Travel light: People space

I was driving home yesterday having a very deep conversation with Jody - about the lack of storage space in our home. We hope to add on a big living room and study in the near future which still does not include much closet/storage space. (It will, however, allow us to host big groups for dinner which we absolutely love. For example, the list we were wishing to have over in a couple weekends includes about 30 adults and 20+/- kids!)

I was lamenting this lack of storage space when Jody said something amazing, "I like it because it keeps us from having too much junk we don't need." What a genius! Her comment was an epiphany for me.


I fell in love with this idea: having a home dedicated to people space, not junk space.

501 - Introduction to Fellowship

Only now am I starting to begin to almost understand the first thing in the first steps of fellowship. I had a decent time last week in Virginia Beach - most notably, an awakening to real fellowship. Here's how I would describe it. Remember the scene in "Fellowship of the Ring" when they step into the great hall of Moria. Gandalf says, "I think we can risk a little more light." As his staff glows brighter, they realize that they are in a hall beyond compare - but its fullness is still hidden in the darkness.

By the way, I tried to get a screenshot of this scene, but was unsuccessful. If you know a way to capture screenshots using freeware, please let me know.

Anyway, that is me. The light went off inside just enough for me to know that I have been completely missing it concerning fellowship. I'm getting my butt kicked this week with meetings, work and school, but I can't wait to head off on a discovery of fellowship in the very near future.

Any thoughts on the subject?

a difference

I have been sitting here for a while compiling notes from an exciting meeting about impacting our community. My realization is, change is difficult. Change must be a long-term commitment. Impact does not come easily - or else everybody really would be doing it.

How do you change the prevailing culture? How do you battle poverty? How do you instill hope and purpose and vision into apathetic and hopeless wanderers? These are tough questions. They are very important questions.

How do you make a difference?

Pray - truly prayer brings about those things that only God could do. Then what happens when the result of prayer is an opportunity to engage?

Lots of questions. Lots of need. God help us. We need you. They need you. We all need you. Be the difference.

My Friend the Catalyst

A catalyst is an amazing thing: 1. something that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected; 2. a person or thing that precipitates an event or change

I am thankful to God for giving me catalyst friends. They ask the right questions. They provide a right perspective. They bring about growth and change in me.

The cool thing about having catalyst friends is in the relationship. Some leaders or teachers are only able to take you as far as they themselves have been. Desiring a very controlled change, they teach what they have learned and draw pupils down their own path. A catalyst inspires growth, but is never used up. It can come back to inspire growth another day. It can bring about change far bigger than itself.

In Christian community, we must be catalytic friends. After all, what God desires to do in another person will doubtlessly bigger than what we can do in them. Yes, that does mean that we are not in control of the change. But God is.

And here we are again. Back to the whole faith thing. Do you have enough faith to be a catalytic friend/parent/teacher, or are you afraid that the path God has chosen for another person is not as good an option as drawing them down your own?

Hope in the Mundane

This January, many of us have been examining "Haggai" and God's call to rebuild Yahweh's temple in the Old Testament. This was quite an imposing task for a bunch of returned exiles - the original temple took millions of dollars: laborers, the best building materials that the world had to offer, a ridiculous amount of gold, etc. So, like all severely overwhelmed people, they didn't do anything.

Then comes a great surprise. God sends word, "Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified." (Haggai 1:8)

Right now, you may be thinking, "So what."

Here's the point. God wanted His house built. The people had nothing "valuable" with which to build it. And God didn't care.

I can relate to this. I want to answer God's call. I have nothing extraordinary to build with. All I've got is the plain and the ordinary. Perhaps that's all that you've got, too. Perhaps you've been reluctant to begin working with your meager opportunities, talents, and resources. Perhaps you're afraid God might show up and take note of the quality of your work, "How is my house coming along? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?" (2:3) After all, He showed up to ask the Israelites.

This is our great hope. Our best really may not amount to much. It doesn't matter. God has redeemed the ordinary. God has redeemed the simple. God has redeemed the modest. God has redeemed the mundane. And He is calling.

Friends

I have been dreadfully neglectful keeping up with friends the past few months - school, a remodeling project at work (which kicked me out of my office for a while), work itself, the wonderful busyness of family life, etc.

In catching up with some friends, I am reminded how lucky I am to walk through this life in the company of people with whom I can laugh, learn, suffer, and grow. Thanks guys.

Giving and sacrifice

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity, along with several friends, to deliver sleeping bags, hot chocolate and sandwiches to the homeless of St. Louis. It was a wonderful experience. Many of the people in our group were teens and it was a pleasure watching them light up at the opportunity of helping someone in need.

In sitting here pondering my blogging angle on this event, this occurred to me: What a stark contrast there is between the deep satisfaction of feeding the homeless and the shallow, passing enjoyment of getting new stuff (that the commercials promise will bring us life and excitement).

Perhaps it is truly better to give than to receive - even when there is not an angle on giving. (IE: kick-backs from a loved one.) I am saddened to think that I give so little that this truth is mostly forgotten and must be rediscovered from time to time.

Jesus once said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter in to heaven. I believe this. I can feel in my soul that the more things I acquire, the more likely I am to come across something that I will not want to give up - for God or for a fellow man. The idols of "security" and "satisfaction" are monstrous foes to be faced by the rich.

Giving and sacrifice. Happiness is found in them. Perhaps they draw heaven a little closer, too. In giving to others, our greed is crucified once again. Our idols of security and satisfaction are crucified again. Best of all, in giving and sacrifice we are able to bless those around us.

People and Legacy

I had lunch with an old friend yesterday. It was a great time reminiscing about the way things used to be and catching up with the way that they are. My how things change! Back in the day, we were carefree college guys who liked cutting class to play tennis. Today, we're both husbands, dads and career-oriented employees. Somewhere between the house salad (with ranch) and the Southwestern chicken wrap, we began looking ahead a little bit. The question: are we headed towards our destinies?

I have had a pretty good life filled with things that people generally consider "significant." However, looking over my shoulder at those things, they feel a little bit like little league baseball trophies. A few years later, and they don't matter too much. The times with lasting significance, the times when I think I have "hit my stride" in reaching for my destiny all have to do with people. The times I have impacted another, invested my time and energy in the welfare of another - those times matter.

People matter. My wife matters. My three boys matter. Family matters. Friends matter. The inconvenient person I usually try to avoid matters. Long after the clamor of my activity has faded, my legacy in people may or may not live on - I prefer that it does.

So what about it. Maybe you and I can create, pursue, and seek opportunities, while we're about the typical activities of life, to positively impact the life of another. Create your legacy.