Not In Control

A good friend of mine called last night.  After much effort and prayer, he and his wife had their first child.  Then, while still in the hospital his wife is diagnosed with advanced leukemia.  Diagnosis yesterday, chemo today.  She'll be in the hospital for at least 21 days, unable to see their newborn.  

On the same day his wife is diagnosed with leukemia, his brother has brain surgery.  Wow.  

As I'm talking with my friend, another friend of mine is beeping in.  I don't answer but call him back.  He was calling to tell me that his toddler inhaled some "foreign matter" and is having to go under anesthesia and have it removed.  Wow.  

You can take away a lot from these revelations.  One thing I know for sure..we are absolutely not in control.

Growing Up

Just the other day I ran into someone that I haven't seen in 16+ years.  We spent a few minutes re-connecting about our lives and about other people we have in common.  Then she said, "I guess we all had to grow up sometime."  I agreed and we went about our separate ways.  Later that day, I began to wonder who she was talking about?  Herself, the people we have in common, or me?  She was probably talking about all of the above, but I hope she was talking about me.  As I consider a lot of the choices I was making 16 years ago...I hope she was talking about me.

Reconnecting

I had lunch with a friend from my church today.  He's been going through a difficult divorce, and through all of the pain, he pulled away over the past few months.  Even though I knew about the struggles he was facing, as he pulled away, I neglected to pursue him.  We talked openly about all of that, and I gave him an honest excuse for my part.  I told him about how my schedule was full of meetings with people that were seeking to meet with me.  His response was, "Yeah, but the people who pull away are the ones that are hurting the most."  He's right.  So, after that conversation, I'm left reconsidering my time and priorities, who I available for and who I'm not.  I'm also rethinking about how we "do community" at Istrouma.  It was a great lunch.  I'm thankful for my friend, our God, and how I've reconnected with my calling to walk alongside people going through difficult seasons.

Go Day Part 2

As we sought to serve Baton Rouge, my team split up and tackled 3 projects.  We tackled overgrown lawns of two of our widows because we need to begin with those in our household (Gal 6:10).  I primarily worked with my kids and two of their friends cleaning up an overpass in the neighborhood adjacent to our church.  If we miss the people next door, we've missed everything.  Many people, from the neighborhood, waved and shouted their thanks out of their car windows.  Some people stopped to thank us for our small sacrifice, and we got to point to the big sacrifice of Christ.  It was a GREAT day!

GO Day

Tomorrow our church is embarking on what we are calling "Go Day".  Instead of holding our regularly scheduled worship service and Sunday morning classes, we are going out into the surrounding community to serve others.  The tag line for this is, "Don't just go to church, go BE the church."  In anticipation for the event, here are some things that I like about it already:

It forces us to challenge our presuppositions about what "church" really is.

Because it's not regularly scheduled, I've had lots of Christ-centered interactions with people I don't normally come in contact with when I'm living out my "regular schedule".

"Go Day" has prompted many to see ideas of how they can serve others outside of this morning, which means that this event is serving as a catalyst for ongoing ministry.

Families will do this TOGETHER.

My kids are excited about it.  They can't wait to paint over some graffiti under an overpass near our church tomorrow.  It's going to be a good memory.

The Spiritual Discipline of Yard Work

Having a large annoying gum ball tree in the front yard and other more pleasant trees around the house, I got way behind in getting the yard cleaned up. So, yesterday, I spent 4+ hours getting it done. The kids helped me for two of those hours, and it was a good time for all of us...really. They did great...we worked together...accomplished a lot.

The last two hours was just me. Undistracted, all other sounds muffled by the engine of the lawn mower, I finished the job. The best part of it all was the solitude and reflection that comes with standing behind a lawn mower. Sure, this was just a couple of hours, but I needed it more than I realized. It energized me.

Coming off a crazy few days dealing with a lot of "noise", the yard work cleared my head. Since then, I feel more "present" with the people I am around. A while back I heard someone say, "You can't truly be with other people if you can't be by yourself." There's truth in that. It's in being by yourself that we realize we are really never alone. But, that's a whole other topic.

Children's Ministry

It's been a while since I have been able to write anything. It's just been one of those seasons where there is little margin to get to any sort of reflection. However, along the way, over the past few weeks, I have had great moments of increased thanksgiving.

My decreased "margin" and increased thanksgiving come by way of me standing in the gap of our children's ministry. Our children's minister resigned, and we were fortunate enough to find a great person to continue the work. However, there is that gap of a few weeks where someone has to take point, and that has been me.

Children's ministry is so heavy with administrative tasks and details. Visions of supply closets keep me up at night. However, teaching kids God's Word, talking to parents about real issues of life, high-fiving fifth graders, and feeling 3 year olds hug my shins are things that make it all worth it.

Children's ministers have great jobs! While I no longer will be "on point", I am going to look hard for ways to stay involved. The work is hard, but the rewards are awesome.