An Extraordinary God

This morning, I read in Mark Crumpler's Peachtree daily devotional, "The deeper problem is that believers increasingly see God as “distant, indistinct, uninvolved, and ordinary."

This weekend, my college daughter and a few of her friends will be spending the night on their way to their spring break trip.   I wanted to spruce up the house with some flowers,  etc. and have recently noticed how beautiful the quince flowers are this time of year.This morning, I was driving through the neighborhood and noticed a yard that had a quince bush blooming the size of a small mountain.  I  then saw a neighbor walking by the yard, and I told her that I was wanting to cut some of that quince.   (That neighbor recently joined me for the IF: Table where we talk, eat and share life for 2 hours/month.)    Within a minute or two, she called and said that she had gotten permission for me "to cut as much as I want."

Now, I realize that a friend's phone call on my behalf and cutting a neighbor's quince doesn't seem like a God-sized miracle.  But as I was thinking it through, I think that my small step in obedience in starting an IF:Table, and forming deeper relationships with neighbors, led me to the sweet gift of getting some free beautiful God-created flowers to celebrate my daughter and her friends.

At our last IF: Table, I read this from Henri Nowen, "We all need to eat and drink to stay alive. But having a meal is more than eating and drinking. It is celebrating the gifts of life we share. A meal together is one of the most intimate and sacred human events. Around the table we become vulnerable, filling one another's plates and cups and encouraging one another to eat and drink. Much more happens at a meal than satisfying hunger and quenching thirst. Around the table we become family, friends, community, yes, a body.That is why it is so important to 'set' the table. Flowers, candles, colorful napkins all help us to say to one another, "This is a very special time for us, let's enjoy it!”

So, as I believer on this beautiful ordinary day, I increasingly think God is closer than we think, very involved and extraordinary!  Be on the lookout for Him today!

The Container

Earlier this year, a container was loaded in Atlanta with 400 boxes of books from Books for Africa, 700 tshirts for VBS and youth camp, 700 bandanas, and 38,000 packs of seed.  This container was beginning its long journey to Chitipa, Malawi.  It was expected to arrive 1-2 months prior to the Peachtree mission team arriving.

The problem was it had a lot of problems on the journey. For a week or two it sat because of a check not being received, then another week or two because someone dropped a digit from the container's serial number, then the truck broke down in transit, and on and on.

It is now late July, the mission team was on the ground in Malawi, and the container was stuck in customs in Tanzania.  The trucker was ready to give up and go home.  It was the Friday night before the youth camp started on Monday.  Things don't happen quickly in Africa, and they certainly don't happen quickly on a weekend. 

Books out for delivery

The team leaders were making plans to do without the goods.   The team prayed and prayer requests were sent back to the US and others began to pray.   

After a long 10 hour drive to Chitipa, we drove into town - the local market - crowded with people, goods for sale, sticks and buckets atop many heads and smoking fires, and a container.  My husband, Jay, says almost jokingly, "There is our container."   As we drove closer, Fidel Kambalame, who works for Peachtree in Chitapa, walks from behind the truck and is grinning from ear to ear as he sees us see him and the container simultaneously. 

A few hours later, our team prayed prayers of thanksgiving for the container and safe travels as night was approaching and the moon was shining.  As we prayed, we heard the sounds of the truck with the container headed towards the school where it was to be unloaded the next day.

T-shirt and Bandana Adorned VBS Kids

As I look back and think about what happened and why, I think God was trying to say, "I just wanted you to know that I AM here, I know that you are here, and I've got all the details covered!"

I think we all need to be reminded of that - daily!

Flower Power

I have been reading one thousand gifts by Ann Voskamp about daring to LIVE fully right where you are.  It is about living a life of joy and waking up to God's everyday blessings.  It takes awareness and slowing.

The other day, I saw this daisy coming up next to my mailbox. I slowed and I noticed.  Do you see how it is not quite completely in full bloom? Just beginning to stretch out its "fingers."

It took me back in my mind to one of the first sermons that I heard when we moved to Atlanta.  The pastor told a story of a little boy that was trying to "open" a flower.  When he tried to do it, the petals just fell to the ground.  He asked his mom why and how God did it.

Later,  he told his mom, "I know...he opens it from the inside out!"  Yes, that is how God does it with flowers and with us, he opens us from the inside out.

Another Audible...

Scripture:  "This is what the LORD says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jer. 6;16

Last Sunday, our  Sr. Pastor said, "The whole Christian life is an audible." That sentence literally brought me to tears.  I feel like audibles are how God directs me.  I am not saying that I hear God's audibles like I hear my childern's or husband's voice, but I hear God's voice as audible in my heart.

I recently had another audible from God.

Back up a few years.  When I lived in Chicago, I had a dear friend, Jennifer Mote, that was in my Listen to My Life neighborhood group.  During that process, she felt lead to enter in to the Spiritual Direction program at North Park.  She convinced me to look into the program too.  It was about listening to God, listening to God with another, and listening to God in community.  It lined up with what I do with Listen to My Life perfectly, so I applied, got accepted  and completed the first year of the program.

Then we moved to Atlanta. When it was time for me to go back to Chicago for the 2nd year of the program, there were a dozen reasons that it didn't make sense for me to attend - mostly financial and some scheduling.  So, I sat that year out.  When I found out the week that I was to attend this year, I almost had a heartattack. It was the same week that I was to be in Florida for my daughter's national softball tournament.  I couldn't miss that.  I only have three more years with her, before she goes off to college. 

My thoughts were  - God, are you closing this door?  Should I just give up finishing the program?  Is there something else for me?  So I watched and waited. 

Since I moved to Atlanta, I have been seeing Gary Moon for Spiritual Direction.   He helps me to listen to God in my life.  I was connected with him through a friend from the North Park program.

In one of my meetings with Gary this year, I asked Gary for his input about other Spiritual Direction programs, etc.  He said, "Well, I am biased, but I think Renovare is one of the best things out there...."  He told me to read some Richard Foster and Dallas Willard's books to see if they connected with me.  I then said, "I'll know in the first two chapters whether I connect with it or not."  Why did I just say that?

I came home and looked up Celebration of Discpline on Amazon and previewed the first page or so, and this is what it said, "We must not be led to believe that the Disciplines are only for spiritual giants..or for those who are contemplatives who devote all their time to prayer and meditation. Far from it. God intends the disciplines of the Spiritual life to be for ordinary human beings: people who have jobs, who care for children, who wash dishes and mow lawns. In fact, the disciplines are best excercised in the midst of our relationships with our husband or wife, our brothers and sisters, our friends and our neighbors."  I was in tears....

I was getting ready to leave on a trip to Costa Rica with a few other church members, so I hurriedly found a copy of Richard Fosters' Celebration of Discipline to take with me.  My church bookstore had one copy...I'll take it!  Next, I have an email from our Sr. Pastor and he is quoting Dallas Willard, then on Sunday, another Pastor has another Dallas Willard quote up on the video screen.

Next, I go to my Sunday School class, and we begin to talk about books that we might want to do, and someone says - Richard Fosters' Celebration of Discipline is a great book. You have got to be kidding me, really?  Two Dallas Willard quotes and a Richard Foster book mentioned all within about 48 hours.

We arrive in Costa Rica and one of the church members says that he is staying for an extra couple of days for some solitude and reading.  I asked him what he brought to read.   The first book out of this mouth was Richard Fosters' Celebration of Discipline.

A week or so later, I am driving around Atlanta, and I had the thought that I had "wasted" a year of going through Spiritual Direction at North Park.  Then I realized the circumstances that lead me to Renovare - Jennifer Mote, then North Park, then friend at North Park connects me to Gary Moon, Gary Moon connects me to Renovare. As these thoughts are streaming through my head, a song entitled Walk Down this Mountain by Bebo Norman is on.  Something in this song (which I still don't know exactly what) just completely confirmed for me that Renovare was my next step.

I applied to Renovare and was accepted about two weeks ago.  So the next two years, I will be studying Spiritual Formation with Dallas Willard and others. I will be in the deep end and in over my head.  Just an ordinary human being who has a job, who cares for children, and who washes dishes excercising the spiritual disciplines in the midst of my relationships with my husband, children, sisters, parents, nieces, nephews,  friends and neighbors.

Questions to Ponder

• Are you listening for audibles from God?
• Are you taking any next steps?
• If you aren't hearing audibles, can you schedule 10 mins a day just to listen for God?

Recommended Reading

• Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton

All In

Neale & friends in Chicago

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Jer. 29:4-7


My husband and I had lived in SC for 40 years, and then almost out of the blue, God called us to Chicago.  When we moved there, I literally felt like I was going into exile.  During our stint, the verses above in Jeremiah jumped off the pages at me, I felt like God was saying - invest here, right where you are!  So we did, and 6.5 years later, he called us to Atlanta.

We moved from Chicago to Atlanta about 1.5 years ago.  When we were first interviewing here, we met with the Sr. Pastor, and I remember him saying how he always let his children go back and visit their friends as they moved from place to place.  For some reason, that just stayed in my head.

My daughter, Neale, has been begging me for months to take her back to see her friends. So after much hesitation, I booked the trip - 3 round trip airline tickets to Chicago - about $900.  I so hated to spend that much money, but I knew that I needed to honor our kids & their friends.  After all, we had moved them there and invested all of ourselves there for 6.5 years.  You know...bloom where you are planted.  And then we pulled them up by the roots again and moved them to Atlanta.

A few days after I booked the trip, we received a $1000 check - an unexpected gift.  Enough to cover the cost of the trip. I felt like God was affirming this trip for our family.

As we began to land in Chicago, my son, William, began to cry.  And then again, when we drove in our old neighborhood, tears again.   The move was extremely difficult for him.  And it was evident again how hard it really was even 1.5 years later.

Neale had decided to surprise her friends with her visit. We had conversations with all of her friends' parents to make sure everyone would be home. At the first house, she jumped out of a box. Literally.  Her friend screamed and seemed thrilled to see her.  The screaming continued as we went from house to house visiting old friends.  It was fun for me to see how glad they were to see her.

William also went from house to house.  Spending hours with each friend playing video games, hanging at the baseball field, spending the night, and eating pizza together.  Some moments were awkward, but most of the time, it was good, very good to reconnect. 

During the visit, I realized that the 6.5 years we spent there we were "all in."  As a Pastor's family, we never know what will be "next."  We had to choose to invest completely in where God planted us.  And because we decided to do that, we have friendships there that have eternal significance - to us and to them.

As we left Chicago, William had no tears.  I think he realized that we were "all in" while we were there, but now we must turn our attention to being "all in" here in Atlanta. Build homes and plan to stay. That is really what God calls each of us to do. Invest right where you are...where he has placed you....right now.

Questions to Ponder:

• Are you 'All In' where God has planted you?  If not, why?
• What steps could you take to be more invested and present to where you are right now?
• Ask God for his help to take those steps.

Food for the Tummy and Soul

Rebecca, Lynn & Carla
Georgia Ave. Chruch

Our church is promoting not just Giving Up, but Giving Back for Lent, so they are offering a chance to serve  the under-resourced each day in many different places for 30 days all throughout Atlanta.

Carla, my adventure friend in Atlanta, and I decided to serve at Georgia Avenue Church's food co-op. So we went this week, but we didn't know what to expect.  When we arrived, Brian told us how their church serves 250 families per month and brings in groceries from the Atlanta food back.  They only have to pay $3 to get about $80-90 worth of groceries.

A truck arrived carrying 1 ton of food that would serve 50 families.  So, we began to unpack the truck and sort the groceries with some of the co-op members.  The groceries included meat, fruit, and canned goods.  The boxes were arranged based on how many members were in each family - 1-3, 4-7 and 8 or more.  So the more people, the more food they received.

After the food sorting was done, they read scripture from Ecc. 3, sang "I Am Somebody," and prayed with passion - thanksgiving for the food, for those that came to help, the sick, the mayor, the government.  I was in tears.  It was without a doubt a church service for me! 

As I left, I thought about the food and what had taken place. Part of my story is that I don't have a good relationship with food. I was teased as a child for being overweight, and as a child and young adult, I was on  every kind of diet that has been developed.  I realized that food as been the enemy of sorts.  I realized that I have never needed for food. It was in plenty as I grew up and in plenty throughout my life.  I have always had it in abundance. 

On this day, I realized that food is a gift and a necessity.  It is not the enemy.   Food provides energy to go to work and to nourish the little children that were running around at Georgia Avenue that day and their parents to raise them.

As Brian at Georgia Avenue said, the Co-op provides food for the tummy and soul.  That day it did for me as well. 

F.T.T.

Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about?When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.' Matt. 25:37-40 MSG

A few days ago, I dropped off my daughter at a restaurant to have dinner with some friends.  As I left the parking lot, I noticed a very tall, hunched over man carrying a plastic jug of OJ (or something) as he walked down the street.  He was dirty and looked homeless.

I wondered about his story.  Was he ever loved? Did he have parents that cared - ever? Where is he going?  Where does he sleep at night?

The next day, I was driving to bible study, and I saw him again - same busy road. This time going a different route.  During the study, we talked about the term, F.T.T.  Failure To Thrive - the subject is part of John Ortberg's book, The Me I Want to Be.  He describes it as languishing - the condition of someone who may be able to function but has lost a sense of hope and meaning. 

As we discussed the term at our table, this "homeless" guy came to my mind, and I mentioned him and how he is looks to have F.T.T.  As we continued to talk, my mind wandered from the conversation and back to him, and then I remember a ziplock bag in my car that had toiletries.  It was put together at Vacation Bible School by my son.  He was to give it to a homeless person, and it is still in my car. Oh, I could give it to him! And then I thought, I'll put a $5 bill in the bag, and then I thought that I should get a gift card to McDonald's instead.

While I am having these random thoughts and not speaking them aloud, the woman next to me hands me a McDonald's gift card.  She told me to give it to him. Are you kidding me?  She had no idea I was having those thoughts!  She just said that someone had given it to her to give to homeless person and that she just hadn't given this one away.

So now as I travel around Atlanta, I am watching for him.  One bag of toiletries and one gift card will not fully restore his sense of meaning and hope, but maybe it will give him an ounce of hope to get through another day.

Question to Ponder: Who around you is F.T.T.?  How might you be able to give them hope for another day?

UPDATE: A few days after I posted this, my husband and I went out for a breakfast - that is a rare thing for us to do!  As we left the restaurant's parking lot, we saw the guy walking down the other side of the street.  We turned the car around, so that we could get close enough to hand him the bag.  He asked us something like - you got any money?  And I said, "No, but I do have a gift card so that you can have lunch at McDonalds."  He came, got the bag and smiled.  My husband said, "God Bless You." And down the road he walked.  Now I know my small offering will not change his life, but maybe this was about God changing my life and my heart.

UPDATE JAN 2011: About a month ago, I had dropped my son off at the church gym for basketball and as I sat in my car, my homeless friend passed in front of my car headlights.  He had a nasty, old blanket covering his head, and he was just walking down the street.  He is a very tall guy, so I was sure it was him.  As the days went by, I continued to get a visual of him in my head. 

As Christmas approached, my family and I were doing a Jesse Tree devotional, and it said something like how could you help God bless someone today.  And the homeless man again crossed my mind.  So I asked  my family of ideas of what we could do for him.  My 11 year old son, William, said, "Mom, why don't you make him a fleece blanket like you made us?" 

I had made them the "no sew" fleece blankets for Christmas a couple of years, and they have used them almost daily since then.  I decided William's idea was perfect.  So I went to the fabric store and purchased a camoflauge & brown fleece.  I thought it might camoflauge the dirt overtime.

So on Sunday, we knew we might see him coming or going down Roswell Road.  We were looking everywhere for him.  He was no where to be found.  We went to church and had several things to do before we could leave, so we were later leaving then usual.  We road the bus back to the parking lot to get our car.  As soon as we got off the bus, he was DIRECTLY across the street. 

We all raced to the car and jumped in.  My husband quickly drove out and went into a parking lot across the street. so that he would pass us by as he was walking. I rolled down the window and told him that we had a Christmas present for him.  We had included the blanket, new hat, gloves and a little money.  He said, "God bless you." 

God bless me?  I don't know why him saying that to me was such a shock.  He believes in God even though he lives on the street and has virtually nothing.  That is hard for me to take in.

The past few weeks, I have been watching for him and seen him several times.  I just was hoping to see him carrying or wearing my blanket around, but I have seen no sign of it.  I have seen him with a sleeping bag and other Christmas bags near his outdoor shelter.  I have seen apple sauce and canned goods that others must have dropped off to him.  So cool to see that others are giving to him as well.

As I discussed this with my husband, he said that it was ok that I haven't seen the blanket.  I just need to remember that I following through on what God prompted me to do through my son, and that is all that is He is asking of me.