for wisdom and words to help make the company successful. He says he is succumbent to God. When things are said in meetings that are not feeling productive, he prays and then interjects what comes to his mind. Things of God, not my own reactions...hmmmmm.

What a wonderful, refreshing perspective and manner of going through the day. I'm not here for me, I'm here for you. I won't be defensive, I will be on your offensive team. I will take my eyes off of me and look at you. I work at a church, this should come naturally, right? But how many times do I think, I don't have time for this? How is this going to impact me? Wow. Yikes...and ouch.

How about this: my life is temporary. I am a temp working for God and my current placement is Communications Director at one of His many churches. What will I do during my time here to make the greatest impact for Him? How will I help our team be most successful...for Him? Good questions from a higher perspective.

Fasting to Turn to God

I have an idol. I don't like to admit it. I'm embarrassed to say it. I'm ashamed when I recognize it - but drift toward it anyway. I'm horrified when I think about standing before God with this sin in front of me.

With Lent upon us, I have been mindful of a recent message at my church about fasting during Lent. Fasting, traditionally from certain foods or entire meals, is meant for self-denial. The time that would have been spent on the meal is instead spent drawing closer to God.

This year I am engaging in a different self-denial, one that will hopefully lead me to smashing the idol that resides with me, thus drawing me into deeper relationship with God.

My idol is my computer. Although quite honestly, its not really the computer itself, it is the addiction to check e-mail and Facebook that has captured me. So the idol resides less with me and more within me. (Easier to hide that idol, harder to get rid of.)

I enjoy feeling connected. After joining Facebook, I understood the sense of community my friends and co-workers would speak of, and I like it. My e-mail keeps me in the loop with the teacher of a particular child of mine, friends who don't "facebook", and more. None of this is bad, but it is when it comes first and foremost in my day...I grab my coffee and check my computer.

But for the past nine days, I have grabbed my coffee and checked in with God. My "sacrifice" for Lent is that I will not check my the computer until I have checked in with my heavenly Father. I need to step around the computer and go to God first.

This was not easy the first few days, I wanted to cheat a little...except there is no cheating God a little. I either cheat Him, or I don't. To cheat Him is to steal from Him, so that would be a whole other commandment to work through.

I am only nine days into Lent and I will report this: It is good. I look forward to my time with God. My days seem to run more smoothly - and I am sure it is because I have ordered my day in an honoring way. My idol is already less attractive, God is more fulfilling. The connection on-line can make me smile, even make me happy, but the connection with my Father is bringing me joy.

Have you sacrificed something for Lent? If you have, comment below and tell us what you have given up and how it is affecting you. I'll start you off with a link to a friends blog, she sacrificed in an inspiring way - click here to read.

Go Team!

OK, so I know I'm a woman and maybe don't understand sports and sports teams in the way that some men and boys do, (and some women) so feel free to comment and enlighten me on what I am about to tackle.

We happen to be from Minnesota, and as the Vikings made it further and further through the season, my household was excited and happy. In the big game that determined who would go to the Super Bowl, our team lost. It was frustrating and disappointing. But what I heard our youngest son say the next morning made me personally frustrated and disappointed.

"The Vikings lost last night. I was going to wear my Vikings jersey to school if they won, but now I'm not, because I'm ashamed of them."

I just looked at him, and then finally said, "How can you be ashamed of a team that made it to the final play-off game?"

If we only stand with our teams when they win, then I'm glad I'm not a team. I lose a lot, and quite honestly, I need someone wearing my jersey when I've lost...much more so than when I'm winning.

It made me wonder about the message being sent, in school, in our offices, in our homes. If your team wins, wear their jersey, if they lose, don't; in fact, feel free to make disparaging remarks about them. How does this translate to our kids and their spot on their sports teams? When their team wins or they make the perfect basket, or catch, we celebrate with them. And when they lose, miss the pass, drop of the ball, we let them know we are still proud of them, but I wonder...do they believe us?

If my son gets pinned in wrestling in the first round and I tell him it looked like he did his best, does he believe me? Maybe so, and I'm just being sensitive. Its just that I have been wondering how we are silently impacting our kids with how, and when, we do, and do not, support our teams.

Feedback?

The $1 Difference

It is the season for the Red Kettles, sponsored by the Salvation Army. They are everywhere it seems, and I believe at some point or another, we've all done this...walked in the other door to avoid the kettle.

Sometimes we don't want to give not one more dollar. Sometimes we don't have even have one dollar to give.

Last year our pastor encouraged something that changed my spirit and my direction for this year. He suggested getting a bunch of $1 bills and dropping one in every time we pass a Red Kettle. Giving perspective, he said even if you cross 50 kettles in the season, its $50. So a few weeks ago, I went to the bank and got one dollar bills. (I keep them in a specific place in my purse so I don't spend them at Starbucks.)

The difference in me has been noticeable; I am excited to hear the bells ringing now. In fact, last week we were in New York City and instead of feeling grateful for the crowd that gave me the excuse to move away from the Kettle, I had fun navigating the crush of people to get to the many Kettles.

If you can, I challenge each of you who read this to get your one dollar bills and post back your thoughts and responses!

'Tis the season to Spend Less. Give More. Worship Fully. Love All. (That's our current message series at my church. It seemed to fit into this post. If you want to listen to the first message, given 11.29.09, click here.)

Cute, Little Bites

I love candy, and I'm trying to follow Weight Watchers, so with trick-or-treating coming up, and candy in every store...on every end cap, its a tempting time for me. The candy is mini-size and some even bite-size, so it can't really be too bad, right? This is what I tell myself.

A few years back my sister Jamie was here visiting at this time of year and we had an interesting discussion about my Halloween decorations. I had some pumpkins, a few cute little witches, an adorable little ghost, witch place mats and a few more such items. I don't remember exactly how the conversation began but she asked some questions about how having these items in my home lined up with my faith.

Ummmm....well...I hadn't given it much thought. In fact, I had given it no thought whatsoever. I saw Halloween as separate from my faith. Not connected. It was just a time of year, almost a season really, like autumn, and lots of people decorated with the very same items. Its not like I went to a dark ally to get them, in fact I bought them in the brightly lit isles of my favorite stores. And they were harmless. Adorable even. Seriously the witch was so cute.

But our talk and her questions resounded in my head after she left. What did they really represent? Did it matter? Was it OK for a Christian to display symbols of witches and ghosts in her home?

I looked at my cute little witch sitting on my mantle, the adorable white ceramic ghost, they didn't appear to be scary or wrong. But isn't that just how evil works? Making it look harmless, cute, adorable even. Cute mini and bite-sized images of witches and what not can't hurt, right? This is what I told myself for awhile. But then I wondered, if Jesus walked through my door for dinner in October, would I be ashamed of the symbols he would see?

The answer was obvious to me.

On my best day I have enough to be ashamed of, I don't really need to add to that by displaying symbols on my mantle of that which he opposes. I still decorate this time of year, but now it with symbols of harvest and thanksgiving. I guess I always knew what my Halloween decorations represented, I just never thought about it. I'm glad someone asked the question that led to the clearing of the idols that never really belonged.

2 Kings 23:24    John 17:15-17    Galatians 5:19-21    Dueteronomy 18:10

Hope and a Future

My heart has been stirred by some children I have yet to meet, yet the weight of their suffering is within me. We will welcome some of them into our home in just few days, for just a few days; they are children from the Hope for Africa Children's Choir. I work on communications for my church and as I prepared media for this upcoming concert, I was both heartbroken and hopeful.

Uganda has seen civil war for over 20 years and as a result there are all these children who have no parents. Some of these children have lived their whole lives in camps for those driven or fleeing from their homes. Some of these children's parents have been brutally murdered; some have witnessed this. Many have lost parents to disease. All of them depend on someone other than a parent to provide for them.

As a foster parent, I am aware of the many children in our own country that need a place to live to be safe. I am sometimes left breathless by the abuse and neglect some parents inflict. I can guarantee you this, you will never be left to provide for my children because I have abused or neglected them. But...what if I lived in a country where war was the norm, where disease was rampant, where my husband was killed, and I was about to die of AIDS. Then...well...I guess I could not issue that guarantee. What then? 

Well, I believe the children need to be absorbed into us. We have to go to them. We have to step up. If I am the mother in the above situation, I want to know that I can trust someone will wrap their arms around my child, take her in, provide for him, give them a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) When it appears all has failed, and it is dark, I have to believe there is a plan. I suspect we are that plan.

Join me Sunday at 4:00 at Sonrise Church to experience
the Hope for Africa's Children's Choir.

If nothing else, come and praise God for all He has done and is doing for the twenty-two children, ages seven to eleven, who will grace our stage this Sunday.

Social Networking at its Best

In a world where "relationships" take place on social networking sites, you text instead of talk, and you have virtual meetings, I have found that spending time together is a still the way to actually maintain, freshen and grow relationships.

Eighteen years ago we moved from our home state of Minnesota to Michigan, then ten years ago we left Michigan for Indiana. When I left Michigan, I left behind one of the best friends I ever had. We realized once our youngest children were in school full days, that if we both drove 90 miles we could meet 1/2 way for four hours of coffee, lunch and sometimes even shopping! So for the last six years we have been doing just that. It keeps our friendship fresh and current as we share time face to face.

I have a sister-in-law (Kalie) who was just eighteen when we left Minnesota, and yet today, eighteen years later, she is one of my closest friends. This past spring we took our first solo vacation together, going to the Florida Keys for an extended weekend. This time together took our friendship to a whole new level. 

Our families (and my 2 sisters and their families) recently returned from spending a week together in South Carolina. The connections we all made feel deep, experiences were shared, memories were created, (I have an amazing photo album to prove it!) and the desire to come togther again was planted.

Watching the cousins together over the course of the summer, seeing my kids with grandparents, spending time getting manicures and pedicures with my Michigan friend, hanging out face to face, going places where there was no cell (or wireless) coverage all made for stronger ties and better times together.

Don't get me wrong, I love the technology. I have a Facebook, I text my fair share, and much of the time appreciate the efficiency of an email over a meeting. But much can be lost, and sometimes little is gained from these "interactions".

The other day I sat down with a cup of coffee to talk to my sister who is 500 miles away, when I hung up an hour later, my first thought was I better get some stuff done now. But then I realized if we lived in the same town I would have been blessed to have spent an hour at a coffee shop with her talking. We can't do that, so the investment in an hour on the phone was a good one. Investments cost, but this one will pay off.

Hebrews 10:25 advises us to "not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing..." I believe this is even for us in our friendships. Let us not give up taking the time and going to the trouble to meet each other face to face. I believe sharing time, space and experiences is what creates new life in our friendships and families, and I want mine to be living and growing! 

This social network here is experiencing community!

...and this was a morning with lots of communicating on how he obtained this shark!