Settling in - Part 1

We've been in our new house for three weeks now. It's mostly unpacked. We are at the dreaded 90% point where the house is set up and very livable. There are even a few pics on the wall. But, here and there, in the corner or behind the couch, lie the ever present yet to be unpacked box, waiting for us to decide if the stuff in it is a keeper, and then whether we will actually use it or just store it for another millenium. My office is even worse. After three weeks, I am 30% set up at best. I'm embarrassed for people to come in. I usually meet them at the door and say, "Let's meet in the conference room. I'm not quite unpacked yet."

I have intentionally neglected the office because there are some other matters that I feel need the bulk of my energy and focus right now. Putting books on a shelf and organizing a desk aren't necessarily mission critical activities. But the clutter is getting to me. It's like the steady beat of the Tell Tale Heart, reminding me of my sinful act of neglect. I find it hard to focus appropriately on those activities which ARE mission critical.

Our faith journeys are filled with times of moving. Sometimes they actually involve a physical move, but it is usually a time of change, marked by important decisions. Depending upon the uncertainty of the future or amount of personal change involved, these decisions can often necessitate a lot of follow up decisions or actions to take.

I can think of many times where moves such as this came in my faith journey and I very quickly got to the 90% mark. The last 10% was not as fun and took longer to accomplish, but I did it. I can also testify to times where 30% would be guessing high. And unfortunately, I never got beyond that point. You might even characterize some of those times as moments where I began "repacking" boxes and moving backwards.

In all parts of our life, we have to decide what is important. What are the mission critical elements that merit our time and energy? Our faith journeys are no different. The trick is deciding what those elements are. What things are going to get us closer to our goal, perhaps even further away from where we were? Once we do, we can get to 90% very quickly. Making moves are sometimes hard, but with effort we can get settled in pretty easily.

Incidentally, I tell everyone who asks about our move that this has been by far the easiest move we have ever made. And that includes at least two moves that were simply across town. You wanna know the secret behind why this one has been so easy? It's something you've read before on this blog. We didn't do it alone. We had so many supportive friends, new and old, who helped make it happen. Getting to 90% is a lot easier once you identify the crucial elements AND you get the help of people around you. Just a thought.

Chase the June Bugs

Last week we processed a batch of mixed emotions. My wife's grandfather passed away. He was a retired pastor and a wonderful man. We were obviously grieving at our loss, but we were peaceful at the same time. His suffering was over. And we know that he has reached the end of his faith journey. All the aunts and uncles were with him the moment he somehow found the energy to raise his arms above his head in an act of adoration, breathe three more breaths, and die. At that moment, when his body breathed its last breath, his soul left the fleshly body and arrived at the finish line that he had been racing toward most of his life. Honestly, despite the grief, it's hard not to celebrate at times, knowing the joy that GrandDad now experiences.

On Friday, as we stood in front of the church waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, I watched my youngest son play in the grass. He was chasing june bugs. He did not have a care in the world. He knew the situation and circumstances around him, but it did not stop him from enjoying life. I watched and grew envious of him. How come I seem to be unable to stop and chase june bugs?

I have a tag line that goes out on the bottom of most of my emails. I even had it engraved on my iPod. It says "Give Hope, Love Life, Praise God". I do really well at #1 and #3. My job makes that really easy. But the loving life, at least enjoying it, seems to be a constant struggle. Saturday, I beat myself up for not being able to do so more easily. Less than 24 hours after watching my son chase june bugs, I was ranting and raving, impatiently hurrying the boys to eat something so we could get out the door and not be even more late for an engagement. The whole time I'm doing so, I telling myself, "chase the june bugs". But I couldn't. At least I didn't.

Back in December when I came up with that tag line, I wanted something that communicated my perspective on life. Again, giving hope and praising God were easy. But I also needed to include a growing edge, a point of accountability, something others who know me well could look at and say, "Lighten up" when I need to. It's also a constant reminder to me that I need to work on it. In the middle of giving everyone else hope and enjoying the presence of God while on my faith journey, I need to enjoy life.

A faith journey isn't only about the end. The journey itself is supposed to be fun too. So before I join GrandDad and a lot of family and friends, I need to chase a lot more june bugs. Just a thought.

Unknown Connections

I don't if this is exactly true, but I heard someone say that you can in a crowd ANYWHERE and not be more than 10 people away from a connection to ANY person there. To further explain, I randomly pick a person from a crowd. We begin to talk and share about people we know or are related to. Soon we discover that we have mutual friends/relatives/acquaintances and if we trace the connections between the two of us, there won't be more than 10 people between us. It's an interesting theory to test out if you have the time and patience. I saw it demonstrated once at the conference where I heard it. If I remember correctly, there were 6 connections between the speaker and the randomly chosen contestant.

Last I went to our annual denominational conference for our district of churches. It's filled with the usual boring business and sometimes seemingly purposeless rants. But it can also be an enjoyable to time reconnect with old friends and colleagues you don't get to see on a regular basis. It was at this year's conference that I became acutely aware of the value unknown connections hold for our faith journeys.

Several years ago my family moved to the 'hood to begin an inner city ministry. During our five years there we spent a considerable amount of time networking in the city and throughout our district churches. The basic scenario for our district churches is that we would be invited to come to a church and share about the work we were doing. I never counted heads, but two years after leaving that place of ministry, I am confident there were several hundred people who were regularly praying for us.

There was particular church that I will always remember. It was a small rural church, more than 2 hours drive away. I was invited to come one Sunday night. During that time I shared about our desire to take as many of our neighborhood kids to camp that summer. Most of those kids would not have the basic toiletry items necessary to take for a week. Immediately, a group of women from this church rallied and put together kits for at least twenty kids. These included hand sewn carrying bags, as well as towels and washcloths. To top it off, one of them personally drove these to my home, two hours away.

This church did not stop with a one time material donation. They stayed connected. They sent encouraging emails. They always asked how the people in our neighborhood were doing. And they were crushed two years ago to hear we had a reached a decision to close down our organization.

Last week at our annual conference, I ran into a group of women from that church. I was amazed they were still so interested in that ministry. They really wanted a detailed explanation as to what happened. So, I sat down and shared all the details that went into that difficult decision - the struggles, the hardships, etc. As I shared, I saw my own pain echoed back on their faces.

When I stood to walk away at end of our conversation, I had an "a-ha" moment. A little voice spoke to me and said, "Can you imagine how hard it would have been if those women and many others like them had not been praying for you because I connected them to you?" I began to realize that all of us have people who are part of our faith journeys and we don't realize it. You never really journey alone.

As you reflect on your own journey, no matter where you are on that journey, remember you have unseen guides helping you along. Keep your eyes open because you just might see one.

Making a return on your investments

I just finished up two weeks of camp with first through sixth graders. During week 2, I had a thought about the whole process of camp and everything that happens there. For the four or five of you who read this blog regularly, you know my big issue of the moment is never take a faith journey alone. I usually talk about it from the perspective of what we receive from other people on our journeys. Over a bowl of ice cream with some teens serving as junior counselors, I began to look at the group journey a little differently.

Every year we have adult volunteers who use their vacation time to come and assist a group of children in their faith journeys. Each morning and each evening I get to hear stories of how they have helped a child or a group of children further their relationship with God. These adults are here because they want to invest in the spiritual lives of these children.

My wife and I have been fortunate here lately to hear how we have influenced people. We are preparing for a move to another church. Now that we are leaving, those whom we have influenced are kind enough to let us know how. Last week we had the privilege of expanding our influence. It was not in these exact words, but the basic message given to us by one individual was that we were the role models she hoped she and her future, yet still unknown, husband to be like one day. I cherish each moment like that. It's one of the reasons I exist. Because of my role as camp director, I was given even more opportunities to shape young leaders in training as I attempted to help them realize how God had created them and how they could in turn use their own influence in a postive way.

We all have a different sphere of influence. The people that my wife and I have influenced are different than the people another person might influence. I could never influence the people that the guy down the street can. And we each have a different way of positively impacting people. The important thing is that we wield that influence.

People with money say that in order to make money, you have to spend money. The same can be said for our faith journeys. In order to move along or grow, we must help others move along or grow. Journeying together means helping others, not just getting helped. Just a thought.