Max

(This is a poem I wrote yesterday about my favorite character in The Book Thief, Max Vandenburg. Hope you like it!)

Max
He ran to survive
He wanted to fight
But he had to escape
He was afraid
And he fled.

Jewish fist fighter
First he fought because it felt good
Then he fought to stay alive
Not afraid of Death
He vowed to punch it in the face
Such stupid gallantry.

Hair like feathers
Makes me wonder
Why he didn’t
Fly away.

The Sky Stealer
He found beauty in the stars
In the words of a book thief
And in the music of a criminal.

Max
Fearing life
Fighting death
Finding beauty.

The True Meaning of “Word Shakers”

If you follow my posts/tweets on Facebook and Twitter at all, you’ve likely seen a lot of posts about The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, and Word Shakers (the name that my friend, Hannah, and I thought of for fans of The Book Thief.) Today marks 3 months that Word Shakers has existed. Recently, while thinking about this awesome marker in Word Shakers’ history, I came to realize something. Yes, that is the name of fans of The Book Thief, but I’ve come to believe that it means more than that. I think there are a lot of people, who have never even heard of the book, who are Word Shakers, too.

****THE TRUE DESCRIPTION OF A “WORD SHAKER”****

Someone who understands that words have power, and uses that power to make a difference in the world.

The main character of The Book Thief is Liesel Meminger, a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany who, even before she can read, understands the power of words. Words are the last link she has to her brother, who dies on a train while he and Liesel are on their way to be given to foster parents. Later on in the book, words are what connects Liesel to Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man who Liesel’s foster parents hide in their basement. And, when Max becomes sick for a long time, Liesel reads to him twice every day until he recovers. In the words of The Book Thief, “She gave ‘The Dream Carrier’ to Max as if words alone could nourish him.” Still later, when the bombs start falling, Liesel reads to her neighbors in the bomb shelter.

When I think of Liesel, I think of her as the first Word Shaker. She understood, very well, the power of words to change peoples lives. But she didn’t stop at understanding it herself, she passed the words along, showing other people that words have power, and that they, too, could use it to make a difference.

That is the calling that all Word Shakers take up. We must understand the power that words have, and then we must use that power to, somehow, make the world a better place for everyone. To put it a different way, I believe that the philosophy of all Word Shakers is this:

****THE WORDS THAT WORD SHAKERS LIVE BY****

We Are Word Shakers. We use words to change the world.

The Absolute Coolest Birthday EVER

For anyone who missed the news, in April, my favorite musician, Cutter Gage, played a concert at my church on Saturday, the sixth, and led worship at service on Sunday, the seventh. Also, Sunday just happened to be my 16th birthday.

Wait a second. That didn’t sound quite right. Let me try again.

OHMYGOSH YOU GUYS, MY FAVORITE MUSICIAN FLEW HALFWAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND HAD A CONCERT AT MY CHURCH ON SATURDAY AND LED WORSHIP FOR SERVICE ON MY BIRTHDAY THE NEXT DAY.

There, that’s more like it. Oh, and another thing.

I GOT TO SING WITH HIM. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

Okay, I’ll get on with my story now. So, where did this all start? Where did I find out about Cutter, anyway? The simple answer is this: Twitter. But how did I find him on Twitter? That, I don’t remember. I didn’t even realize that he was a musician until October 4th of last year. When I found that out, I thought “Oh, why not check out his music? I’m running out of stuff to listen to, anyway.” So, I went to Youtube, found his channel, and clicked on the first song I saw. Then I listened to the next one…and the next one…and the next one. Before I really even realized it, I had listened to all his music. I was, honestly, shocked. Not only was the music REALLY good, I could listen to the words and think of a time in my own life when I had felt like he had.

I started talking to Cutter on Twitter. He seemed like a pretty nice guy. After a few weeks of communicating on Twitter and listening to his music, I started thinking how awesome it would be to meet him. But, I continually laughed myself out of the idea. “He lives in Kansas! Why on earth would he come here?” I would ask myself. The answer to that why was not long in coming.

To be perfectly honest, it was a hashtag that started it all. #Mention10PeopleYouWantToMeet. The first person that popped into my head? You guessed it: Cutter Gage. After I tweeted it, I waited with agitated excitement for his response. What would he say? “Not a chance?” “In your dreams?” “#YouWish!?” Yeah, I know that’s being terribly dramatic, but keep in mind, I was nervous.

As you can probably guess by the fact that he did come, none of these were his response. It was quite the opposite. “Hopefully I can come lead worship at your church sometime!”

To say that I was excited would be a huge understatement. For hours, I couldn’t sit still. I alternated between dancing around the house, smiling like the Joker, and shouting “AW YEEAH!” I know you’re probably thinking, “Have you no shame?!” Not when I’m home alone.

Just when my initial excitement was starting to fade, my mom got home from work. I can only imagine what I looked and sounded like to her. I rambled on about the awesomeness that had occurred while she was gone. When I eventually stopped talking, I knew. “That’s nice that he said that.” That’s what she said, but I knew that it meant so much more than that. It meant “Well, that’s nice that he told you that, but don’t get your hopes up. There’s just no way this would work out.” I left it alone, for a few days. During that time, I did the only thing I could do: I prayed.

The more I prayed about it, the more convinced I became. This was going to happen. So, that’s what I told my mom. She just smiled and said, “Message him on Facebook and ask what fees he charges.”

Drat. That was the last thing I’d wanted to hear. Honestly, I thought that, if we looked at those figures, it wouldn’t add up. But, there was no way I was letting it go that easily. So I messaged him, being the excited, early riser that I was, at 5:30 the next morning. He replied that same day, and his answer completely blew me away. This was his fee: airfare. That’s it. Just the $500 to get him here and back home. Of course, he also needed food and a place to stay, but, really, who doesn’t?

Fast forward the next few months, since there’s not much that I can tell. All I can really say is that GOD IS AWESOME and, just six months after the idea was born, Cutter Gage flew all the way from Kansas City, Missouri to Pasco, Washington. I didn’t think that there was any way that I could be more excited. Oh boy, was I ever wrong.

I’ve always loved concerts, but this was a whole different experience than I was used to. It’s one thing to pay $20 to watch a band that you like, performing on a stage behind a gate that separates you from them. You may get to meet them, if you’re lucky, but the chances are slim.

It was a completely different feeling to help make it all happen. To have a musician whose music has impacted my life hugely, playing the songs I could relate with so much, at my own church. It was so much better than any concert I could ever go to.

I was just starting to get over how amazing the concert had been. And then there was church service the next day. I’m not sure how to accurately describe how incredibly cool THAT was, so, if you don’t mind, I’m not even going to try.

As I mentioned before, I had the privilege of singing with him, and that was just AWESOME. The song was “How He Loves” by David Crowder.

Coincidence? After thinking about it a lot, I think not. It fit the whole situation too perfectly for that.

I mean, think about it. What are the chances that some girl from a small town would randomly discover a musician/worship leader via Twitter, and, shortly after, have him (sort of) volunteer to come halfway across the country to lead worship at her church?

And that’s not all.

What are the chances that all he would ask for his time was for this church to pay to get him down there and back home, and to get him a place to sleep and food to eat?

Oh, and then there’s my favorite.

What are the chances that the weekend he comes down just happens to be her birthday weekend, and that the day she gets to sing with him, her favorite musician, is her birthday?

What are the chances? What are the odds?

“And oh, how He loves us so.”

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'” Matthew 19:26 (NIV)

Thank You, God, for making a way for it to happen. Thank you, Cutter Gage, for coming. And thank you both for being awesome!

Hello, My Name Is the Words

It smells like paper
Ink and freedom
It smells like people
Worlds away
But close
In my mind

It sounds like words
Sadness and disappointment
It sounds like water
Tears drip onto the page

Hello, my name is Jordanne
I come from stories
Imagination
I come from the words

Lessons From The Book Thief: The Danger Of Following The Crowd

    “The crowd was itself. There was no swaying it, squeezing through, or reasoning with it. You breathed with it and you sang its songs. You waited for its fire.” (pg. 110)   

    “There were the scatterings of odd men out…clapping slow and dutiful. And beautiful. Submission.” (pg. 63)

    In the study of Sociology, there is a concept called “contagion theory”. Contagion theory states that there is a tendency for individuals in a crowd to follow the predominant ideas and emotions of the crowd unquestioningly. Put simply, people in a crowd follow the crowd. Even if they don’t agree with the “predominant ideas and emotions” expressed in the crowd, they keep quiet, feeling shielded by the size and anonymity.

    Every time I’ve read “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak (all five times), this concept has struck me as a pretty huge part of the story. There were two groups of people in the town the book is set in. The noise of the vocal people of Molching, the Hitler supporters, allowed the quiet people, those who didn’t support him, to keep hidden. As long as they didn’t raise their voices and went along with the crowd, everything would be just fine.

    But what happens when someone dares to step out of the crowd and do the exact opposite of what the crowd suggests?

   Read the book to find out.

Guest Post: Born Broken (by Joddi-Jay Babcock)

Born broken. Living whole through Jesus. My daughter used these words to describe her life while performing a short skit at our church. Sixteen years ago Jordanne was born with spina bifida. As a result, she cannot walk and has challenges in other areas that most of us take for granted. Despite her physical limitations, Jordanne is a young lady with an extremely positive attitude. She loves Jesus and finds joy in encouraging others facing difficulties. God has used my daughter to remind me (over and over again) of the basics of the Good News we proclaim to the world.

Born broken. Some of us struggle with physical challenges and our brokenness is readily apparent. Without exception, my daughter’s wheelchair is the first thing strangers notice when encountering her. Over the years Jordanne has received hundreds of sympathetic looks and words, because of her condition. Other people’s brokenness is hidden from view. Emotional pain festers beneath the surface of a smiling face. The well known Scripture in Romans 3:23 tells us that everyone has sinned and falls short of the glory of God. We are created in the image of God but are in a fallen state. We are all born broken. We search for ways to ease the pain, making choices that often create more heart ache. It’s a vicious cycle, and none of us is exempt.

Living whole through Jesus. I love the promise of 2 Corinthians 5:17–“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (NLT). The moment we trust Christ as Savior, we experience the forgiveness of sins and are instantly made new. We also begin the process of transformation. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, He redeems the ugly wounds of our past. He transfigures our destructive ways of thinking and behaving. He gives us peace and joy in the midst of less-than-perfect circumstances. Jordanne has been the recipient of many prayers for physical healing. Recently she told me, “Every time someone prays for me to be healed, even though I don’t get out of my wheelchair, somehow I feel healed emotionally.” Sometimes our brokenness is fixed; other times we discover abundant grace in our brokenness. In every situation Jesus extends His wholeness, strength, and sufficiency to us.

As ministers of the Gospel, we have experienced the wonderful transformation of Jesus Christ. We know, all too well, what our lives would be like without the on-going work of the Holy Spirit. We have dedicated ourselves to helping people, and yet, the ones we long to connect with often look at us and wonder what we could possibly have in common with them. From their perspective, our lives are close to perfect. We have a perfect marriage, perfect family, perfect relationship with God…One remedy I have found effective in addressing this perfection myth is to regularly talk about the challenges I face and how Christ meets me in the midst of them. I share about when I’ve had a bad day and struggled with a negative attitude, and then God spoke to my heart and helped me adjust my outlook. I am honest about my battles with depression and the encouragement I find in God’s Word. I talk about wrestling with unanswered prayer while still holding on to the truth of God’s love and goodness. Yes, I’ve come a long way, but I am still very much a work in progress. As we faithfully walk out authentic faith, we provide hope to others on their journey. We are called to be living examples of what it means to find wholeness through Jesus.

God has entrusted us with a miraculous message that must be shared through our words and actions: Are you broken? Welcome to the Club. You, too, can live whole through Jesus.

Why Acceptance Isn’t Worth It

This caught my eye while scrolling through Facebook a few nights ago. Please understand, as a young person living with a disability, I totally get where this message is coming from. I know there is a time in every person’s life, disabled or not, when all we really want is to be accepted by the people around us. We will say anything, do anything, become anyone, just to get that smile and nod of approval from people in the halls at school that says, “You are no longer your flaws.” While I understand that this feeling is natural, I also know something else:

You are not your flaws, and you shouldn’t change just to be accepted. You are better than that.

Let me ask you this, what does society ask of you in order to really be accepted as a young person?

• Be in a romantic relationship by 6th grade.
• Be sexually active in high school.
• Question all authority.
• Do whatever feels good in the moment, because YOLO.

Now, seriously, if that’s what it takes to really be accepted, is it worth trying? Is gaining temporary approval worth the lifetime of regret and pain those choices will cost? I don’t think so. I think, if we’re willing to rise above the expectations now; if we’re willing to be who God created us to be, regardless of whether society accepts us or not, these expectations will, slowly, begin to change.

Not “Forever Alone”

You’ve probably heard this phrase, especially on or around this day every year. You may have even used it yourself. While I understand the temptation to bemoan your singleness on the day all the couples are celebrating their togetherness, I wanted to take a moment to show my single friends why this phrase, designed as an emotional outlet for people like ourselves, is honestly an unfair lie.

To bust this myth, let’s break it down. Literally. First, there’s the “forever” part. Chances are, this stage of your life won’t last forever. True, it might take a few months, or even years, but eventually you will get past it. One day, most likely, you will meet that person. That one person just for you. That person who probably thought their singleness was forever, too, but decided that they weren’t going to make something happen before it was supposed to. Instead, they waited for you, their right person, to come along.

You may be one of the people reading this and thinking, “Well, that’s all good for the ‘available’ people, but what about the people who are called to singleness? What about us, huh?” Well, first of all, if that’s the case, why are you complaining about it? Whatever the reason is, it’s your turn.

Next, we have the “alone” part. Honestly, none of us is really ever alone. We have so many people around us all the time. We have family and friends who are around us at home, at school, at church, pretty much everywhere. We’re around people who care about us. To say that we’re alone, just because we don’t have that one person, is seriously not fair to the people who are here for us. It’s disregarding all the time and attention they’ve given us. Just because that one person is missing from the picture right now (or forever, always single folks), that doesn’t give us permission to neglect all the people in our picture at this time. Focus on the people who are there, not the person that isn’t.

Hopefully, you can see why “forever alone”, though comforting to some degree, is unfair. It’s unfair to yourself, your family and friends, and the person who will come along for you. I want to encourage you, single friends, as you spend another Valentines Day without a valentine, don’t say that you’re forever alone. Instead, say “I’m NOT alone,” because you’re not. You have family and friends who love you, and I know for a fact that there is a God who is always with you, and loves you so much more than anyone ever can.

Why I Moved

First, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who read my other blog. I hope you will stick around for this one. I believe you won’t be sorry that you did.

So, why did I decide to switch over to a new blog? The simple answer is this: I need to start taking my writing seriously, not because it’s so great and everyone should read it but because it’s a gift God has given me to use. In my previous blog, I was just writing because I could. There wasn’t really any purpose behind it other than that. Yes, I love writing, but that’s not why I did it. Yes, I had a message I wanted to spread, but I felt that my passion for the message got lost in trying too hard to get a point across.

Thankfully, the solution was simple. Why not just start over with a fresh blog? So that, in a nutshell, is what I’m doing.

The main difference between my old blog and this new one (other than the fact that this one looks a lot cooler, of course) is that I’m not going to try so hard to get my point across. I’m not over-thinking what I’m writing. I’m not going to be so self conscious and worried that it may be taken the wrong way or not make sense. I’m just going to write what I feel needs to be written, because that, after all, is my job as a writer.

This new blog is basically just me, saying what I feel needs to be said. Probably not in the way most people would want to hear it, but in the way it should be heard.

Just A Random Thought

There is something so criminal about mercy; so wrong about forgiveness; so unacceptable about unconditional love.

The world expects us to give one, and only one, chance to get it right. It expects us to hold a grudge when we’ve been hurt; to place ourselves as far away from the person who wronged us as possible. We are expected to love the people who love us, but only for as long as we think they deserve it

But, because Jesus, as he was murdered, cried out, “Father, forgive them!”, we should flip the expectations. We should follow His example and be shining criminals in this dark world we live in.