Chief Executive Mom

Visit me at my new website - anniecrawford.com God gave me to the perfect mother. Marla challenged me to type myself and as suspected, I am ENFJ, with heavy on the J. My mother is a jazz and gospel musician, motivational speaker and artist. Probably an ESFP, heavy on all four. Naturally, she makes a wonderful artist and friend. Naturally, I would make a great legalist. Indeed, my "hippie" days were filled with much legalism of the environmental, frugal sort. I am sure I thoroughly irritated my mother with snotty, teenage-like judgments on her waste-producing and very not-simple lifestyle. However, God knew what He was doing when He gave us to each other. I like to fancy that I have helped inspire mom not to spend so much money and to simplify a bit, but really, she has the instinct in her anyway. More importantly, she has taught me to live with grace, passion and artfulness. So as I delve back into my environmentalism a bit and explore a globally responsible Christian lifestyle, I pray that I would not also dip back into legalism and guilt.

My mother's artfulness centers around beauty. She has a passion for flowers and light and all things created wonderfully. She has an amazing ear, eye and sense of style. For me, artfulness centers around the beauty of ideas. These are of course connected - I believe both contribute to beauty of "human spirit". (Gnostics will not like me.) I believe the incarnation indicates the unity of body, soul, mind, spirit and whatever other aspect of personhood God has given us. We can glorify and reflect God through physical beauty as well as through intellectual brilliance. The incarnation has made all things sacred and united.

Mom loves literal abundance; her garden is crammed full of wonderful plants and flowers, her home full of art and beautiful things. She loves to just completely surround herself with beauty. Because I am more of a thinker, all these things around me to think about makes me feel a bit dizzy. Growing up, mom's abundance felt like chaos and waste. I didn't see a reason for all of it other than self-indulgence. I became extreme in my minimalism, seeing any indulgence as waste. Mom still dresses with me when she visits (now much to my sincere thanks!), because for heaven's sake, its good to enjoy and cultivate (with taste) the artistic beauty God gave to the female body! However, if something didn't have a practical purpose, I thought it was nearly sinful to waste time and money on. Of course, my own pursuits, such as backpacking, traveling, shrooms, and pot were not a waste. (aren't youth silly?). Had I not been rebelling against Christianity, perhaps I would have become Amish!

What I failed to notice, however, was that God is extremely lavish in His creation. There are all kinds of things and animals flaunting purposeless beauty and even humor. I remember my mom always citing the orangutan's derriere as proof that God had a great sense of humor! (or which ever dark brown monkey has the bright whitish pink bottom.) I have learned, thanks to the Lord's lavish grace and kindness to me, that we need not be utter, militant minimalists. However, to me there is an artfulness, a joy, a beauty to simple, conscientious living. As I share my ideas and examples in these posts, please know that my heart is not to try to mould all Christians into some ultra-frugal lifestyle. However, I believe the lifestyle many Christians leave is hardly thoughtful or artful; it is merely drug along by the status quo and convenience. My strongest memory of Nancy Campbell and her daughters at the Above Rubies conference is how frequently they cried "Freedom" with great, Australian accented passion. I challenge the American lifestyle, because I want to share the freedom of body, mind, and heart that I have found by changing my life to artfully, joyfully creatively reflect the values and truths I have been given spiritually.

Of course, I am one who considers re-organizing the closet a creative act . . .