These past few weeks have had an abundance of rain to share with us and frankly, I’m tired of the gray! In south Florida there is a term for all this rain, it’s called “liquid sunshine”. But here in north Georgia, the sun is not sunshiny during the rain. It’s making me tired of the gray.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for the rain. I am even grateful for the clouds and the cool temperatures. I’m just tired of all of the gray. Do you know what I mean? Have you ever felt the same way?
I have found that in life it is so much simpler when things are black or white, right or wrong, up or down … you get the idea. But when things start to blur, it is harder to make choices. Like when it rains. Do I really need to go out or can it wait until tomorrow? On one hand we need to balance the perceived need and on the other, our own wants. Sometimes it is easier than at other times.
While raising my young children if we ran out of milk or bread or diapers, that was an absolute need that far outweighed my wanting to stay at home where it was warm and dry. Now that I am older and my children do not live at home I can look in the fridge and think to myself, “Tomorrow is soon enough to pick up some milk.” My desire to stay warm and dry has won out against the need for milk. I’ll just change the menu for tonight.
Yet now I find that the choices aren’t as easy as they once were. Now I do not have the external guides that I once had and the choices, the decisions I must make are often more difficult. Now the choices and the issues I wrestle with are often blurred into matters that have the nuances of others lives besides my own. Now, I make decisions and choices on matters that have far-reaching implications. When I go out to the grocery store for my milk or bread I can not help but think – where did the food came from? who produced it? is the packaging recyclable? what of the child who is hungry tonight?
And it is still raining. But I see a touch of sun shining through!
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13: 11-12
“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” –Jessica – age 8
These past few weeks have been bumpy for me. I have had some uncluttering to do in my head and as I’ve worked to clear my mind I’ve had to step away from blogging. Pardon the absence. And, I’m glad to be back!
I found the above quote as I looked for something to describe the way God loves us and how we can show that same love to others. There were loads of romanticized quotes on love; cynical quotes on love; judgmental & opinionated quotes & silly quotes on love. But, from the thoughts of a child I saw a purity on the thought of what love truly is.
It seems to me that love is about relationship. Sometimes it is a family relationship, the love between a parent and child – regardless of either ones age. Sometimes we see love in the acts of sacrifice by soldiers and their families – a patriotic love, a love of their country and way of life. Sometimes we see love grown out of a common bond between people who have a shared tragedy in their lives – the death of a child or the devastation of a hurricane. But it seems to me, love is about a relationship that is built between people.
That is why I like what Jessica said about love. Relationships are fragile and easy to hurt, harm or break. So we shouldn’t say “I love you” unless we mean it from somewhere in our common bond of life. And if we mean it, we really should say it often so we can strengthen those bonds and build each other up and enrich our relationships.
May you know love …
On March 28-31, 2010, Prison Fellowship will host the Georgia Out4Life
Prisoner Reentry Conference at the Embassy Suites Atlanta Airport
Hotel. The conference will be conducted in partnership with the
Georgia Department of Corrections and the State Board of Pardons and
Parole. Leaders and volunteers will convene to address practical
barriers to reintegration, cultivate collaborative relationships, and
begin to develop fitting strategies to reduce recidivism and restore
prisoners to their families and communities.
A combination of plenary talks and concentrated workshops will delve
into such topics as employment for ex-offenders, addiction and
recovery, public safety, family issues, special needs of women
prisoners, and the importance of establishing networks to meet these
and many other needs. Your participation is highly valued.
Some of the featured speakers include Mark Earley (Prison Fellowship
President), Brian Owens (Commissioner, DOC), Garland Hunt (Parole
Board Member), Jay Cory (Atlanta Union Mission), Chaplain Susan Bishop
(Metro State Prison), and Vicki Lopez Lukis (Co-Chair, Florida
Secretary of DOC Reentry Advisory Council).
The Out4Life Conference is for pastors, volunteers, community leaders,
government officials, ministry organizations, employers and anyone
interested in helping inmates successfully transition into our
communities. Participants will be encouraged to extend services to
offenders and help build community reentry coalitions across the
state.
For more information, please visit the website at www.out4life.com,
Men Stopping Violence
Men Stopping Violence is seeking faith based institutions that would like to participate in the Because We Have Daughters (BWHD) program. This fun and educational program will be conducted in partnership with researchers from GSU to study the effectiveness of BWHD as a violence prevention program promoting safety for girls and women. If funded, small stipends will be available for the site, as well as to participants. If interested, please contact http://www.menstoppingviolence.org/index.php
A proposal being submitted requires letters of interest no later than January 19, 2010
Atlanta Fulton Family Connection Child Abuse and Neglect Council
Atlanta Fulton Family Connection Child Abuse and Neglect Council invites all who work with these issues in nonprofits, ministries, or agencies and other concerned citizens to the January meeting. 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010; Fulton County Juvenile Court; 395 Pryor Street Room 1132; Atlanta, GA 30312. Please R.s.v.p. by sending me a comment so I can forward your information.
Informational Gathering on Child Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking
January 21 | Avondale Patillo UMC, Decatur
North Georgia Conference
Advocacy Team is hosting a time of discussion, discernment and
decisions for action with metro-area United Methodist churches,
conference leaders, other interested persons and the Interfaith
Children’s Movement. Please join us on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at
10:00 a.m. at Avondale-Pattillo UMC, 3260 Covington Highway, Decatur,
30032. If you plan to attend please R.S.V.P. to Pam Higgins in the
Connectional Ministries office at phigg…@ngumc.org.
For more information about ICM check out their website at
www.interfaithchildrenmovement.org
I am unabashedly borrowing this from an unknown author. If you know who wrote it, please share the name so I can give credit where it is due. If not, just enjoy and read it for the simple value it has for each of us.
Twenty Truths to Remember:
1. Faith is the ability to not panic.
2. If you worry, you didn’t pray. If you pray, don’t worry.
3. As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home every day.
4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
5. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.
6. Do the math. Count your blessings.
7. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
8. Dear God: I have a problem. It’s me.
9. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.
10. Laugh every day, it’s like inner jogging.
11. The most important things in your home are the people.
12. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.
13. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.
14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.
15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.
16. We do not remember days, but moments. Life moves too fast, so enjoy your precious moments.
17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it, otherwise it’s just hearsay.
18. It’s all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.
19. Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and dreams you’re seeking require courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle — it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.
20. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
– Author Unknown
Blessings!
The roads are covered with just enough ice to make them dangerous to drive on so today we did not have worship in community. This decision has weighed on me and made me think a bit on what it is I do as pastor. It is my responsibility to shepherd the people in my congregation and today it seemed the most loving, responsible way of doing that was to cancel our worship service. But my heart is still heavy after having made the decision. Now I must allow God to teach me what it is I need to know from this decision.
In the meantime, I am taking this time to rest and to spend time with my family. And I am thinking.
“Wise thinking leads to right living;
Stupid thinking leads to wrong living.” ~ Ecclesiastes 10:2
