three miles per hour

the very old and the very young
are strategically placed
impediments to speed

the wise relinquish accelerating
taking their cues
to savor the view

Sunswept Waves

sunswept, salty
waves and curls

happy cries
of gulls and girls

shoreline sand
ebbs and flows

water dances,
splashing toes

snuggled skin
cooled and warmed

baby dozes,
memories form

children breaking
bread with birds

bend near sand
in earnest search

see the small
but mighty laugh'n 1

in the face
of mighty ocean

these finite moments
create space

so infinite love
can take it's place

1 loose reference to William Shakespeare's quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream, 
"Though she be but little, she is fierce!"

Joy-Full

My heart

Is overrun with children

My house

Is very full indeed

My house 

Is overrun with children

My heart

Is very full indeed

The Advent Season Is Upon Us....

(a note I wrote to Kairos)

In reflecting tonight on our Worship Gathering, I had an assortment of seemingly jumbled, unconnected thoughts...the importance of meditating on and adhering to God's law...how good it is to participate in regular intervals of congregational (church family) worship....my kids' excitement at the homes with Christmas lights already up...Somehow I landed at how important it is for us, for Christ-followers, to take pause of the Christmas season before we find ourselves dazed on the doorstep of December 25th wondering where the time went!

What more can we expect from ourselves when the season is already wrought with extra familial engagements and gifts to be purchased and given? Oh of course we can add waxy advent chocolate calendars, coat drives, carols, Christmas plays, gifts for orphans, secret Santas, sugar cookies and decorations galore. All good things. But these elements in and of themselves are incomplete. They should be a byproduct, not a substitution for, the meaningful pause of the Advent season as we joyously look forward to the celebration of Christ's birth!

But, you may wonder, why should we pause? Why add another cookie to Santa's plate? 

We pause because we are a fickle people. We pause because we forget. We no longer engage in annual, week long festivals throughout the year as the ancient Israelites did, to celebrate and commemorate what the Lord has done and to anticipate what He will do. We no longer have to engage in the physical act of sacrifices and offerings as the priests did who went before us, visceral reminders of the sin separating us from God and the atonement made because of the poured out life of the slaughtered lamb. We do not pause, we do not see, we do not touch, we do not speak. We are a roaming, often unrooted and harried culture. We think that the here and now is all there is, that the family traditions and gift giving will make or break the season. 

...Yet we are called to partake in something more. 

We are a people set apart, holy, and to be firmly rooted in what Christ has done for us and the joyous occasion His entrance into that manger scene set into motion. We are commanded to open our mouths and tell of the great things He has done for us, loud and strong echoes of the words of our ancient brothers and sisters. We are still called to celebrate and commemorate, when we assemble together in Worship Gatherings, at Missional Communities and in the privacy of our homes, parents- first and foremost with our children! 

So, how? What does it look like to take a meaningful pause? 

We can begin with asking questions like: What did Christ's birth mean for the Israelites when the first angels appeared heralding the new born baby from the sky? What did it mean for all of humanity? For me individually? What does Jesus' birth mean for the way we live now and the glorious hope of the Kingdom to come? Too often we can leave the grand telling of the story of God's engagement with our world and His engagement with us up to Sunday school teachers or the Charlie Brown Christmas special. 

Pause. Take time to think. It might be uncomfortable, it might take work. But if you are looking to find space between minutes, to stretch this season so that you are fully in it and it's not just slipping through your fingers, take the time to wrestle this Christmas meaning out. Pause and invite your loved ones into unharried conversation, into searching the Scriptures or seeking God together with prayer and singing. Time slows when we are fully present with one another; time stands still when we are in the presence of God. 

Our children need to hear the Christmas story from us. Our children need to know that it is their story, that it's a story still relevant today, just as life giving and hope inspiring now as it was when it occurred those thousands of years ago. And it is often in the telling that we are reminded that it is still our story too.
....
For me, intentionally studying and participating in the Advent season each December becomes more meaningful with each passing year. I am looking forward to beginning again with my daughters tomorrow and with all of you as we worship together in the weeks leading up to Christmas. 

Here are two resources that I'm using now with my kids (the link below as well as Truth in the Tinsel). They might be a good fit for your family too if you have little ones, but if not I encourage you to seek something out that will help keep your mind and heart fixed on our Savior!

Happy December 1st!

http://tooverflowing.com/then-came-jesus-advent-study-is-now-available/

"then came Jesus" release from Lara Williams on Vimeo.

Time

We have officially entered the season of Lent and many in our community from young to old are fasting beverages or facebook or sleep or any other number of comforts the Lord has impressed on hearts to sacrifice for more of Him.

Throughout these weakness-revealed 40 days, our Sundays' Worship Gatherings bring a heightened sense of celebration and relief as we break our fast for 24 joyful hours and thankfully acknowledge God and all that He has done for us.

It is in preparation for tonight's celebration that I find myself ruminating on a passage from Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts...

Thank God for the time, and very God enters that time, presence hallowing it. True, this, full attention slows time and I live the full moment, right to outer edges. But there's more. I awake to I AM here. When I'm present, I meet I AM, the very presence of a present God. In His embrace, time loses all sense of speed and stress and space and stands so still and ...holy.

 I have been fascinated with this word "present" as I find it quite elusive in my day to day life, yet it is a discipline He has called Noah and by association, myself, to pursue this year. Being present-minded for our children's sake and friends and family's sake has been a good and healthy endeavor, but it is also to encounter God at every turn....and it works. It's practicing the presence of God and it stretches and tames the unruly and running time, like God making the sun to stand still. 

Each time our church family gathers to worship, I pray for focus, for present-mindedness. For time to slow as we lay our burdens down and bow ourselves to our Creator. We will be singing these words of surrender tonight:

Lord as we turn to You, come free us from our sin.

We only have today, so let us now begin.

Lord as we give You more, Your Spirit swells within;

Cause You are Holy, Holy Lord

From dawn to dusk we're waking up...

Tomorrow's freedom is today's surrender;

We come before You, lay our burdens down.

We look to You as our hearts remember: 

You are the only God,

You are our only God.

-From Dawn to Dusk

Come ready to celebrate. Come ready to encounter Jesus. Come ready see time stand still.