Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Imagine.
Step into another realm and dream.
Children do this well. They do not allow this finite world to inhibit their creative spirits. Adults struggle. As we grow up, we are trained to live in the tangible reality that surrounds us; thus letting go of our imaginations. However, being created in the image of The Creator, we are given an incredible ability: to create creatively. Our imagination facilitates the creation of beauty and brings color to life. Without it, we are forced to merely exist rather than truly live. Life is a gift. Live well. Partake in beauty. Let the colors of your life be vibr...
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Posted by Abbey Daniels
Keywords: adrienne mickler, missionaries, africa
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
September 2009
I am rich.
You are rich too.
For whatever reason, this has become a label that most of us, including myself, strongly dislike. We rarely, if ever, claim that we are indeed rich [in the economic sense], but we are. We have a tremendous and delicate responsibility to distribute these resources to those without, in a fashion that preserves people’s dignity.
The manner and attitude in which we contend for others speaks more than we may realize. It is far more complex than simply giving out a piece of bread. It is discovering a way in which the relationship can be symbiotic, where both parties can give and receive. Otherwise, despite our good intentions, the relationship becomes hierarchical: those who ...
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Posted by Abbey Daniels
Keywords: adrienne mickler
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
July 2009
Aunt Esther. She sits sideways in her big chair, smelling of alcohol, legs propped up on the arm, short white hairs poke out the sides of her lime green knitted hat as she carefully raises the floral porcelain teacup towards her mouth with fragile shaking hands. She is an adorable, elderly Afrikaner lady who is quite witty, despite the fact that she is nearly deaf and blind. When speaking with her, one must sit uncomfortably close and speak at a painfully loud volume. She has her door open from 4am until late at night, even during the colder winter months, for the sole purpose of being able to greet and be greeted by the strangers who happen to walk by. She feels forgotten and alone, and perhaps rightly so. Her family rarely ...
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Posted by Abbey Daniels
Keywords: adrienne mickler, africa
Monday, April 6, 2009
April 2009
You all have played an integral role in allowing me to be here and I want to include you on this journey in a more personal manner than I have in the past. You have given me a rare and beautiful gift: space and time to discover what it means to be attentive and listen with my heart.
The past six weeks (called the “listening posture”) have been a time of recognizing and learning to accept who God has created me to be; even in the ordinary: what I like and dislike, my fears and dreams, my strengths and weaknesses, my needs and interests, my natural inclinations, etc. I have done an incredible job of even deceiving myself about who I am. I believe that accepting my identity in Christ must happen ...
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Posted by Abbey Daniels
Keywords: adrienne mickler, missionaries, africa
