When it comes to enjoying hotels I have two things working against me:
1) I'm a home-body. I like being in my own home, in my own room, in my own bed, etc.
2) I worked at a hotel for a little over two years and had about all I could take of a lifetime's worth of hotel experiences
But even I can admit that hotels can be nice from time to time. Especially when they have certain amenities. In most cases I like to have my ESPN. I prefer places that have FREE wireless internet access. Some of the nicest places I've stayed charge a fortune for using the internet. But I like the nicer places because they usually have quality mattresses and some of the best pillows I've ever allowed head to rest. But one of the amenities I have come to value the most, especially when it comes to youth trips, is a quality baptistry...or an indoor pool to most of you!
This weekend at Winterfest we were privileged to participate in another baptism. There is something so special and sacred about friends and family going into the waters together and surrounding the person who is about to be buried with Christ and raised to new life. Those who chose not to get into the pool gathered around its edges and witnessed the amazing transformation of choosing to live the Christ-life. In some ways it's the closest thing I've been able to experience that hints at what it must have been like for believers in Acts.
Maybe I'm bias to baptisms in pool contexts. After all I grew up in Florida and our mindset was... who needs baptistries when everyone's got a pool. I know it's not any less meaningful but somehow it doesn't proclaim the same message when we do it in the small "bathtub" baptistries. When everyone is in the water together there is beauty in the expression of community. It communicates on a whole other level that we as fellow believers are here to walk beside you, to share in your death, and to rejoice in your new life! It's hard really to even explain it adequately in words...but I believe it's a sacred moment that leaves God's fingerprints upon all our lives.
There weren't thousands of us, just 54. It wasn't Jerusalem at Pentecost, just the Ramada Inn at Winterfest. There wasn't a special formula or magical words on our part, but at least for those few moments...that hotel couldn't have been any more holy!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
You Are What You Shampoo...
Winterfest really ended up being a wonderful weekend! Although often it doesn't feel wonderful to me. I think it is because the ultimate responsibility for 54 people falls on my shoulders. I find myself constantly concerned about various teens, about making sure people are in the right place (and not lost), about safety, about schedules, and about everyone's enjoyment of a weekend trip. I still am able to have fun but I'm a little on edge most of the weekend with a heightened sense of awareness and responsibility. I am grateful to both my chaperones (who were wonderful) and my teenagers (who are always respectful, responsible and well-behaved) for another memorable Wintefest!
Once we arrive home though I feel like I can finally breathe. I can feel the burden removing itself from my shoulders. Sara and I made sure everyone had a ride home from the building and then it was time to head over to the kennel to pick up Topaz. When we got him in the car it didn't take long to realize he smelled awful. So it was decided that as soon as we got home Topaz was receiving a bath.
We got him into the bathtub and began looking for the dog shampoo. It wasn't in its usual place on the back edge of the tub. We quickly found it though on the upper shelf in the shower. Hmm...odd place for it...we don't usually put it up there. Then we remembered that we had guests stay with us last week who were without power at their own house. Sara and I both burst out in guilty laughter. Turns out our friend Kevin mistook the dog shampoo for one typically best suited for humans. I thought I noticed him itching a little more the last couple days.
Needless to say it was a good way to release the stresses of a long weekend! And of course, when I saw Kevin yesterday, I made sure to bark a little! He was less than thrilled, but his bark is worse than his bite...
Once we arrive home though I feel like I can finally breathe. I can feel the burden removing itself from my shoulders. Sara and I made sure everyone had a ride home from the building and then it was time to head over to the kennel to pick up Topaz. When we got him in the car it didn't take long to realize he smelled awful. So it was decided that as soon as we got home Topaz was receiving a bath.
We got him into the bathtub and began looking for the dog shampoo. It wasn't in its usual place on the back edge of the tub. We quickly found it though on the upper shelf in the shower. Hmm...odd place for it...we don't usually put it up there. Then we remembered that we had guests stay with us last week who were without power at their own house. Sara and I both burst out in guilty laughter. Turns out our friend Kevin mistook the dog shampoo for one typically best suited for humans. I thought I noticed him itching a little more the last couple days.
Needless to say it was a good way to release the stresses of a long weekend! And of course, when I saw Kevin yesterday, I made sure to bark a little! He was less than thrilled, but his bark is worse than his bite...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Be the Possum...
...and Die that You Might Live! Along with the help of a few short clips from the movie "Over the Hedge" that was the message of my sermon on Sunday. Here are a few of my favorite lines from it that impacted me...
"After all death isn't exactly something we typically look forward to. It’s hard to picture any of us longing to sit down and have a cup of coffee at Starbucks with the Grim Reaper…we often fear it, do all we can to avoid it, and rarely are we truly ready for it. Death often creates grief, sadness, despair, even loneliness. It doesn’t make the Travel Channel’s list of Top 10 vacation destinations yet it is exactly what Jesus calls us to…"
"...when we are buried with Christ we come up out of the waters with new garments on…the wardrobe of compassion, kindness, humility, discipline, peace, and love. They are clothes that may not compare to the latest trends or create considerable buzz in fashion circles, but they are Christ’s clothes and God longs to tailor us that these clothes might continue to fit as we grow.
Dying to self is something I have to continually work on each and every day. It can be very difficult and painful but the life that follows the death is worth the struggle. I only hope that as God works on this piece of clay more and more, I too can share in Paul's words..."My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."
May Christ's life be evident in mine as I continue to learn how to die!
"After all death isn't exactly something we typically look forward to. It’s hard to picture any of us longing to sit down and have a cup of coffee at Starbucks with the Grim Reaper…we often fear it, do all we can to avoid it, and rarely are we truly ready for it. Death often creates grief, sadness, despair, even loneliness. It doesn’t make the Travel Channel’s list of Top 10 vacation destinations yet it is exactly what Jesus calls us to…"
"...when we are buried with Christ we come up out of the waters with new garments on…the wardrobe of compassion, kindness, humility, discipline, peace, and love. They are clothes that may not compare to the latest trends or create considerable buzz in fashion circles, but they are Christ’s clothes and God longs to tailor us that these clothes might continue to fit as we grow.
"The ironic (even crazy) thing about it all is that we live in ways that allow our fear of death to shackle us, when all along Christ’s message of dying to self would truly bring us freedom!"
Dying to self is something I have to continually work on each and every day. It can be very difficult and painful but the life that follows the death is worth the struggle. I only hope that as God works on this piece of clay more and more, I too can share in Paul's words..."My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."
May Christ's life be evident in mine as I continue to learn how to die!
Friday, February 01, 2008
A First Time for Everything
This afternoon I was provided with a unique opportunity. I had the pleasure of witnessing a baptism. Just the three of us. Although that wasn't the unique part. The unique aspect involved who the person was...we'll call him Johnny. I'm not certain how old Johnny is but if I had to guess I might say somewhere in his sixties. He is a resident at a local nursing home. This morning we received a call from someone who works with Johnny on a regular basis who informed us that after several conversations between the two of them over a period of time, Johnny had made up his mind to be baptized. So this afternoon the two of them made their way up here to the church and together we ushered Johnny into new life with Christ.
It was a sweet moment really. See, Johnny has some limitations. He is mostly confined to a wheelchair because of problems with his legs. We had to struggle to help him up the stairs to access the baptistry. His friend Will playfully joked that it could be his therapy for the day! We got him to the top only to attempt the descent down into the waters. We made it halfway down the stairs into the baptistry when Johnny turned them into a water slide and slipped the rest of the way in. It was hard for him to manipulate his body in the ways needed to fulfill his heart's desire. But by the time he made it in you could see the excitement in his face. He went under an older, broken, physically limited man but came up a new creation with the joy of the LORD as his new strength.
Beautiful. Sacred. Intimate. And I was allowed the privilege to participate in the moment. When I first heard about it earlier in the day I was a little taken aback. I had never been asked to witness a baptism under these circumstances. But by the time we finished sharing the God-moment together...it was worth feeling uncomfortable and awkward...because here was a man who despite his age, despite his limitations, despite his lot in life...understood the simplicity of dying to self in order to be raised to life!
Special. Powerful. Humbling.
God be praised for another first!
It was a sweet moment really. See, Johnny has some limitations. He is mostly confined to a wheelchair because of problems with his legs. We had to struggle to help him up the stairs to access the baptistry. His friend Will playfully joked that it could be his therapy for the day! We got him to the top only to attempt the descent down into the waters. We made it halfway down the stairs into the baptistry when Johnny turned them into a water slide and slipped the rest of the way in. It was hard for him to manipulate his body in the ways needed to fulfill his heart's desire. But by the time he made it in you could see the excitement in his face. He went under an older, broken, physically limited man but came up a new creation with the joy of the LORD as his new strength.
Beautiful. Sacred. Intimate. And I was allowed the privilege to participate in the moment. When I first heard about it earlier in the day I was a little taken aback. I had never been asked to witness a baptism under these circumstances. But by the time we finished sharing the God-moment together...it was worth feeling uncomfortable and awkward...because here was a man who despite his age, despite his limitations, despite his lot in life...understood the simplicity of dying to self in order to be raised to life!
Special. Powerful. Humbling.
God be praised for another first!
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