Blogging on www.thirtythrupoverty.blogspot.com for a while.

A Weaned Child

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me. Psalm 131:2

Not too long ago, I was sitting eating lunch and my two year old daughter came up to me with a big smile. I put her up on my lap and discovered that she was mostly interested in the potato chips that were on my plate. They were Kettle chips so, that's understandable! After I gave her a chip she went about her business...until she finished her chip, at which point she would return to me to ask for another.

This pattern continued for quite some time until I realized something. When my daughter would approach me for another chip, I was more than happy to give her another. At the same time I found myself longing for her to just want to be in my lap, to enjoy her little chip with me ...to be happy to just be with me. Then it hit me, that's exactly what I do with my Dad, with God. I seek Him for advise, direction, provision, vision etc. and as soon as He gives me that "chip" I go about my business until I want another one.

This last weekend I had the privilege of attending a retreat in which the purpose was to tend to the soul, to spend time in our Father's lap, at rest, at peace. During the weekend I experienced spending time in God's presence without needing something from him but simply being with Him in silence. Listening for Him to speak but, just as content if He chose not to.

As I connected with God in this way I realized that if I got everything wrong in my life, always one step behind, wrong choices, poorly timed decisions etc. But, in my relationship/walk with God, I remain steadfast and growing, Then really, I've gotten it ALL right! The reverse is also true. If I was somehow able to get all the decisions right in my life, always making the right moves at the right time but, end up missing God, Taking my "chip" and going about my business...then in the end I've really gotten it all wrong, haven't I?

I'm the kind of person who has trouble focusing on too many things at once. It's nice to know that there's really only One on whom I need to set my focus. His name is Jesus Christ.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." Hebrews 12:2

Alesha - Adoption Slideshow

So after a year I finally put together a slideshow from our adoption of Alesha (May 2010)

The first song is U2's "40". (Can you ever really go wrong with U2?) I chose that song because it communicates not only the long wait to get Alesha (2.5 years) but also the new work that God had done in our lives that gave us the heart for adoption. As we waited for two and a half years, we sang, "How long to sing this song?" Yet at the same time we rejoiced in singing a new song..."He brought me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay...He set my feet upon a rock and made my footsteps firm" God set me free from the bondage of drugs and alcohol, He put a new song in my heart!

I chose Beck's "Broken Drum" because it seems to capture some of the haunting aspects of India that April and I experienced. We're haunted by both the oppressive poverty and injustice we saw when we were there in 2008 and when we picked Alesha up last year. We're also haunted by the sheer beauty of Mother India! Her beauty really is indescribable.

Finally, I chose Cold Play's "The Scientist" because it captures some of the grieving that we went through as a family in those early days with Alesha. Honestly, I would say those early days with her were more about grief than anything else.

I hope you enjoy this video, I pray God speaks to your heart through it. I hope you'll see it for the miracle that it truly is.

Running down from Saddle Mountain

I shot this video with my cell phone camera last month just below the top of Saddle Mountain. The quality is absolutely terrible but it sort of captures some of the intensity of the weather. The sustained winds were about 40+ mph with gusts well over that. Snow sleet was slapping me in the face as I left the summit.

I really can't think of a more intense run that I've done in the 10+ years of my running career! I thought I was just going to encounter a lot of mud, rain and some wind. I wasn't expecting to hit such ferocious weather conditions. I was only wearing a base layer and a cell phone. In reality I was pretty much running for my life! What I mean is that with only a (very wet) base layer in those conditions, the only thing keeping me warm was physical exertion. Had I become immobilized I would have become hypothermic in minutes!

For the record I do NOT recommend anybody run/hike in this manner. It was not wise. It was unnecessarily risky. It was really quite unsafe...At the same time, it was the coolest run I've ever done!!!

There's something about risk that brings life out to the surface. Not sure how to put it into words. It's beyond adrenaline. There's a certain quality of life that can only be obtained when risk is accepted as part of the package.

I think God has been speaking to me about how this run is true in the spiritual realm. Sometimes we just need to get over our phobia of risk and move straight out into the howling, screaming winds of fear to experience life abundantly!

Restoration

Look at the life of Jesus. Notice what he did. When Jesus touched the blind, they could see; all the beauty of the world opened before them. When he touched the deaf, they were able to hear; for the first time in their lives they heard laughter and music and their children's voices. He touched the lame, and they jumped to their feet and began to dance. And he called the dead back to life and gave them to their families.

Do you see? Wherever humanity was broken, Jesus restored it. He is giving us an illustration here, and there, and there again. The coming of the kingdom of God restores the world he made.

John Eldredge - Epic

This fact is simply not okay

Where you live should not decide
Whether you live or whether you die - U2

A Call to Community

This is such a moving piece! I'm moved deeply when I watch this because it speaks to a deep cry within my own heart. This is a poem about people coming together with their brokenness and desperation and choosing to live together in community in order to survive. This is exactly what the church is, isn't it?

The following lines especially stand out to me:

"We're ALL made out of shipwrecks every single board" - If we just acknowledge this it puts us all on equal ground. Of course, this involves taking off our masks and being vulnerable with one another...risk. In some cases this could turn our whole understanding of the gospel upside down or at least the way we live it out. (or not)

"Let's wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief" Lets share LIFE together. Bear one another's burdens as scripture exhorts us to do. Let's choose to navigate this mess together.

"Come on sow us together" - Coming together to make one piece. One body, Unity.

"But we're making it, taped together on borrowed crutches and new starts, we all have the same holes in our hearts" - We're all marred and broken because of sin. There are two kinds of sinners, those who know they're sinners and those who don't. I want to hang out with those who know they're sinners...wasn't that who Jesus usually hung out with? "Borrowed crutches and news starts" - The church like a hospital... Isn't that the beautiful picture Christ painted for us when He said, "It's not the healthy who need a Doctor but, the sick"?

"and my hopes are weapons that I'm still learning how to use right but, they're heavy and I'm awkward...always running out of fight" - This is me, learning how to "maneuver in Faith" Learning how to live life from my heart. Learning how to stay alive to God and others. Learning how to BE who He's called me to be over what He's called me to do. I often run out of fight.

"I am made out of shipwrecks, every twisted beam lost and found like you and me scattered out on the sea so, come on let's wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief..." I, like you and everybody else have been assaulted by life in one way or another. Been broken, found myself alone on the empty sea. Let's come together on this crazy journey! What hope do we have if we don't stick together? Only the vast unforgiving cold sea...

"If we hold on tight we'll hold each other together and not just be some fools rushing to die in our sleep" - We MUST stick together as we move out into mission together, As we extend God's Kingdom, offer a life line to this world we do so in community. God has and will come through.

I pray this piece of art awakens you to the reality we find ourselves in. Do you see it?