Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Experiencing Life Together

There's a great line towards the end of the movie, Hook after Peter Pan and the Lost Boys had defeated Captain Hook and the Pirates, and saved Peter's children. Peter is heading back to the real world and is flying up in the air as the Lost Boys are watching him leave likely for the last time, yet they smile as they watch their leader and friend leave and one boy simply says, "Now that was a great adventure." I'm sure the Lost Boys were sad to see him leave, but at the same time they weren't thinking about their loss, they were considering instead what they had just experienced together.

The past two weeks have been a bitter sweet time for my family and I. We are in the process of relocating to Dallas and leaving a church where I have been for over ten years. I've been the Youth Pastor for the last six years and have thoroughly enjoyed this time in our lives. People have asked if I was sad, I think some of the students may have been disappointed that I haven't cried about them, but certainly this doesn't mean that we haven't been sad to go. Some time ago, before I announced to the kids that we would be leaving I prayed that the Lord would allow me to enjoy the time I have with them, that instead of focusing on how difficult it would be to leave, we would be able to remember with fondness the great adventure we have just experienced together.

It would be impossible to mention every student or every memory that has made an impact in my life. The truth is in so many ways I have been effected, challenged, and encouraged by their testimony and by their ministry to me. I will always remember the times we witnessed God's marvelous creation on a ski trip, or served alongside each other on a mission trip. I will cherish the times we delved into the depths of God's Word to seek answers to some of life's most difficult questions or played volleyball well past our bed time (or at least mine!) Students often get a bad wrap, as if you just babysit them and can't deal with the meat of Scripture with them. In my experience our students were always open about their questions, and quick to look for answers. They visited us at the hospital for the birth of our sons, they wept with us when we lost Eliot. We have rejoiced with them as they won games, made homecoming, or graduated, and wept with them as they lost loved ones, or faced other disappointments in life.

My prayer for them as they move forward is much like what I've always wanted for them, that they would take ownership of their faith, not coming or believing simply because they feel they were expected, but because they are pursuing a relationship with the Lord on their own. Secondly, I've prayed for unity among the group. Unity stands in contrast to what we see throughout culture, I've always wanted the youth to be a united group of students who treated each other as family. Finally, I pray that they move forward in their faith and in their lives now that we have left to experience new and exciting adventures with the Lord as their guide, and others as their partners and leaders.

What's different about the Peter Pan/Lost Boy connection is that the only thing that united them was their friendship and the experiences they shared together. As time went by their experiences and friendship would wain because it had been so long since they had been united by their experiences. For us as Christians, we have far more in common, or in union with each other than just friendship and experiences. Jen and I will always be connected to those students who came through the "Youth House" between 2005-2011 because we are members of one body (1 Cor. 12), indwelt by one Spirit, following one Lord (Eph. 4:4-6). In God's sovereign plan He brought Jen and I to that place and has now led us away and it was a time we will never forget. We will always love those students and the time we shared with them because we experienced a great adventure together and that's something we'll never forget...

I'll share more about this move and God's great goodness manifested through His servants in the upcoming weeks, but for now I have to get back to getting ready!


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Love does not seek its own

I'm planning to do some more posting on how the Lord has gone before us (as I had mentioned in my previous post) in about 2 weeks, I want to finish the move before I reflect in this format about God's blessings and answers to prayer during this time of transition. Until then I've got another reflection for you that is a late Mother's Day reflection...

Recently, as I've been reading through 1 Kings I stumbled across a familiar story. I can remember hearing a story of Solomon's great wisdom as a kid in Sunday School and even as a small child you recognize that he was extraordinarily wise. The story goes that two women shared a home, both had children days apart, but sadly one woman had rolled over on her baby in the night. She awoke and found her child dead, and in a moment of panic quietly switched her dead baby with the other woman's live child. The two women came before Solomon both claiming the live child as their own. Solomon asked for a sword and stated that each woman would get half. The true mother quickly cried out, "Give the son to the other woman," while the other woman swept away in grief liked that the living son would be divided for I'm sure she thought, "if I can't have my son, neither should she have hers." Solomon quickly identifies the woman who sought to preserve the child's life as the true mother.

Even a casual reader has to recognize wisdom in the young King Solomon, but as I read it this time I asked the question, why? What is so wise about Solomon's response? What does he recognize in the mother's response?

Solomon recognizes that a mother, the one who selflessly cares, provides, and nurtures their child will seek the best for their child even if the situation demands that the best is not with them. A mother's love was put to the test in Solomon's response, does the mother love her child enough to let the child go so that he can live, or will the mother demand that the child must stay with her even if its to the child's detriment?

Love does not seek its own (1 Cor. 13:5), but seeks the best for the object of its love. Solomon's response impresses us because he recognized that a mother's love is so great and selfless that she will want the very best for her child even when that's at great cost to herself.

I'm blessed to have both received such love as a son from my mother, and to witness such selflessness by my wife for my sons.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Lord goes before us...

I apologize for the long silent period on this blog. We are in the process of moving which has taken a lot of my time as we searched for jobs, sold our house, found a temporary living arrangement, and then find a place to live in the Metroplex. I'm thinking limiting moves in life can probably increase one's life expectancy by a couple of months! I moved a lot as a child as my Dad took a job in Arkansas, or Oklahoma, or Mississippi. It became pretty common, but this move is the first one I've had in ten years!

I've been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel in my devotional time over the past several weeks. I came to 2 Sam. 5 where the Lord gives David directions concerning his battle strategy. The Lord tells David to wait to attack until he hears the sound of marching in the tops of the trees (5:24), that's the sign that the Lord has gone before him to strike down David's enemies. By this point David had distinguished himself as a great warrior, winning many victories over a host of different individuals and armies. Despite the status he had achieved, his faith will still resting on the Lord for the victory. Praise the Lord that in this time of change and uncertainty that the Lord has gone before us in this move. We can rest our trust and hope on Him to provide and meet the needs that we have. I'll explain in the upcoming days...