Politics

Linking Arms

/ katiemjenks / Leave a comment

“You don’t run from the people who need you. You fight for them. You fight beside them. No matter the cost. No matter the risk.” -Rick Yancey

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This last weekend I had the rad opportunity to attend our churches women’s retreat. Now, understand this. I have never been to a women’s retreat & wasn’t planning on going to this one. I am still nursing my babe in the night hours & throughout the course of the day & so to dedicate a weekend to something like this was not something I wanted to do or could do very easily. And to be really honest, I am not a “big group” person. I am an introvert, so “events” like this are NOT my favorite. However, I DO believe SO strongly in community & fellowship & growth within the body of Christ & being part of things like this are GOOD. So, with all of these things being juggled, making my decision was hard. Basically I had to figure out a way to be both there & then run home in between each session, scarf down some food & nurse Sebastian, kiss my girls & my amazing husband who was holding down the fort & loving our kiddos so well & then jump back in the car to zigzag back up a mountain to the next session. My mom helped me with all of this & attended the retreat the same way I did. I don’t know if I could have done it without her, so thanks Mom!

All that to be said, I am SO GRATEFUL I went. It was vital for my heart & to be part of something like that with so many other amazing women & to watch the Lord work in such personal ways for each person there, it was just beautiful.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” -Helen Keller

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There was lots of gold taken away, but one of the things that has been sticking in my mind & heart this week was about the important of LINKING ARMS. What do you picture when you hear that? Linking arms? Here’s the point. You can’t link arms with other people if you are holding onto your own junk. You physically have to set things down in order to wrap your arms around others standing next to you. They have to do the same. The other thing that happens when you do this is you face towards something, standing side by side. Your focus turns to the same place. Your mind has to set things down too. You have to set down your whining & complaining, your offenses. You have to set your mind on a singular goal that is the same as the person next to you. When you do this & they do this, when WE do this, we become POWERFUL. We become a force to be reckoned with.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” -Edward Everett Hale

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We help each other as we operate as a singular force in a position like that. We have to have each other for success. Isn’t this just like life? Sadly, we are losing more & more of our willingness to link arms. We are removing ourselves because of offense, preferences, bias, whatever. This. is. not. alright. We have to link arms & fight for the people on our right & on our left. We have to put our differences aside & chose LOVE. I feel like as I write this it sounds so cliche, but it’s absolutely vital. If we continue to nitpick & harbor offense, judgment, selfishness & all the other yuckiness that we ALL have instead of choosing to fight for love, we will lose. And lose BIG. We are all here for a purpose guys. And it’s not about getting our dream car (like for me the VW bus is coming out with an electric version in 2022!), but it’s about fighting for our fellow man, it’s about being love to the world around us. It’s time guys. We HAVE to set aside our differences & link arms with humanity.

“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” -James Cash Penney

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This is all being shared because of a dream from ten years ago. The leader from our women’s retreat had a dream that has continued for the course of a decade to remind her (& now all of the other people who have had the dream shared with them) of the importance of this. I am sharing all of this with her permission. In this dream there was a group of people at the bottom of a mountain grade facing the valley. They were being prepped for an attack coming from that direction. They were all standing in a group but were not happy with the way they were being moved around by the commander. In this dream the commander was Jesus & the people were the body of Christ. People were being positioned & repositioned & other’s were grumbling about the decisions being made because of their own offenses & opinions, whether they were big or small, with “those” people being shuffled around including themselves. The woman having the dream, however, was getting a birdseye view of this from above & was totally understanding the strategy of what was happening. The people on the ground didn’t have this view, they could only see what they were surrounded with. After a bit, someone asked the commander how much time they had to prepare before the attack & He told them to link arms because there was no time. They HAD to set aside their differences right then & there to link arms because there was NO time to prepare or process or work things out. They had to stand & fight for each other, right then. IF they had been able to see from above, see the strategy in why they were positioned the way they were, it would have been easier to see that offense was hindering their progress as a group of people fighting for the same thing. This is life! The time is now. We have to set aside our differences, know that there is a bigger picture & fighting alongside the person on our left & our right for a singular purpose is SO much more worth it then letting “issues” we have with them or others prevent us from moving forward. I hope this makes sense.

“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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We live in a world today that is foggy & jaded & divided. We fight each other instead of fighting for one another. We need to stop this. I am so tired of the news, I am tired of the hatred & hurt that moves people to do things that cause more hatred & more hurt. I am tired of people tearing each other down for their mistakes or because they have their own insecurities that they aren’t dealing with. It’s time you guys. Love needs us. It’s time to fight for something bigger than ourselves. Let’s grab arms with the people we stand in line with at the grocery store, the neighbor who we pass everyday, that person at work who bugs us. Let’s grab arms with our kids & our spouses, with our friends & with others we don’t even know. Let’s fight for love & for humanity. Let’s let go of our own issues & chose to see people with eyes of mercy. It WILL change things. It has to. This earth is full of people who need people. I need people. So do you. I want to link arms with you. I need you to link arms with me. It’s so much better this way!

Thank you for doing life with me. I’m here for you. Let’s let go of offense & fight for love.

“Let us be bold. Let us be brave. Let us be together.” -Brad Henry

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Cheers,

Katie.

Black History Month

/ katiemjenks / Leave a comment

“The time is always right to do what is right.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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The month of February is set aside to educate us all about black history. We personally utilize this time (along with every other month of the year) to further our understanding as a family of the beauty, sadness & depth of the layers of what has been called “black history”. This is not something we shy away from, it is a daily part of our vocabulary & culture. This is something, in my opinion, that is VITAL for us all to engage with & expand our understanding in. If we truly desire the world to be a better place, let’s start with ourselves. Let us be teachable, practice humility & grow ever more in our knowledge of the world around us & the history that has made it the way it is today.

“History, despite its wrenching pain cannot be unlived – but if faced with courage need not be lived again.” -Maya Angelo

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Here are some simple ways to do this:

  1. READ.
    • Here are some good books if you need a place to start both for adults & kiddos:
  2. WATCH.
    • Find a documentary on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc.
    • Watch a film.
  3. LISTEN.
    • There are podcasts, speeches, music. Listen & be educated.

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” -Rosa Parks

“We need to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” -Angela Davis

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” -Barack Obama

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We live in a world with practically everything within our reach to gain knowledge & understanding through the use of the internet, etc. There are free resources everywhere as well if you are not able to stream documentaries or purchase books. Check out your local library, thrift stores, used book stores, ask friends. We can do this. I know that for the rest of my life I desire to be a LEARNER. I want to deepen my understanding of the world around me so that I can be a better person for the world around me. For myself, for my children, for my grandchildren. For my neighbors & friends. For the people I connect with through social media & in this digital world. For the Kingdom of Christ. For so so many reasons. Knowledge is freedom, knowledge is power, knowledge can grow compassion & understanding. It is so valuable. Take some time today to enrich your life. This is a call to action for myself as well. It’s worth it. So worth it.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” -Nelson Mandela

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Cheers,

Katie.

KINDNESS.

/ katiemjenks / Leave a comment

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” -Aesop

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For months & months & months, this word has been etched on my heart, on the back of my eyelids, on my mind. KINDNESS. I have had conversations about it with some of the people closest to me & I know that it is time to share about it in a broader context because I can’t get it out of my head! This subject of kindness, is something I hope to be improving on for the rest of my life. It is so so worth it.

kind·ness
ˈkīn(d)nəs/
noun
noun: kindness
  1. the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.
    synonyms: kindliness, kindheartedness, warmheartedness, affection, warmth, gentleness, concern,care;

    consideration, helpfulness, thoughtfulness, unselfishness, selflessness, altruism,compassion, sympathy, understanding, big-heartedness, benevolence, benignity,friendliness, hospitality, neighborliness;
    generosity, magnanimity, charitableness
    “he thanked her for her kindness”
2. a kind act.
plural noun: kindnesses
“it is a kindness I shall never forget”
synonyms: kindliness, kindheartedness, warmheartedness, affection, warmth, gentleness, concern,care;

consideration, helpfulness, thoughtfulness, unselfishness, selflessness, altruism,compassion, sympathy, understanding, big-heartedness, benevolence, benignity,friendliness, hospitality, neighborliness;
generosity, magnanimity, charitableness
“he thanked her for her kindness”

(Thank you Google.)

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There is just something about kindness. There is something significant & profound about it. The way we choose to USE it, to SHARE it, to FEEL it for ourselves will literally change things. I know it has for me. I feel like for the past several months this has been a theme for me. I have quietly operated in it, trying to practice it on my husband, my girls, myself & on others. Others, being simply, neighbors, strangers, friends. And let me tell you, I have failed miserably. I have also succeeded, but it has definitely been a mixture of both. I still feel like I am barely scratching the surface on what kindness is & all that it means.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear & the blind can see.” -Mark Twain

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Have you ever spent much time contemplating kindness? Have you ever taken a season of life (or even a DAY for that matter) to PRACTICE kindness? I honestly hadn’t. I would consider myself a kind-hearted person, someone who typically acts with kindness. But still, to actually practice it, to meditate on it, to discover it in motion… It is quite revealing! I have learned over the last few months about my kindness towards myself & others, how it is affected & how it causes effect on the atmosphere around me. I have learned that, while I am indeed a kind-hearted person (because only Jesus could have made me that way), I still need to CHOOSE it. Oh it can come more “naturally” on really rad days, but on the average day & on the not so hot day, it is ESSENTIAL to choose it. It makes a world of a difference.

“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.” -Joseph Joubert

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Let me tell you. Being a mom is hard. WAY harder then anyone can ever try to explain. Motherhood is ALSO the most REWARDING thing. But kindness is crucial to help get to the rewarding part. I know. I’ve been practicing, remember? Lol. I know that when I am not kind, when I choose to operate out of something or a whole lot of somethings OTHER than kindness, my children bare the brunt of that. They are living in the atmosphere that I help create on a daily basis & when that atmosphere is full of say, frustration & exhaustion & short tempers & little patience, I can tell that that is not an environment that they thrive in. It’s like they are plants & they suck it in & breathe it back out. When KINDNESS steps in though, WOW. It is incredible seeing & experiencing the fruit of that in my little ones as well as in myself. And let me tell you, those days, those moments, make the whole of motherhood worth it. Kindness really is a game changer.

“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, & he who plants kindness gathers love.” -Saint Basil

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Another area where the fruit of kindness is so obviously GOOD, is within myself. I think that is the hardest part for me, choosing to treat myself with kindness. I’m just being honest. The change that kindness brings within my own heart is tiny, miniscule, on some days. But on other days, it can be like life or death! Speaking kindness over myself as a woman, as a wife, as a mom, as a daughter, a teacher, a friend, an advocate, a believer, is like eating Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie Butter straight from the jar. It is ALL sweetness. And just a little bit, really does go a long way.

“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Lastly, I want to share about kindness in the world. This can look like a SMILE as you drive down the street & pass the neighbor walking his dog. This can look like choosing to bake cookies with your daughter even though it makes the kitchen such a mess. This can look like not getting fiery with someone over the current state of politics & ripping their view apart, instead it can look like choosing to stay off of social media, PRAY & stay friends with your friends, regardless of who they are voting for & why. It can look like bringing in the newspaper for your elderly neighbor or volunteering to babysit for a young family so the parents can go on a date. It can look like picking up those pieces of garbage on the sidewalk that you didn’t put there, but throwing them away anyway. It can look like making EYE contact with the cashier at the grocery store & really asking them truly if they are having a good day. It can look like holding the door open for someone. It can seriously look like a million different things. However it ends up though, kindness is a good decision.

I heard somewhere once, “throw kindness around like confetti.” I couldn’t agree more.

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I hope that this helps move you in a direction of choosing kindness. For yourself, for your family, for the world around you. We really all could use more of it!

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” -Scott Adams

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Cheers,

Katie.