Mid-Week Message Re-visited

Honoring our saints will be our focus in worship this Sunday. I don't mean the Saints as in the New Orleans based NFL team. We are not having a pep rally of that kind. But we will rally around our faith-filled women and men who have honored God by living and dying well.

All Saints Sunday, as some of you know, is one of my favorite Sundays during the church calendar year. My husband thinks I am morbid because I tell the funniest funeral stories until I laugh so hard I run to the nearest bathroom. Church members inform me that it's odd that I would rather preside over a funeral than a wedding. (Have you ever tried to work with hyper, over-wrought mothers of the bride before? Whew. Dead people have much more realistic expectations.)

Maybe my preference for this special day comes from the All Saints Sunday in which my Grandfather, Grant Lowe was honored in worship. That morning was so meaningful to be with my church family who paused again to recognize his life and death. The experience of hearing his name read, vibrations of the bell toll, and receiving a white flower was yet another explosion of God's healing grace within my family's grief.

Maybe I like this Sunday because we get a chance to peek into heaven and talk about it yet again. It could be that it is another opportunity for God to prepare me for my own death or the deaths of my loved ones.

Or maybe I like All Saints Day because I am morbid and odd.

Whatever the reason-I am grateful that I can sit with the mystery of this day within the body of Christ! See you this All Saints Sunday!

Signs of Basketball Season

The signs of NCAA Men's basketball season are all around us like the fallen leaves, dried flowers, and burnt out grass.

At our house Blue Devil schedules suddenly appear on the fridge next to the pizza coupons. My husband overhears the battle cry of Blue Devils fans everywhere, "Go to He&* Carolina, Go to He&%".

And yes, we are on a waiting list for tickets to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in West Lafayette game of Boilermakers versus Blue Devils.

Ahhh...these are the signs of basketball season!

Headed Down Under

"Good 'ay, mate!" that is what my true love will hear in 24 hours. He is headed down under.

Not sure that he'll have a chance to swim in the great barrier reef and find Nemo (although our daughter would be very interested in an autograph). Nor will he have the chance to hear any arias at the Opera House. And I doubt that he will be in the outback chasing down kangaroos, dingos, or koala bears. Crocodile Dundee is NOT giving any tours these days- there goes that cultural photo op.

He will see plenty of the beach and sunshine. And for that his family remains jealous.

Blessings on a safe trip!

Gift of Time

Yes, I am a day behind my routine blog updates. That is because I was at a seminar yesterday on becoming an 'externally focused church'.

Odd sort of gathering because we were in a very contemporary chapel-room with a whole bunch of evangelical white pastors (mostly male) who think they have discovered the holy grail of ministry when what they have done is bumped into liberation theology and don't realize it!

I giggled through most of the presentation...because it was soooooooo Wesleyan.

Anyway- I am a day behind and that is why... I gave time to learn about the need for Christians to give time for the poor, widowed, and orphaned because "that is how we grow in Christ".

Holy Ground Moments

Moses was told to take off his sandals when he encountered God in the wilderness. It was holy ground. This past week I too have had my share of holy moments with God... here are a few...

• Sunday night I finished reading The Shack (in a record 6 hours) and used only 1/2 box of Kleenex. Great reflections on forgiveness and reconciliation! Thanks Todd, for the book loan.
• Spent yesterday with my dear Sophia Sisters (women who completed Spiritual Direction Internship program at Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, Indiana with me in 2002). I was heard deeply (thank you ladies) and had the joy and privilege of hearing deeply these amazing women share their holy ground moments.
• Watching our princess ride her trike around the large circle of our neighborhood this week...when she thought she couldn't do it!
• Pure pleasure and happiness of our pup who received a brand new bone last night (maybe he'll leave the rocks, pillows, and dollar bills alone now)
• Realizing after our family budget meeting last night that no matter what happens on Wall Street, how our pensions loose money, who gets voted into office, OR what happens with the bailout plan- my financial peace comes from Christ who strengthens me, and we will be well within God's gracious abundance.

What is your holy ground this week?

Saturday @ The Sheep Barn

Everyone knows that this is an election year in the USA. Hoosier United Methodists hit the voting booths err... voting cards early this past Saturday afternoon! Apparently Governor Mitch Daniels forgot about appearing before the largest Protestant denomination that is in all 92 Hoosier counties. He failed to appear. I heard that a BBQ drew his attention. He did send someone else to the sheep barn at the Indiana State Fair grounds.

In the midst of worship, while sitting on THE most uncomfortable chair ever made (that tingling feeling during worship was not the Holy Spirit, but blood being cut off to my lower extremeties) we raised and lowered our flurescent orange (for South) and flurescent green (for North) cards. No blue or gray. That would be too old school.

We voted YES to become one Annual Conference for United Methodism in the state of Indiana. And then we worshipped more and we remembered less and we couldn't feel our toes inside our shoes. (It made getting up to receive Holy Communion a tad risky.)

The vote happened rather quickly. I never got to ask any questions though... there was no re-count taken. Since our congress voted that week for an expensive bailout bill, I wanted to know how much the event in the sheep barn cost us as a new conference. Who is going to pay for all these uncomfortable chairs, the flashy voting cards, the sleek bulletin with a sailing leaf boat, the sound and camera crews? We are, I guess. At least we paid for our parking... and a lot more.

Just your typical Saturday afternoon in a sheep barn with the rest of the sheep...

Newbie

During my first church appointment out of seminary, my District Superintendent (supervisor) took me to breakfast to check in how life and ministry was going. Over pancakes and hot tea he offered a lot of encouragement and insight.

One of my favorite memories of that free breakfast was his advice about being the new person on staff at a new job. "You have a great excuse for all your mistakes your first year- you are new. Use that excuse wisely and then wise up because year #2 it is up to you!" That is a good reminder about being new somewhere... "Oh, I didn't know that. And now I do." That was great wisdom which I used. Throughout my tenure there, I learned ALOT because of my mistakes, my successes, and my fumbling attempts at forgiveness and reconciliation.

This next week someone new is moving into ministry with us at Calvary. We are excited about welcoming him and his gifts! We are grateful for another set of hands around here to help get ministry accomplished. It will be fun getting to know Andrew and he, in turn, getting to know us.

And as the newbie he gets a 'free ride' on mistakes for a while... I know he will use that wisely and then as my DS said to me, wise up! Andrew comes with wisdom and will grow and gain even more wisdom while serving with us. After all we are in the forgiveness business! And that is a great business to be in!