>Sorry I missed Tuesday Tunes this week. I am in Des Moines for a conference, and was flying all day Tuesday. I would have set up a blog to post ahead of time, but the truth is, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to enjoy music lately!!! Ugh…I hate all this go, go, GO and being away from home.

I’m homesick, Matt-sick, kitty-sick, and bored in Iowa. I think I’m going to head out shopping or something here in a bit while we have some free time. For now though, I wanted to put up a quick post about what we’re doing at this conference this week.

I am a member of the Professional Association of United Methodist Church Secretaries (PAUMCS), and we’re in Des Moines for our annual conference. The theme of our conference this year is “Sowing Seeds of Promise,” and we’re really trying to focus on “Going Green.”

I know that all this “Green” talk is getting a little annoying to some people. It seems like it’s the cause-du-jour the past few years. Global warming, greenhouse gases, carbon footprints…ACK! I don’t even know where to begin! This week we have had some great experts come in to teach us about what is going on in our environment, what we can do to help fix it, and why we should care.

Matt and I have been making the tiniest of baby steps to become more green at our house. We have been using reusable shopping bags a lot (although I must admit that in the beginning, it was mostly because the ones at Trader Joe’s were SO CUTE!). We have purchased our first few compact flourescent light bulbs for the house, and we have been recycling our cans, plastics, and cardboard. We do these things because some part of us feels like it’s right to – Matt calls me a “hippie tree-hugger” for it, but he loves me anyway.

This week it has become abundantly clear to me that we should care for our Earth because it’s God’s creation. Whether global warming is real or not; whether it saves us money or not – we should care for creation because God made it.

If you follow me on Twitter, you were probably bothered by my multiple posts this afternoon with some wisdom I’m taking away from this conference. If you don’t follow me, you’re still in luck because I’m going to post it here too! Below are some things I wrote down during our sessions in the past fewe days. Forgive me if they aren’t verbatim – I was trying to listen and write at the same time…enjoy!

“In Scripture God routinely uses the natural world to accomplish His tasks. Surely He is in active relationship with His creation.”

“There will never be peace on Earth until there is peace with Earth.”

“Mission is not a project of the church. Mission is the PURPOSE of the church.”

“Mission is a lifestyle best learned early and practiced often.”

“All day long, God is at work for good in the world.”

“If we are in relationship with God, we are forced into relationship with all that God has created.”

So let me ask you: how do YOU care for God’s creation? What are your practical suggestions for young greenies like me?