Confidence in God is basic to mission

     Some days I get really tired of hearing all the negative news.  I am not talking about the negative news we hear on the TV or read about in the newspaper.   I am tired of hearing all the negative news about the United Methodist Church.   Numbers continue to decline....
     This morning I opened up an email newsletter from the General Board of Global Ministry and there is an article from Thomas Kemper the new General Secretary and it is good news.  He says: Confidence in God is basic to mission.    He goes on to recite the story of the birth of Jesus and what good news that is for all of us.
     If we are going to be Christians and continue to move forward in spite of all the negative news we must have confidence in God.   God has been, is and will continue to be.   God has never disappointed.   I need to remind myself that God is not the one who has not been faithful - it is us.   I find it helpful to hold on to the promise of forgiveness and love even when everything in the world fails and disappoints.   God remains present and strong.
     May this season be a time of claiming:  Confidence in God is basic to mission. 

Good News

     I am so excited.  I just received an email today telling me that because I am a Director of Connectional Ministry (DCM) for a missionary conference my expenses for attending a meeting in Houston in January will be paid.   This is a wonderful witness to the connection of United Methodist Churches.   It is easy to forget that we are not alone in the work that we do.  It is easy to feel as if the money we put toward missions can't make much difference.  However, when our money and the work we do are put together with other UMCes it really makes a difference in the world.
    

What, No Christmas?

You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

- Psalm 30:11-12

What, No Christmas?  A Christmas reflection.

          It was the year that my husband’s father would be diagnosed with cancer in November and be gone by January.  He was hospitalized several hours away to begin with:  surgery, treatments, long road trips, lots of phone calls and worry…   He was finally sent home to die with no hope of surviving the cancer the doctors had just diagnosed.

          By this time it was close to Christmas and my husband’s mother decided that with everything that was happening they would not have Christmas.   Jon (my husband), his sister and I were not willing to accept this and made plans to make sure Christmas happened.   We bought a tree – it was a rather pathetic because it was the last one on the lot.  We bought presents, dug out the Christmas ornaments, made goodies and even got food for Christmas dinner. 

          We knew that Jon’s mother went to bed early – usually by 9 p.m.  So the three of us hung around the house with his mom waiting for her to go to bed (by 9 p.m.) so we could set up Christmas and surprise her.   That evening she did the unthinkable – she found an old movie she wanted to watch and stayed up past midnight.

          The three of us kept waiting until we finally fell asleep on the floor.    Eventually, she did go to bed and we spent the rest of the night putting up Christmas and getting things ready for the next day.

          As you can imagine the surprise was wonderful.  I believe it was just the medicine the doctor ordered.  His mother had a pleasant surprise and the three of us had been able to help out as opposed to how helpless we felt  against the cancer.

          I often think back on that Christmas and thank God for that special time.  The last Christmas we would have with Jon’s father and lots of precious memories of the beauty of that sad looking tree put together with love.  The next morning his mother said: “I wondered why you crazy kids didn’t just go to bed instead of sleeping on the floor!”

          God gives us the ability in the midst of difficult circumstances to turn our mourning in to joy.   If we will take hold of it God allows us to find love and joy even in the midst of dying.   And even though it was Christmas there was a kind of resurrection for us that said – things will be okay.

Prayer:   God of love, joy and hope, help us to open ourselves to the mystery of your presence in our lives.  We know that even in the midst of difficulty you offer to us your grace if we will just allow ourselves to embrace it.   Thank you for the blessing of this year.  Be with families who may be facing illness and even death during this season.   May we be your presence as the opportunities are presented to us.  In your precious Son’s name,  Amen.

Hope in the midst of sorrow

Yesterday was a difficult day.  We woke up to the news that our friend Judy needed to get back to the hospital for her significant other.  When she and Jon (my husband) got there he had died.  I spent the rest of the day with Judy just being there and doing all the things that needed to be done. My heart was heavy for my friend and colleague on her loss.


Late afternoon I had a meeting with the Palmer Fellowship and the Superintendent David Beckett.  As I drove the 45 minutes to the meeting I was trying to get myself mentally prepared to be in a different place both physically and mentally.  I was really finding it hard to shake the sorrow I was feeling.   God has a way of providing hope even in the midst of sorrow.


The meeting began and we started talking.  Palmer folks shared what has been happening since we last meet face to face in July.   Worship has doubled, giving is up, new ministries are getting started, they have moved to a new location, visitors are coming to check them out, and they listed all the ways they have been present outside the walls of their church and visible to the community.   The experience of listening to them and looking around the table was uplifting and a reminder that even in the midst of what we might think is death - God can bring new life.


A little over a year ago I began meeting with the Palmer Fellowship.  Some of our initial conversations were about death, others about their history, lots of frustration was shared and if I were asked at that point what their future held - I would have said death.   Here I was surrounded by the same group of people (with new faces added) and I couldn't even recognize the people I had been with a year ago.


God is amazing.   God can turn our mourning in to dancing.  God can take a hopeless situation and help us find hope.   Even in the midst of death God provides resurrection.   Thank you Palmer Fellowship for allowing God to lead you to new life and I thank God that I have been witness to the resurrection.  I invite any reading this to lift a prayer of thanks to God for what has been done in Palmer and that they may continue to be faithful as they move forward.


I am reminded that it is that same God that will be with my friend Judy and all who mourn.  God will provide the light of hope.

World HIV/Aids Day

     I believe that God loves everyone.   God loves people with HIV and Aids, God loves people who are homosexual and God loves people who dislike gay people and people with HIV and Aids.  My brother has had Aids for a number of years.  Only because of the amazing progress made in the medical field is he still alive.  I celebrate the fact that Aids can be prevented and if contracted it can be treated.  I pray that someday there will be a way to totally rid the world of Aids.
     On this day (actually every day) I pray with fervor that there will come a day when there will no longer be hate and anger and judgement toward people who are homosexual or have HIV or Aids.  I pray that whatever I can do to help make this possible - God will show me the way.  I pray that our churches will help take the lead in spreading the message that God really does love us all.   God loves us all and is more concerned about what we are doing right now and tomorrow than what we have done in the past.  Amen.

Leading Ideas: A Resource for Church Leaders

I thought this was a valuable article.

Leading Ideas: A Resource for Church Leaders

Lessons from Native Alaskans

     Today I had the wonderful privilege of hearing a young man who is a park ranger and an Alaskan Native speak about Sitka, Alaska and his people who have been here for 10,000 years.  He was an exceptional communicator.  His passion for his heritage and sharing drew me to hang on his every word.  When he was trying to convey a concept he would use a story that immediately got his point across.
     One of the images of the Tlinglit culture is the potlatch.   When someone dies many people come to offer comfort to the family through a hug, bringing gifts of food, just being with them and other forms of comfort.   A year after that family member has died - they gather as much as they can in the way of gifts.  When they have enough gifts they then have a potlatch and invite everyone who offered any form of comfort at the time of their relatives death.   At the potlatch each person that has been invited comes forward and the comfort they offered at the time of the family member's death is remembered with some image (your hug felt like a great warm coat of comfort around me) and then a gift is given to them.
     The idea of a potlatch is to give away all that you have.   To empty yourself to those who have been kind to you with a gift and a word of what their gesture of comfort meant.   Think about that in contrast to how we are in our american culture.   The goal of many lives is to get as much as we possibly can and then to keep it for ourselves.
     It seems to me that the potlatch is certainly a lot closer to the model that Jesus gave us when he totally emptied himself for us.   We are called to be for the world Christ's presence.   How is that possible if we have our hands so full acquiring worldly possessions?   When our hands are full grabbing all we can we don't even have ourselves open for God's blessings to flow in to our lives.
      I pray I can be more like a potlatch and empty myself for God.   I have a long way to travel but with God all things are possible.

Community According to Starbucks

My husband and I have a strong relationship with our neighborhood Starbucks.   We go for the coffee but more for the relationships with those who work there and frequent the coffee shop.   I enjoy getting to know everyone.  Our Starbucks knows us as a clergy couple, I am the preacher lady and he is the preacher lady's husband.  The drink I order is unique and they call it a "Leila".

We frequent the shop in a variety of ways: together, separately, separately buying coffee for the other, one in the drive-thru and one  in the shop at the same time...  What strikes me is that they keep track of us.   If I come in and my husband has been in they will tell me when they saw him and I am sure they would tell me what he bought if I asked.  If my husband has not been in they will check to see if I need to get him his drink.   I travel often and they keep track of that as well and welcome me back - asking my husband when I will return.

On the other side we keep track of those who work there and ask in concern if we haven't seen someone.  It occurred to me today as I left there that they are a wonderful example of community.  People who come together around a common interest (buying and selling coffee) and then get to know one another and care for one another.    If I am not around for awhile they will be concerned, when one of the barista's talks about her future I listen and inquire as appropriate.  Community.  

Jon and I have a lot of fun with our Starbucks and I really miss seeing them when I am out of town.   I do believe I see Glimpses of the Kingdom of God in my neighborhood Starbucks.  

Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation | Video on TED.com

Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation | Video on TED.com

Boomers: A New Kind of Aging? | GBOD | Equipping World-Changing Disciples

Boomers: A New Kind of Aging? | GBOD | Equipping World-Changing Disciples

Update August 11, 2010

Update August 11, 2010

School for Congregational Development - 2010 - Nashville

     Attending SCD has been a mixture of learning, inspiration and connecting with old and new friends and colleagues.   So far my biggest take away is the importance for our churches, pastors, and conferences to develop a plan to make disciples for Jesus Christ.    INTENTIONALITY and ACCOUNTABILITY.  

     My daughter Ashley took Tae Kwon Do with her father.  I remember they were taught a mantra related to this:  make a plan, work your plan, evaluate your plan and start it all over again.   Without a plan we quickly go nowhere and do nothing.  I can sit in my office and without making a list either in my head or on paper, I can quickly arrive at the end of the day and realize I have gotten nothing of significance done.

     Why is it then that we would think that making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world should be any different?   I am coming to understand that it is far better to plan, attempt and fail than to have no plan at all and get nothing done.

     I also know in my own life how difficult it is to stick with a plan if I am not accountable to someone.  Accountability is something I am working on in my personal life as well as professional.  My hope and prayer is that as I return to Alaska I can connect our churches to God's vision for them and by using intentionality and accountability we can all see more and more glimpses of the Kingdom of God.