Living the dream



At church, some weeks are more fun than others.  I laughed so hard this week, my stomach muscles were sore. It was a fun week: our preschool hosted pajama day, some of our staff dressed in Winnie the Pooh costumes, new families toured the building, we had a successful middle school parent night, and a spur of the moment decision to put up some decorations led to more decorations, and more decorations... and more... one thing leading to another.  We just kept going. 

When reflecting about the Being the Hope Community with a colleague, it hit me, "This is my dream job!  Oh my gosh, this is my dream job.  This is what it feels like!" 

This community is amazing.  When I came in, they affirmed my skills and gifts and celebrated some of my ways that are a tad unconventional.  And as we keep doing this thing called church, I feel like they keep telling me in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, "Keep going.  Let's keep going."  This church literally seeks change, asks for it, and cheers it on. 

 It hit me tonight: it was nearly one year ago that I thought the opportunity for a MN appointment was slipping away.  One Sunday, I visited what's now my church, just because I happened to be running errands in the area one Sunday and had no place to worship.  And I sat in that parking lot after worship and wondered, "Could I ever be appointed here? I think this place would fit."  Oh... that sneaky Spirit.  Yep, it fits.  Feeling really grateful about that fit this week.

Just wanted to share.  And if you want to follow the fun adventures, click and like.  https://www.facebook.com/BeingTheHope/


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I think Christian Nationalism is bad for Christianity. By Kelly Lamon

Image
My daughter, a first-time voter, said to me, “Mom, it feels really important to me that Kamala Harris wins the election.”   I replied, “I feel the same way.”   Plenty of pundits and talking heads are outlining why: the policies on her website, women’s rights, empowerment of the middle class, her message about lifting people up.   But I want to talk about a different reason.   As I Christian pastor, I’m concerned about the future of Christianity in the US due to the uprising of Christian nationalism since Trumpism took root.   It’s no surprise that as a pastor, I believe that faith really matters.   I can cite scientific research about the healing power of spirituality, point you to stories of individual transformation, and highlight the positive impact of religion on society.   Heck, I've devoted my life to sharing this good news.  But  I am also astutely aware of the damage that faithful people can do: oppression, manipulation, coercio...
Read more

Tragedy and Grace

Image
This is written with permission of the daughter of Sha-Von.   Last year, my church started a journey of more actively pursuing racial justice.   After so much struggle in the Twin Cities, we could not turn our eyes away any longer.   As a step in this journey, the staff and executive team was asked to make progress in our ability to adapt to diverse cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, and to understand more deeply the biases operating in us.   I remember meeting one-on-one with our consultant.   I found myself saying to him over and over, “I feel as if I know what I need to do in my head, but I don’t intentionally create space and time to interact with the diversity around me.   I’m scared.   I'm a  perfectionist.   And I can’t be perfect at this.   I’m worried that my interactions could create harm.   I don’t want to be that person.   So I just withdraw.”   That was last spring.   And I didn’t make an...
Read more

Was Jesus Polarizing?

Was Jesus a polarizing figure? My church will do a worship series on polarization during Lent.   Wish us luck!   People are already asking me, “Are you really going to ask me to interact with others whose views are so off course that they would become violent?”   That response is incredibly telling of the dynamics at play within our society—that people automatically go to the extreme without seeing the rest.   The goal of this series is to investigate whether the life of Jesus teaches us anything about polarization. I’ve been doing some scriptural research.   And I got to tell you: it’s been a tough day.   You know when you are reading a novel and you prescribe a personality, tone of voice, and temperament to a character?   It’s almost like you can hear their voice in your head as you are reading dialogue.   The author of the story, of course, plants all the seeds through their character development, but ultimately the reader’s own lens giv...
Read more