by Amy | Jan 6, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Faith
I’ve been thinking about freedom. It started with a devotional I heard on New Year’s Eve. Since then the concept of freedom has been tumbling around my brain.
The NYE speaker pointed to the song “Young, Wild and Free” as a cultural reference to what can be perceived as freedom. Until recently I’d only ever heard the chorus, but before writing this post I read all the lyrics. It’s basically about smoking weed…which, as my 5th grad D.A.R.E. class’ strongest finisher, I can assure you I’m not into. But this isn’t a post about drugs. It’s about freedom. The chorus goes like this:
So what we get drunk?
So what we smoke weed?
We’re just having fun
We don’t care who sees
So what we go out?
That’s how it’s supposed to be
Living young and wild and free
Classy, right?
It’s got that whole do whatever you want, no attention to consequences kind of vibe about it.
So I started thinking about freedom. The thing about freedom is that it means you are free from something. Our country was founded on the concept of freedom. Folks came here looking to be free. Free from religious oppression, free from persecutions, free from famine. The modern concept of freedom seems to have taken on a much wider berth. While we used to seek freedom from a force that kept us from being the best versions of ourselves…freedom is quickly becoming the right to do anything at anytime. And that’s not a safe practice for a successful society.
I think it’s dangerous because those “wild” and unruly actions can quickly become habits and addictions. Then suddenly the things that made you feel so free, {smoking, drinking, shirking responsibilities to get lost in the vortex of Pinterest, binge watching Netflix in the middle of the day, cheating on your other half} can easily become the things that weigh you down. They can ensnare us, tangle us, and leave us seeking freedom. Getting lost in the liberty to do anything anytime can mean that we sacrifice our ability to be world changers, doers, movers. Most of our young and wild living is self-serving. And I’ve learned that people who are really living, really doing things are usually interested in the external: the needs of others, helping, making a change, solving problems. They use their freedom of choice to make things happen. And here’s a truth-flash…it’s us young folk that need to be working to make a positive difference. I assure you, it’s not the elderly who should be improving the world.
So my big question is…what has you ensnared? Maybe it’s something heavy. Maybe it’s a freedom that has spun out of control. It’s a new year and a great time to assess yourself. Are you being free in the wrong way? Are you using your freedoms for good? What is keeping you from being the best/most productive/amazing person you were created to be? Search your heart and take a step toward becoming the person you desire to be.
Amy
PS…The guys who sing Young Wild and Free are 27, 28 and 42. So, that’s two kind-of-young-but-really-it’s-time-to-grow-up…and one not-young-at-all.
by Amy | Jan 2, 2014 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of Faith, The Art of Gathering, The Art of Living, The Art of Projects, The Art of the Kitchen, The Art of the Moment, the house
Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe we have entered another year. If your life is anything like mine…it’s felt like a whirlwind ever since Thanksgiving. Yikes. But now the festivities are behind us and it’s time to learn from the past year and step into a fresh, new season.
The year goes by so fast that I often feel like it passed in a blur. {Any one second that?} I have to remind myself that a year is a long time. A lot can happen. One life can do a lot in one year. I really believe that and I hope you do too. For me 2013 could have been a very hard, negative year…but I think we chose how we spend our time and resources and energy. We can let negative circumstances weigh us down…or allow them to give us a chance to brush up on our hurdling skills. I may have banged my shins on hurdles a few times in the past 365, but I can confidently say that I cleared them all.
And if you don’t believe a lot can get done in a year…let’s look back at the biggest moments of a year with Amy Allender. (more…)
by Amy | Nov 20, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Faith
Today is a continuation of yesterday‘s post. If you missed yesterday, start by reading that here.
In this post, I’ll be giving an over view of the ins and outs of our ministry. To start with, we are focused on the women working in the strip clubs in Williston, ND. Technically, the Dakota Pearls mission statement is to:
Love women and help them discover their full potential.
Basically that means that we love all women. All of them. We have left ourselves room to grow, but for now the focus is on the two clubs in the center of the oil boom. And speaking of the clubs…they look like this. Side by side on Main Street in Williston. Tiny. Hole-in-the-wall. But we like it.
We went to visit the clubs last weekend to see if management would even be okay with us starting to come with gifts and such. Thankfully, that visit went well. The staff was welcoming, and we learned a lot. Things like there are about 20 girls working in each club and a set of male bar tenders, bouncers and DJ’s. One manager told us that every single person working there was from out of state or out of country. Every single one. What better opportunity to show these folks, who are away from their families, love and kindness? I can’t think of a group of people more vulnerable to the power of raw, no-strings-attached love.
Okay. Next question. What exactly are we planning on doing? As I told you yesterday, this is a gifting ministry. Again, that was explained in the other post…you can read it here. So the plan is to go once per month with gift bags for the ladies and gentlemen working in the clubs. We are hoping to distribute the gifts to the ladies in the dressing room as they come in to start their shifts. Because the clubs are small we are also offering free makeup services to the clubs when we visit. Heartbreakers told us they were too small to allow for extra people milling around the dressing room. Whispers looked hopeful on that front.
Why makeup? That’s easy. The job inside a club is to look pretty. Makeup brings out a woman’s natural beauty, makes them feel beautiful, and shows the clubs that we have no intention of shutting down their business by offering a service that helps business instead of hurting it. Offering makeup services also give us a little one-on-one time with each woman. And that’s the biggest bonus of all, because we genuinely care about each of them and are interested in their lives and developing a relationship with them.
Let’s see…what’s in the bag? This is what our bags look like. For our ladies we’ll be bringing girly goodies like nail polish, lotion, lip gloss, good candies. We also want to be sure our gifts have a personal touch that demonstrates that time and care have been put into making them…so we’ll also include things like homemade baked goods and hand written notes. For the men, we’ll pack up manly things…like venison jerky and sweets from our church ladies.
Why Williston? Aren’t we in Minot? Great question. Yes, Dakota Pearls is based in Minot while the clubs we are working with are in Williston. Williston is about 2 hours straight west of Minot. A few years ago Minot’s very own strip clubs got shut down. Now city ordinances don’t allow them in the town. So we are going where the business is booming.
The clubs in Williston have gotten a reputation for being the busiest and highest grossing in the country, due to all the men flocking to the Williston area for jobs in the oil fields and construction sites. This has tapered off a bit, some of the reputation may have been only myth all along. But the clubs are still busy and women are coming to work in them from all over the country.
Tomorrow night we’ll be having our first “packing party.” It should be fun. I’ll be sure to take some photos and let you know how it all goes. We are excited to love on these men and women who are away from family, living in a {very} small Practically Canadian town. Again, the objective is unbiased friendship. We are in no way looking to upset business or close down these establishments. We are only hoping that these acts of kindness will let them know that they are valued and leave them wanting to know the One who inspired us to go there in the first place.
On a totally different note, it’s snowing hard enough here that my Wednesday night church-tivities have been cancelled. Have a lovely evening. And stay cozy.
Amy
by Amy | Nov 19, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Faith
A long time ago I told you about a ministry I felt called to get rolling up here in Practically Canada. In case you missed it, you can read the full post here.
In case you’ve forgotten, I’ll give you a brief refresher course.
More than a year ago I became aware of a big time boom in the adult entertainment industry in North Dakota, due in large to the oil/construction book that is taking place up here. After praying and Googling I found an organization called Strip Church. They specialize in training and supporting ministry outreaches that work with women in the sex industry. {Namely at strip clubs.} I attended a training conference to learn up on all things strip club, and came home with the tools needed to spearhead this effort locally.
I worked for months trying to get things in line. But everything moved slowly. More slowly than I anticipated. Spring turned to summer, turned to fall and still we weren’t in the clubs.
You’ve flown a kite, right? Think about standing in the yard, or the field or wherever you are with your kite. You stand there, waiting. Because you can’t fly a kite with no wind. So you wait. Then, all at once the wind picks up and you’ve got to run to get your kite to catch it. It’s exhausting, but eventually the wind catches and you can stand still, catch your breath and guide it as it flies.
That’s kind of how getting our ministry off the ground has been. Nothing….then suddenly…wind. So I’ve been running with it. It’s been tiring and stressful, and has taken me away from writing as much as I like, but it’s worth the run. I presented the idea to our congregation and received overwhelming support. A group of more than 30 have volunteered to participate, and even more have been kind enough to make donations to the cause. My hope is that after we get an outreach routine established it’ll be more like guiding the kite than running with it, but for know I’m content to run.
So, yeah. It’s happening. For real. And if we haven’t talked face to face in a while {or ever} about this, I’m sure you are wondering how one goes about starting and outreach in the strip clubs. Let me explain.
First of all, our North Dakota outreach is called Dakota Pearls. The name comes from the fact that we believe we can all be made into precious gems through Christ…no matter how lowly our beginnings. After all, a pearl starts with nothing more than a single piece of dirt.
Dakota Pearls is a “gifting” ministry. This means that we are not about slinging Bibles, judging, demanding that these ladies come to church or quit their jobs. Instead we will approach them with dignity, respect, and gifts. Physical, literal gifts without expecting anything in return. The giving of a no-strings-attached gift symbolizes that we love them, not because we want something from them…but because we value them as individuals. We will go to the clubs instead of asking them to come to us. Jesus never told the sinners to come to Him in His house. He went to their homes. He dined in the house of tax collectors, He spoke to prostitutes. A message of love {especially love from a stranger} is less awkward when you go to their home turf.
The mission is to instill in these women that they are valued for more than their bodies or what they are willing to do with their bodies. To show them that they have been created for a purpose. The mission is not to picket the clubs or even shut them down. That can be someone else’s mission. We are simply here to love and cherish these people.
The question I get most from people who are skeptical is: Why go to these women? They are making a lot of money and probably like it that way.
My answer is simple and backed by the research of people who study this industry. No one wants to make a living stripping. No amount of money is worth devaluing a woman.
This is not a life of dignity. Up to 90% of women working in clubs are current victims of sexual abuse or have been abused in the past. It’s estimated that around 85% of women working in the clubs would like to leave the industry, but feel trapped. Stripping is a gateway to heavier things, like prostitution and human trafficking.
Every person in this world is built with an eternal capacity. I wrote about that recently. Read the post here. Why shouldn’t my heart break over these souls as much as any other? Don’t tell me that there are plenty of people working safer, less grimy jobs that I could witness to. You go do that. I can do that too. A light seems brighter the darker the space. I went and visited with the club managers last weekend and I assure you, this field is ripe for the picking. These women are important. Just as important and worthy of saving as anyone else on the street.
To keep this from getting too long, I’ll cut off here. I’ve got a post ready for tomorrow that will continue to explain the ministry {sorry I got a little heated toward the end there.} That post will fully explain what our clubs are like, who is there, why they are making so much money, and what we plan to do on our first ever outreach visit! So be sure to come back.
Isn’t it funny that God called one of His most awkward, un-cool, un-club-scene servants for this task?
Amy
by Amy | Nov 1, 2013 | Blog, Devotional, The Art of Faith
Here’s the thing. Yesterday I bought seriously ugly shoes. No offense to anyone else in the world that owns this pair of shoes. They are great shoes. I just think they look a little ridiculous.
See, I’ve been sporting these bad boys for a year now. I got constant compliments on them. Every time I taught my 8:30am senior fitness class, this one woman called them my “sexy shoes.” She’s in her 80’s. She told me that every time she came to class. And I didn’t mind. Because these are sexy shoes.
These are not. I mean, really, look at that thick sole thing? It’s so big. So weird.
But I went and bought these shoes {not even on sale.} Why? Because it turns out I’ve got some issues. A few weeks ago my back stopped working. It stopped producing movement and started producing a high volume of pain. Before that I’d had some trouble with my knees and my ankles, but not pain that I couldn’t continue to work out through. Because why would I stop working out because of pain? If you know me, you know that I wouldn’t and didn’t. Until I couldn’t move. Or sleep.
So I saw a doctor, who put me through to a physical therapist, who looked at the issue and told me that it started with my feet. My feet. Actually, my shoes. The shoes weren’t putting my feet level, which meant that every time I ran I jarred my ankle at a weird angle, which impacted my knees at a bad angle, which caused my hips to come out of alignment, which forced my back to pick up the slack…until it gave out. Shoes. Feet.
So I’m trying something new. These new, very unsexy shoes. I’m trying to take time to give my body what it needs, even if it’s not what I want. Isn’t it funny how something so small, at the bottom of our totem pole can ripple all the way up? It’s amazing how even the most mundane occurrences in our lives can point back to God and His Word. This whole ordeal just reminds me that He values the lowly and seemingly insignificant. Feet are gross and smelly, and weird to look at…yet He chose them to carry our whole body. I find it totally fascinating that everything, I mean everything in this world, in this creation points back to the amazing Creator.
Amy
by Amy | Oct 29, 2013 | Bible Reading, Blog, The Art of Faith
I learned about an amazing Bible study resource a few weeks ago at my Bible study. When I learn amazing, applicable things I like to share them with you. This one is good…and I apologize for taking so very long to get it up on the blog for you.
I’m guessing you won’t dispute that computers have changed the way we do things. I spend most of my day on the ol’ lap top. I make lists on it, I brainstorm on it, I conduct business on it. There is one point during my day that I almost always close the lap top, though. It’s when I sit down to do my Bible study. But now, that’s changing too.
Derek and I have come to the end of the Bible, and we are about to start again at the beginning. This time, digging deeper and approaching it with an attitude of study. We have read through several times, so we know what it says…now we want to go deeper. We want to know all the things that the text doesn’t say.
Sound weird? Here’s what I’m talking about. Much of the Biblical text can be enriched when we fully understand its context. That means understanding who wrote what books, understanding culture, political climate, and the use of words. This may come as a shock…but the Bible wasn’t even originally written in English. So even looking at the original meanings of the Greek and Hebrew words can give us a greater understanding of what is being said. Can you tell I get jazzed about this? Geeky, I know.
So tonight is the night that we flip back to Genesis and start at “In the beginning.” This time through we are armed with a very large commentary as well as our concordance…and a new electronic resource: Blue Letter Bible. Now that I’ve made a case for studying the Word, let me tell you about BLB.
Pretty much, it’s every Bible study resource you will ever need in one place. Yes, I did just say that we have paper copies of some of these things. I’m still old school. But the study tools at BLB are so easy and quick to use it’d be silly for us not to have the lap top on hand as well as our book resources. For years I’ve been a big fan of Bible Gateway. Many of you probably know of it and use it too. It’s a great site. But…BLB takes all the features I love and makes them even easier to use…and adds some extras on top of it.
You can search for any passage or word and choose which translation you’d like to use. For my example, I’ll use a traditionally misunderstood, scary verse. 1 Timothy 2:12. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. Once the text comes up it is separated into individual verses like this.
Beside each verse is a “tools” button. If you click there, you’ll get a box with six tabs across the top. This is your gateway to study bliss. You can see the original language translation, different translations, cross references, dictionaries, and miscellaneous tools like maps, video or audio clips.
My favorite tabs are the “Bibles” tab and the “Dictionaries” tab. I love that many translations of the verse will appear in the tool box instead of navigating you away from your original page of text. In the “Dictionary” tab you can select any word that appears in the verse you are examining to get more details about it. There are also options that will give you more information about the general topic a verse speaks to or an overarching topic.
For instance, in the famously misunderstood verse {1 Timothy 2:12} you can learn from the Dictionaries tab that the word “quiet” used in this verse actually refers to maintaining tranquility/peacefulness, not absolute silence, as many assume. Under the Commentaries tab you can learn even more about this verse by understanding the culture of the time. We learn there that in the churches of Paul and Timothy’s time, men and women often sat in separate sections during a teaching. Timothy’s congregation was having issues because wives were shouting out comments and questions to their husbands across the aisle, causing a stir in their congregational meeting time. Paul was simply insisting that women listen and remain tranquil/peaceful, so that everyone could have a better learning experience.
Suddenly, thanks to in depth study tools this verse doesn’t seem so sexist and scary. Just imagine what else you can discover. But seriously, Blue Letter Bible. Check it out.
Amy
by Amy | Oct 23, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Faith, The Art of the Moment
by Amy | Oct 21, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Faith
It’s snowing.
That fact alone is leaving me feeling a bit overwhelmed. When did it get to be practically-2014? I bet some of you are feeling the same way. Then I get overwhelmed by all the things I wanted to do and didn’t do, and should do, and could do, but don’t do…
Ever feel that way?
The problem for me is that when I start to get in that rut I begin to feel enormously inadequate. I look around and see people who have it together and are making strides. And I feel like a hot mess on an August afternoon.
So this afternoon while I was feeling a little blah, I began re-reading 1 Corinthians. It’s what the high school Sunday school class is studying now, but I’ve only taught on chapters 7 and 8. I hadn’t gone back to the start of the book until today. In chapter 1 I’ve got a whole paragraph highlighted. It’s verses 26-31.
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
What a passage for those of us feeling overwhelmed or not up to par today.
When God called us into a life devoted to Him we probably weren’t super stars. And we probably still aren’t. This is His design. His plan, His work has always used the weak to lead the strong. It has always used the lowly to shame the mighty, and used the small to do His biggest work. Most of the Bible’s most iconic players were average, below average, and riddled with imperfection. So if you are feeling that way today, take heart. You are in the perfect place, the perfect state of mind, the perfect position to be used for greatness. You only have to submit to His plan and the possibility He has for your life.
For further reading check out James 1. Especially verses 9-11. It’s another reminder that God uses those who are not an image of wealth and perfection from a mortal view.
Amy
