Outside the Bubble

This is gonna be short and sweet. Day 3 was full.

I was on the road, away from my desk, which can be disorienting and tiring to someone with the spiritual gift of administration. Believe it or not, I actually like sitting at a computer tapping away--be it blogging or my current assignment of managing the minutia required to register 2,400 people for 116 service projects on our church's Community Serve Day. The deluge of interest in this huge undertaking is remarkable. People are driving from L.A. (2 + hours away) to volunteer with us!

Lately, I might be tempted to equate my "job" of serving the Lord with clearing my email inbox of change orders, cancellations, duplications, and other miscellaneous modifications to the Serve Day website. (I am proud of those logos.) Being on the run today--dropping Kat's car off for service, delivering breakfast to someone in crisis, reporting for my weekly library duty at Allie's school and then back for "College Night"--felt like shirking my responsibility.

Actually, I got my authentic Christian payoff when someone in my path midday said, "Wow, that was like divine intervention that you were here to hear that. Who else could I have told?" All I'd done was a little reflective listening and candid sharing of my own perceptions about something non-spiritual, I assure you. How gratifying to watch God show up for this person who I thoroughly enjoy, have actually come to love, and am nervous to offend with any holy roller vibe.

Being an authentic Christian rarely happens at church or on Sunday or even with other Christians. It can I suppose, but more often to really serve Him, we must follow Christ, trusting Him to lead us outside the bubble where authentic seekers seek. I might admit to preferring the safety of church ladies and comfort of cookie exchanges. Nobody loves a holy huddle more than I do. I'm not particularly outspoken and I prefer harmony to conflict. In a spiritual gift inventory, I think evangelism is 13th on my list.

Nonetheless, by showing up, being myself, and abiding in Him, others call out my faith and start using the very lingo I am trying to avoid to make sure they're comfortable!

Wild and crazy! And outside my own doing. I like that.

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. John 15:3-5

Miss Andrea Celebrates her 100th Post!

I am a sucker for kinesthetic edu-tainment. When we homeschooled, my daughter's friends affectionately called me "Miss Frizzle." (Could it be, the hair?) I implored them to paint circus posters a la Mirette on the High Wire, parade down the street like the Ox-Cart Man, boastfully sell their "Best in the 5 cent World Salsa" cum Slappy Hooper and countless other activities from my favorite curriculum ever, Five in a Row. Mixing literature and life is a passion.


No surprise, I want to celebrate my 100th post! It marks a milestone; a critical mass of writing for what I hope will be a "blook" one day. I am half tempted to have a party with friends who would sort 100 blocks with me into batches of 10, do 100 sit-ups, drink lemonade with 100 ice cubes and 100 cherries, or some such thematic antic the likes of which Miss Bindergarten and I dream at night.

My kids are growing up though and if I expect them to ban the baby stuff, then so must I. Convinced by my old friend and new Doctor of Divinity, Kathy Dwyer, I decided to mark the occasion with a new Autism Unplugged banner! I'll thank my biggest supporter (and husband) 100 times for designing it and knowing html. And, in hopes of getting 100 responses, I'm announcing an Essay Contest tomorrow!

Celebrating serves an important function. I learned this in the educational realm at a Brain Gym conference years ago. They refer to it as "anchoring a skill;" maybe the Biblical term is "putting a marker" or an ebenezer here. Whatever you call it and however you do it, by all means celebrate! Naming the accomplishment or significant progress in any area of development has the power to reinforce and ensure that it happens again.

When Reid mastered riding a 2-wheeler bike (at age 10), we went out to dinner and cheered. When Allie wanted to be baptized, we designed invitations and engraved frames. For our 10th anniversary we went to Kauai. For our 20th, we went to Vegas (don't ask). When The Kingsmen had a successful gig, we threw a karaoke party.

Anchoring the Brain Gym way is like hitting a reset button in the brain and body. It can raise the bar on expectations and set a new threshold. Marking even minor steps in the right direction are cause for celebration: going a week without caffeine; selling 1 of the 100 rummage items in the garage; making a dreaded appointment with a doctor; speaking up in class.


Two years ago on Mother's Day's, Jim presented me with my first Apple MacBook on a wing and a prayer that I'd use it. Second only to the cross-country skis he gave me when we were newlyweds, this has been my favorite gift from him. It represented his belief in me and came with a hopeful expectation for my future. It was as much a vote of confidence as anything. By giving me a laptop, Jim was seeing in me a writer and calling out a future vocation. He was also giving me a nudge.

I have found a voice, entered a discipline of writing, and am plodding toward my end goal of having a book length story to tell. The unexpected perk, which actually Jim predicted too, is connecting with a new group of blogging buddies who span the world yet know no boundaries. Friends you can look up at all hours of the night to gab on topics not often broached in my regular social circle. Worth celebrating? I say so and I say now.


What new skill can you anchor at your house? How will you celebrate?

Let me know in a comment.


So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. Genesis 28:18


Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." 1 Samuel 7:12


For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:10-12

Ohh Tubby...

Yesterday's Trombone Player Wanted film series reminded me of Tubby the Tuba, a favorite in our family archives. (I mean that black hole we call a garage.) Tubby is an animated tuba who comes to life in a song, book, musical score, and short film conceived during World War II by Paul Tripp. It has been performed by Carol Channing, Danny Kaye, Dick Van Dyke and others. I see it discarded in library basement book cellars but orchestras still perform it for family concerts. I can't figure out why it remains so obscure. To me, and fortunately my kids, Tubby rocks! He even has his own website.

After hearing it so many times, Reid does an uncanny impersonation of Carol Channing's peculiar voice. Whether consciously or subconsciously, something about Tubby resonated with him even at age 3. Of course, he responds to all things musical. I wonder whether he picked up on the underdog theme or the empowerment of embracing how God made you. Reid has developed into such an adroit critic of music and literature, that now we take his preferences seriously, as endorsements of quality. I love multi-dimensional resources like Tubby which instruct on so many different levels all at once: social skills, self-esteem, character building, and music education in a format that clicks even with young and language-impaired listeners.

You want the Cliffs Notes? Tubby is sick and tired of being a tuba. He longs to play the melody not just the oompahs from the back row. (Sound familiar?) He makes friends with Peepo the Piccolo and for a time, wishes he could sound like her (ie. play the high notes). Alas, he cannot. He is ridiculed by the rest of the orchestra, runs away, and meets a bullfrog who talks some sense into him. The wisdom of the bullfrog is that Tubby can only be Tubby and furthermore the orchestra needs him just as much as the piccolo or the french horn or the tympani. (No man is an island.)

Now, do you want to see the whole 9 minute movie?



Acceptance of our individual strengths actually honors God. Conversely, it can be a form of spiritual rebellion to wish we were different than God created us. I am much more healthy emotionally when I am content with my blue eyes, brown hair, relator strength and moderate house, than when I wish for black hair, brown eyes, a woo personality, and covet my neighbor's sporty convertible. Being content in who we are (and who our kids are) demonstrates that we trust Him. Trusting His Omniscience to know what's good, better and best is one way to worship Him.

Like Tubby, Jesus knows what it feels like to be despised, rejected, displaced, and undervalued. He also knew the value of a good story to engage and teach. His parables continue to challenge and inform for all who hear them.



He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised , and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah 53:2-4

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:14-16


Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
Philippians 4:10-12

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit...If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 1 Corinthians 12:17

Look for a Neighbor

I just watched Snowcake starring Sigourney Weaver as an adult woman with autism. The movie is quirky in a Canadian way. It is an portrayal of autism updated from Rainman to be sure. Some scenes I love, like the one above.  They capture the glimmers of genius which those who look find. It speaks of forgiveness, redemption, and hope. The ending unknowingly illustrates a Biblical principle of neighborly love. Though she is reluctant and unappreciated for it, Maggie chooses to serve her neighbor with autism by taking out her trash--her most dreaded task. As far as I can tell, the story is fictional. 

The Collector of Bedford Street is true. This award winning documentary by Alice Elliott about her own neighborhood is an even better example of what the Bible calls us to do and how we are to do it--joyfully! Larry's neighbors care and take action using their gifts (financial planning and filmmaking) to provide a secure future for him. Larry is mentally disabled and also has gifts of his own (compassionate persistent philanthropy) which he employs for the benefit of society. Enjoy the trailer below and the clever website which is complete with discussion guides for your church or faith group and a street map of Larry's neighbors . 

I miss New York.  We had a neighbor who took us pleasantly by surprise when we first moved into a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights.  Jean Anderson was her name and I met her when our mail got confused. My maiden name was Anderson.  We sorted that out and would talk in the laundry room while she prepared for a ski trip (she was a sprightly 80 something)! In short order, I was invited up for sherry after work. She was intentional about neighboring which was not what we expected as newcomers to Cranberry Street. In hindsight it is more the norm in NYC than it is in Southern California. Alice and Larry are another case in point.

I am hearing the lyrics of our old favorite song off Karen Henley's Beginner's Bible audio CD and her Good Samaritan videotape: "Look for a neighbor, he will be the one, always standing by your side, when the day is done."  Autism Street blogger talks about a neighbor he learned a lesson from.  What have you learned from one of your neighbors?  And what have you done for one of them lately?

Love your neighbor as yourself...Which of these do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him. Luke 10:28-36

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:26-27

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.  Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:9-11