that’n makes me cry

Posted on May 17, 2012 by stacy

No, I’m not talking about one of the greatest moments in cinematic history. I’m talking about certain passages in the Bible that always leave me feeling disappointed, let down by the characters in the passage. Do you know what I mean? Are there folks in the story who do things that leave you shaking your head?

Adam and Eve…poor start. Samson…what a spoiled & selfish man-child. King David…first there was Bathsheeba & Uriah, then there was today’s passage from the LifeJournal reading plan:

About that time David’s son Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, began boasting, “I will make myself king.” So he provided himself with chariots and charioteers and recruited fifty men to run in front of him. Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, “Why are you doing that?” 1 Kings 1:5,6

How does a man who gets called “a man after God’s own heart” never discipline his son–ever? David might have been a model for a lot of good stuff, but his family was a wreck. I don’t want to rule the country if it means my children are going to get lost in the jetwash.

It breaks my heart for David. I know that we only have part of the story, but there’s hardly any way to put a spin on this so that it comes out as a positive. David did a lousy job of parenting/fathering his sons, and that left them with some tragic flaws that would devastate them later in life. I am sure that no matter how much he accomplished in his lifetime, he had to look back with regrets over his sons.

I want to learn from David’s mistakes so that I don’t make them with my family.

And here’s that moment of magnificence I mentioned above.

4th grade to 8th grade

Posted on May 15, 2012 by stacy

Last night we rolled out to hear the 4th & 5th grade choir/band/orchestra concert. Tonight we attended the 7th & 8th grade choir/band concert.

What a difference 4 years makes.

The elementary school kids sounded like, well, like elementary school kids. They did their best, worked hard all year long, and played up a storm. But at the end of the night, they’re still little kids playing instruments that take years, even a lifetime, to master.

But fast-forward four years of diligent practice, the daily discipline of sitting down with the instrument and a patient/skilled teacher, the routine of scales and rudimentary skills, the challenges of new and exciting (or boring) pieces…the work pays off.

As the middle school band played tonight I found myself getting swept up in the emotion of the night. I could imagine a simpler time when the entire community would turn out to hear the local students show how much they had improved, entertaining and captivating an audience for an evening.

Their progress over the past 4 years was unmistakeable, and inspirational.

How much have you grown over the past 4 years, and why?

mother’s day means…

Posted on May 14, 2012 by stacy

most of the day went Kim’s way. I say “most” because she is, after all, still “mom,” which brings a certain level of responsibility that cannot be shrugged off, even one day of the year! But this past Sunday was pretty much a win for Kim.

We dedicated our four adopted children to the Lord Sunday morning in a ceremony at midtown. While Annabelle and Josie have already come to believe in Jesus, Isaac and Charlie have not. This act of dedication isn’t a good luck charm or a guarantee that they’ll eventually believe; it’s more of a promise on our part to do everything we can as parents, family, and community to help them grow up to love Jesus.

After church we all gathered around the table to eat Kim’s choice: mush and BLTs! Before we started chowing down, I had each one of us share something that they appreciated about Kim. It was a beautiful moment for our family, as each one of us shared something unique and personal.

Kim’s one big desire for the day was for us to plant a garden as a family. She got more than she asked for. Not only did we get the box garden roto-tilled and planted, we planted several boxes of lettuce, sunflowers, and pumpkins, washed and vacuumed her van and pulled a pile of weeds out of one of the flower beds. Just about the time we wrapped things up, a gentle rain started to fall. It’s still falling as I write this, more than 24 hours of free water for the freshly planted garden!

We capped the night with a family version of Settlers of Catan–the expansion set! It was wonderfully crowded around the table, but that meant that the board was equally crowded. Though the game started off slowly, the pace reached fever-pitch by the end. The kids ganged up on me in an attempt to keep me from winning, but they could only hold off the inevitable for a few more rounds. I wish that Kim had been the one to win since it was Mother’s Day…maybe next time!

Here are a few pics from the day…

fabulous lifegroup tonight

Posted on May 10, 2012 by stacy

Do you get tired of hearing me rave about my lifegroup? I’m not kidding, y’all. My lifegroup is muy fabuloso, el supremo, and dad-gum-good. You have only a few alternatives:
1. Come and join us, or
2. Start your own rival muy fabuloso group.

I will concede that there could be concurrent lifegroups reaching muy fabuloso status; it’s not an exclusive title.

Tonight we spent a lot of time talking about the names by which we know God. He reveals himself to us in a vast number of ways, and each way teaches us something about his character and nature. Many people shared personal stories of how God has shown up in their lives, leaving his fingerprints on their stories. Others listened quietly, nodding their heads now and then, taking everything in. I talked about how God has been Provider for Team Sublett in countless ways, big and small.

How do you know God? How has he revealed himself to you? Here’s a list of names used to describe Father God, taken from Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God study. (Someone should seriously buy that man a steak.)

The take-away for tonight focused on EXPECTATION. We share our stories to encourage others. Where God has revealed himself to others, he can do the same for me. When I hear about God being someone’s Strength or Rest or Help or Comfort I begin to look for God to do those things in my life, to reveal himself to me in that way. Mark Batterson writes about the Reticular Activating System, and how an increased awareness leads us to notice things that had once gone under our radar. When I’m hearing about God showing up and showing off in someone else’s life, I start to look for God to move in my life in similar ways.

That’s just part of what I love about my lifegroup–they know and experience God. Are we perfect? Well, not all of us…OK, you know that’s not right. None of us are perfect, but we’re growing, and we’re growing together.

I’m not even joking about you joining us. We have new folks roll in all the time. What are you waiting for? You know you need a group like us! And we need you…

de-clutter day

Posted on May 9, 2012 by stacy

Tuesday at Calvary is normally reserved for meetings, at least in the morning. We’ve got meetings for the pastors, meetings for all staff, meetings for special break out groups, meetings for people to plan meetings for other people. But not today.

Today was the All Staff De-Clutter Day.

We’ve grown and overgrown our office, spreading through the building like kudzu. Our staff has some long-timers (I’ve been here since ’98, and Dorsey joined us soon after) but there’s also a lot of new and transient and incoming to our staff. Our offices are in what used to be someone’s very fancy, very big house. It’s served us well, but we’re definitely in need of some spacial reorganization. We’ve been told to get ready to move out of the space we’re currently using, making way for a new occupant.

The first step in that process (as determined by some of those people who plan meetings for people) was to get rid of the gazillion pounds of ~~junk~~ extraneous miscellanea. Our top-notch de-clutter organizers gave us a pep talk and an informative sheet that walked us through the process of determining what needed to keep and what needed to be jettisoned. By the end of the day we had piles of VHS and cassette tapes, a veritable forest of of fake plants and wicker baskets, and enough 3-ring binders to choke an army. I sorted through all my old sermon manuscripts, notes from every seminar I’ve ever attended, position papers that I wrote for my ordination 20 years ago…most of it went into the “recycle” pile. Old pictures and mementos, unwanted books and cds, even some nice pieces of furniture…it all found its way down to the common room where it was sorted into a few rather large piles:
1. Trash
2. Donate
3. Keep

The “Trash” pile was free for the pickin’, and I felt a little like the guys from that show (American Pickers) as I sorted through the piles. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Or it’s another man’s junk in a few weeks, but it feels like treasure now. I scored a sweet coffee pot, a Nike pullover for Levi, some notebooks for the kids to scribble in, and a sweet Hannah Montana Goes to the Mall game for the girls.

They say that you’re supposed to feel better when you’ve cleaned out a place. Kim told me so when we cleaned out the garage before turning it into a bedroom.

It’s a lie. I hate throwing stuff away. It doesn’t make me feel better; it makes my skin itch. I want to go back to the piles and pull all of my stuff out of the mess, to de-clutter the de-clutter. Oh well. I guess we’re not all wired the same.

What about you? Do you like to de-clutter or does it give you the heebie-jeebies?

6 or 16?

Posted on May 8, 2012 by stacy

Levi has always been imaginative. He’s always been quick to re-tell a story-line or create a character. He’s good with voices and back-story, and has always enjoyed playing a role. When he was 6 it was pretty common to find him as Buzz Lightyear or Peter Pan. These days it’s more of a superhero bent, but the flair is still there. I love that about Levi.

Last year he went to the end of the year formal for the music department as Superman. The other day he and a few friends dressed up for the premier of The Avengers. They had such a good time at the movie–some girls wanted to get their picture taken with them!–they decided to reprise their roles for Free Comic Book Day. The guys were hoping to get their picture snapped with the Stormtroopers at Comic Swap, but they missed their chance.

He traded in the superhero suit for a monkey suit Saturday night. Levi got asked by a friend to accompany her to the senior prom. They went with a bunch of others from the music dept at school, and they had a blast. They were out LATE–the after-party ended around 4:30am–but they are responsible, and the after-party was pretty fun.

Here are a few pics from Levi’s weekend.

leaving town well

Posted on May 3, 2012 by stacy

This is one of the times of year I hate. HATE. Not because of allergies, though I’m pretty ticked at Adam and Eve for the whole fall of man thing. My gripe lies with the transient nature of our town.

Folks roll in for education (we’re in the shadow of Dear Old State), worm their way into our hearts, then take a piece of us with them when they move on to the next stop on their journey. I get that. I have come to terms with the fact that we’re not HOME for most of the people who good folks who worship with us every weekend. Our role is to equip them for where they’re going next, to invest in them for the good of the Kingdom.

Sometimes folks leave without saying goodbye. I understand. They can’t get to everyone on their way out. Other times I get a note, an email, or a totally-appropriate sidehug from someone on their last Sunday with us.

Tonight our ThirdPlace folks has a celebration for those peeps who are transitioning out of Happy Valley. They shared stories, showed pictures, ate and worshiped and sang…They talked about places that they have experienced God, times that they have been lifted up by the community they found together, ways that they’ve grown and become better people because of the relationships they’ve formed. Then we prayed. They all prayed for their friends, laying their hands on them, asking God to bless, to provide, to care for and go before, thanking him for time together, lessons learned, and life shared.

We don’t always do things well. Sometimes we get things flat out wrong. But tonight, there was a group of people gathered to do things right. Even if I don’t like it. Well done, ThirdPlacers.

desperation + expectation =

Posted on May 3, 2012 by stacy

Dan Nold says that’s the recipe for relationship with the living God. If you want to hear it for yourself, click here. Our lifegroup (still lovin it!) talked at length about how that applies to our lives tonight. A few thoughts & threads…

Am I desperate for God? And if I’m not, can I create desperation? Can I decide to be desperate? I think I can, at least to some degree. Others would lobby for the other side of the coin, but I believe that at least to some degree I choose what matters to me, what I desire, what I want to pursue. I can choose work or family or adventure or Jesus or ______. I know that the word of God says that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). I’m not talking about salvation; I’m talking about my priorities. I can (after coming to faith) choose to pursue God like my life depends on it (it does, btw). My life–how I spend my time, $, energy, etc–shows what my priorities are, where my heart lies, and what I am desperate for. I want to be desperate for God.

Do I expect God to show up? Would I recognize him if he did? What would he do? One of the highlights of the Experiencing God study that we’ve been doing (love it) is the reminder that God is already at work around me/us. I have to pay attention, looking for him to reveal what he’s doing, listening for him to speak. I want to live more expectantly, to anticipate God showing up, to adjust my life to what he’s doing–everyday.

William Carey (father of the modern day missionary movement) famously said, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

I want to live with those words echoing through my life. Expecting God to move, to show up in power, to breakthrough…Attempting things God has called me/us to do that are so big, so audacious, so Kingdom that God has to come through, so that he alone gets the glory.

Desperation. Expectation.
Those words are easy to say.
Those words are not easy to live.

But the goal of Grace is Relationship; nothing less. Not forgiveness. Not behavior modification. Not blessing. Oh sure, those are included in the deal. But the goal of grace is a relationship with God the Father, secured by Jesus the Son, sealed with the promise/gift of the Holy Spirit.

Maybe you want to listen to Dan talk about it now. Clicky.

I want to be able to say this (Psalm 73:25-26)

Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.

so how was your semester?

Posted on May 1, 2012 by stacy

I don’t know how you measure the passing of time in your neck of the woods, but in the shadow of Beaver Stadium (Joe Paterno Field?) we closely follow the PSU academic calendar. We divide our year into semesters and summer break. The fall semester creeps along, while it’s spring counterpart seems like a mad dash from spring break to graduation.

This is finals week at Penn State. Last Sunday a group of top-notch volunteers baked mountains of goodies, loading about 500 brown paper lunch bags with the necessary goodness to get students through their final exams of the semester. Over the next few days the town will empty, settling into a quieter, more small-town vibe (if that’s even possible here!)

Do you miss final exams, or school in general? I do…

This is a good time to take a look back at the last 4 months. What did you learn about yourself? Where have you grown? What has God taught you about himself? My buddy Greg was given the mission of creating a video re-cap of the past semester at Calvary. He was handed a bunch of photos and video from the past semester and sent off to the dungeon.

Here’s a link to what he came up with. I think he did a great job, but the more remarkable thing to me is seeing what the Lord has been doing in our town/church over the past few months. It’s good to be reminded…

Kudos to Greg and the communications team (Ging!), and glory to God!

The video may take some time to load, but it’s worth it!

a wizard & a munchkin, a witness, and a writer

Posted on May 1, 2012 by stacy

Lilly and Sadie got things rolling this weekend. It was Lilly’s final show as part of the middle school drama club. They put together a wonderful Wizard of Oz, with Lilly playing the role of the great and terrible Oz. Sadie (5th grade) had a role as a junior munchkin, but looked about as big (and as comfortable!) as some of the older kids on stage. Lilly and her friends did a fabulous job with the show! It was our dear friend Anne’s directorial adieu, as she and her lovely family head for the mitten that is Michigan at school’s end. We’ll be sad to see them go; Anne has directed lots of shows with our family, and we LOVE her and her fam.

Josie joined 15 other people Sunday after midtown to be BAPTIZED! She has really grown in her understanding of who Jesus is, her relationship with him, and what it means to be a Jesus-follower (thank you Alli and Casie) so she wanted to be baptized. We had lots of other folks who wanted to testify to their relationship with Jesus, so we rented a hot tub (Thanks to Bill and Clay at Tubbies!) and set out to baptize 16 people. By the time the tub was ready to be drained we had added 5 more to the list! I had a blast, even though I couldn’t say a word. I lost my voice Saturday night, so Kevin did all the talking for me (I have great friends!)

After we had worked our way through our list of baptismal candidates we opened it up for others to make a public declaration of their faith. The first young man to step up was a new friend of mine who wore his boots and cowboy hat right into the water! He said, “I don’t care about you holding my nose, just make sure my hat goes under water!”

What a great day.

Isaac was beaming tonight as we settled in for supper. He was singing and grinning as he set the table. He had a big night. Tonight the family headed over to listen to Isaac’s class read some of the poetry they’ve been writing. Isaac memorized his poem and recited it for us. It’s kind of free-verse…

When I came to America,
my mom asked me what I like.
I like basketball.
She said I have basketball practice in December
and in January I have basketball games.
Thank you, Mother!

His classmates responded with the traditional fingersnaps, but he also got some of the moms and dads in the room to give him the “awwww” sound. He also scored a couple of high fives. He’s never had a family come to hear him recite his poetry before. That’s got to be pretty significant.