Dishwasher Forgiveness

On Sunday, Darren preached on James 3 and the power of the tongue.  

• What you say has the power to direct
• What you say has the power to destroy
• What you say shows what you are really like on the inside

The thing that stood out for me was his illustration of taking a sip of water from his little girl's water bottle and finding out that there was some leftover milk or something nasty in there, souring the water and making it taste terrible.  What is on the inside flavors what comes out - it's a great picture of that.  What was powerful, though, was that he said he put it in the dishwasher.  He didn't know what was inside, but knew that it would come out clean and usable again.  He likened that to forgiveness; asking God to clean up the sin we know is inside us.  Another powerful picture.  And what jumped out at me was just like the source that was souring the water was unknown, I don't have to be able to identify exactly what it is that needs forgiveness to put my soul in that dishwasher of forgiveness - I just need to have a repentant heart and ask God to give me a clean start again.  And he does.

For the record, I'm sure that identifying that which soils you makes you better able to stay away from that particular thing in the future; it's just nice to have the reassurance that a clean slate does not depend on specifically naming every blemish.

What were your thoughts on Sunday's message?

Being Grateful

We stopped at the library before our holidays last week, and one of the books I picked up was on living a thankful life.  It's written from a very open spiritual perspective, so I'm reading 'lightly' but there are some true principles and some good ideas in it to build practices of gratitude into your life.  I can't separate that in my mind from the one we must be thankful to, so these become spiritual practices more than simply being thankful.

• When you're feeling down, you will feel better if you decide to dwell on what is good in your life and give thanks for those things. 
• Develop 'triggers' in your life - decide that your first thought when your feet hit the floor will be "I am thankful for this day and all that it will bring," or decide that every time you close the house door behind you, you will think, "I am thankful for this home and for my family, and am glad I get to return here to them every day."
• When someone helps us, like the server or cashier, say a genuine thank you - they will have a better day, and you can let that remind you that God made and cares for that person.  You can in that small way be a part of God's caring for them.
• Start a gratitude journal and write in it every day what you are thankful for.  I started one and today will be day four that I write in it.  You can ask me how that's going in a couple of weeks!

What practices do you have that remind you to be thankful?

Challenges from Sunday

We had a fun wrap up to our adult classes yesterday, and Pastor Darren left us with a bit of a challenge.  One part of it was to identify how we grow spiritually, and to look at the ways we want to focus on over the summer.  One of the ways it got broken down was in the areas of Loving God, Loving Others, and Serving, which together are our church's theme this year.  We also looked at how the ways we grow spiritually are broken down into experiences, routines and serving.  It provided a good chance to look at these open months ahead of us where a lot of our routines are put on hold, and to think about how we will be purposeful in growing spiritually over the summer.

Then in the service, the challenge that came from Pastor David's sermon as he wrapped up the series in Ecclesiastes was to enjoy the moments of our lives.  I don't find that happiness is always my default emotion; there is frustration, anxiety, anger sometimes, weariness... and the challenge I took out of that was to really face those other emotions when they rise up and do what I can to address the issues behind them and move to a more constant reality of enjoying each moment.  I think that addressing this will be the answer to the first challenge, too, and will be a way to strengthen my spiritual health.

What are you planning this summer to stay spiritually healthy and to grow?
What are the ways you help yourself remember to live in the moment and enjoy life? 

I would love to know your answers to those.

Stories

Stories are important.  We learn from stories.  When I teach, I start each class with a chance to share stories - how we had seen God move, when we understood that he was close or involved in what was going on around us.  I believe stories give us far more than simple entertainment; they bring us hope and the knowledge that beyond a shadow of a doubt, God is bigger than we are and moves in ways that we can't imagine.  Hearing stories gives us a glimpse into that reality and awakens our ability to see him moving.

I heard a story on Friday, and I wanted to share it with you.  Here's Adam's own words:

"I was at a mentorship group/bible study a while ago, and we were closing in prayer, and my request was that I'd get the money in for this missions trip. I'd recently found out that I was $1500 short of what I needed to have already had in. So, we prayed over that and just committed it to God. That Sunday, I was at church, and this friend ended up sitting behind me, and he asked me how my week went and how getting the money in went and what not. I told him that I didn't get paid till the upcoming Tuesday, and then he asked me how much short I'd be after I got paid. I was going to be $600 dollars short of what I needed after I got paid and had tithed and such. He texted me later that afternoon and asked if he could drop by my house because he had something for me.

When he arrived, he handed me an envelope, and he said that all week he'd been praying about it and that God had really put it on his heart to support me going on this trip. And God had kept telling him "$600, $600, $600, give him $600", and he'd been paid $600 cash up front to cover a lease on an apartment that he was leasing out to a couple. He said that when I told him I'd be $600 short of what I needed, it was like God said "I told you so..." and it was just a really reassuring thing in his spirit that he was supposed to bless me with $600 towards my ministry trip. That was really cool, and it has been a huge blessing. :)"

How have you seen God move lately?  Leave a comment with your story.

What are you eating?

At the end of Hebrews 5, the writer talks about milk vs. solid food; milk is the food of infants, the elementary truths of God's Word.  Solid food is for the mature; it is the teaching about righteousness.

How concerned are you with your diet physically? Do you eat your vegetables and take your vitamins, aware of what is needed to be healthy?  What about your spiritual diet?  Do you pay as much attention to what you need daily to stay spiritually healthy and growing?

You eat every day - make one of those meals a trigger to ask yourself what you are feeding on spiritually. 

May you grow strong and healthy and mature in your faith.

Kenyan Speed

I remembered something this week.  Something that's going to help me.

The weather warmed up, and I started wearing sandals again.  I haven't found any sandals that I like in the last few years that have a back-strap, so most of the ones I own now are slip-ons.  They never seem to stay on as well, but wearing them again made me remember being in Kenya.  While I was there, I wore a simple pair of flip-flops that I've had for ages (I bought them for Byron & Lori's wedding, actually) and found that I had no problem keeping them on.  The reason, I figured, was that we walked slower there.  Here, it seems I rush wherever I'm going - I have too much to get done to saunter along; don't want to waste my time.

But I also get headaches because I get tense in my shoulders and neck; I'm too focused on what I need to get done.  My rushing and busy-ness cause me stress and pain.  I need to slow down.  I need to recognize that my life is more important than the items on my to-do list.  They will wait for me.  They will get done.  And they will get done better, even if not sooner, if I am feeling better.  << sigh >>  This shouldn't be a hard lesson to learn, and yet, it's the one I'm facing again this week.  This season.  Patience.  Patience with others and with myself.  My God will be served much better when I slow down.

Every time I slip on my sandals, it will remind me.  Walk slower.  Be patient.

Communications

My official title here at Westhill is Coordinator of Worship Arts and Communications.

The first part of that, "Coordinator of Worship Arts" is to focus on our Sunday mornings.  How can we do things better?  More creatively?  In a way that makes sense to visitors?  From the planning of each hour to the visuals with each series, to the communicating between the different individuals and teams, I see my role as being to help clear the way for our church's message of God's love and truth come through in this 'main event' of our programming.  Which is actually what the communications part is all about, too.  It may help to simplify the job title one of these days to simply "Communications."  This has been a year of understanding what communications is all about, and what that looks like in a church. 

What are we trying to say?  Who are we trying to be?  Sometimes, honestly, finding those answers is as confusing as all the questions that come after: Is our message getting through?  Are there things that we are doing and saying that are confusing the issue?  That are sending a different message than the one we want to be sending?  God is so amazing.  Is that message getting through?  What can we do so people hear that?

This is where I'm at today, 8 months into this role.  It is a whole lot clearer than it was in September, but now I see a whole lot of things I wish I already knew!

I'll leave you today with this post by Kem Meyer, on her Communications Director Job Description.