A Walking Advertisement

I stopped a local restaurant this evening on my way home from work to get some dinner. As I sat down at my table, a woman sitting at a table nearby said, "There's someone from Habitat." I wondered how she knew I was with Habitat for Humanity and then I realized I was wearing a shirt with the TriState Habitat for Humanity logo on it. Duh!
Anyway, I went over to the table and the woman introduced herself and her husband who was sitting with her to me. I introduced myself. We then talked for several minutes and I discovered that this couple volunteers with the Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity affiliate. They are very active construction volunteers and have been volunteering with Habitat for a number of years. In fact, they met for the first time as a single people on a Habitat job site and are now married.
After our conversation, I went back to my table and said a prayer of thanksgiving for running into these two dedicated Habitat volunteers. I was so glad that I was wearing my shirt. I am proud to be a walking advertisement for Habitat. I am passionate about our mission and the work that we do. I want the world to know the difference that Habitat is making in the TriState region, the United States, and around the world. I am so proud to be able to represent Habitat and to be able to connect with others who share my passion for bringing an end to poverty housing in the world.
I also got to thinking about how I am not always the best walking advertisement for my faith. I don't always represent Christ to the world in the most positive manner. I only need to look to my morning commute to recognize this. I am too often filled with road rage and certainly don't offer much grace to the drivers around me who I am convinced are all on the road driving stupidly just to make me mad.
I also am not the best ambassador for Christ when I remain silent in the face of the injustice I see in life. I often times would rather just not make any waves rather than stand up for what I know to be right in God's eyes. I take the easy way out by often people are led to believe that I accept the injustice that is taking place because I am silent.
So, tonight I'm giving God thanks for the opportunity I had to be a witness for the mission of Habitat. I am also praying that God will give me the courage and peace to be a more faithful witness for Jesus in the world.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

My Life Feels So Disorganized

My life feels so disorganized, Holy Spirit. It seems as if everything around me is piling up. It’s not just the drawers that need reorganizing, the kitchen that needs cleaning, or the heap of stuff in the garage that needs sorting—it’s everything:



my daily schedule crammed full of tasks,


my house crying out for a major cleaning


my office with the overflowing in box and stacks of junk—


even my relationships are disorganized.


I feel disjointed, out of control, out of touch.


Bring order into my life. Help me sort through all the things around me.


Help me see what needs to be kept,


what needs to be thrown away,


and what needs to be changed. . . .


O Holy Spirit, even as I say this, I feel fear. I know that things need to change. I know, deep in my heart, that my life’s disorganization is symptomatic of a deeper disorganization.
I need your gentle breeze to blow through my spiritual life. I need your strong wind to sort through the stacks of issues I don’t want to face. I need your quiet presence as I deal with the unspoken prayers, the unfulfilled desires, the unrecognized emotions I have hidden away.
Holy Spirit, come now, in this moment, and in the recesses of my heart, begin the process of organization. Begin to sweep out the dark corners, sift through the crammed closets, and blow through all my dark places. May you blow through my life every day. Through your power, bring order into all the chaos around me. Amen.

- Patricia Wilson, Quiet Spaces

The prayer above was a part of my e-devotional this morning. It was the perfect prayer for me to pray at the start of my day. While I don't have a garage that is full of stuff, everything else pretty much hits the mark. While I have learned some tips along the way to help myself make better use of my time, I still am not an organized person in so many ways.
This disorganization carries over into my relationships. Too often I feel like I am not a very faithful friend, son, brother, uncle, co-worker, or church member. I coast a lot and allow others to carry my relationships too much. I tell myself I don't have the time or resources or some other lame excuse. The truth is, I get lazy and I don't want to make the kinds of accommodations that being in relationship means for me.
There is no relationship that this is more true than in my relationship with God. I am pretty much a weasel when it comes to my relationship with God. I don't want to be inconvenienced or have to go out of my way to live out my faith. I want to always take the easy path. Heaven forbid that I should really take up my cross and follow Jesus. That certainly wouldn't work into my schedule.
The good news in all of this is that God is a God of unending patience and grace. God is always a faithful Father and Friend. God is always ready to listen. God is always calling my name. God continues to call me to a kind of perfect order in my life that is centered around Jesus. In spite of my disorganization and selfish behavior and foolishness, God still loves me with a love that will never let me go. Into my chaos, God blows fresh winds of forgiveness and mercy.
Thanks be to God!
Thank you for being a part of my journey!

Good News

I received an interesting email today from Habitat for Humanity International. The email announced that Habitat for Humanity International ranks as the sixth largest home builder in the United States with 6,032 closings in 2010, according to Builder magazine’s annual survey. Each year, the magazine compiles information from U.S. builders and lists the top 100.
Habitat’s Builder 100 ranking has continuously improved through the years. For the first time last year, Habitat ranked in the top 10 as No. 8 on the list with 5,294 closings. Habitat’s 2010 home closings increased due in part to the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative program in which many affiliates have purchased and rehabilitated foreclosed properties to turn them into affordable housing in partnership with low-income families and to strengthen neighborhoods affected by the current housing market. Habitat helped an additional 2,327 families with repairs to their homes in the United States.
I just got home from a class on home ownership for our Partner Families and while I am tired after a long day I am also energized by spending time with our Partner Families. These are truly amazing people. They have to do much more than most people in America who want to buy a house. They have to attend classes. They have to complete 500 volunteer hours. They have to track all of their hours and recruit people to help them. And they do all of this while they work and raise families and participate in their communities and churches. I'm not sure I could do it all. Yet, they are willing to do this in order to realize the dream of home ownership.
I continue to give God thanks and praise for being a part of such a wonderful ministry. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

To Love Is to Lose

To live is to love. To love is to lose. But to lose is to live. If we lose one part of our life, we become open to another part. If we love having young children at home, when they grow up and leave home the empty space created by their leaving opens the door to love something else — like the freedom to travel or to visit with adults without interruption. When something disappears, it opens the space for something else.

Loss opens new space with regard to faith as well. When the way we understood God as a child no longer helps us navigate the swirling waters of adult life, we sometimes give up faith all together. For those who continue to immerse themselves in the stories and rituals of faith, new insights into the character of the Divine can emerge.

- Dan Moseley, Lose, Love, Live

This quote in my e-devotional really spoke to my heart today. It reminded me that what I need to be striving to do is to be a loser. This is not the kind of message that the world embraces. Instead, we are pushed to be winners often times at the expense of others who are branded as losers. However, as the author states, it's only in losing that we can truly learn how to love and live. So, today my prayer has been, "Lord, make me a loser."
I hope you find these words both challenging and comforting in your journey as they were for me. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Veteran's Day

Thanks for your prayers for our Habitat family recruitment event this evening. It went well. We did not have very many people show up but this is not unusual. It's a chance for people who have specific questions to ask them and get answers. Some people stayed for a while to start filling out their applications. We also got to spend some time talking with some of the families and hearing their stories. I always really enjoy this.

On this Veteran's Day, I'm finding myself filled with a deep gratitude. I listened to a couple of reports on the radio today about veterans and their families. I continue to be in awe of military personnel who continue to serve our country and endure repeated deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places around the world. I can't begin to imagine the great stress that they are their families experience.
I also am reminded on this Veteran's Day that each day I live in freedom is a gift from those who have been willing to put their lives on the line. Many of these brave men and women gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. This humbles me and causes me to wonder if I could ever find within me this kind of courage.
I hope you will join me in praying for our veterans and their families.

Thanks for being a part of my journey!

God of the Autumn

Autumn God, the planet turns
and the earth signals a change.
Open me to the transitions I need to face in my own life.
Be with me in the letting go,
the saying good-bye
to habits, relationships, and plans
that stand in your way of growing.
Deepen my trust that as I let go,
like the falling leaves,
I will always fall into your embrace. Amen.

- Larry Peacock, Openings

I love fall. I noticed yesterday when I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law's home that the leaves around their home were really starting to turn colors. One tree is already a brilliant gold color. I am looking forward to the coming weeks as the glorious colors reveal themselves and God's handiwork is on display.
I really like the prayer above that was a part of my e-devotional today. It seems to really speak to my current circumstances. I am trying to be open to the transitions going on in my life. I am trying to listen and to understand where it is that God is leading me.
I also need to let go of things. I think most difficult is the letting go of relationships that may inhibit my growth that this prayer mentions. That's a hard one for me. As an introvert I don't have huge amounts of friends and after being a pastor in local churches, I continue to keep my guard up and don't trust a whole lot of people. It's hard for me to make friends and I make it harder on myself to make friends. I certainly need to pray about letting relationships go. I've been grieving the separation from some folks who have been so dear to me in life in the past. However, maybe part of truly loving them is releasing these relationships to God. I need to trust God's guidance and movement in the midst of these relationships.
I absolutely love the image of falling into God's embrace. I want to be there. I want to experience to the depths of my soul the power and love and grace of God. It's only then will my true colors, like the brilliant beauty of fall leaves, be revealed.
I hope you are enjoying this fall season. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

A Meal with Jesus

We celebrated Communion at the church I attended today. As I was preparing to receive Communion, I realized that it has been a while since I received Communion. I have been visiting various churches and I have not visited one for a while that was celebrating Communion.
This was a welcomed experience for me. There's something about partaking of the bread and the cup that bring about a kind of connection with Jesus that I can get in no other way. The worship bulletin said "Holy Communion (A Meal with Jesus)". I like that description. It is not just a symbolic thing that I do out of a sense of tradition. It's an act of faith that mystically draws me into deeper relationship with the One Who redeems and sustains me. I meet Jesus face to face when I participate in this sacrament. I am reminded of his broken body and his blood that was shed. I remember his great love for me and for all the world.
I'm grateful that I had the chance to share a meal with Jesus today. It was a time to confess and remember. It was a time to be emptied out and filled up. It was a time to connect with fellow Christians. It was an act of faith and a reminder of the gift of grace. It was a meal that always seems to satisfy my hunger in new ways.
I hope you have had a good weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!