It’s a new year. The writer of Ecclesiastes says there is “nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:9). But I found all these new things mentioned in scripture:
Christmas 2013 in Florida had unique blessings. It was different for us this year because we did not have all of our children here with us. Adam and Sarah went to be with her family in Champaign, IL after worship at his church in Dallas. Katie and her fiancee Brian will be here this weekend and we will have a little more Christmas. (Next year, though, I think it will be our turn to have everyone here, including a small addition to the family coming in July.) Continue reading “Christmas 2013 reflections”
“Take it or leave it?”
My brother, sister and I asked our dad that question countless times over the past few days. The time had finally come to move him from the house he's lived in for 48 years – and the community he's lived in his whole life – to my brother's home. The two-story house with full basement and quarter-acre yard finally became too much for him to take care of alone at age 89.
We started planning moving day earlier in the year, realizing that “maybe next year” had finally become “definitely this year.” We wrote it on his calendar, making the event real, bad started planning. Some days he as all for it. Others, he was not going.
We didn't have to sell the house right away. All we had to do was pack, clean and winterized it for now. Knowing that the house would still be there, along with anything we didn't bring along, turned out to be a comfort. One step at a time.
Now, what do we bring? Just enough furniture, pictures and belongings to make his new rooms look and feel like home. Going through the house we asked, “Take it or leave it?” Not too complicated (in order of importance): recliner, picture of mom, TV, desk, bed, dresser, cedar chest, clothes and personal items. When we set it up in his new room, it looked pretty nice. Joanna, the youngest of the grandchildren, made a sign for his suite on that side of the house: “Grandpa Sweet.” (I told her that if grandpa was having a bad day, he could flip it over to say, “Grandpa Sour.” She didn't appreciate my humor.)
With all of us there, I think dad handled it well. Beautiful fall weather and colors, not too much traffic, and a glass of wine waiting for him when we arrived made it a very nice transitional day. It's a comfort to know that he's in good company with good care.
My Bible read through brought me to First Chronicles this morning. You need to check it out. It's like reading an Old Testament phone book. Name after name after name, a carefully recorded list of tribes, families and descendants. It was like sitting down to read the church directory. So my devotional time in God's Word this morning, “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” was an OT Who's Who. I am thankful this is not the text for the sermon this week. Although, it would be entertaining to listen to the lay reader tackle this passage!
On the other hand, sometimes I pull out an old church directory and look through it, remembering people and families from the past. Or I'll come across a box of old pictures and relive some events from the past. Perhaps these chapters from Chronicles were how they used to do this, before photos and social media timelines.
This is also the time of year I look back and see which saints we'll remember next Sunday, as we observe All Saints and remember the faithful who have gone on to glory ahead of us. Everyone on my list this year was close — Veta, Lillian, Stew and Ron. Each one is a reminder of the difference we can make just by being good and faithful servants.
As my wife prepares to lead another mercy medical team to Kenya in November, recent events have given us cause to reflect on the risks involved with her return to that country. Since her first trip there in July, a very carefully planned terrorist attack on the West Gate shopping mall in Nairobi has created concerns about her returning to that country. More than a few family members and friends have discouraged her from going. The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod leadership is in a wait and see mode until later in October. Our missionary friends on the ground in Kenya are safe, cautious and encouraging so far. And her husband? Well, here's why I am encouraging her to go as planned.
First, staying home is not necessarily a safer option. With recent shootings at the Washington Navy Yard and Newtown, CT and the bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, there have been more problems at home than abroad. Those headlines don't include the narrow misses, planned attacks that were averted by authorities. Those dangers are an ever-present reality in our world, in both cities and rural towns.
Second, travel security will be on higher alert now than before. You will see it everywhere in Nairobi. Plus, once you fly in, you will only be there for a short time before you head out to a rural village in the west. Missionaries and church leaders are already planning for your safety.
Third, Jesus told us not to be afraid of “those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell” (Matthew 10:28). If you feel called by God to do this kind of work, his commission must carry the most weight in any decision to go or not.
The real danger? It doesn't come from a flesh and blood enemy. We're in a spiritual battle, and if the enemy can convince us to stay home rather than go to the ends of the earth, then we lose, and so do so many others who desperately need some good news — the good news — that the church brings into the world.
And, if it's your time, wouldn't you rather go out making a difference instead of just sitting around the house watching reruns? Maybe you call that foolish. Maybe you call it faith. But while some might be afraid of dying, maybe we need to more afraid of never really living.
I am up to the book of Judges in my current “read through the Bible.” The first judge mentioned is Othniel. That name resonated with me since there was a student in the first grade class I volunteer for named Othniel. I’ve never met a real life Othniel before. I thought that was pretty cool.
in any event, “The Lord raised up a deliverer for the Israelites, Othniel, Kenaz’s son, Caleb’s younger brother, who rescued them. The Lord ’s spirit was in Othniel, and he led Israel. When he marched out for war, the Lord handed over Aram’s King Cushan-rishathaim. Othniel overpowered Cushan-rishathaim”(Judges 3:9, 10 CEB).
It only took one. It only took one Spirit-led person to rescue God’s people from their enemies. It only took one faithful leader to turn the tide. It only took one to make the difference.
Perhaps when I am feeling like Elijah, having a pity party, feeling like I am the only one who really cares, I need to be reminded what a difference one can make. It only took one perfect life and one sacrifice on the cross save many. It only takes one faithful person, led by God’s Spirit, to bring a message. It only takes one to influence so many others.
It’s conflicting. I don’t to be the only one, yet at the same time, I sometimes pray that I will be the one.
As I was walking through WalMart the other day, I realized that this is the first August in a long, long time when I wouldn't be getting ready for the first day of school. The store was busy with parents and children buying school supplies, but I strolled right through the crowds. I didn't have to buy any notebooks, pens and markers this year. My youngest just graduated from high school.
On the one hand, it's nice to be out of that stage of life. We had a great experience in the public schools here in our community. But the goal is graduation and the next step is college. In the past, we usually straddled both worlds with our three children, spread out through high school, college and graduate schools. Now we have just one beginning her college studies.
I know that it will be an adjustment. With children in school, you had an automatic link to the community. I forged great relationships with my children's friends and parents, teachers and administrators, counselors and coaches, directors and volunteers. I saw them at meetings, games, rehearsals, concerts, banquets and fund-raisers. I can no longer take those relationships for granted. I will have to be more deliberate in staying connected with the community.
When I had children in school, it was hard to understand why more of the community wasn't really interested in the schools. Now I do. Now the temptation is to think, “That's someone else's problem.” That's not true, of course, but it's very easy to start down that path.
So now I thinking about how to establish new connections. I can still volunteer, I can still attend events, and I still have a relationship with the youth and children in the congregation. I am looking forward to being a part of back-to-school in a different way.
Today's visit took me to a care facility I haven't been to before, to visit with an old friend and long time member of our church. Over the past year or so, Alzheimer's disease has gradually taken away much of his ability to communicate. But up until a few weeks ago, he was still coming to worship on Sundays and a men's bible class on Thursday mornings.
How quickly things changed. He recognized me, but just for a moment. He really wasn't able to understand when I attempted to give him communion. As we prayed, he squeezed my hand a few times, but didn't join in with the Lord's Prayer. Not only was he confined to a locked wing of the facility, but he was also trapped in a condition where he just couldn't express himself.
As we sat and visited, other residents of that wing wandered over, stood there and watched. When I said, “Hello,” they smiled and said, “Hello” in response, but all with blank stares. I felt like I had traveled to a different world, one where time and space didn't exist. Each day is pretty much the same here.
The caregivers here are amazing. Their patience and compassion is extraordinary. What a blessing they are to each of the residents!
As I drove home, two things kept running through my mind. First, even when your mind doesn't work the way it used to, there must still be a faith connection with God. After all, nothing can separate us from His love. So visits and prayers and the Word are still profoundly important in situations like this.
Second, I hope that a pastor will come visit me if and when I'm in a situation like that. Up until now, I've done just about all the visiting. But one day, I'll be the one who will be visited. Every time I head out to go and see someone, I try to make it the kind of visit I hope to get one day.
I’ve been home from our trip to Africa for four days. Time to reflect on the twelve days I spent in Kenya.
One of the first things that impressed me about Kenya was how similar it was to Haiti. From the way buildings were constructed to swarms of motorcycles giving people rides to makeshift roadside stands selling anything you can imagine, I often had to remind myself I wasn’t in the Caribbean, but on a different continent. One of our friends in leadership told me that Haiti is much more African than most Caribbean nations. I still don’t know why that is.
I was surprised at how much of the English language we encountered in print. While the majority of the people and worked among spoke a dialect of Swahili, the newspapers, advertisements and signs were just about all in English. While sitting at lunch in one of the school classrooms where we were working, I peeked inside one of the teacher’s lesson plan books, and found a physics test — in English.
Every inch of available soil was used to grow food in the Kisii region. Corn, carrots, kale, avocados and bananas grew in between the small plots of ground where the cows and goats grazed. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables was available in every market we passed. Away from Nairobi, it was definitely an agricultural society.
Everything we had to eat was prepared fresh. This city boy was surprised to hear the sound of chickens coming from the kitchen. I was also surprised one day when our van suddenly pulled to the side of the road and one of our interpreters jumped off to purchase a live chicken, which was then tied up and put in a box on top of the van. We may have had chicken at every meal, but it was always fresh.
We had ugali at every meal, too. A thick, corn meal dough substance was carved into thick slices and added to our bowls each noon and evening meal. Late in the week, I discovered that our hosts actually used it as scoop to eat the rest of their food.
At our first meeting with our missionary hosts, we received a little cross-cultural training, which turned out to be very useful. In the rural areas of Kenya, male-female couples never held hands in public. However, two men would, a sign of close friendship. I soon found myself walking hand-in-hand with many men, from the bishop to the elders of the church, a very new and different custom for me.
Western influence was very evident, even in some very traditional settings. Cell phones were ubiquitous. Traditional Maasai villagers wore some very nice American sandals. American dollars were as readily accepted as Kenyan shillings. And everyone had an email address to share with me.
I am very thankful for the insights of Rev. Shauen Trump, who directs LCMS work in Kenya and Tanzania. He told our team that even if all we did was show up, we would have made a tremendous impact on the church and people there. Know that we would spend our time and money to come all that way to be with them made them feel significant, loved, and a part of a Christian church that really does stretch to the ends of the earth. As it happens, we were also able to bring some medical care, the gospel and prayer with us, too.
Of course, it made an impact on me and our team as well. We traveled all that way and found a joyful, vibrant and faithful worshiping partner church, who welcomed us, loved us and reminded us that relationships are often more important that schedules and tasks. Definitely a blessing.
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Waite for it... 