Going where He goes

Chris Tomlin's song was huge just a few months ago, "Where you go, I'll go.  Where You stay, I'll stay.  When You move, I'll move.  I will follow You."  I remember hearing on the radio, singing it in church and hearing it at conferences ALL the time while we were looking for God to lead us in our journey which eventually led us to seminary.  I found in that time it was much easier for me to "follow God" when I could "see" Him in the circumstances of our life but much harder to do so when I wasn't sure where He was or how He was leading.

This became clear to me the other day when I was at spin class.  For those of you who follow me on facebook, you know spinning is my "new" hobby.  I like it.  It kills me...in a good way.  The spin class I go to takes us on bike rides through various cities and countries around the world.  Yesterday we "toured" Trinidad, which by the way is apparently very hilly and gravelly at least according to our ride, and at one point we "rode" through a cave.  Our instructor slowly made our room darker and darker until it was dark like it would be in a cave.  I am such a visual person.  I make it through spin class because I can watch the clock and I know by 7:15 it will be done and I will have survived.  With the lights out, I couldn't see the clock.  I could literally feel myself starting to panic a bit.  My pace slowed and I frantically searched for something to focus on.  Then the instructor said, "Close your eyes if that helps you focus."  So I did.  And in my mind's eye, I could see that clock.  I knew it was at 6:55 when the room went dark so I knew at the most we had 20 minutes of cycling ahead.  I focused on the clock in my head and pedaled on.

After class I reflected a bit on that moment.  I realized that as the lights got darker, I kept doing what the instructor had told me to do.  I was doing the right thing.  But the darker it got, the harder the right thing was to do and the more difficult it was for me to keep doing it.  I had lost my focus.  I couldn't see the thing that motivated me to keep going.  I didn't stop, but I was feeling a bit lost.  Until, I regained my focus.  The dark was still there, but I had a focus again and my cycling powered back up.  So many times in my walk with Christ, I begin with my eyes on Him and doing what He has asked me to.  But sometimes, I get so focused on what I am doing and life's circumstances cause me to feel like I'm in darkness and suddenly, I've lost my focus.  I no longer have my eyes "fixed on Jesus, the author and perfector of my faith" but instead I'm futilely searching in darkness.  But in those moments, when I "close my eyes" aka "pray" and regain my focus on Christ, suddenly the darkness doesn't matter and I can continue forward because I am looking to my motivation; the One I am living for.

For many who desire to serve in ministry, both as lay members and as those who desire to serve full-time, the darkness can be disheartening.  We need to take a step back, remember our call and even more importantly, spend time focusing on the One who has called us.  I promised you that I would be sharing about my dear friends, Greg and

Bethany Glidden, who have felt that call to full-time ministry.  I've seen them battle that darkness including things like cancer, job frustrations, and support concerns.  But I've seen them "shake themselves" and remember to close their eyes and focus on Jesus, the one to whom they look for guidance, grace and calling.  Below are a few questions and answers that give you a chance to hear from the Gliddens themselves and hear their heart for "going where He goes".   If you'd like to knew more, their blog link is http://gliddensinthebronx.blogspot.com/ and I know that they would cherish your support as they move "where He moves."

1.       Tell us a little about yourselves and your family
We are two eldest kids from different parts of Pennsylvania who met in geography class, got married, and eventually had three daughters. We’ve been teachers in American public schools and Chinese universities. We’ve lived in rural small towns and cities with millions of residents. Our girls are now 7 (Ginny), 4 (Cora), and 9 months (Juliet), and they definitely keep things interesting – and by that, of course, we mean that getting an uninterrupted night’s sleep lately has been very, very difficult.

Bethany is great with kids (and people in general) and Greg plays guitar and has acquired the nickname “Grammar Man.” We both love bagels and spicy food, we’re big fans of The Hunger Games, and we find each other hilarious. And we feel strongly that for us to be obedient to God we should move our family to the Bronx, NY, to work full-time with Priority 1 Ministries.

2.       When did you first feel “called” to mission work?
I (Greg) first felt called to missions on, of all places, a mission trip. My mom signed me up for it without telling me of her intentions, I think so that we could go together. I went along not expecting much, but was floored by one of the speakers who came one night talking passionately about how the mission field needed ditch diggers and truck drivers and teachers and – well, I don’t remember anything after the teacher part, because that’s what hit me. I was currently at college studying to become a teacher, and suddenly the world of missions opened up to me, a world and a path I had never really considered. God started pointing my heart toward missions more and more from that point on. 

I (Bethany) always loved hearing stories from the missionaries who would show slides during our church’s annual mission conference. I took advantage of an opportunity in college and spent a semester abroad in Kenya, East Africa. While there, I found myself sitting with a bunch of little Kenyan boys at a home for street kids and loving it. I was helping them pick pebbles out of uncooked rice. I looked around at the kids, the dirt floor, and the little shacks used for dorms and I realized that I was truly happy because I got to share the love of Jesus these kids who didn’t have much. I thought, “I could do this . . . . someday.”

  
3.       Why the Bronx? And why does moving there make a difference? (meeting people where they are)
Priority 1’s motto is “Reaching the world for Jesus Christ is Priority One, and the primary way we do that is by training and sending teams of teenagers and adults to underprivileged kids, both internationally and in urban settings. Our organization has had a presence in the Bronx for the last 9 years, where we have trained countless groups for urban and international ministry. Throughout the year, groups of teenagers and adults spread throughout the boroughs feeding the homeless, helping afterschool programs, doing prayer walks, and running Bible Clubs in the public parks.

Our director currently splits her time between the Bronx and the home office in Chambersburg, PA. This arrangement is less than ideal. When we are able to take up permanent residence in New York, we can not only alleviate the strain on our director, we can also expand what Priority 1 can offer: we can host more teams, have more interns, bring more Weekend Encounter groups, and serve local organizations and churches even more. The potential and possibilities in the city are just about endless.

4.       What needs do you have in order for you to make the move?
                Simply stated, we need about 45% of our monthly support. We have attempted to make as conservative a budget as possible, but New York City is expensive, even up in the unglitzy parts of the Bronx. The two main expenses we will have will be rent for an apartment (which will be easily double what we pay now for a 3BR house with a yard and a garage) and the cost of health insurance. We need prayer. We need greater faith and perseverance. We need encouragement when it feels as though nothing is progressing.  We also need to downsize our possessions. Amazing how the stuff accumulates, isn’t it?

5.       If you could sum your “heart” up in one sentence, what would it be?
We want to make it possible for people who know Jesus to serve and know Him better, and for people who don’t know Him to get a chance to meet Him. Above all, we simply want to be obedient to the God who has called us

What's love got to do with it?

So, I lied.  I know.  I am sorry.  I told you my next blog would be about the Gliddens.  And the NEXT one will be.  But I said that before Valentine's Day.  And now that Valentine's Day has happened, well, I just have to blog about it.

The week leading to Valentine's day was one for the books.  The Spring Semester at Asbury Seminary commenced.  The girls actually went back to school with only a two-hour delay and an early dismissal instead of days off.  My job started back to its full schedule plus a few extra events.  Luke started his new classes and was offered a part-time job at our local public library.  Oh yeah, and I started my class.  We use a word for this here... transition.  We once again found ourselves in transition.  New things starting or re-starting.  New normals, new routine.  And as I've learned, new is not another word for "bad" but it is a word for "change".  

Time to grow and stretch and learn what it looks like to be this Embree family.  And located conveniently at the end of the week was Valentine's Day.  Traditionally a day where Luke and I should somehow affirm our love for one another through gifts, flowers, cards, a date night out, and a myriad of other such romantic ventures.  But, as you can guess, our week didn't really lend itself to that kind of a Valentine's Day.

So, the Sunday before our "new" week, we thought that maybe this Valentine's Day we would spend it as a family.  More specifically we would spend it by showing love to our daughters by making it a day to serve them rather than to be with each other.  We shared our idea with another family who had daughters and moved forward.

As the week went on, I worked bit by bit on our plan.  Each girl got an invitation to a Valentine's Dinner in their honor.  They were told to "dress up" and get ready to eat "all their favorite foods."  Menus were planned, ideas for blessing our daughters were shared, and the plan was concocted all between classes and jobs and snow and school.  

When the night finally came, I daresay all of us parents were tired.  Luke and Hollie had been in class from 8-6 doing an intensive class.  Chad, who drives a bus, finished his route only to find out he needed to head right back out because of early dismissal.  My plans to go shopping after work were thwarted by the same early dismissal and by the time we all arrived on Friday night at 7 pm with a group of very "not tired" young ladies, I think we were all a little frazzled and wondering a bit why we had thought this was a good idea.

As the dinner started, we took pictures, seated our girls, and began to serve them.  In those hectic moments, I could literally feel the spirit of God, His peace and love, begin to fill our home.  After dinner, we took the girls into the living room and each of us shared what "love" means to us.  And then we shared about the greatest love of all; the love of God shown to us through Jesus and manifest in our lives through the Holy Spirit.  We shared the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet and how that act of humility showed love through service.  As parents we then washed each of our daughter's feet while speaking words of honor and love to them and then prayed over each one individually a prayer of hope and blessing.

In that moment,  in my heart, love was manifest.  All that had gone on that week, led to this one moment.  All the planning, the praying, the juggling of schedules, the cooking, the laying down our lives for each other so we could take classes, read books, play games, eat meals, clean house, and live life suddenly found form in love.  It was as though all those acts of love all week long became tangible in a moment.  Luke saying "I love you" when he watched Caleb so I could go to class and did laundry when I was working out.  Hannah saying "I love you" by letting me nap when I had a terrible headache and taking Caleb for a walk and playing with him.  Naomi saying "I love you" when she made us numerous Valentines and shared her way-too-much sugary candy with us.  Caleb saying "I love you" when he wouldn't go to bed without another "KISS!!" and "HUG!".  Me saying "I love you" by getting dinner ready for my family before I went to work and buying Luke his favorite drink and dessert to celebrate his first week of classes.

Because, love, real love, is not one day, or one thing, or one feeling.  Love is the thing that takes "all these virtues" and "binds everything together in perfect harmony." (Col. 3:14).  It was our prayer this Valentine's Day that our daughters would experience love, a love that will challenge them for the rest of their lives to serve others, to give them honor and to keep God first in their hearts.  I hope that for years to come, as February 14 rolls around, I hear my girls say, "Do you remember that Valentine's Day when Mom and Dad..."  And I pray that they will measure each moment of love they experience in life by that beautiful standard set by Christ and shared with them last night.

Love has everything to do with it.  Everything you do for others from the most mundane to the most profound, when it has love in the center of it and love as the motivation of it, is it.  The big IT.  The point of all.  For God so LOVED.  God is LOVE.  LOVE never fails.  Love, lived out in the everyday, manifest in the smallest things, is the BIG thing.  My prayer today is that  you see that love in the ones around you.  You let that love motivate you to do BIG things like.. unload the dishwasher and take out the trash.  "Above all these things put on love, which binds them together in perfect harmony."

Happy Valentine's Day.. one day late.

Perspective

Sometimes all you need to make a day go differently is a little bit of perspective.  I had a day like that on Thursday.  I woke up and it just seemed like from the get-go, everything was going wrong.  Couldn't get things to work, couldn't find what I needed, clothing didn't fit right, car wouldn't warm up... just one of "those" mornings.  I was headed into work for a 12 hour shift and look, I like my job, I do... but 12 hours with kids in one room... I mean, that's enough to strike trepidation into any heart.

So to ease the day and to thank my amazing university workers for joining me throughout the day, I headed to Fitch's IGA to pick up a half dozen of some of the most delicious doughnuts on the planet.  Seriously, if you visit Wilmore, you have to get some but be EARLY.  I was told they make 300 every morning and by the time I got there at 7:40 there were maybe 50 left and all the glazed were gone.  ANYWAY... I walked back towards the bakery counter and noticed that the regular group of older gentlemen that go there every morning to drink coffee, eat doughnuts and solve the world's problems had been joined by two young men, obviously younger and looking very much out of place.  I figured that they were probably grandsons of the regulars who had been roped into hanging with Granddad that day.

As I gathered my doughnuts, I couldn't but overhear the conversation.  Luke would say I was eavesdropping but I promise it wasn't hard; they were speaking quite loudly as sometimes people of that age tend to do.  I heard one gentleman say, "Well, I'm glad you joined us today!  Most of you wouldn't think to do that."  One of the younger men replied, "Really, why?"  Another older man answered, "Because we scare you young folks I think!"  That got a laugh all the way around and the young man said, "We don't scare easy.  It was nice to sit and talk with you guys this morning."  

My heart was touched.  Mostly because that older gentleman was right.  I don't care who you are.  It IS scary to walk up to a bunch of strangers who are obviously different than you in looks, traditions, appearance, likes and dislikes, and background and say, "Hey, can we join you?"  Old people and young people.  Poor and rich.  American and international.  Singles and married.  Believers and non-believers.

I look at Jesus and his ministry.  He was the king of crossing those boundaries.  Most obviously, he left heaven to come join us here on earth.  But while he was here, he went to the hurt, the tired, the hungry, the poor, the unloved, the unwanted, the rich, the religious, the young, the old... everyone.  He didn't wait for them to come to Him.  He went into homes, into countrysides, into bars, into boats, and into synagogues.  His disciples were a motley crew of tax collectors, fishermen, philosophers, and business men.  In some places, he made friends.  In others, he was seen as an enemy.  But it never stopped him from going.  Sometimes he went "undercover" and sometimes with great fanfare.  Sometimes he looked from afar first and prepared himself with prayer and sometimes he withdrew so he could recharge with His Father.  But he went.  Over and over again, he went.  He healed, he held, he loved, he rebuked, he taught and he cried.  He was present with those he longed to reach.

Then I thought about our churches.  Buildings where we assemble.  Places we encourage people to "go."  And by "go" I don't mean "Go into all the world." but instead I mean, "Would you like to GO to church?"  We hold programs in our churches and ask the people to come to us.  But is that the model we were shown?  This past summer our home church held a great event called Invastion 2013. The concept was simply this.  Instead of sending a group of our teens on a missions trips hundreds or thousands of miles away, we would send a group of our teens and church members on a missions trip... next door.  For one week, our youth group lived at church and every morning they WENT.  We went to retirement homes and other churches, we went to gyms to hold basketball camps and the projects to hold Day camp.  We loaded up a bus of kids who may never have made it out of Chambersburg and took them to a lake to swim and play all day.  And we covered the whole thing in prayer and the message of the gospel.  And let me tell you.  It wasn't easy.  It was a lot scarier for our teens to serve their neighbors whose faces they knew than the faceless masses far away.  It took courage, strength and a whole lot of grace.  As a result, our community saw the church "going" and a few of those teens are still serving in the places we "went" and continue to share the love of Christ where the love is most needed.

Those college students saw a need.  For whatever reason, they felt called that day to sit down with some older men and share Christ's love that day.  To break down the barrier of old and young, university and townsmen, us and them and to just be Christ to those gentlemen.  As I was heading out, I heard one of the young men say, "Can we pray with you before we leave today?"  My heart leapt.  THIS IS CHURCH!  I had to say something as I checked out to the college guys.  I simply said, "Thank you.  That needs to happen more often.  God bless you."

Luke and I are blessed to know a number of people that have followed the call to "go."  For some that means opening their home and having teens over for dinner and for others than means being available to talk and pray whenever needed.  For others the call is to literally "go" and for them it means uprooting and moving their life and family to the place where they see that need.  One family who is very special to us is currently in that process.  Greg and Bethany Glidden feel a call on their life to leave their home in PA and move to the Bronx, NY to reach out to the many people who live there and need to see Jesus living today.  In the past, the Gliddens have served in China and are currently program coordinators for Priority 1, a missions organization that sends youth groups various places included the Bronx.  While in the Bronx, they would serve as the leaders of those groups and coordinate places for services while serving themselves throughout the times where groups aren't present.  It is not an easy choice to make and it requires a great deal of faith and financial support.  But they are "going".  My next blog is going to "feature" them with a few questions and answers and give them a chance to share their heart and vision.  I am blessed to be able to share this space with people like them and challenged in my own walk to be "going" as an "ambassador of reconciliation" for the world around me.  

It IS scary but it is so worth it!!