We’re a rag-tag group of people vigilantly pursuing self-sustaining educational & employment opportunities with and for students and their families living in rural communities in developing countries. We believe in asking hard questions like, “What do you need and how can we help?” We believe that communities know their needs better than we do and that it’s our job to listen. We’re big on being kind for the sake of kindness and we believe that even the smallest acts of kindness can make a big difference. We believe in keeping vigil over one another and watching for opportunities to help, no matter how far off the beaten path those opportunities take us. We’re vigilant in our belief that God has given each person unique gifts and that one of the highest forms of worship is using those gifts to serve others. We believe God has a purpose for each life and Vigilante Kindness is our purpose. Join us as we live out wild adventures in service of God and others. Join us in committing acts of Vigilante Kindness.
This week I’m thankful for…
This week I’m thankful for…
The Christmas tree is all a twinkle. The stockings are hung side by side. The Nativity set my grandmother brought back from Jerusalem is splayed out on the shelf behind me, wooden Baby Jesus smiling up at Mary and Joseph. And I’ve got my Christmas playlist doing overtime with some old favorites from last year and some shiny new additions. In no particular order, here they are.
1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel by the Civil Wars This song is so beautifully stripped bare. It’s haunting and lovely and my favorite find this year. Go now and buy it. Then just try to stop yourself from listening to it on a continuous loop.
2. Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant I know, I know, it’s Amy Grant. I can actually hear your eyes rolling and your finger tapping on the mouse. Before you click away, just hear me out. I know it’s Amy Grant and that putting her on my list again would leave me wide open for ridicule. Knowing that I’d be mocked mercilessly, I STILL put this song in my Top 9. That’s how good it is. It’s sung from Mary’s beautifully human perspective and I will love it all the days of my life. If you can get past the fact that it’s Amy Grant, you’ll love it, too. And if you can’t get past the fact that it’s Amy Grant, then consider this; the next best version of this song is by Jessica Simpson. Amy Grant’s looking pretty good now, right?
3. River by Robert Downey, Junior This one’s not technically a Christmas song, but I’m the one who makes the rules around here. I love Joni Mitchell’s version and Sarah MacLachlan’s rendering, but there’s a raw quality to Downey’s voice that gives it a vulnerable feel. There’s something about a man singing this song that makes me weak in the knees.
4. Peace on Earth by U2 Don’t think that I haven’t noticed your index finger hovering over the mouse. I have. But then I go and throw U2 on the list and lure you back into my evil lair of Seasonal Songifying. Go listen to this song and I swear by the end you’ll be making a list of all the philanthropic things you’re going to do just as soon as the last note sounds.
5. O Holy Night by Celine Dion O Holy Night is my most favorite Christmas carol. I’m not a Celine Dion fan by any stretch of the imagination, but she sings this song like no other. A lump rises in my throat as her voice soars over the high notes and pierces straight through my heart.
6. The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole Sometimes the classics just can’t be beaten. His voice is like a drink of rich cocoa, filling me as it slides down my throat and into my stomach where it settles into a pile of warmth that lasts the whole day and keeps me from feeling stabby when I’m forced to brave the stores.
7. Baby, It’s Cold Outside by She & Him This one is so much fun! It’s a bouncing give and take that brings a smile to my face every single time. This one will squelch even the Grinchiest of all Grinches. Believe me, I know because this girl’s heart is usually full of unwashed socks, but when this little ditty comes on, I find myself singing along and using cutesy word pairings like “little ditty”.
8. Christmastime is Here by The Vince Guaraldi Trio The children’s voices paired with the melancholy piano strikes the right chord every year and brings me back to visions of Charlie Browns spindly little tree. While I have always loved this song, I’ve never fully appreciated its magical prowess until this year. My little ones are bouncing off the walls-and we still have A FULL WEEK AND A HALF of school before blessed vacation arrives. They are insanely excited and THE ONLY THING ON THE PLANET THAT SOOTHES THEM is this song. I put it on and a hush, a hush I tell you, falls over the classroom. For just a few minutes we’re lulled into tranquility. If this song were a person, I’d kiss it on the mouth for the few calm moments it brings to my day.
9. Welcome to Our World by Chris Rice You don’t know Chris Rice? Well, I’m so glad to acquaint the two of you. There’s a great line in this song “Hope that you don’t mind our manger.” Such a humble way to welcome the Son of God. But the line that stops me in my tracks is “Bring Your peace into our violence, bid our hungry souls be filled.” Seriously, I found myself fighting back a tear in the bread aisle yesterday when this one came up on my playlist. But wait, there’s more, because then Chris Rice goes and sings this perfect verse “So wrap our injured flesh around You. Breathe our air and walk our sod. Rob our sin and make us holy. Perfect Son of God.” By the time that verse came around I was wiping my eyes on my sleeve and assuring the checker that I was fine, completely fine, no really. I hope you enjoy it and if you’ve got some favorites, give them some love in the comments.
This week I’m thankful for…
.Christmas morning and bicycles will always be tied together in my mind. I vividly recall stumbling out to the living room in footsie pajamas and seeing a shiny pink bicycle, complete with flowered banana seat, waiting for me by the Christmas tree. Three years later I found a beautiful, blue Bianchi ten speed with my name on it standing by the tree. And many, many years after that my husband bought me Frank the Tank for Christmas.
To this day I love going for a spin in my neighborhood just after Christmas to see all the wobbly wheeled kids strapped in helmets navigating the sidewalks on sparkly new bicycles. This post is in anticipation of all the new bicycles that will hit the pavement for the first time Christmas morning.
There’s something magical about Christmas. Maybe it’s the carols floating through the air or the scent of cinnamon permeating, well, everything. Whatever it is, even this glitter-hating, heart full of unwashed socks Grinch of a girl softens up just a bit.
Everywhere I look there’s joy and delight. I’m not talking about the aisles of Christmas accoutrements in the stores. I’m talking about the moments that cause me to stop and smile for an extra second or two. Like opening the mailbox and having stacks of Christmas cards spill out.
Or the smell of the first snow and the glory of a tarnished world turning white before my eyes. Not to mention the pure pleasure of flopping down in the snow and flapping my arms and legs until a snow angel arches her wings underneath me.
It’s the little things that tickle me most like candy canes hooked over the edges of mugs of hot cocoa or a snowman peeking over his carrot nose.
At night the world is all a-twinkle, lights shining bright into the dark, calling up to the stars that sparkle in response.
There’s joy in finding the perfect tree. Maybe it’s a spindly Charlie Brown tree you found on a mountain top and cut down with your mittened hands.
Or maybe you take home the thickest tree from the corner lot.
No matter where your tree came from, pulling the boxes of ornaments out of the attic, turning on your favorite Christmas music and adorning each branch makes for a perfect day.
When I was a kid, my brothers and sister and I piled into one bedroom on Christmas Eve. We’d giggle in our sleeping bags and sometimes always sneak a peek at the presents. But the best part of the night was listening for Santa’s sleigh on the roof.
Every tapping tree against the windows and each creak of the house became absolute proof of prancing and pawing hooves.
We’d crane our necks and cock our ears to the side, convincing my little brother that Santa was hard at work while we squirmed in our sleeping bags.
In the morning, the cookies we’d baked for Santa were only crumbs left on the plate next to an empty glass of milk.
Christmas morning began with stockings, the toe of the stocking stuffed with an apple and an orange that went straight to the kitchen fruit bowl despite my mother’s tales of how children used to cherish Christmas oranges. She had a point, but it was only later in the day when I’d made myself sick by eating my entire Book of Lifesavers that I’d eat the orange.
My mother was a master gift wrapper, each gift wrapped in beautiful paper, with military corners and a shiny bow on top. The presents I’d wrapped were always a rumpled disaster of paper that would never lay down flat and yards of Scotch tape to hold it all together.
These days my favorite part of Christmas is when my husband and I sit on the couch underneath piles of blankets and read the story of Mary and Joseph and the night they welcomed my Christ to Earth.
After the gifts have been opened and all the Lifesavers and oranges have been eaten, we sing O Holy Night and hope that God hears us amongst the choirs of heavenly hosts. We offer our praise in exchange for the gift of his Son. On Christmas and the rest of the year we are profoundly grateful for God’s grace that somehow makes our meager offerings enough.
Vigilante Kindness 