Significance

On Friday morning we gathered to have our Friday Friends Bible study and fellowship.  This is a group of women of all ages coming together to learn from each other how to live the Christian life together.  I can’t tell you what this group has come to mean to me.  Everyone there has genuine care and concern for the others in the group.  The support that I’ve received from this group has made some heavy burdens feel a lot lighter.

In our study we are learning how to meditate on scripture.  I am so excited about this because I know this is a practice I need to engage in more often.  Although I am faithful to my daily Bible reading, that does not mean that I am meditating on the scriptures.  This week we studied verses that had to do with feeling forgotten, feeling like you’re not appreciated, feeling as if you don’t matter.

It all boils down to the need we have to feel significant in this world

We all desire it to some extent.  God has put it in our hearts.  That’s why we have to seek it His way, and that means seeking it through becoming a part of His story.  His story revolves around redeeming people and being a part of His kingdom work here on Earth.  The more involved with His story we are, the more significance our own story has.

There are several stay-at-home moms in our group, and they voiced their feelings.  “Is what I do enough?  Should I be doing more?”  There’s no magic formula for how much is enough.  It’s a part of our personal work to know what God expects from each of us individually.

We dug into the paradox between Jesus charge, “Don’t  do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others,” to his command a few verses earlier, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Obviously, it’s all about who gets the glory.

The verses we studied led me to a lot of thought-provoking questions:
            What things have I said and done am I looking forward to being revealed?
What things do I wish would remain hidden? How can I eradicate these things?
How can I be constantly aware that what I do for Christ is not in vain, even when I see no
evidence that what I do matters?

Good thoughts, good food, good friends.  What a blessing to be able to “work out our salvation” together!

A Profitable Week

Lots of activity this week centered around our involvement at Camp of the Woods in Canada.

On Monday night we invited several people interested in spending the summer at camp to dinner.  After dinner we discussed our desire to recruit summer staff for the camp.  We discussed dates and finances, including plans we have for securing funds.  There was a lot of enthusiasm for the task, and we enjoyed sharing our passion for this work.

If you’re reading this, and you know a young person who would be interested in hearing about the opportunity to serve in the ministry at Camp of the Woods, be sure to contact me so that I can get information out to them in a timely manner.

Wednesday night I spoke to the youth at church about a mission trip to camp in July.  There are several young people who have expressed an interest in working a week at the camp.  Some that were not interested in spending the whole summer are very interested in this shorter trip.  Our hopes are that once they’ve been there, the place will take hold of them as it has us.

Our friend Ashley has been working on a very sharp looking brochure that will contain all the information about our work at the camp and how friends can support the work.  We want to have it ready so that we can give it to people when they ask us what we’re going to do when we retire.  We are trying structure it so that others who are trying to raise support for spending the summer at camp will be able to send it out with their personal information on it.  It should be finished soon.  Kudos to you, Ashley!

On Sunday after church we’ll be meeting with any adults and families who are interested in the Canada trip.  I’ve had calls and texts wanting more information.  I’m anxious to see who’ll turn up.

Phil and I are so excited about all this activity.  We are anxious to expose others in our church family to this place we’ve come to love so much.  I’ll keep you posted here on our progress.  Keep us in your prayers.

Questions

I introduced you to my friend Rachel Held Evans in my last post.  I wanted to elaborate on some of the things I’ve learned from reading Rachel’s book and following her blog.

My favorite part of Rachel’s book deals with asking questions.

And yet I’m learning to love the questions, like locked rooms and mysterious books, like trees that clap their hands and fish that climb up cave walls, like mist that clings to the foothills of the Himalayas just like it clings to the Appalachians.  And slowly I am learning to live the questions, to follow the teachings of a radical rabbi, to live in an upside-down kingdom in which kings are humbled and servants exalted, to look for God in the eyes of the orphan and the widow, the homeless and the imprisoned, the poor and the sick.  My hope is that if I am patient, the questions themselves will dissolve into meaning, the answers won’t matter so much anymore, and perhaps it will all make sense to me on some distant, ordinary day.

Those who say that having childlike faith means not asking questions haven’t met too many children.  Anyone who has kids or loves kids or has spent more than five minutes with kids knows that kids ask a lot of questions.  Rarely are they satisfied with short answers, and rarely do they spend much time absorbing your response before moving on to the next "why?" or "how come?"

Psychologists say that the best way to handle children in this stage of development is not to answer their questions directly but instead to tell them stories.  As pediatrician Alan Greene explains, "After conversing with thousands of children, I’ve decided that what they really mean is, That’s interesting to me.  Let’s talk about that together.  Tell me more, please.”  Questions are a child’s way of expressing love and trust.  They are a child’s way of starting a dialogue.  They are a child’s way of saying “I want to have a conversation with you"…

If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that serious doubt—the kind that leads to despair—begins not when we start asking god questions but when, out of fear, we stop.  In our darkest hours of confusion and in our most glorious moments of clarity, we remain but curious and dependent little children, tugging frantically at God’s outstretched hands and pleading with every question and every prayer and every tantrum we can muster , ‘We want to have a conversation with you!’”

For all the years we have been married, Phil has had lots of questions about lots of things we find in the Bible, and things we have learned in church.  He has questions about everything from new Earth vs. old Earth to God’s involvement in our daily lives.  In the early days, whenever he would bring up these questions, I didn’t want to listen to them.  They made me afraid, and I didn’t want to think about what he was saying.  We did not have conversations about them.

In the past 7-8 years, I have changed.  I have begun to deal with questions that have come to my heart instead of just ignoring them or denying them.   I read books constantly that deal with questions of faith and have found many to be helpful resources in strengthening my faith in different areas.  My willingness to entertain questions has led to a rich dialogue with Phil.  We have great conversations on a regular basis (mostly over Mexican food at El Metate). 

It’s taken me all these years to understand this…  that the questions matter… that they don’t bother God…  that He is big enough to handle them…and that He loves the conversation it opens up with me.

Meeting Rachel

I started the day singing “O What a Beautiful Morning” as I watched the sunrise after a brisk pre-dawn walk with Mary.

I am ending my day with a full heart because of a new connection I got to make tonight.

Phil, Kathryn, and I, along with our good friend John Cofield, made a trip to Lee University to attend a book reading by a person who has become a huge part of our lives, who has influenced us greatly, and yet a person we had never met.

Rachel Held Evans was the featured speaker at Lee University’s 6th Annual Writer’s Festival.  She read passages from her book, Evolving in Monkey Town, which is a memoir about growing up in Dayton and having a very evangelical upbringing.  As a young adult she faced a crisis of faith, which she is continuing to work through.  She also read from the draft of her upcoming book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, in which she shares what it was like to live the past year taking literally the scriptures about what a woman should and should not do.

I first came to know Rachel because she was going to church with Kathryn.  Kathryn suggested that I start following her blog, which I have been doing ever since.  Soon I was telling Phil, “You’ve got to read this,” and it wasn’t long before he was hooked too. 

Rachel’s blog has been a lifeline to us to open our hearts and minds to new ways of thinking about our faith.  She has directed us to books we should read, people we should follow, and practices we need to incorporate into our faith walk.  She has had such a big impact on Phil, and he would tell you that Rachel has given voice and thought to many of the issues he has struggled with for so long.  I have watched as he has taken her words to heart, as he has searched the scriptures for new answers, and as he has had a new desire to put his faith into action.

We all came away from the evening with so much to think about, so much to rejoice over.  And I’m looking forward to sharing some of those thoughts with you here. 

I'm Back!

I just looked at my blog, and it’s been a whole month since my last post.  That’s a long time for me to be quiet.

It hasn’t been that there’s not been anything going on.  The holidays are always busy with lots of family around and not much of a schedule to keep. 

We enjoyed a visit from Phil’s dad and my aunt Pauline.  I even made a quick trip to Indiana with Kathryn to take Pauline home and see some cousins that I haven’t seen for years. 

Kathryn at Abraham Lincoln's birthplace.  We stopped there on our trip to Indiana.

We also spent time at the zoo, beautifully lit for Christmas (free tickets thanks to my Aunt Sue), and toured the Children’s Museum with my friend Robin. They had a Barbie exhibit that had several dolls and accessories that I had played with in my childhood. It lets you know you’re old when toys that you actually owned are in a museum.

There’s lots of school stuff going on too.  Mary and I are changing our schedule.  She is going to work with all the elementary kids, and I’m going to work with the middle school students.  So far it’s making us both happier.  It’s also time to prepare for Science Olympiad, one of the highlights of the year.  I’m excited about competing well, but it’s very busy getting everyone ready.

Finally, I’ve been doing lots of reading.  I don’t know exactly what to say about all that, but it’s been very interesting.  I hope to share some of my thoughts on these books in upcoming posts.

So I’m back.  

A Lesson About Generosity

Last week Phil had lunch with a friend and came home to relate this story to me. 

Our friend has two daughters who are adopted.  For Christmas they received $100 from their grandparents.  They chose to use this money to buy presents to send to kids in need.  Their father related the great joy they took in doing this.

Phil said to him, “This shows me that you are raising caring and generous girls.  That is such a good thing to instill in them.”

Our friend said, “What it shows me is that they trust me to be their provider.  They know they can give that money away to the needs of others, because they have complete confidence that all their needs will be met by me and their mom.”

What a great lesson about giving!  I can give fearlessly because I have no doubt whatsoever that my heavenly Father can meet my every need without fail.  

May I keep this lesson at the forefront of all the decisions I make concerning money over the next year. 

The Radical Experiment

I recently had several blog entries in which I shared quotes from the book Radical by David Platt.  Platt had so many challenging things to say and the final chapter was no exception.  That chapter is entitled "The Radical Experiment: One Year to a Life Turned Upside Down."  In it he presents five challenges to undertake in the coming year.  I intend to take the challenge, and I'd like to invite as many of you that will to take the challenge along with me.  I know a year is a long time, but even if you fall short, you'll probably be further ahead than if you never attempted it.

Here are the five challenges:

1.  Pray for the entire world.  Although this sounds daunting, Platt suggests a resource called Operation World (www.operationworld.org).  Every day they present a country and tell specific needs to pray for in that place.  All this information is available free online or you can order a book that will place the info in your hands.  There is even a version for children.

2.  Read through the entire Word.  There are many resources available for doing this: online calendars, daily reminders, and many versions of the Bible set up to accomplish this very thing.  This past year I used 24/7 A One Year Chronological Bible.  I am a big fan reading chronologically, and I liked the version presented here, which is the New Living Translation.  It was very understandable and easy to follow.

3.  Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose.  Platt emphasizes that the key word here is "sacrifice."  Don't just give of the excess you have, give above and beyond what you feel is comfortable.  There are some things to consider as you decide where and how to give.  Spend your money on something that is gospel-centered and church-focused.  Give to a ministry that you feel passionate about.  If you don't have one that you feel that way about, find one.  Give to someone you can trust and in a way that is sustainable.  There are lots of possibilities.  Contact me if you need more info here.  I'll be happy to help you figure it out.

4. Spend your time in another context.  By this, Platt means to take some time in the coming year to go on a mission trip.  It could be out of the country or it could be in another city or state.  Just go somewhere to get another perspective, to see how others live, to experience another part of the world.  Dedicate whatever amount of time you can to make this happen; it might be a week, it might be a month.

5.  Commit your life to a multiplying community.  Be an active part of a church family.  Be a part of seeing it grow by making disciples of those who come.  Commit.  Be faithful.  Let others know you can be counted on.

I intend to take steps to make all these things a reality in my life over the next year.  I'd like to invite you to join "The Radical Experiment" with me.  If you're willing to give it a try, please let me know.  I'd like to be a part of encouraging you to stay on track throughout the year.  Let me help hold you accountable, and let me pray for you.

Let's do it for the glory of God and the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ!  Let's make it a "radical" new year!