Month: January 2018

Can it really be that this fantastic niece of mine turned 21 yesterday? Olivia Grace is a passionate, athletic, brilliant woman. She has traveled the world and encountered the refugee crisis of our world by being available to the men, women, and children as they came out of the water seeking protection, shelter, food, and opportunity. I want to share with you one of her blog entries from 2016. It will help you understand why I admire her so!

Dear President Obama, 
I am writing on behalf of the refugees.

My name is Olivia, and I live in Belleville, Michigan. I just turned 19 this year, and I am currently sailing on a vessel called the Next Wave through the Greek islands with the destination being Lesvos. I am here to do what I can to help the refugee crisis, or what can also be looked at as, my brothers and sisters in need of something I have to offer. What I have is hope. 

 The purpose of me writing is that I believe that we need to welcome, which means accepting, legal immigrants into the great United States that we are. We were built from the ground up on immigrants, and I cannot understand how we’ve lost sight of our very foundation. Mr. President, quite frankly terrorism is not an act we can stop by closing our borders. We have so many conflicts within our own country. School shootings alone take the lives of hundreds. Instead, we insist on focusing our concern outwards. Are there some radical Islamics that have the potential of getting into our country? Maybe. But what about all of the families that are losing parts of themselves to the depths of the sea, or to the disease and unhygienic camps, or to the sheer cruelty and pure disgust from the rest of the world? What about all of the precious children, Mr. President? I’ve held these crying children, I’ve fed these starving people, but I know that it is not enough. I can do more. I can use my voice, so here I am. I’m not here to say that we aren’t running a risk. But I am here to say that it would be worth it. When did we establish the wellbeing of one life prioritized over another simply by country of origin? When did blatant racism become an acceptable political stance? When did we forget that the blood running through our very veins originated in a country other than here? 
I’m not sure this letter will ever actually get to your hands, it very well may be a shot in the dark. But I’m ok with that because taking a chance is better than not trying at all. That must be kind of what the refugee’s futures feel like right now. A shot in the dark. But they thought it was worth the chance because paying the price they have and taking the risks they are and literally fleeing for their lives, well that, that must be better than not trying at all. One does not place their child in a boat unless they are sure the water is safer than land.
I’m asking that we help to make their shot worth it. I’m asking that we become their safe land.
Err on the side of humanity, Mr. President. 

I am excited to see what God has planned for you this year Olivia. You have prayed, sought God, put your God-given skills to work, practiced diligently, studied hard and earned yourself a scholarship. I am so very proud of you!

I love your heart, your passion, your growing faith, your laughter and your tears, your commitment to fighting for equality and your very tender heart. I appreciate your commitment to family, your siblings, your cousins, your articulate expressions of love and like for each of us and the creative ways you continue to keep your Dad’s memory alive.

I want to end with a bit more from Olivia’s blog.

Working with the refugees was nothing like what I expected. I think Jesus does that a lot, he shatters expectations- sometimes in a magnificent way and sometimes in anticlimactic ways, but we remain clueless to the way things pan out nonetheless. Going into it, I expect my heart to be broken to pieces. I expected heart-wrenching. I expected tears. Coming out of it, I realize that there is a time for everything under the sun, and for me, in this season, it was not a time for tears. It was a time for an overflowing heart, a mindset of love. In my short time serving my brothers and sisters who have fled their countries, I was filled with hope that the God that I know, knows and sees and loves these people too. While changing a disabled woman’s wet, dirty socks and shoes I had a revelation. Bowed at this precious woman’s feet, I realized that that is who our Jesus is. He is a God who washes the dirty feet and dirty hearts of his flawed children. 
Humbling one’s self to serve, not because ‘they are helpless’ or ‘we must pity them’ but out of the sheer longing to be more like our God is such a whole feeling. God makes us whole when we search and seek to be like him. In this season, seeking God looked like working crazy night shifts and preparing sweet hot tea to welcome cold, wet people into a new, scary land. I can’t fix the crisis. I can’t even begin to make a dent. Hot tea doesn’t change nations. But maybe, in a way, it does. It changes hearts, and that’s the only way to start. One heart at a time.

I love you and admire you, Olivia Grace. Keep writing, keep speaking, keep risking, keep loving! You have lived and enjoyed a lot in your life. You know deep love, great loss, and daily grief. You know the thrill of seeking, knowing and finding God and the uncertainty that comes with deep faith. I am grateful to be your Aunt and eager to support, encourage, pray for and love you in every way! Happy Happy Happy 21st Birthday!

 

In our family when we hear Brandy Alexanders we think of Aunt Dot.

Dorothy, the 11th of 12 children born to my Pake and Beppe in 1950 has earned herself a few more names. Today in our family she is Dorothy, Dot, Aunt Dot, Beppe Dot and Tante Dot. She is a unique combination of 3rd parent, extra grandparent, aunt, neighbor and friend.

 

Tonight we celebrated Aunt Dot’s birthday with Brandy Alexanders and I was reminded of her beautiful, quiet, strong presence in our Borgdorff bunch. She was a very young age when she immigrated and yet she has been a documenter of the family story.

She lives alone and has worked hard to provide for her needs and save for her future and yet she joins in on the adventures of our large family generously. She has a quiet soul and enjoys the peace of her home, but she will hang with all of us often and delight in all the noise that comes with a gathering full of laughter, conversation and occasional gnashing of teeth.

Aunt Dot is faithful, organized, brilliant, hard-working, loyal, and deeply loved!

Happy 68th Birthday Dorothy, Dot, Aunt Dot, Beppe Dot or Tante Dot. No matter what we call you on any given day. We all love you! You’re the GOAT!

 

 

My sister gave me this gift for Christmas. It has found a beautiful spot on my kitchen window where I am reminded daily of how I hope to live.

I wonder if you have learned the art of wonder?

I have learned that when I take time to wonder, I enter a conversation with curiosity and an invitation to explore something unknown.

I have learned that when I take time to wonder, I must listen carefully and experience deeply. I must find a way to be present with myself and with whomever I am sharing time with. I also know the feeling when I am not wondering, not very engaged and not very present. If that has been me in conversation with you, please accept my apologies. 🙂

I have learned that when I take time to wonder, I hear more than your words. I listen to your body language and your eyes. I am so grateful for the spaces where I am choosing to wonder, for it is in those spaces that I have the most significant chances of hearing your heart.

Wondering is an act of compassion and discipline. When I take time to wonder, I must block out distractions, set my phone aside and offer my full attention to whomever I am sharing time with at that moment.

I am grateful for this gift and how it reminds me of how I want to live in the presence of others. I am thankful for those who have wondered with me. I believe that wondering and curiosity can create the foundation for sharing sacred spaces with someone who cares.

I wonder if you learned the art of wonder?

 

 

 

I am learning that my body really does speak. Often I have been to busy to hear what my body is saying, but one of the benefits of early morning workouts is that I seem to have opened my ears to listen to the messages my body is sending.

I used to be only in tune with the messages of pain or tiredness or hunger. As I have journeyed, I have learned that there are messages of strength and energy and satisfaction. I have learned that my body will crave foods that are fuel and will soak up good moisturizing lotion. Bath oils and stretching are forms of treating my body kindly. And it really is true that my body whispers and if I don’t pay attention, it will continue to speak louder.

As I write this, I paused to email my trainer. I am aware that my knee is hurting and I have been intentionally ignoring it today. I cannot be limited by an injury this year. I have big goals to hit. And yet as I type I am aware, my body is speaking. Ignoring the message is not a kind or mature way to respond. I am hopeful my fantastic trainer Noah will have some options for my workouts, and I must remember that I can listen and still move forward in my goals. When your body speaks, the kindest thing is to hear and not lose hope. Our bodies are incredible acts of creation, and the more I listen to the messages it offers me, the more my gratitude grows for the integral complexity of my body and long to care for it well.

I hope in 2018, you will begin to listen to the whispers of your body and attune your ear to the messages you need to hear. I have learned that the more present I am with my self, mind, body, and spirit, the more present I am able to be with others!

 

 

When I was a kid, I remember Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I am not sure why the book was so entertaining,  but there was just something about it. I think because it was so extreme.

There is something about this piece written by LR Knost that describes life pretty accurately.

Amazing and Awful and amazing again, yes, I know those spaces in my world.

Ordinary, mundane and routine, yes, I know those three spaces in my world as well.

Breathing, holding on, relaxing and exhaling, yes, I am pretty good at all of those!

Yes, I understand that thing called life, that heartbreaking, soul healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life.

And yes, already on day two of 2018 I have experienced the breathtakingly beautiful.

Today I feel like there should be a sequel, and it just might be called Alexander and the heartbreaking, soul healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life.

I hope in your days you experience a little bit of everything so you can fully grasp and embrace the breathtakingly beautiful!

 

I wonder if you have experienced the blessing of having someone “show up” for you.

Can you envision the face or faces of that person or those people who you have seen in the spaces you needed a face?

• It may have been someone who showed up to cheer you on,
• It may have been someone who showed up to encourage you.
• It may have been someone who showed up to comfort you.
• It may have been someone who showed up to lend a hand at a time when the task felt too big.
• It may have been someone who showed up to stand with you in a lonely space.
• It may have been someone who knew that being with someone was going to be better than being alone.
• It may have been someone who sat with you and invited you to share all your heart held
• It may have been someone who sat with you, and no words were needed.

I think you understand my point. There is power in showing up. Your presence is a gift like no other and doesn’t require you to prepare, spend or bring anything more than yourself.

• I hope that you will consider showing up in 2018.
• I hope in the spaces you need the presence of another, you will risk inviting someone to show up for you!
• I hope you will take the time to appreciate those who have shown up for you with some words of gratitude.

Living in the presence and power of community will make us all stronger people who dare to hope and believe in one another. I don’t know about you, but for me, that will make a pretty good 2018!