Family Experiment

Relations in our family have been a little stressed this summer. there are a variety of reasons but I think is comes down to two things. We have lost our focus on God and/or each other. It's not like we all sit in different parts of the house and not talk to each other. No the stress shows up in those times when you would expect conflict in a house with a couple of teenagers and parents. Our life is no different than that of a lot of other families but as a family of Christ-followers we have the right foundation to allow us to restore our relationships both vertically wiht God and horizontally with other family members. I guess you could say that we are putting to practice what I was preaching about in early Aug, with me taking on he role of Haggai (see this blog posting).

This experiment will last about 30 days so that we can begin to develop the habits of listening to God, thinking about the other in our family, and taking the focus off ourselves. This isn't about gaining more head knowledge because we all know what we should do. The goal is to move our head knowledge to heart knowledge and then put it into practice.

Don't know how it will work but so far (ok we have only been at it a day) so good. Yesterday the task was simple. All we did was send two text to the others in the family to encourage them or complement them on something they do well. The texts had to be at least 2 hours apart so you actually had to think about the task twice. The Proverb we reflected on was:

Start with God-the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning. (Proverbs 1:7 MSG)

You see in this process we need to make sure our relastionship with God is strong so we can then use that to strengthen our relationship with others.

Today the task is to do the encouragement text again plus with $3.73 create something that the whole family can enjoy. We'll see what happens.

Trust In The Lord

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Proverbs 3:5-6 The Message

As I listen to the news, experience our own families problems, as I reflect on my own personal journey the above verses gives me great comfort. With this idea of trusting God as a key component in my world view, I find myself shaking my head sometime (a lot of the time) with the antics of our political system. Political parties try and convince us that they have the correct answer to our nations, states or local problems. They are convinced that they are right. And if numbers hold true, at least on the national level half the people would agree with them and half would not.

Politicians claim they have a mandate to make a change in government even when they have been elected my less than 50% of the vote. Politicians and political parties look at the facts surrounding a particular issue, draw up their battle plans based on their particular ideology, wet their finger and get a read on with direction that the political winds are blowing and propose a solution, dig in their heals, accuse the other party or oppenent(s) of being wrong and hold the government system they represent hostage. They all seem to saying the same thing - trust me or trust our party, we have the solution, we have the answers.

Don't get me wrong we have a great democracy and every couple of years I participate in the election of candidates, I have a basic understanding of the issues and where various candidates line up. For me it is the idea that we are to trust them - no I would rather put my trust in God. Do I live in a Christian nation? To be honest, I don't even know what that means - whose definition of "Christian" are you using?

You see its not about trusting poliitians or governments to do the work God has called us to do as Christ-followers - love God, love our neighbors and make disciples - come along side others invite them into a relationship with God and then help them grow in that relationship. Take on the challenge of the unwed mother who is consider an abortion, walk along side her so she sees she has an alternative, don't condemn but comfort. What could you or your church do for the neighbor how is struggling to put food on the table everyday? Are there some odd jobs around that you could offer the neighbor who hasn't seen a paycheck in a while? I don't know what a Christian nation is, but I do know what a nation full of Chrst-followers would look like when they are allowing God to direct their hands and feet to minister to those around them. We don't need to solve all the worlds woes, just those around the block and around the church. Let politians do what politicians do, but we should go and do what Christ-follows should do.

With A Little Help From My Friends

The Beatles sang about "getting by with a little help from my friends." I don't think they were that far off in this idea. Over the past couple of years I have come to appreciate the role that community plays in helping us through those tough times.

My default response to tough times has alway been to withdraw into my own little world, put up walls and work things out on my own. To be honest, in the long run that hasn't worked out very well for me. I always thought that I was simply wired that way and I didn't need anyones help. I don't know if it was arrogance, pride, embarrassment or some other reason I didn't want to seek the wisdom of others. There were times when I wouldn't even seek the wisdom of God. It was the attitude that I can do this on my own. I think that Satan was dancing with delight as I would withdraw from the world because this would cause me to cut myself off from others and from God.

From my studies and from pratical application I have come to see that we are in fact wired not to be alone but to be in community. We each bring into our own communities different gifts, talents, experiences and view points that can help the rest make better sense of life and the things that life throws our way.

The early church is a great example of this. In Acts we see the people coming together sharing wath they have for the good of the community. I the time I spend in jail with a group of men we help each other shape our lives and our life stories. My spiritual director has help me by asking questions that help me thing or rethink about thinks going on in my life - to bring clarity and understanding. My councilor has helped me to work through some of my stumbling blocks. I have a friend who asks me the tough questions about what is going on in my life. I have a small group with whom I can share prayer requests. Finally, I have a wife who comes along side my on the eclectic journey I call life. I also know that God is apart of this whole process for it is His still small voice I listen for, it is the Holy Spirit who helps me as I reflect on where God has been at work in the past and is helping me connect the dots.

Doing life really is about community - about "getting by with a little help from my friends." How healthy is your soul care community? How healthy is your relationship with God?

A Granddaughter's Blessing

On Saturday Aug 6 2011, my granddaughter will be dedicated. Below is the blessing my wife and I have written to celebrate the occasion.

Topanga Noel
Joy |  Transition | Unique

Three words that describe the blessings that you have brought to us and that we in turn can give back to you.

Joy - God has gifted you with the ability to wash away the harshness of the day with a simple smile or smirk from your beautiful face. You are so joyful in turn you  bring joy to those around you. May God continue to use you to brighten the hearts of those who come across your path. May you continue to find joy in your life as you grow and become the person God has created you to be, with the giftedness of an encourager and the joyfulness of a joy giver.

Transition - God is using you to shape and transform a lot of people. You mom and dad have been transformed into caring, loving parents doing the best they can with this wonderful gift they have been given. You have transformed your grandma and grandpa into a new role in life, watching their daughter grow into a wonderful mom and taking on the responsibility of proud grand parenting. We in turn will walk along side you as you are transformed into a child of God.

Unique - Though you do not know it yet, God has created you to do things that you may not believe you can do. Things that on your own you can't, but by leaning on God you can. As you grow we pray that God will open your eyes to the things you see around you, your heart to His gentle nudging and your ears to His still small voice so that you may know the unique role you might play in being His hands and His feet as you sojourn through life.