The Lighter Side of Black Friday

This year, maybe more than any other year, I have heard a lot of negativity and complaining about Black Friday.  Lots of comments of materialism and idolatry.  Memes about there only being “one Black Friday with eternal savings.”  Facebook statuses about how crazy people are to fight over things and how evil stores are for opening on Thanksgiving night.

And while I might agree that it stinks that stores open on Thanksgiving (no, I didn’t shop on Thursday) and there is a certain level of excess greed and overt materialism on Black Friday, I remain unconvinced that lashing out against “the machine” is the best use of our time and our words.  Let me tell you about Black Friday from my perspective.

As soon as I was able to drive, my sister and I made our first trek out into the madness.  After our Thanksgiving feast, we scoured the ads with markers and notebooks, planned out our route and strategy and set our alarms for some crazy hour of the morning.  Waking up in the dark, heading out on our own gave a certain sense of excitement and independence that we had not experienced until that time.  We got to the mall before stores opened and were treated to hot chocolate and donuts as we waited.  We never witnessed a fight, a screaming match, foul language, and greedy, pushing people.  On the contrary, we experienced laughter, cooperation, excitement, and holiday joy.  When doors opened, yes, we all rushed in, laughing and scrambling to our desired sale.  I saw men standing at displays and handing vacuum after vacuum to waiting old women and tired moms.  I saw women graciously helping one another find the right color scarf or the jeans that are the right size. 

My sister and I on our last Black Friday foray - 2011 

After shopping until we just about dropped, my sister and I always went to McDonalds and split a #2 (two cheeseburgers, large fry, and soda) before heading to the mall for a Christmas matinee and purchase of wrapping materials.  Heading home in the dark, gawking at the newly-lit Christmas lights and listening to new Christmas cds, we spent the evening wrapping presents, eating Thanksgiving leftovers and laughing… a lot.  Black Friday for us was NOT about the stuff.  It was about each other.  The memories, the time, the joy of being together.

This year, I didn’t rush out the door in the wee hours of the morning (it was 7 am) and I didn’t go with my sister (I went with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law) and I didn’t eat McDonald’s cheeseburger (it was a McMuffin) and I didn’t come back and wrap presents (I put them in a black trash bag and hid them in the back of my van).  BUT, I tell you what else I didn’t see – I didn’t see angry, greedy mobs and I didn’t see pushing, shoving people and I didn’t see nasty, cruel materialists.

I DID see a lot of laughter and friendliness and friends hanging out together and families spending time together and excitement and anticipation and just plain old happy times.  For myself, I had fun finding bargains with my family and sharing delicious coffee and smiling at strangers humming Christmas carols and whistling holiday tunes.

Perspective is important.  I’m not saying that all those bad things people complained about all over facebook didn’t happen.  I’m sure they did somewhere and I’m sure that is the story that will end up on the evening news and all over facebook top trending hashtags.  But I’m willing to bet that there were a great deal more happy times that aren’t newsworthy that happened across America today.  Things that were a lot more grounded in friendship, love, and togetherness than in materialism and greed. 

And here’s the thing.  Maybe on Black Friday it’s more pronounced but the reality is all year long we live in a materialistic society.   Every single day of the year, we have more STUFF than we could ever need.  And that’s just how it is right now.  To judge by just one day is a basically flawed logic.  It would be more realistic to address the situation as a whole.  So do we just never shop?  Never give gifts?  Never allow for moments of buying, spending, and giving?  For most of us the answer is, of course, we will do those things.  But what is our heart in them?

I didn’t go out today with a heart to get as much STUFF as possible to fill some kind of void in my life.  I had a list and a budget.  I went to get some Christmas gifts that would bless my husband and bless my kids (and bless my wallet at the same time).  I went to spend some time with my family, to share in the excitement of the holiday season, and to just have a good time.  And I did.  And so did a lot of others.  And that’s not newsworthy or sensational but that is Black Friday to me.

A heart of greed.  A heart of judgment.  That’s what makes any Friday black.  Regardless of whether you buy anything that day or not.

Refocus

Every have one of "those" days?  Of course you do.  We all do.  Well, yesterday.... yesterday was one of those days.  One of the days where the morning starts out on the wrong foot and from that point, recovery seems impossible.  Yesterday, I wrote this:

 My daughter (Hannah) made Honors Chorus (yay) and today is their big day. THIS MORNING WAS A DISASTER! 

She didn't lay out any of the things I told her to the night before. When I saw her outfit she was wearing a fancy red shirt that was way too small, black pants that were too small and blue tennis shoes. I told her there was no way she was leaving the house like that and to go change into her nicer shoes and clothes that fit. That led to a bout of crying about how she can't find her shoes, she lost the belt to the other pants, and oh, she couldn't have her lunch in a regular lunch box (it had to be a paper bag) and her water bottle had to be something she could throw away (not the water bottle I had ready for her) and we needed to be at the school at by 7:45 not 8 am like I'd been told and her coat was missing and... you get the picture. 

With no time to spare, we threw on a another shirt (that at least matched the tennis shoes), dumped her lunch into Walmart bag, gave her one of my old coats (which was way too big but whatever), poured the water into used empty water bottles (don't judge.. I am ashamed), ran to the car and drove at speeds above the limits as I lectured her on why its important to keep her room clean and obey me so mornings like this don't happen, etc, etc, etc. 

We got to the school, tore out of the car, raced inside to find her teacher and then... for the first time that morning I really looked at my daughter. Lord forgive me (yes, I am crying right now). I saw before me a scared, nervous, fearful baby girl fifth grader about to leave me for the first time on an all day trip hours from our house to sing with 100 strangers for thousands more strangers (and she's trying out for a solo) and as she walked away with her teacher looking back at me, my heart broke. 

Why, oh why, didn't I pray with her on the ride to school? Why didn't I tell her how proud I was and how much I loved her and that everything was going to be all right? Why didn't I hug her close and bless her like I do EVERY OTHER morning? Why didn't I really see her until it was too late? 

I sit her in my office at work, tears streaming down my face. My mommy heart is breaking. Oh, I know she'll be fine. She's amazing. She's gonna rock. And I know I'll see her tonight, and I'll hold her and tell her how sorry I am and how much I love her and how I know I messed up. And I know we will both learn from this experience. But for this moment, all I can see is her big brown eyes, filled with trepidation and fear, screaming, "Mommy, don't leave me! I need you!" and I walked away. And my heart is screaming, "What did you do? What did you do?"

So, have you ever had one of those days?  I felt like a total failure at mommyhood.  And a family minister at a church?  Forget about it.  I cried through the morning.  I prayed through the day.  I waited for 8:30 pm when the concert would be over and I could wrap my arms around my precious child and say, "I'm so sorry!"  Imagine my relief when the young woman that met me that night was anything but sad.  In fact, she was downright giddy.

She'd had a great day.  She was nervous yes, but she faced it and had fun.  She hung out with old friends and made some new friends.  She sang with 200 other kids from all over Kentucky and she beamed from the top row in her too short pants and her blue tennis shoes wearing the hot pink tee-shirt she'd been given by the school (she hates pink).    When I finally got a word in edgewise to say, "Hey, I'm sorry about this morning.  I messed up.  I should have prayed with you,"  her response was, "No, you were right.  I should have obeyed you and cleaned my room."  Um, what?  Parenting win?  Lord, I'm confused.

And He said, "Do you truly think that your failure would keep me from doing My work in your daughter's life or that her lack of obedience to you would keep me from doing My work in yours?  You both have room to grow and I will use you both to do My work.  Trust me.  I'm bigger than your mistakes.  Let Me do My thing in the middle of your mess because my best work comes in the form of redemption."

So, it is with that heart, I announce that I am starting a new blog.  It will not replace this one as it will have an entirely different purpose.  As you know, if you've read this blog for any time at all, I have a genuine heart and I believe, call from God to serve in encouraging family ministry and discipleship in the home.  Over the past few years, I've watched the area of family ministry grow in popularity as studies have bolstered the need for the home to be the primary place of discipleship.  I have also seen fellow ministers and churches attempt to start family ministry and have it seemingly "not work" in their environment.


Because I firmly believe that the ideas that fuel family ministry are ordained by God, I also believe that family ministry not only can but absolutely should "work" in any church.  It is my hope that this new blog at www.refocusministry.org will provide a place of support, equipping, resources and encouragement for churches who are embarking on the transitional journey from traditional age-segregated ministry to intergenerational family ministry.  All those family ministry posts you've seen here?  Finally going to have an outlet there.  And I go into this knowing I will make mistakes.  I will fail at times.  But I am also learning that my God is bigger than my failures.  And my prayer is that He will use this blog/ministry as a place for others to come, to rest, to find hope and to keep moving forward in their own faith journey with Jesus.

I guess in a way this is my formal announcement that the new blog is up and running but it is also a request that you check it out, send me your feedback, let me know what you are looking for as ministers, parents, and friends and help me craft a website that is truly useful to others in God's kingdom.

As for Miss Hannah.. she will be doing some bedroom cleaning today and as for me... I will be praying her through it.  Blessings to you as you fail, and grow, and follow a God who will always be BIGGER.

Like a Child

Wings.  A mermaid tail.  Cheetah legs.
If you've seen the video going around facebook right now where people are asked a simple question, you know that these are some of the answers.  If you've not seen the video, here's the link http://aplus.com/a/jubilee-project-comfortbale-one-question and if you don't plan to, here's what happens.

A group of adults and kids are asked a simple question: What would you change about your body?  The adults gave the answers I expected.  They shared things they didn't like about themselves. Stretch marks, big ears, foreheads and of course, I was naming my own things off in my head.  Then the kids had a turn.  Unlike the adults, they didn't see anything wrong with the bodies they had, but they could think of some pretty cool add-ons like "cheetah legs so I can run really fast" and "wings so I can fly" and of course, "a mermaid tail."

Of course the moral of the video was that we adults need to stop judging our bodies so harshly and being so critical and see our potential for more.  But after I watched the video and scrolled away, I couldn't stop thinking about it.  All I kept thinking was, "When?"  When does it happen?  At what age to we stop believing that our bodies are amazing and capable of wonderful things and start seeing our flaws and critiquing our imperfections.

You see, I have two beautiful girls and one adorable son.  And one of them is starting to cross that line and ask questions about her perceived flaws.  She's begun playing the comparison game.  She has begun to see the world's definition of beauty and she has started to measure herself by that ruler.

Caleb on the other hand told me today he can fly.

Okay, going to switch directions now.  Stay with me, it will make sense in a minute

Once when Jesus was speaking to his disciples, he told them that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these and pointed to a child.  He said that unless they had faith like a child, they wouldn't enter the kingdom of God.

What is it about kids that would make Him say that?  Maybe it is their uncanny ability to believe; to see beyond reality to possibility.  To look beyond flaws to miracles.  To focus past the limitations to the realm of expectations.  And it's not fake.  It's genuine.  It's real.  It's faith.  It's the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

That video reminded me of the precious part of childhood. The flaws are still invisible, but they won't be for long.  How can we preserve that in our faith?  How can that translate into our churches and our homes?  Maybe just maybe, we have got to stop focusing on all our flaws.  Things like not my gift, not my calling, not good enough.  Or the flaws in our churches like not enough money, not enough space, not enough volunteers.  Or maybe in others like not holy enough, not mature enough, not loving enough.

Maybe having faith like a child is believing that sharing the truth of the gospel still changes lives.  That the Word of God is still living and active.  That the church is still the hands and feet of Christ.  Faith that sees past this natural world to a world that our minds can only begin to imagine.

That same daughter who is starting to compare herself with the world in terms of her physical beauty is also starting to measure her spirit too.  Around her she starting to see that it's not "cool" to be a Christian.  The values she holds are starting to look like "big ears" and "stretch marks" in comparison to the values portrayed in the media.  She's starting to understand that what she believes will make her stand out and how she lives her life could get her funny looks down the road.

As her mom, I want to scream to her, "Don't listen to them!  You were made for more.  Your spirit can fly.  You are beautiful!"  And I realize... the loudest voice she can hear is the one I live in front of her.  I need to have faith like a child for her.  I need to live a life that doesn't listen to the lies myself and believes that my spirit can soar on wings like eagles.  I need to be that place that she can look to and no matter what the world says, show her that her childlike faith was always right and she can dream big with God.

But it's bigger than just me and her.  There's an entire generation of kids that right now know that
God can make a blind man see, let a crippled man walk, loves us more than life itself and will do anything to be our friend.  And it is up to us Church, to show to them loudly that is true!  We have to stop telling them all our flaws and start showing them we believe and we live like we do.  We do things like pray with them, serve with them, worship with them, and love others recklessly with them.  Because if we don't give them something to measure life by, the world most certainly will.  We can't change the messages they will get from them but we can most certainly make sure ours comes through loud and clear.

Walk by faith.  Not by sight.  And fly.

Welcome Life

DISCLAIMER:  This is one of my KidMin/Family Ministry posts I sometimes hijack this blog with because I want to and I can because I gave myself permission. You have been fairly warned. 

It was 2:30 pm.  I had about 30 minutes to get a walk in before the kids got home from school.  The sky was blue, the air was crisp, the sun was shining and I joyfully headed out the door.  The neighborhood was quiet.  You could hear hammers in the distance working on the church that is renovating on the next hill.  Birds were chirping, cars were still, and Kalas Village looked dormant like it was experiencing a lazy afternoon nap.

As I returned from my walk at 3:00 pm all I could think was, “Get ready Kalas.  The busses are coming!”

Ten minutes later, it looked like a switch got turned on.  The quiet streets were suddenly alive.  Chirping birds were replaced by shouting, laughing, chattering children running, jumping, and skipping down the street. Doors of houses flew open, backpacks were deposited, snacks consumed, homework done… well, maybe… and the kids were back out again.  Within the next 30 minutes the playground at the Community House swelled with moving bodies.  A game of softball, a game of 4 Square and a bunch of kids jumping rope took over the asphalt slabs where one day hopefully tennis courts and a basketball court will stand.  Young kiddos played closer to home on bikes, trikes, scooters, and strollers.  The Village had indeed awakened.  Life was evident.

The family minister in me could not help but wonder…

Is this what happened to the church when we removed the kids from the midst of the congregation?  When we, with all good intention, moved them and their energy and their laughter and their tears to more appropriate locations that better suited their age and needs?  Is it possible that we unintentionally put the church to sleep?

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that every church that has Sunday school is out of line.  I happen to be a big believer in KidMin and in youth ministry.  What I am saying is that maybe, just maybe, we’ve taken it a little too far.  Because let’s be honest, don’t we love to see children praying at the altar?  Aren’t we blessed when they share in communion?  Or we hear that enthusiastic albeit quite loud “Amen!” at the end of the pastor’s prayer?

Kids are loud.  They are full of energy.  They laugh at inappropriate times.  What they call a whisper is a few decibels under what we call an explosion.  They run when they should walk.  They fidget when they should sit still.  They ask questions and sing loudly (off key) and cry for no reason at all.

“Then Jesus put a little child among them.  Taking the child in His arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes Me, and anyone who welcomes Me, welcomes not only Me, but also my Father who sent me.”

It does beg the question, have we welcomed Christ and the Father in this way into our churches, into our services and into our sacred spaces?  I’m pretty sure kids in Jesus’ day acted a lot like, well, kids.  And yet, He tells us that if we welcome these messy, loud, and often sticky kids on his behalf, or as other translations say, in His name, it is just like welcoming Him and welcoming the Father.

It was lovely to walk in the quiet of the day.  I enjoyed the moment.  It was also wonderful to hear the sounds of life echo through my home until dusk.  I’m willing to bet we need both in our lives to truly experience life.  And I’m also willing to bet, we need both in the church too.

“Then Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’”

The Heart of Home

I love to write, I really do.  I enjoy sitting down to the computer and typing out my thoughts.  For me it's kinda like putting a puzzle together, making each word fit just right so that it paints the right bigger picture to reveal my heart.

So, my dear friends, you might be thinking, if you like to write so much, WHY HAVE YOU NOT WRITTEN A BLOG IN OVER A MONTH?  Ah friends, it is too cliche, it's not you; it's me.

Here's the thing.  I am also a big fan of the moderation movement; you know, everything in moderation.  My classes this year are not so much fans of this particular viewpoint.  My professors are more along the lines of thinking that if you are not writing, constantly, at all times, you must not be learning and therefore, you should probably have another assignment for writing.

In other words, my brain has been fully engaged in writing, just not writing here. 

Enjoying a "date" hike together

But today is Saturday and on this Saturday I am not driving to Columbus, Louisville or Indianapolis as I have for the previous month.  I'm not leading a small group or getting my shopping done or writing a paper.  I'm excited to say that on this Saturday, my calendar is looking delightfully empty and aside from having some friends over for dinner, it is open to all possibilities including writing a blog.

Hannah and fellow babysitter
Olivia carving the winner

From that long-winded intro you might have guessed that the last month for the Embrees has been a busy but full one.  My job/career/calling has had me busy learning and sharing at conferences.  Luke's classes, especially intermediate Greek, have had him studying, translating and working hard.  Hannah has fully leaned into the role of 5th grader "top dog" of the school and been chosen for a part in an all-state chorus (only 10 5th graders were chosen), joined the Music Makers of Wilmore Elementary, and is enjoying  participating in Jump Rope Club while also running her own business as a Mommy's Helper in Kalas Village.  Naomi is also in Jump Rope Club, so jump roping is her current passion, but she's also in love with our new Community House which has a room dedicated to art, so she's pretty much in heaven there.  And Caleb, our sweet boy, is so excited to go to school through the week to work on his speech and most importantly, ride the bus, and mom and dad are excited that we are officially a DIAPER-FREE house!!

Getting ready to share our Highs and Lows

Our life is busy but I am so glad to say that this semester I think we have grown more as a family than any before.  On Wednesday nights, our church offers a Family Faith Formation night where the entire family stays together and learns ways to engage together around discipleship and spiritual formation.  While Caleb often needs to go to the adjoining room to play, the rest of us have really enjoyed the times there of growing as a family spiritually and that has spilled into our home.  We have had some wonderful faith talks, times of prayer, moments of growth and stillness of worship in our home.  My kids are never more excited than when Mom and Dad declare a "family night."  They are never more engaged than we we spend time with them one-on-one.  And when we get to hear at dinner their "highs and lows" and what God is speaking to their hearts, we are never more blessed.  I feel like our chance to go our separate ways during the day brings even more meaning and purpose to our times together.  Even Caleb can't wait to share at dinner, even if all he ever says is that his high was "going to 'cool."

Naomi and Caleb playing

When I step back and look at where we are for this season of our life as a family, I smile.  I see joy.  I see growth.  I see peace.  Sure the sisters bicker, the brother bothers, the father fusses, the mother mutters and at times we're all a little on edge.  But even in those moments, Christ is welcomed into our space, into our good, bad and ugly moments, and His presence is tangible in our home.  Seeing my kids live into that more and more and seeing Luke and I finding our strength and our vision in Him, brings such rest to my soul.

So, it's unlikely you will find all of us sitting around the house for too long.  But when you do, you'll see something pretty special.  Something blessed.  Something worth writing about... even if I didn't "have" to write today.  May your home too be filled with the love of Christ and, as we pray at every Faith Faith Formation Night, may you sleep in peace and may you learn to see God even when your eyes are closed.  Have a blessed Saturday friends!

Family, Faith, Formation and a Scarecrow

There's a lot to be said about family.  Trust me, I've been reading and writing about it for weeks.  There's much more to be said about faith.  Trust me, I've been reading and writing about it for years.  Formation... yeah, you get the idea.  A newer word to my vocabulary but one that has occupied a great deal of mental space over the past year.

So, when our church recently re-launched our Wednesday night programming, we decided to use that time to begin a Family Faith Formation event where families come together and engage around the ideas of "filling our toolbox" with tools to grow in faith and love with each other.  Our family has been joining with other families on Wednesday nights to have some fun together and spend some time intentionally in God's Word and growing spiritually together.  It's loud.  It's messy.  It's basically like all of our living rooms squashed into our elementary room.  It's family life in all its glory and its not-so glory.

I had my concerns about how effective these nights would be.  Would the kids be too distracting?  Would the parents appreciate the tools and resources or would they be too focused on their kids' behavior to absorb anything?  Would the kids be able to gain from the experience or would they just come and go because Mom and Dad made them? Could an event that ranged in age from 1-ahem, older than that, actually lead to Family. Faith. Formation?

My answer came in the form of a scarecrow.  Yup, a scarecrow.  And not even a very attractive scarecrow.  A rather unattractive scarecrow with a paper face and grass hands.

Yesterday, I was busy cooking some meals for some new moms and asked Hannah if she would please take Caleb to the playground.  This was the equivalent of me asking her to scale Mt. Everest, or so I assume from her reaction.  I told her it would be really helpful for me if she could just please keep him occupied until I got the meals done.  Grudgingly I heard her call out, "Caaaa-lllllllleeeebbb!!!" as she slunk out the door.

Grateful, I returned to my task (happily because you all know I love the therapy of the kitchen).  Next think I know Caleb comes running into the house yelling something about clothes and crows.  Okay, he's happy, I'm happy.  Then Hannah walks by with marshmallow roasters and a cornucopia filled with fake grapes.  Whatever, she's happy, I'm happy.  A small crowd of children started gathering out side of my home collecting sticks and grass.  I'm hearing talk of paper faces and stronger sticks.  Finally, my cooking done, I head outside to find this little man.

What in the world does this have to do with Family Faith Formation?  Simply this.  I walked over to see what they had done and Hannah smiled broadly at me as I looked at her and said, "You pursued peace."  She nodded and began to explain quickly all the attributes of the little scarecrow eerily similar to my son in height and fashion.

You see the night before, we studied Psalm 34:14, "Turn away from evil.  Seek peace and pursue it."  We talked about how peace wasn't something that always came naturally.  Hannah in fact pointed out that you had to chase it, choose it, and sometimes make it be.  That day, she had to choose peace.  She had to choose to "be" in that moment with Caleb rather than just grudgingly submit to Mom's request.  She pursued peace.  She made a scarecrow.  The result?  Happy mom, happy boy, happy Hannah, happy neighborhood kids, happy friends walking by smiling at our "scarecrow", happy memories... peace in our home.

Family.  Faith.  Formation. It all came together quite nicely in the image of a scarecrow.  Take the time to talk about your faith with your kids.  Our conversation lasted a moment.  The impact will last a lifetime.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Grace, Family and Community - Embree Asbury adventure, Year #2

I cannot tell you how many false starts this blog post has had.  I am finding it hard to process, let alone, share all the things going on in the Embree home at the start of this new academic year.  As I shared in my last blog, the starting of a new job, classes for all of us (yes, even Caleb will be going to school this year), and a change in our norm is shaping us in new ways and bending us in others.

A family at study

I can tell you this: God is good and we are convinced now more than ever that He is at work in our lives individually and as a family to equip us for "good works prepared in advance" for the glory of God.  It is a humbling place to be.  As I read scholars and students who have studied families and ministry for years, I am humbled by how little I know and how much I have to learn.  As Luke takes verses in English and "parses" them in Greek, we are amazed at how God uses language to share with us His love.  As Hannah served at our church's Manna Meal, she was enthralled with how God could use her hands and feet to bless strangers and embody His love.  As Naomi writes her songs and dances her dances, she is excited about God's creation and beauty and movement and melody.  And as Caleb climbs up in our laps, hugs us and says, "I love you" and then "Mommy, Jesus loves you too!" he is recognizing that still small voice that speaks to him even now in his youth.

And we all grow deeper into this thing called grace lived out through family and shared in the heart of community.

I will never look at the word "family" the same again, after the classes I am taking.  Does family refer only to those you are related to by blood?  Or does family expand to those who serve functions in your life as caregiver, mentor, and friend?  Does family mean you share a last name or a common purpose?  Does it entail biological markers or heartfelt bonds?  

I think our family is learning the answer to these questions is ... yes.  It does.  Our family of the flesh, both near and far, and our family of the heart, bound by the love of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, has been shaped and molded by these experiences we now undergo.  Distance has tested love and love stood the test.  Time has challenged connections but it lost to friendships forged long ago.  We have grown our family and in doing so, grown ourselves.  

Luke reading Scripture at chapel

This may all sound like the ramblings of a word-weary seminary student who is currently writing on average 3 papers a week or, for those of you who have experienced this type of growth, a familiar sentiment.  As I attended chapel today and added my voice to the student body singing that there were "10,000 reasons" to praise our God and as I walked across campus greeting friends and neighbors and checked Facebook to connect with those farther away, I could not help but once again be thankful for ... my family, here, there, biological and "of the heart," by structural definition or functional, in spirit and in flesh... my family.    Whether we've shared years of shared life moments or days of shared new laughter, I find myself feeling quite blessed and quite rich in love and community.

This year at Asbury has already been so affirming of why we are here.  I don't know what the future holds I only know we are here for now to learn and grow.  We've been challenged in chapel this year to take a posture of humility and allow God to shake our self-reliance and shape our Christ-reliance.  As I look to the year ahead, I don't know how else we could approach it but with our arms open wide, our hands held up in prayer and our knees bent before God's throne, relying on the prayers of those who love us and the grace of our Savior to see us through  And really, is there any better place to be?  

So thank you all for seeing us through Year #1.  Here's to a grace-filled Year #2.  And to usher it in, this song has played over and over in my heart..

O for a thousand tongues to sing, My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God, Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name.