Breathe.

Today being a pastor meant sweeping and mopping floors, cleaning closets, grocery shopping, cooking dinner, preparing for and leading worship, and lots of praying.  Sometimes my days aren't filled with lots of Holy Spirit moments that move mountains.  But it's in these days that I realize how blessed I am to be serving where I do.  It's ok to wash dishes because it means that people have found a meal at the Wesley House.  It's good that the floors are gritty from salty sidewalks because it means that people have found a warm place to study and hang out.  It's ok that the heat is turned up too high upstairs because it means that someone needed a warm place to take a nap and they found that on the couch in our worship space.  

I am reminded often that we live in the Holy Spirit's movement.  These everyday tasks are done with our lungs filled with it, we breathe it in and out.  It is the movement of God in us and around us.  This helps ground me when I get to overthinking things that I can't control.  It helps me stay open and loving during tough conversations and situations.  

The song above is one that we sang in worship tonight.  It's a great song, hope you like it!  As I came home tonight I turned on the debate.  What a fiasco.  I marvel at this process, at the statements that are made, at the people rising up to support Donald Trump.  What is our world coming to?  Yikes. 

And again I am reminded that God is alive, we can have hope for the future.  Thanks be to God. 
And as the song says, "All the Earth will shout your praise, our hearts will cry, these bones will sing.....Great are you Lord!"  I long for that day, how about you?

Blessed are the flexible.

At the Wesley House we often say our motto is: "Blessed are the flexible."  I think maybe this should have been one of the Beatitudes.  Something like "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall live a life drama-free."  To find the ability to be flexible in situations can sometimes be really difficult, especially when in our heads we might be saying, "If only they'd listen to me,"  or "my way of doing this would be so much better."  

I wrote recently about our "Alternative Spring Break" Mission Trip to NYC.  These spring break trips are really important to our mission and ministry.  They not only help to open up student's perspectives by visiting a new place and meeting new people, but they allow for intense worship and team-building opportunities.  It is sort of like a spiritual-growth retreat on steroids.  It works.  When we return we are exhausted but we are ready to share about what we experienced and bring back the same passion for service to our campus and community.  For me this trip has meant a ton of planning...and an intentional focus on being flexible and trusting in God.  

Upon returning from Haiti and beginning our new semester in January I received a call that the church that had agreed to host our trip would now be unable to do so.  WHAT?!  You see, finding an inexpensive place for 25 people to stay in NYC was extremely difficult, not to mention the rest of the project-planning and travel plans.  Just when I was ready to begin looking for a different location I remembered that I'd forgotten something pretty important.  

Woe to those who go to great depths    to hide their plans from the Lord,who do their work in darkness and think,    “Who sees us? Who will know?”  Isaiah 29: 15

This Scripture has been a part of our small group study this week.  It is amazing to me, that though I believe God is a part of our very being, I often get to a place of operating on my own.  I can get so busy working for God that I forget to include God.  Can you say, "CONTROL FREAK?"

Right at the end of my mission trip NYC rope I just did a quick Google search and ended up talking with a non-profit that sets up trips like this.  Lo and behold they had a group cancel that day and just the right size of space opened up.  They've planned every detail of a trip that is going to be amazing, uncomfortably challenging, and rooted in prayer at every single detail.  

Lesson learned again...talk with God first.  If we share the desires of our hearts with God first before we make plans we may just encounter something far beyond what we think can happen.  Blessed are the flexible that can trust in a God that cares about even the smallest things in our lives.  

What are you so in control of that you've forgotten to let God in?  

My prayer for those of us who can own our control-freak natures is this:  May the God of 
abundant freedom show us how to release our control, deepen our trust, and live freely into the potential God has for us!

Trust.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,

for I have put my trust in you.

Show me the way I should go,

for to you I entrust my life.    

Psalm  143:8

Tonight at pub theology we talked about trust. In these days of constant information overload it is interesting to think about who/what we trust.  It is always fun to talk about these things with my students who have a much different experience of technology than I do, and probably much different than those of you over 50 years of age.  When I was growing up I never wanted a cell phone, knew what text messaging was all about, or had a Facebook page to update.  My friends found out what I was up to when I got to school in the morning or while we were getting ready to play sports or just hang out.  It didn't matter to me how many "likes" a photo got or who was saying what about things.  Our identities these days can get pretty wrapped up in all of this false-publicity.  It is easy to place our trust in these more shallow opinions of others rather than taking seriously the development of friendships and relationships. 

In addition to all of this we hear over and again stories of senseless violence, lives taken too soon and we begin to wonder who we can really trust.  We have probably all watched those Dateline episodes where people assume a false identity on the internet only to end up being predators of some sort.  What are we to do?  

I believe all of this really impacts our ability and understanding of what it means to trust in God.  When we are not really certain how to fully trust another person how can we learn what it means to place our full-trust in God?  In my experience this can be a real stumbling block for spiritual growth.  But I think it really boils down to the same thing I mentioned above:  spending time developing a deep friendship.  

I pray we all have at least one friend in our lives (maybe it's your spouse) that you know you can trust your deepest/darkest secret to.  That one person that will laugh with you, cry with you, and truly keep a secret when you ask.  This type of relationship takes tending, doesn't it?  As in marriage, this deep friendship takes commitment, communication and intention.  

Do we take as much time to develop this deep trusting relationship with God?  Do we spend more time seeking to know God in Scripture and prayer than we do checking our Facebook posts for likes?  Before we send that forward out declaring that Jesus is Lord, do we really think through what it means to submit to Jesus as Lord?  

Though our pub theology conversation was pretty wild tonight it made me question in who/what I place my trust.  How would you answer that question?  In what do we place our worth?  

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;    he’s the one who will keep you on track.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

A simple prayer for tonight:  In You O Lord, help me to put my trust.  In You O Lord, help me to find strength and courage greater than fear.  In You, O Lord, may I learn what it means to fully love and be loved fully.  Amen.    

 

Cake.

One of the things that continually amazes me is how generous people can be.  I realize not all people are generous. I've met many people who think money is the truly the root of happiness, or that prosperity is equal to security.  I woke up early this morning with my "To-Do" list running through my head.  I decided to just go ahead and get up rather than lay there and ponder.  As I was folding laundry, doing dishes, and getting ready for the day I turned on the news.  Immediately I heard the news that a man had gone on a shooting spree in Kalamazoo, killing six and injuring two.  Senseless killing, lives shattered for no reason.  It's scary and horrible and impossible to understand.  

My next move was to go to church.  Today was a big day for Wesley House as we put on our lunch and cake auction fundraiser for our spring break mission trip.  I felt such pride in my students as they showed up early on a Sunday morning to sing some songs in worship, serve lunch, and sell cakes.  They are such good people, kind, compassionate, and strong.  No, we don't always get along seamlessly but when it matters most we know that we are together because God is doing something great and we learn about ourselves as we grow together.  

This is my second cake auction and I can't believe how much people are willing to spend for the cake they want!  Then I realize that it's not about the cake, it's about the students and the ministry.  It's about the recognition that if we want the world to be a better place we must invest in the young adults of today.  When the world is spinning out of control I am always so grateful for the time I spend with these "kids".  They remind me that God is at work, alive, and moving.

"For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment."  Colossians 1

This Scripture tells me that even when I don't understand a situation in my life or in the world I can trust that God has not abandoned us.  It helps me to realize that when our actions are rooted in love and generosity we catch glimpses of the Kingdom of God, the one that's not overwhelmed with sin and darkness.  I want to be motivated by the kind of generosity that sees the good potential in other people, the spirit of giving that doesn't ask "what's in it for me?" or look through eyes filled with skepticism.  God doesn't limit us by our circumstances or our talents, God offers us endless possibilities.  These possibilities aren't always comfortable or even clearly understood, but when we look through eyes that trust in God we can live out of a mentality of abundance rather than fear scarcity.  

Tonight I pray for the people in Kalamazoo.  I pray for the people in Syria.  I pray for parents who have lost children to senseless acts of violence rooted in power, for all who grieve.  I pray for this crazy world, for the reformation of the mental healthcare system, for people who are lost and lonely.  In the midst of this prayer I see the light of God shining in this generation of young adults.  I see strong leaders being raised up that will do all they can to impact the world for the better.  I see students who face deadlines and midterms yet give of their time and talents, in order that they have the opportunity to serve and build relationships with the homeless and hungry in New York City.  

You are going to get tired of me writing about this, but if we as the Church don't put our energy, time, and resources into those who are younger we will only perpetuate these cycles of violence and tragedy that we face today.  The Christian church will become obsolete, caught up in it's own self-righteousness.  

So tonight I am grateful for the people in our community that are not only generous, but loving.  For people who spent $200 on a cake in order that students come into contact with the life-changing Holy Spirit while on a mission trip.  I pray that the eyes of our hearts can be opened up to God's work in our midst, to opportunities to be generous in love that others might come to know God's love in and through us.  

How have you been generous in love today?