Let Me Be Brief

Fixed husband's car. (refer to Dead as a Doornail)
Picked it up Thursday p.m.
18 wrecked it Sunday.

That is all.

Extraordinary Friends

I guess I really haven't realized how fortunate I am. Sometimes, ok most of the time, I take so many things for granted. Today I recognize the unusual blessing of good girlfriends. The type of friends you can drop in on. The kind of friends who genuinely desire to just sit with you and visit about the mundane episodes of life. The sort that put everything else on their calendar aside to be with me. I don't just have one friend like that, nor do I have two. If I were to actually put a number to it I think that my number of really good friends is more than I could count on two hands!! Granted, I don't see all of them regularly, but at any given moment, I could depend on any of them to drop everything to meet me at any given time.

Yesterday I supped with some of my best friends. Seven of us meet regularly to celebrate birthdays and yesterday was such an occasion. The times we spend together are extraordinary. We simply share our ordinary lives.

Isn't that interesting? Amazing relationships are grown out of normal people expressing to others their unembellished selves. I think most of us believe extraordinary relationships are born from spectacular events with others. When in reality all we want is for someone to know who we actually are, with no pretense, and still want to spend time with us.

We don't ask a lot of each other in terms of time. I don't want my friends to put me above the needs of their husband and children. I just want to know that if I really needed them they would drop everything and run to me. And I do know that. I also know that occasionally, just for the fun of it, they will set aside all their other responsibilities and simply spend some time cultivating an extraordinary relationship by doing ordinary things with me.

Thank you, friends.

Church Home

Do you have a church home? Those very words "church home" evoke a sentimental warmness in me. Church: a place to worship, learn, fellowship, serve. Home: a place to retreat to safety and significance. (Don't try to find these definitions in a dictionary. They are my own characterization.) Put those two together and your church home could be the ideal place to find yourself a few days a week.

Yesterday morning as I was preparing physically and mentally to go to my church home, I was overwhelmed by a sense of sadness for many of my friends and family who don't have a church home right now. I know exactly how they feel, like a nomad wandering about, looking for good pasture for your sheep. The task is daunting because what we seek is all the positive we had at our old church, then we add to that list, the improvements we thought needed to be made so that it would have been "my own perfect church home". Our kids need to enjoy going, we need to like the music, and the preacher better be biblical, interesting, challenging, and caring. Are the members friendly? Do they have too much debt? How long does it take me to get there? My list went on and on and on. All of these things are so important, but, can any church meet all this criteria?

My prayer for all of you who have no church home is that you will continue looking no matter how frustrating it may be. And, in your search, simply seek the LORD. We know that no man (church) will ever meet our wants and needs fully, only the Father can. He can call you to worship, teach you, give you a spot to serve, and provide significance and security to your soul, all in a place that is not ideal and never will be. Churches are not perfect but the Father is.

Parenting

Let me just face the facts, some weeks I come to the stark reality that my attempts at parenting are feeble. Some days the "world" seems too large of an adversary for me to have more of an influence on my children than society does. Especially as they become adults, where does my line of authority end? How, because I love them and want what is best for them, do I continue to mentor them? How much do I say? How little should I share with them in tense situations? My biggest question today is "When will these relationships cease to cause me frustration and pain?" We all know the answer to that question is never, I just needed to express to the world my sad little sentiment.

The times I feel the most disappointed in how they act is when I see how harsh and judgemental they are of others. I notice when they are bereft of patience and kindness with their siblings and when they look for perfection in people who couldn't possibly give them a faultless performance. What I have observed is that I am disappointed when, uhohhhh, they act like me. I am the "society" that has held sway over them the most. OH, NO!! When I began this note today this was not what I believed the conclusion would be. I was prepared to tell you that all my efforts have been countered by a debased society, but I have negotiated this subject and discovered that I have been weighed and have been found wanting.

Lord, let me give all of me to you. Please, allow my children to escape the consequences of my feeble attempts at parenting. You, Lord, parent them. Forgive me.

I'm In

Count me in. I've joined. I'm in for the long haul. You can count on me. "Count on you for what?", you may ask. To serve the body of believers and the community at the church we joined this weekend.

I must admit that this was a difficult decision for our family, Husband, 18, 16, and me. We have a lot of history at our old church. And, even though there was no doubt that it was right to leave it, we long for the old days. But, today, we will put all that behind us and press on here. We will jump in with both feet and completely immerse ourselves in the "new" ministry. Actually, the ministry is not new at all even though it may take on new forms. The basic ministry we know that is important is sharing, with the world, what has changed our lives, fulfilled us, given us hope and a future (for eternity). The reality is that these people at our new church are basically strangers and here I am committing myself to a life work with them. Does that make sense?

Some questions that address that very issue were posed to me a few days ago and I have pondered them and included them here because I think that you, too, should consider your answers. Here are those questions and my reply.

Questions: Can I love God passionately and his people at arms length? Do I have to open up to these strangers to really love them? Does honesty equal transparency? Is transparency really a virtue or a weakness?

Reply: The answers are not easy to say aloud because I think true ministry is a result of honestly sharing ourselves with others to the point that they can see what we are passionate about. If others cannot see who we really are, we cannot share our passion, nor maybe even acknowledge our passion to ourselves.

I began to inquire of myself this past week if I really needed to live a life more than that of obscurity or mediocrity. Why not? Why not just be faithful to my husband, children, grandchildren, etc? Could that be so wrong? And then I heard “AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS!” This life I live is not about me and my comfort zone, it is about me living a life of thrilling abundance (life on the edge) so that “others may know that He is the LORD God and there is no other!” (1Kings 8:59-60)

I was reminded that I owe that to Him, He is my Redeemer. To God be the glory! I should give Him my all.