Welcome to All2Stand

As tempting as it is to settle into a comfortable easy chair, life's more vibrant and meaningful when we're learning and being challenged. Some of my old assumptions have been dislodged of late, and that's a good thing. While I'm not a relativist - some truths are ancient and immutable - the ways we think about them can be skewed, incomplete, immature, or encrusted in language that no longer communicates. But where do new viewpoints come from and how sturdy are they? What are other people thinking about issues I'm concerned with? How can I connect with them? Consider All2Stand a place to check in for ideas and resources and questions about the intersection of the Christian faith and personal integrity in the here and now.  

To help orient you, here's some of my background.

I grew up the second of five kids. Counting out the chocolate chip cookies, "one for you, one for me," is pretty ingrained in me. So is "Share" and "Wait your turn" and "Look after your sisters."

I have two speeds, fast and really slow, really slow being the dominant one until I get fired up over something, and then fast is never fast enough. I think too much (but not always well), and I take myself too seriously except when I don't take myself seriously enough. 

When I was four, I came home from Vacation Bible School and told my mom that I no longer had a heart. She asked the appropriate question, and I explained that I no longer had a heart because I'd given mine to Jesus. Thankfully, I find that Jesus honors these small gifts. 

When I was 15, Christ challenged me to a more adult commitment. Nine months later my brother died in an automobile accident. In the hours between the accident and his death, I passionately asked God to save his life and his soul. I don't know the status of my brother's soul, but with his physical death, I learned that God is God and sometimes he says, "No." Even when we’re not selfish and what we ask for is a good thing. And I learned to trust him because he was near me and loved me even in his "No." This is one of the strongest pieces of evidence I have that faith is a gift of God. 

So yes, I'm a Christ follower, but because of this experience or perhaps simply because of my nature, I am suspicious of platitudes. Yet I’m horrified too often to hear them wafting off my own lips. It’s what we do when we want life tied up in a neat bundle. But life is far from a neat bundle, and if we insist on one, we cheat ourselves.  

A number of years ago, I worked as an advocate for abused and neglected children in our community. Honestly, part of my motivation was to see that God could work in some of the darkest places, that he could be real there. I think that impulse still lurks along the fringes of my life. That’s part of the rationale for this blog.

My hope is that All2Stand can be a place to ask questions, to find resources, to explore, to unsettle complacency (mine as much as yours), to flush out those flimsy platitudes and find the rock bottom places where we can firmly plant our feet and “having done all, to stand.”

Other things you might want to know about me:  I’ve been married for almost 36 years, and we have a son and a daughter, both married. Each one is a mystery and a delight and a challenge and a wonder. I love them with all my heart. I’ve lost my parents, one to Alzheimer’s and the other to cancer. My in-laws exhibit an amazing longevity and remain active in their late 80s. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom, a middle school teacher, a college instructor, a community and church volunteer. I exercise because I have to and read because I love to. I think ideas are wonderful and that what we believe matters.