Hard to Fathom...

It is hard for me to fathom that my baby is about to graduate from high school.   Last night was her senior prom.  However, she did not go to the prom for a number of reasons.

Since both she and her boyfriend had to work, they decided to make a special night the day before.  They went to Baltimore in the afternoon and spent some time in the inner harbor, then boarded a boat for a dinner cruise and a special night on the bay.   They had a blast and enjoyed it probably more than they would have the prom.

Before they left, I snapped some pics!

Nearly 107...

Today, I have the honor of working on the funeral service for a very sweet lady that I have been blessed to know these past 11 or 12 years.  She was just two months shy of her 107th birthday.  I so enjoyed our visits over the years.  And since her 100th birthday, we shared a little tradition on her birthday every year, through last year's birthday... As long as she was able, we had a cake at the Church for her and then when she wasn't able, we went to her with a cake and sang to her.

Just this past year when I asked to have our picture taken with her, she informed me that she didn't think she would be around for her next birthday... I told her you just never know.  Turns out she was right.   What a precious lady, who just a few days ago, when she asked me if I thought she was dying, told me that she wasn't ready to go yet because she had lots more people she wanted to help!

I hope that when I reach that age, I would have the same perspective... lots more people I want to help!   Rest in peace, Aunt Mattie!  We love and will miss your sweet spirit!

This was our last picture on June 26, 2012 at 106 years young!

Apprentices...

 

This picture sums up how most of us are probably feeling today after watching the events of this week in Boston come to an end last night.

 

 

This picture was taken about 8:30 a.m. today as the rain finished falling and the sun began to peak out from behing the clouds as I walked across the field lane to the turkey woods to hunt wild turkeys.  I had originally planned to bring my nephew with me today as he had a rare second weekend in a row at his mom's house.  But I didn't communicate that to him in time and he had made other plans.

 

Turns out his other plans involved taking my dad (his grandpa) turkey hunting this morning.  After lining up the place for them to hunt with my cousin and coaching both Ben and my dad, I was anxious to hear all about their day.   Especially because I have been taking Ben turkey hunting for the past 5 or so years but I have never let him call them yet.  And my dad has never ever turkey hunted at all.

 

I awoke this morning to texts from Ben asking what time he should get up.   Had to laugh at that... I had told him what time he should be at the woods which I thought would allow him to figure out what time he needed to get up.  The next two texts reported that he had called in two lone Jakes (young gobblers) and that my dad had decided not to shoot them.   Boy was I proud of Ben for that accomplishment... it is not an easy one at all! 

 

So, I went turkey hunting myself and was bowled over when I got a text later in the day from him saying that there was a big gobbler out in front of them gobbling and he was calling to it.  And then he said that he intended to let Grandpa shoot it if it came in!!!   WOW!~

 

It is so cool to see someone you have been apprenticing spread their wings and fly!   This will be a day I remember for a long time.

 

It occurs to me that the same is true with people we are apprenticing for Jesus!  The purpose for apprenticing people for Jesus is to see them soar high, not become dependant on you.   And it is one of the greatest feelings in the world when you see them take off!

 



Can't Stop Thinking and Praying....

There is so much violence and hatred in our world, I can't stop thinking about it and praying for us to know God's love for ourselves and for each other and to live in love and peace.   The events in Boston are horrific and seem especially so to us here in the USAmerica but the truth is these kind of events happen everyday in many places around our globe.  What makes them seem so horrible to us is that they happened close to home.   I know I am more aware of the devastation of yesterday's events because I personally know 3 people who were less than a block away.   While I am rejoicing that they are well, I am also mourning for the countless people whose lives forever changed yesterday and now must face this horrific event in a personal way. 

I have been thinking about a response to this and have decided to begin a series of sermons on Sunday at Community of Joy called, "What This World Needs..." to explore ways that we who are apprentices of Jesus can make an impact in our world as he calls us to do.

Join me Sunday as we kick off this series... either at 9 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. @ 302 South Blvd. Salisbury, MD!

A Hand Up Not a Hand Out...

Community of Joy's ministry center needed a new roof on part of the building.  We got estimates ranging from $7,700 to $18,000.   In January, we had a gift given to the church of $5,685.  At the time the giver said it could be used toward the roof and hoped it would cover the cost of the new roof entirely.  With the estimates we had, I was skeptical that it would cover it all.

Every year in February, we host a homeless men's shelter in our facility for two weeks.  On one of the very first nights that I spent an overnight there, I was feeling a strong compulsion early in the morning to go talk to one of the guys who happened to be up and in our sitting room.  I tried to shake the compulsion but couldn't.  So, I went in, asked if I could sit down and asked him where he was from and that one question led into a nearly 3 hour conversation.   Turns out he was local and was a roofer who had fallen on hard times due to the economy.  I knew that he wasn't your typical homeless  guest we usually get... I was pretty sure he didn't have any addiction issues.

Long story short, I prayed about things.  One of our other properties team guys had spoken with him that night too and we both talked.  Then got him up on the roof.  Asked him to submit a proposal.  Checked references.  They were fantastic.  After a meeting of the properties team, we decided to take the calculated risk.   Insisting he use an advance we would give him to get insurance and that we would purchase all the material for the job.  We embarked on a monthy long journey.

It wasn't your typical contractor\client relationship because he had no vehicle to get supplies and needed some help with tools.  So, I stepped in and in the end ran him 17 times to various places checking out supplies, getting them, and hauling things to the dump.   I spent far more time on the roof than I wanted to, but that time was time speaking into his life and learning from him.

Last week, he finished the job and now with the money he made has the ability to get a place and this emotional boost also led him to a couple more jobs!   I am hopeful that this job will be the begining of a life turn around for him.   And I am thankful for a team that was willing to take a risk in order to love someone like Jesus would!

What Can You Trust?

Had an interesting experience yesterday as I traveled from home to Dayton, Ohio via Philadelphia Airport.   I arrived safely about 1 p.m. and almost immediately checked the monitors to see if my flight was on time and the gate was what I thought.  It was listed as ON TIME.  I had a 3 hour layover so, I set out to get lunch.  While in line to get lunch, I got a phone call saying that my flight would be delayed about an hour an a half and I would be leaving about the time I was supposed to arrive originally.  No big deal, I had the time as we werent meeting till today.  I only had to fly yesterday because no flights worked to get me here today on time.

So, periodically I checked the monitors to see what they said about our flight and they constantly listed it as "ON TIME"!   Even the agent desk has has "ON TIME".  But interesting that the manually put up flight info at the causeway had us listed as leaving at a new time.  Throughout the afternoon, they periodically announced the change over the PA system.   About a half hour after our original departure time, I went by the monitors to see what it said and was shocked to see it say "DEPARTED"  yet we were still there!

That got me to thinking... what can you trust?  And what do you do when what you expect to be able to trust (the monitors) were wrong and what you thought you might not be able to trust (the manually updated board) was right?

Trust is a precious thing and once you loose it or violate it, it is hard to find again.  All afternoon, I found myself thinking about how precious it is.

One thing I definitely want to be... is trustworthy.   Jesus encourages it too... he said let your yes be yes!

Full Circle

On Saturday, Sharon and I spent most of the day with our youngest, Emma, exploring her choice of Colleges.... Salisbury University.  It was a fun day for all of us!  We listened to the presentations, paid our deposit, ate lunch in the dining hall, toured the Medical Simulation Center, chatted with a department head to figure out how Emma's two years at Wor-Wic Community College will fit in her SU plan, and enjoyed walking around the beautiful campus.


After lunch when we walked from the Dining Hall to the Medical Simulation Center, a thought hit me... I realized that on one side of the street was Emma's Nursery School (Asbury Child Development Center) and on the other side of the street was Emma's University!   While we chose her Nursery School, she chose her University!  

We all came away from that day feeling excited for Emma and her future pursuit of Nursing at Salisbury University.  

We have lots of family history at this esteemed institution.  In fact, I insisted that Emma go stand on the hallowed steps of Holloway Hall as somewhere in my family's collection is a picture of my grandmother - Caroline Hutchison standing on those same steps when she graduated from what was then ... Salisbury State Normal School.

Making Dreams Reality...

Read this in a book recently... it resonates with me...

"Everyone who's ever taken a shower has had an idea.  It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it who makes a difference."  Nolan Bushnell.

It is one thing to have a dream, but it is another thing entirely to see that dream become a reality.

What are you doing about your dreams?  How are you taking steps toward making them reality?

Untied!

On Palm Sunday, I challenged folks at Community of Joy to consider what they have tied up and unavailable to Jesus in the areas of Time, Talent, and Resources.  I used the story of Jesus telling his apprentices to go into town and find a donkey in a certain spot and untie it and bring to him.   He told them if the owner asked what they were doing, they were to tell him that "the Lord needs it".   That's what they did.

I also gave out pieces of string to tie around our wrists as a reminder of the need to untie our time, talent, and resources for Jesus asking God to lead us to that which we needed to make available to him in our lives.

I have been doing just that since then.   And one area that I have clarity in is I need to step up my prayer life, especially praying for the strengthening and growing of our congregation.   I have been doing so and already we are seeing great results!  In my prayers, I am not telling God what to do, but am very conscious that the church is his and he is the one who began it and promises to bring to completion the good work that he has begun.  So, I am asking him to do just that!

I am thankful for what God is doing and excited to see what is ahead of us!   Last night in Bible Study, several of the folks gave testimony to the excitement they are feeling as they see what God is doing among us in recent weeks!  And to the power of God's transformative presence in their lives as well! 

I am glad I untied my prayer life and made myself more available to God in this area!

New Beginnings!

Since Easter is a time of new beginnings, I thought I would resurrect my blog writing.  I have been away from it for too long and have had people asking me when I was going to start writing again... now is the time!

This year at Community of Joy, in the midst of some pretty major transitions in the life of our congregation, we decided to change up our Easter Traditions.  Normally, we have a sunrise service, a breakfast immediately following that, then our 9 a.m. worship gathering and our 10:30 worship gathering.  Since we are down in numbers due to the transition we are in and since many of our folks travel away on Easter, we didn't want the deflating experience of two small Easter worships.  Thus the decision to combine the two and to do both styles of music in the one gathering.  And the decision to not have a sunrise worship and have our breakfast at the time of the first gathering instead.

I know of a couple people who we lost because of this, and that makes me sad.  But I think it was a great move for our congregation as we had an awesome turn out for breakfast and worship too.  It was great to feel the energy of a fuller space and the expanded musicians!   We had our largest (for us) number of first time guests on Easter!  There was an energy in the air that should be present in a congregation on Easter!

I find that energy is invigorating still today!   I saw this cartoon making it's rounds yesterday on Facebook ... 

 

This is NOT how I felt yesterday nor today!   And it is encouraging to have it be like this!

 

 

Breakfast

 

 



Praying THROUGH not OUT!

I have been reading Mark Batterson's book, "Draw the Circle:The 40 Day Challenge" for Lent.  Today, day 4, was profound!

"Sometimes the purpose of prayer is to get us out of circumstances, but more often than not, the purpose of prayer is to get us through them.'

"There is a big difference between praying away and praying through.  We're often so anxious to get out of difficult, painful, or challenging situations that we fail to grow throug them.  We're so fixated on getting out of them that we don't get anything out of them.  We fail to learn lessons God is trying to teach us or cultivate the character God is trying to grow in us.  We're so focused on God changing our circumstances that we never allow God to change us!"

"Can our prayers change our circumstances?  Absolutely!  But when our circumstances don't change, it's often an indication that God is trying to change us.  The primary purpose of prayer is not to change circumstances, the primary purpose of prayer is to change us!"

"Sometimes God delivers us from our problems; sometimes God delivers us through our problems."

I shared this book with my friend, Stephen Slocum and we are reading it together through Lent.  Here are some reflections Stephen shared on Facebook this morning on this chapter...

"Sometimes God Delivers us from our Problems: Sometimes God Delivers us through our Problems (Mark Batterson ).....How true for me for so many years. God please help me pass this test, God I need Extra Money this week , God please I need my daughter's cold to go away......God I need, I need, I need, but God is not in the need business nor is he an order form. I'm in a Battle with Cancer God I need you to Clear Me of Cancer. ( WRONG PRAYER ) God please halp me through my battle, clear my pain, help me drink this cup of water, medicine, food, help me through the battle and come out the other End Victorious . See friends I'm getting the full ride all my numbers are normal now, eating solids, walking, etc 30 Days ago Bed Ridden, in and out of the Hospital.  Praise God and His Glory for what he is doing is healing me by letting me experience all the symptons of what a Cancer Patient Goes Through.  I love it!  So next time you pray ( PRAY THROUGH ( NO PRAYING AWAY ) GOD BLESS <><"

Reflections on the last 10 years

During the overnights at our shelter, in the early morning hours when my mind is fried... I have been reading magazines I get.  One called Outreach Magazine that looks at various church related outreach ministries had some good article that I want to share quotes from.

The first was written by Dan Kimball and was looking at the church's mission and how it has changed in the last 10 years.  He says that he believes that the last 10 years have taught us three things about fulfilling the Gospel mission...

1. Churches that focussed on emerging generations and remained faithful theologically are still groing strong.  Those that didn't, aren't.  Time tests what is merely a trend or what is true mission.

2. Churches whose passion was evangelism continue to thrive.  Inwardly focused driven primarily by a desire to maintain the attendance of disillusioned Christians have experienced little growth.

3. The church must still be passionate about seeing new generations know Jesus.  Younger generations are more confused about the church and Christianilty than ever.  The good news is that many churches are focused on doing whatever it takes to help a new generation know and follow Jesus.

Still Waters....

Since Emma's accident on Friday night/ Saturday morning, we are sharing cars between the three of us.  Last night while I was waiting for Sharon to finish up her work at Coastal Hospice at the Lake which shares facilities with Deers Head Hospital, I wnet for a walk to fill time, as it seemed I would have a good while to fill.  The facility is located on a nice lake.  So, I was happy to walk down to a dock area they have and sit there beside the STILL WATERS and pray as the sun set.

As I sat there, I couldn't help but recall the familiar phrase from the beloved 23rd psalm... "He leads me beside STILL WATERS..."  The utter peace that came over me as I spent that half hour to 45 minutes praying and watching the sun set change the evening sky.   It is a practice I like to do often and everytime I do, I find so enriching.

We all need still waters in our lives!   I pray that you can find them too!

This was taken last night!

Not Yet There....

Hear this awesome quote from Andy Stanley this morning... "Jesus taught and pointed toward an ideal yet refused to condemn those who fell short."  

Take a few moments to let that simmer and I think you will see how on track that is!  If only we could catch that same truth and live it in our relationship with others... our world would be filled with a whole lot more grace and our churches would be places where huge life transformation is happening ALL THE TIME!   We need to learn to live in the tension between the real and ideal!

Great to Have FUN Together!

One thing I absolutely love about Community of Joy, is that we love to have fun together as well as we know how to be serious about Jesus and living as his hands and feet in the community and world.

Yesterday, we enjoyed preparing for and watching the Super Bowl.

 

 

 

And now this week, we prepare to join our two neighborhing churches - Bethany Lutheran and Beacon of Light Churches as we open our doors to host 20 homeless men from our community for the next two weeks as part of our Community Emergency Shelter Project!   Surely God smiles when we have fun together and when churches cooperate to be his hands and feet in the community!