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Monday, September 29, 2014

How To Live Prayer


I resisted because it made me feel a little crazy; praying in the rain at 6 a.m. on your knees is like that. It’s not a matter of not liking early morning. I am proud.

I pray to God---my life a prayer---and wait for what He'll say and do. My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching til morning, waiting and watching til morning. Psalm 130:5-6 (MSG)

I look down at the wet wood under my robed knees. Planks needing paint, patterned and scratched, scraped. Yes, I kneel on the back porch. Surrendering my cozy couch comfort and my idea of the best way to hear from God. Get your toes wet.

God talks to me, in my head---it feels audible. He pushes me past the french door stainless steel handle, out onto the plastic pronged mat that stabs my feet. I bend my knees down and rearrange my robe. A quick check to ensure neighbors are not watching. Thank you God for the leafy hedge.

That day I prayed in posture. Sometimes I pray in black ink, maybe a morning dim whisper.

To make your life a prayer, you must hear it, see it, say it, do it. BE IT.

As Anne Lamott titled her book with three small prayer words, Help, Thanks, Wow, maybe a word is all you have. Exhaling frailty starts as a seed in your soul.

Prayer seems daunting. Where to start. I forget to start. If I start, I might never end!

Pray small. Pray questions. Pray answers. Show up early. Show up late. I bring Him hard stuff, easy stuff, stuff I don't want. Bit by bit, a giving over, dependence, the sky itself is lifting into morning. The rough night fades, sometimes a whole lifetime of rough nights fade too.

I am full of expectation in this space between dark and light.
- Christina H.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Welcome Back, Fall!


Welcome back ladies!  I don’t know about you but I am looking forward to another great year and am excited to see what God has in store for all of us!  You may or may not recall from my October post last year how much I LOVE fall…so let me just tell you.  I LOVE FALL.  I love apples and pumpkins, the changing colors, cooler weather, walks, soup in the crockpot, cider, fall festivals, aaaaaaand wearing sweatpants.  Yes, ladies, I am not ashamed to admit how much I enjoy wearing sweatpants.  I even asked my husband once if he got tired of coming home from work and finding me in my sweats.  Thankfully, his answer was “No.  Are you comfortable?”  Yep, he’s a keeper. 

Since I am sure many of you will be visiting apple orchards and pumpkin patches (if you haven’t already, we love Cider Hill), here are a few things you can do with your apples and pumpkins:
  • Make apple butter, caramel apples, or apple pie.
  • Taste test with different types of apples and create a graph of everyone’s favorite.
  • Build with apple chunks (easier than marshmallows).  Click HERE for an example.
  • Glitter your pumpkins (doesn’t glitter make everything more fun?!).
  • Paint pumpkins:  if you search on Pinterest or Google for painted pumpkins, you can find some REALLY fun and cool ideas such as glow in the dark puffy painted pumpkins, Superhero pumpkins, polka dot pumpkins…the possibilities are endless!
  • Use pumpkins to teach your children Math and Science (unbeknownst to them) by estimating weight, number of lines, sink or float, etc.  Write it down, then actually test their estimations.  This is a great teaching tool especially when you use pumpkins of various sizes!
  • Another cute and simple fall activity are THESE leaf peepers.

We’ve already started collecting a few leaves here and there as we see them for this craft.  On the website they mention pressing the leaves between books but I recommend ironing them between two sheets of wax paper.  This will help keep them flat and last a bit longer as well. 

We love attending fall festivals too!  In fact, we went to one last weekend in downtown Shawnee and will be going to the downtown Overland Park festival this coming weekend on Saturday, September 27th if you want to check it out!

Wonderscope has a few great activities coming up as well that you can check out at www.wonderscope.org .  Lakeshore Learning in Merriam has free crafts on Saturdays for children 3 and up too!

And as always, don’t forget to check out KCParent.com for more events and happenings around town!

Well, there you have it.  Try to pick at least one new activity you think you’d like to try with some special kids (or kids at heart) in your life and have some fun! 
Julie Collett



Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Creation: Covenant and Kingdom

 This morning Shelly and Heather introduced the Covenant and Kingdom triangles which represent the two major themes we're using to study the Bible this year. This is a photo of their white board exercise. It isn't the clearest photo, but we wanted to make sure you had opportunity to reflect on its content this week. 


Each week, as we discover how God's story is actually our story and our story is His story, be asking yourself, "now what?"  What are you going to do this week to move around the Covenant Triangle from Father to identity to obedience? What do you need to do right now to start believing your identity comes from God alone and He provides you with humble authority to exercise power in your own life?

Jena M.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Being a Bridge

by Stephanie Morrill

Several Sundays ago, when Isaac Anderson stood on the Heartland stage and talked about first lines in literature, I felt sure God would have something special for me in the sermon. Much of my lifechildhood, adolescence, and adulthoodhas been about stories. I tell stories for a living, and I also work with teens who love to write and help teach them to tell better stories.

But while I hung on every word of Isaac's sermon, at first I wasn't listening with my spiritual ears so much as my writer ears. I was thinking through the first lines in some of my books. Have I done a good job putting the story in the first line? I could maybe write a blog post about that. I wonder where Isaac teaches and if his class is full...?

But thankfully God nudged my spirit awake as Isaac unpacked the first four verses of Luke:
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me t write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. - Luke 1:1-4
How many times have I skimmed this introductory paragraph on my way to the meat of Luke's gospel? But Isaac made an observation about this opening that has already made a big impact on my identity. He pointed out that Luke talks about two groups of people in this paragraphthose who were up close to Jesus, who knew him, and those who were not close and needed access.

And Luke puts himself in the middle. 

"Like a bridge," Isaac said. Luke was a bridge between those who knew Jesus and those who needed to know Him. Here it is again, with Luke's reference to himself highlighted:
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me t write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. - Luke 1:1-4
A bridge, I realized as I stared up at the screen. That's what I am.



It was one of those moments that I've become increasingly aware of in my last year at Heartland, a "kairos" moment where God is speaking and my ears are listening.

The words thudded in my ears all day, and then all week. I'm a bridge.

I thought about the teens I work with, the ones who are proud to be Atheists but who love hanging around our writing website. I'm a bridge for those teens.

I thought of my children, who ask me difficult spiritual questions ("Mommy, what happens to people who die but don't believe in Jesus?") that I try to answer honestly, yet in ways their six- and four-year-old brains can understand. I'm a bridge for my children.

I thought of the novels I write and how they wander into homes and lives where God is mocked or ignored. I'm a bridge for those readers.

We're all called to be bridges—that's what the Great Commission is all about.  Jesus said to his disciples, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Who in your life do you have unique access to? Coworkers? Nieces and nephews? Foster children? Neighbors? Consider how God might be uniquely equipping you to reach those people.




Saturday, September 20, 2014

Kindness

And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ
Philemon 1:6 (NLT)

Yesterday I was talking to our neighbor. She had stopped by and mentioned she was a having a rough week – and my mom had called (we are also having an emotionally charged week) and in my moment of selfishness I excused myself and answered because I had been trying to get ahold of her all day. 

It took a solid few hours for me to realize I had just completely prioritized my family’s drama above another’s need to be heard. 

Since I had just SO completely failed in compassion I decided to pick her up some flowers at Target just to say “hey, I heard you and I pray your week improves” (since my actions clearly said I did not care, even though I do)!

Funny thing (and the whole point of this post for those I’m beginning to lose)…I felt so awkward walking the flowers across the street. I should mention we just moved into our house last November, and we are on very friendly terms with our neighbor, but are by no means super close (yet). And I felt like a silly little girl walking with my flowers! It struck me as sad that I am so unaccustomed to doing random acts of kindness that it was extremely awkward to perform. 

I was worried about how I would look when, once again, this had nothing to do with me! Thank goodness Jesus stepped in and whispered:

Never feel foolish to show love.

That phrase has been on repeat in my head ever since.  Never feel foolish to show love. 

After much prayer and reflection I’ve decided that kindness needs to ooze out of me a little more freely. Don’t get me wrong, I love kindness and have all these ideas of how to be kind. But I get all up in my head and worry about what others will think about me if I do them! (typing that I realize how incredibly stupid and vain I sound)

But I am task oriented. I make lists, I have goals, and I take steps to reach them. So, until it’s habitual, every month I am sending a random box of kindness to whoever God puts in my heart. I must learn to listen to His nudges (so if I randomly ask for your address don’t be afraid).

This life isn’t about me, and showing love isn’t about me. Being kind isn’t about me. It is ALL about listening to God. Doing the nudges, because all good things are from God…so that means every good and kind idea comes from God, right?!  So what are we waiting for?! 

~Never feel foolish to show love~
- Jessi

Every generous act of giving and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father who made the heavenly lights, in whom there is no inconsistency or shifting shadow

James 1:17 (ISV)

Monday, September 15, 2014

The Word Which Requires Us to Fail

Every moment we must resist the urge---and fight it fiercely---the one saying, "You are unusable." God calls us his disciples, his very hands and feet.


My mother-in-law and I lounge on pillowed wicker patio chairs and breathe in warm California air under palm trees and the waning sun. She shares the guts of a messy situation. I listen well until she asks, "What should I do?" Brakes screech in my ears, but there is only the hum of the neighbor's steam cleaning machine across the street. Hold on. I am twenty years younger. I am honored and humbled. In a second, I remember every piece of unsolicited advice I have given in the name of God. Surely, I cannot be the one to give her reason.


I remember comforting a close friend badly, in a blur of unboxing and finding the best shelf for my plates. She came blazing in to reorganize my kitchen, but a sharp betrayal knocked her onto my couch. Crying, she poured it all out, the years leading up to a phone call gone wrong, in my fresh house.


I reached into an arsenal of trite expressions and scripture quotations and vomited them in her lap. Really, I just wanted her to stop crying. I wanted to tell her I was out of sympathy because the years, the history, told us all it was coming. I remember and I hope she blocked it all out, especially the part where I started opening my mouth, getting all Jesus-freaky. This is the memory rising to the back of my brain as I consider if God can use me ever.


I have thought I must have answers for everyone, especially those who ask. I have played psychologist, counselor, pastor, arbitrator, and savior. But these roles are not disciple. Disciple is the one who realizes they have nothing to give to the needy but Jesus.


As the evening passes on the patio, I listen more.
I am incapable.
But I love God and I love her, and I will listen.


If you love one another, everyone will know you are my disciples.


This dear woman who has survived four boys, breast cancer twice and almost a complete bodily reconstruction listens to my laments of loneliness. She tells me where she sees God in my children, in my family. I cannot see it half the time. I tell her the work of God I see in her life---the opening of her home, her yard, her neighborhood.


If this is discipling, I want more. The advice is gone.


We are both broken enough to see our need in our stories.
The disciples were messy people. They fought (Luke 9:40). They forgot (Mark 8:14). They were faithless and fearful (Mark 4:40).


Jesus prays for his disciples so they may be safe and useful to the world. That Jesus would call me a disciple staggers the mind! But if I am His, which I am, then call me disciple.


A recent remembrance of a story from a book I am reading surges forward. Eugene Peterson describes his wife Jan, a pastor's wife:


"This happened more and more frequently, women hungry for hospitable conversation, being listened to, not harangued, being understood, not enlisted in a cause. When they asked for advice, she demurred. 'Why don't we just be friends, maybe meet regularly together, get to know one another, and feel free to talk about what we are learning or wondering about in this life of faith that Jesus has joined us in? Why don't we just agree to be faith friends?" (The Pastor)


Faith friend. I repeat it to myself after the patio conversation. It is more for myself, to accept others and love them with no expectation. I want to be a friend even when I am chaotic, controlling, untrusting, and scared. I cannot do it without Jesus and grace and the expectation that He will show up. He is doing good things in me---small, holy moments glorifying Him.

I pray, "Use me here in the messy and my failings." I open my mouth with fear and trembling to answer. The stars peak out above the palm leaves above us, shining down on the Word itself, Jesus, the one we give back and forth, the word I keep repeating to myself and to anyone who will listen.
- Christina H.