today is ash wednesday. it marks the beginning of lent for christians, which is a 40 day period when we reflect on our relationship with God, repent, and are reminded of our mortality. as you saw people marked with the cross on their foreheads today they were mostly likely told:
"repent and believe in the gospel" or "remember you are dust, and to dust you will return."
i love the season of lent. last night i kind of got butterflies in my stomach thinking about it starting today. may each of us take some time to reflect. may our reflection not be the end, but the means to an end that equals action...repenting means actually turning away from whatever it is that is keeping us from being in a more right relationship with God. i pray that is revealed to me, and i pray that i have the courage to change.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
the second to last interview
one step away, people...one step away.
yesterday i interviewed with three people who represented the Board of Ordained Ministry. they were the three who read all that stuff i turned in a few weeks ago. they were the three who were sent to see if i could articulate my effectiveness for ministry over the last two years. they were the three who voted to send me on to the FINAL interview on march 22nd. it's schedule for 9:30am at lakeveiw retreat center in palestine, texas.
thanks for all those prayers. oh, and a big thanks to God for always being with me. some of you may have already read this story that i wrote yesterday, but i wanted to post it here too, so i can be reminded of it.
"Something really cool happened to me as I was waiting for the rail this afternoon in front of the hospital (on my way to the interview). This man was sitting alone. It was beautiful outside. It was unusually quiet in the Med Center. Once I was close enough for him to talk to me he said, "I just love this fresh air. It reminds me of when I was a kid and used to go outside at night and look up at the stars. We just don't take the time to do stuff like that anymore...we just get so caught up in stuff. I don't even know the last time I saw stars.. I feel like I just need to slow down, take in this fresh air and go to the lake or something tonight so I can see the stars." The conversation continued and a rush of thoughts and emotions came over me. He almost quoted several lines of a sermon I preached last week. It was somewhat frightening. I seriously felt like I was having a conversation with God.
The sermon was about God speaking to Abram and saying "Come outside...Look toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to count them." Gen 15:5. In context, God was asking Abram to step outside his own doubt and anxiety and be reminded of God's promise...a promise to give him offspring in abundance, just like the number of stars in the sky. In that moment today, I snapped out of my own doubt and anxiety and was reminded of the promises God has made to me. I trusted that God has called me to be right where I am. I had a peace that was not there just moments before."
Thanks for being on the journey with me...
yesterday i interviewed with three people who represented the Board of Ordained Ministry. they were the three who read all that stuff i turned in a few weeks ago. they were the three who were sent to see if i could articulate my effectiveness for ministry over the last two years. they were the three who voted to send me on to the FINAL interview on march 22nd. it's schedule for 9:30am at lakeveiw retreat center in palestine, texas.
thanks for all those prayers. oh, and a big thanks to God for always being with me. some of you may have already read this story that i wrote yesterday, but i wanted to post it here too, so i can be reminded of it.
"Something really cool happened to me as I was waiting for the rail this afternoon in front of the hospital (on my way to the interview). This man was sitting alone. It was beautiful outside. It was unusually quiet in the Med Center. Once I was close enough for him to talk to me he said, "I just love this fresh air. It reminds me of when I was a kid and used to go outside at night and look up at the stars. We just don't take the time to do stuff like that anymore...we just get so caught up in stuff. I don't even know the last time I saw stars.. I feel like I just need to slow down, take in this fresh air and go to the lake or something tonight so I can see the stars." The conversation continued and a rush of thoughts and emotions came over me. He almost quoted several lines of a sermon I preached last week. It was somewhat frightening. I seriously felt like I was having a conversation with God.
The sermon was about God speaking to Abram and saying "Come outside...Look toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to count them." Gen 15:5. In context, God was asking Abram to step outside his own doubt and anxiety and be reminded of God's promise...a promise to give him offspring in abundance, just like the number of stars in the sky. In that moment today, I snapped out of my own doubt and anxiety and was reminded of the promises God has made to me. I trusted that God has called me to be right where I am. I had a peace that was not there just moments before."
Thanks for being on the journey with me...
Saturday, February 6, 2010
the park
these are lyrics of a song by isreal houghton that stephanie and i just sang out loud in our living room:
lord you are good
and your mercy
endureth forever
people from every nation and tongue
from generation to generation
we worship you, hallelujah, hallelujah
we worship you, for who you are
you are good
our singing was a response to our fun day! the weather is BEAUTIFUL here. finally the sun is shining and no clouds in sight. our young adult sunday school class spent the day at the park with 27 kids from an apartment complex in the westbury area. these kids represent families who have migrated from nepal, rwanda, liberia, congo, burma, burundi. not a whole lot of conversation, but a whole lot of play. soccer, pb&j and a few muddy puddles. pure goodness.
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