What does it mean to do life together?

It is always a privilege to lead a faith community in an intergenerational worship experience. Last Sunday was one of those mornings. Sunday mornings are always a challenge to fit this into the time slot of 9:30am - 11:00 am. It was a very wet morning, we expected that many would just stay at home. To be honest if it was me, I would be very tempted to do so, especially when the radio and TV was telling everyone to stay home. But the room was full of people of all ages and it was a wonderful time for many who engaged. 

One mother I spoke to said she really wanted to sit quietly in church today without her kids but admitted that she really enjoyed the environment that was created which allowed her to spend time with God and her children. 

One other mother with 3 under the age of 3 said…"normally my husband is in the creche with one of our children, I am in the “cry room” with the other, but today we were able to REALLY be here, all in together. It was a nice change.

An older man said he …“walked in, saw the tables set up and thought … ‘oh no’ … but afterwards he made the effort to come up to me and say he really engaged in the morning and loved the opportunity. I was truly touched. 

I met an older lady who shared how God showed her what intergenerational really looked like when I asked everyone to share their play dough and mould it all together, experiencing how we are transformed by being together into something different than when we started.  She moulded it in a different way and it demonstrated that we can be still be “all together but with our personalities intact.” It was a beautiful way to see the body of Christ.  She went on to share with me about the recent loss of her mother and the sadness of that. We got to share about the desire she has to share with other woman of all ages and how this would be very healing for her and others.

Another family was making their own things from play dough, but then they started to join it together and made something they couldn't have done apart. It was quite unique and intriguing.  

And they were only the stories I got to hear in the short time I was there. So, the morning finished and I was spent ... talking and leading about the importance of lifelong discipleship being much more than a program or a service, but doing life together. For me, I had served for the day and was keen to go home and simply relax. For me it was a big positive, tick, done ... and then someone asked us to lunch with two other families.  I have to be honest, my first thought was “do I have to go to lunch?” Then the second thought was … “if we do, we will just go for a little while. I am tired and I really don't want to put the effort into making new friends.”  I mean, I can talk about doing life with people in a morning orchestrated experience, but really, do I have to have lunch with them?  

God never misses a moment to teach us and remind us about what Life Together is really about. As I had said that morning, “we only need to have eyes to see and be willing to open the eyes of our heart that we might see Jesus.”  (Ephesians 1:18 )

So 3pm comes along and we are still deep in conversation, sharing life, passions, struggles and shared frustrations. Two wonderful families with young children sharing about the juggle of life, ministry and parenthood. My teenager was a part of the conversation and loved the heart connection with the young mums, kids playing in the rain in their undies, the men sharing the challenges of work and life, good food and wonderful conversations all around the lunch table together.  So, it begs the questions … where did true community happen for me today?  I want to say it was everywhere, both in the morning celebration and at lunch, because God was in them all and He never misses a moment. But for me, deep down where it matters most, it happened around the lunch table, as we shared, listened and truly made friendships that I believe God put together that day for so much more than the moment. I am looking forward to what He is doing and will do through that time and thank God that I had the eyes to see and the open heart (even if I did go kicking and screaming on the inside) to see the God connections and to be willing to do life with others. 

Many people ask me, in this busy life of today, how we could possibly do life together. It is just so counter-cultural. Family life is hectic. They can’t even come to Church once a week, let alone ask them to interact together across the ages. Many ask, “What does life together really look like?” 

I wonder if we are simply asking the wrong questions.  For I don’t ask “why” or “how”, or “what.”   I simply ask “why not?” 

Known and Loved

There came that moment in the office when some tidying and cleaning became necessary. To be honest, I actually enjoy ordering things, filing and tidying things up. I find it very satisfying. 

So, this day I had plenty of old files that simply needed to be thrown away. They were over 10 years old and it was just becoming a clutter in my filing cabinet. As I sorted through the files, I came to folder after folder of kid’s registration of a camp we run called ‘Southern cross kids camps”. These kids come from broken homes and are recommended to us by case workers in the government system. So much of the content of the forms is personal and private and therefore I needed to rip up (shred) each form to make sure that the details were unreadable. So that took time and as I was doing that I was seeing the names of the kids and started to remember the kids and wondered where they were and what are they doing now. Some names I remembered and could put a face to, but some were just a name to me.  As I was ripping up their details on the paper into small strips, I actually started to feel sad. The bin was getting more and more packed, filled with ripped up paper, and I was struck by sadness. 

Yes, I know this was a necessary job and it really was a functional thing I needed to do office-wise. But I was surprised how the ripping up of these children’s files and tearing up their names had such an effect on me. These children came to us damaged and broken and they often believed they were rubbish. Here I was, ripping their information up and throwing them in the bin.

In God's eyes these children mean so much more than simply being thrown into a bin to be discarded. And even though these forms were 10 years old and to me personally they were largely only a memory, if that, God still knows where they are today and is only interested in building them up and not tearing them down.

I found myself beginning to pray for them as I continued to rip up their forms, resting in the peace that even though to me they are now only a piece of ripped up paper, to God they are still His children, perfectly and wonderfully made, known and loved. 

I continued to pray that wherever these kids are today - God knows and God loves them. 

Romans 8:39 “Nothing can separate me from the love of God”

I continued to pray that whatever they are doing, they remember ‘Southern Cross Kids camps” where they learned that they are known and loved, that they are not rubbish, that He has not discarded them, they have not been forgotten, that He knows their name. His love has never changed.

You don’t have to have live long to think of all the people you have known and even loved over the years. The ones who were so close at one time in life and now you don’t even know where they are. In your world, they have been discarded. Maybe you feel like they discarded you, maybe deliberately, maybe not, maybe by necessity. Maybe it was not of your choosing, but life has simply moved on. It can all seem so pointless, so fragile, so momentary, so futile ... unless we truly are a small part of BIGGER story. A part of a story where the author always knows our name, where nothing is wasted and what we do here, although so fleeting, can have eternal value.

“Even before He made the world God loved you and chose you” (Ephesians 1:4) 

I know I am part of that bigger story, and it gives me great comfort. I know that everyone has that choice and that those we have loved and known at some point, we may get to meet again. But mostly, even though they are just a name in a bin or a distant memory to me, to God they will always be Known and Loved.

To find out more about serving in an amazing ministry to children that are loved and known by Him see www.sckc.org.au

suffering from a "Good" heart

There is a BIG difference between a “good” heart and a “God” heart. It is just a matter of dropping an “o” when you write it, but to walk it in your daily life, takes alot more thought.

Mark 1:35-39 says... 

While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with him went looking for him. They found him and said, “Everybody’s looking for you.”

^38-39 Jesus said, “Let’s go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I’ve come.”

Everyone wanted Jesus. The disciples wake up to find Jesus is gone and there are people crowding the small village looking for Jesus. Their good hearts wanted to respond to the need and there was so much to do right in front of them, but Jesus says “Let’s go...for this is why I have come”. He had a “God” heart. He had spent time with God and knew what he was called to do. Yet, with people right there wanting to hear what He had to say and be healed, why didn’t He start there? It must have baffled the Disciples. I personally would have felt guilty walking away. That’s the difference between a “good” heart and a “God” heart.  

I know I suffer from it and wonder about all the things I have done in the name of a “good” heart that God actually never asked me to do.  A good heart can be swallowed by needs and we end up doing things we are not asked to do, but worse, that we are not “called” to do.

Knowing what God calls you to do, is not something I have found to be always easy to navigate. Knowing His commands is pretty straight forward, but walking with Him and hearing His voice is quite another. I have sought to hear His voice for most of my life and as I reflect back on my life, I wonder how many times I have got it wrong. It is understandable that when in doubt, we default to simply doing the “good’ thing. So we choose to serve with a “good” heart and with the best of intentions. I don’t think God punishes us for that, in fact He can bring “good” out of anything, but we mustn’t be fooled into thinking that even the best of people can’t be taken out by a “good” heart. If the enemy can’t distract you with addiction, or sin, or laziness, or apathy he will keep you busy doing all the “good” things you can so you can’t do what God actually called you to do. 

The hardest thing about the “God” heart, is that it is not often very logical, so some things  God calls us to do, can seem not to be the “good” or even “wise” thing to do.  We admire those in the Bible who serve with a “God” heart, but would we make the same choice if in their situation?  Abraham taking his son to the altar, David not killing Saul when he had the chance, Daniel being thrown in the lion’s den because he would not bow down to the King’s Idol, Joseph helping the butler and the butcher and still ending up in jail, Ananias going to see Saul who killed Christians on sight, Paul being thrown in jail for refusing to stop talking about Jesus. The list goes on, the difference between a “good” heart and a “God” heart makes a HUGE difference to what we “DO” and “DO NOT” do.  The only way we can walk this path is to learn to listen to HIS voice. And yet many of time I have heard someone say “God told me,” and personally I have wondered what planet they are on.  Yet, if I am honest, I have so many doubts as I reflect on my past. I have wondered how many times I have suffered from the “good “ heart . My prayer is that I so don’t want to be taken out by a “good” heart, but rather live long and make choices out His heart, a “God” heart.

I am thankful for the words of Thomas Merton who is not only much older and wiser than me and yet still prayed....

“My lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself. And the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in everything I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire and I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road. ... I will not fear for you are ever with me.”

Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude