Preparing For Ghana Round 2

I'm writing from Denver at a conference for Cru summer project Directors across the country. Full-time staff, interns, and even students are gathered to learn how to prepare for the various journeys we will have this upcoming summer.  With so much going on in our daily lives and ministry, it has been a sweet time to focus on this unique short-term opportunity, and gain a vision for our time overseas.  Two summers ago Ben and I led a team of 35 students to the city of Accra in Ghana, Africa.  This summer, we will be in a new city; Kumasi.  This is where last year's team went, so it's not uncharted territory-but it's new to us.  

The task ahead is huge.  We are taking students out of their comfort zone to learn a new culture and people, and boldly share with them the gospel truth that has become white noise in so many of their daily lives.   There will be opposition. People will get sick (though hopefully not seriously). There will be conflict.  Drivers will be late.  We will get tired of sharing our faith.  We will sweat and smell and lower our standards of living.  And it will be good-because in the midst of it all, God is in control. 

In many ways this year has been a time of preparation for me/us as we get ready to go.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 has been a steady reminder of gospel grace in 2012.  When the apostle Paul, a fruitful minister of the gospel, asked for God to remove a thorn in his flesh, The Lord replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  So Paul says, "Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  I can't say that I boast in my weaknesses.  That just wouldn't be true.  But I do thank God for them by faith, because as this particular season of life has caused me to feel very weak, broken, and helpless-I have experienced God's presence like never before.  It is a beautiful expression of God's grace in my life-that these trials he is walking me through don't define me or have the power to ruin me.  Instead, God's power is made known because only he has the capacity to carry me through, and give the peace, hope, and trust I need but cannot produce myself.

As I think about going to Ghana and bringing the gospel message to people who live quite differently from me, I consider how many of them will have their own type of weakness or hardship in life.  As Ben and I lead a team of excited and nervous college students into an adventure that will test their limits and change their lives forever, I know there will be times where I will feel inadequate.  And these are the times I hope to allow God's power to be evident, rather than complaining or bemoaning my circumstances.  On the other hand-there will be moments where I will rely on my strengths to carry me through.  (If I give good direction and everyone feels secure knowing the schedule, that will be good.)  Whether I feel weak or strong, I want God's glory to be obvious to those I interact with.  So I pray that in times of strength and confidence, I give him thanks.  Because this, I have been so clearly reminded of these days, is just life.  Things don't go as planned all the time, and I am not in full control. And this is a good reality, because the God of the universe is so much wiser and a much better planner than I am!

My Husband's Good Fortune

The day the Packers play the Vikings, Ben is at Soldier Field, meeting the Seahawks coach Pete Correll.  What? Only Ben, via Bud of course.  (While this was going down, I was watching The Cosby Show and eating tacos, for the record. No idea who even won the Packer game)

Less Is More

Last week I was convinced Ben and I needed to buy a house as soon as possible because the hall closet was a bit too overstuffed.  It wasn't until later that I admitted a bigger house would simply hold more things. Not really solving the problem.   Especially because I love things. I like to shop, and I am easily bored-with styles, items, routines. I know the material will burn away, and many of the pretty things I own have already cracked or broken, and lost their allure.  Just this morning while Ben was making pancakes the salt shaker was knocked down from the top of the stove and landed on the ceramic spoon rest on the stove top.  It cracked into smithereens. 

This motto of "less is more" has been floating through my head for several months, and it causes me to think about living a bit more simply.  I'm not very good at this. Ok-I'm horrible at it.  My friend Lisa is the opposite of me.  She is always giving things away and living very presently-talking about what God is doing right now [as opposed to what He might do next week, next year, or dwelling on what He didn't do in the past].  Her cupboards appear to be half empty and you can always see everything that is in the refrigerator.  She's not the sort of person to be accused of having a cluttered home. Since we live in the same town and I see her at least once a week, I get to glean a little inspiration from her in this area, as well as benefit from receiving the clothes purged from  her closet. 

Believing that "less is more" reminds me to show myself grace when I don't feel like I measure up-mostly to my own standards.  This is something else I am no good at.  I spend a lot of time doing things, checking big and little tasks off my proverbial list, because it makes me feel accomplished and productive. But the problem is-the list keeps growing. Just when I feel a sense of relief, another pile of mail enters through the door, waiting to be opened.  Or I remember that it's been a week since I talked to my mom, and I don't have the energy to pick up the phone.  Fail. Do my friends know I still care about them even though I haven't checked in? We should schedule something.  And I am tired.  The list could go on...but not without wiping out my enthusiasm for life and remaining grounded to who I am and what I'm here for. 

Jesus told the crowds that followed him, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

Less is more.  

Jesus didn't delight in a packed schedule or a home filled with a variety of material things.  He didn't command people to follow him by force or lord his authority over others.  He knew the true way to have abundant life-connected to the Father, and living by His will, and he invites us to live like him.

The apostle Paul boasted in his weaknesses because then God's power would be seen, instead of Paul's confidence or abilities.  This is a good thing, and reminds me that less of me and more of God is actually how I want my life to be lived. 

I hope to continue giving thanks to God for the daily reminders that call me to rest in his love and power, and not buy the lie that I should be something more than I am.

Sentimental Road Trip

I headed to Iowa for a not-so-pleasant reason this weekend: a funeral.  But along the way, I enjoyed some simple pleasures that I have missed since moving away.

 

An endless sea of cornfields (and other fields unrecognizable to me)

 

And of course:  Pancheros! My traveling companions and I may have stopped there twice on our 17 hour journey.

Photo Book

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Under Construction

Currently, our street is under massive construction.  We have been navigating "Road Closed" signs and cranes at any given hour of the day.  This week, our alley was completely blocked off, and a path was made through the Alterra coffee shop down the street.  We are flexing with each new development. I just feel bad for the home owners whose homes face the worst of it all!

View to the left from our alley:

                                     

And to the right.  It is actually drive-able today!

                                    
                                     

We have had to alter our jogging route on the parkway as well.

New view for the neighbors

                                      

 We enjoyed playing in some of the equipment.

So many big round things!

A new scenic overlook.



 All of the work will allow the new sewers to drain into the river and keep us free of flooding. Even better, we get a pedestrian-controlled stop light on our corner, which means we won't have to wait so long for North Ave. traffic when crossing!

Sabbath Rest

I have realized something about myself over the past few years that I am finally taking time to reflect on.  It's something that needs to change, and it's not a change that will come easy.  I anticipate figuring this out for the rest of my life.  The truth is:  I have a really hard time resting.  On Sunday a friend of mine asked why I don't like taking naps, and my response was, "I feel like I'm wasting time."  

Do I think the world can't go on without me? Am I really that important and productive that if I stopped to rest every now and then, everything I've been working toward will become mass chaos? Of course not.  But then why do I live that way?  In Peter Scazzero's book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, which I am reading at the moment, he dedicates two chapters to the importance of the sabbath.  The fourth commandment God gave to His people, in summary, is, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy."  This is one of God's commands-and I have been breaking it my whole life! (Thank you, God, for your lavish grace that allows me to know you still). 

The Sabbath is a time to rest and delight in God.  It puts God at the center and focus of my week, as I stop work and trust Him to take care of the things I have left undone for the time being.   God did it after creating the world in six days, and He invites us into this rest, because He knows we need it.  Scazzero calls it "stopping to breath the air of eternity".  Even in my free time I am often checking things off of my ongoing list, which doesn't really allow myself to rest in the way I am meant to.  A Sabbath can be taken any day of the week for 24 hours, and for those working in full-time ministry it thought wise to take a several month long Sabbatical every eight years or so. 

Sometimes I forget that I have limits, and I try to replace God by acting as if I know what is best, and  I have all the energy in the world to do it.  For my mind to make the shift from "doing" to "being,"

it will take a radical transformation and undoing of habits I have built up for years-but I am ready.  I'm ready for the refreshment and rest that God invites me into, so that I can best reflect and glorify Him with the limited time He has given to me.

  

(Photo taken on our honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica. It is a perfect depiction of rest for a beach lover like myself!)