Celebrations of Life . . .

The day begins with a cold, grey mist - fog so cold that it bites through my uniform shoes. The only thing missing is the rain and black umbrellas. The green awning over the open grave covers the five chairs for the private inurnment service - which are filled and end up with 60 people standing behind the family.

I remind them of the cliche portion of scripture in Ecclesiastes where it says there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance . . . It really is cliche but it is so important to remember that it is OKAY to weep and mourn (that's how it's supposed to be) and it is also OKAY to feel happiness and enjoy life. Sometimes we feel guilty and selfish doing so but we shouldn't . . . that's how it is supposed to be.

the next lines, though, were good for this particular service. YOu see, Carrie - carried rocks in her pockets. Her mom told her, as a child, that if she carried rocks in her pockets they would become polished. You can imagine where I went with that . . . (she also carried marbles and pennies because if she lost her marbles, she still had her sense/cents with her . . .how funny!). I had a basket of rocks and everyone was invited to come and get a rock and leave it at the gravesite - or take it with them. (Interestingly enough, everyone took theirs.)

I join them at the customary family lunch - and leave early to go back to the corps. When I walk in, I'm greeted by balloons and bears - a sign of the celebration about to take place in the gym - a baby shower for a young teenage mom in our corps. There is giggling going on, punch being made, cake and food being set out, and women are arriving with presents that shout out the excitement that comes with new life.

Mixing in with those guests - and some guests who plan to go to both - are the ones who have come for the memorial service - which starts an hour later. The food has been brought, prepared, readied - the chairs are packed into the corps - and they keep coming . . .more and more people.

She grew up in this area - and the people have come from all over - family from other states, friends from high school, parents who had kids in Cubs Scouts with her son and saw it in the obituary section, church family, party friends - they all knew her and had something to say about her.

Afterwards, the reception - there's always the reception. Funeral receptions are the most interesting. I've been to several in my family and I must admit - I love them. You see family - and you realize that you are part of something - even when you don't keep in touch on a daily basis, you have a tie that can't be broken. You meet up with cousins and make a renewed determination to keep in touch. You hug friends who leave quickly, knowing that they will be there for you in a few days when all the excitement dies down. The family is always in a little bit of a daze and I walk around with water, punch, and coffee and keep filling up cups - wondering how each of these people knows the dearly departed, but not really having the time to ask.

When everyone disappears, we clear the tables, moves the dishes to the kitchen, and finally get ready to go. I leave the family who has gathered (again) in the back of the chapel to watch family movies ad nauseum - I hear that Uncle Dud has hours and hours of it - and they are all eager to watch. Again, it's the common bond that can't be so easily broken with a death. In fact, it just becomes stronger.

And that, after all, is how it's supposed to be.

THis is what Jesus would look like . . .

if he came to earth today.

This video makes me happy.


Click here and Enjoy this video!!

Why are pirates so piratey?

Because they just AAAARGH!!!!

So, this October 31, dig out your piratey duds and find your eyepatch and clean off your sword - and join us for Pirate Night at Celebrate Recovery.

We will have you Walk the Plank, dig for buried treasure, and all sorts of other scurvey doin's!

More later! Maybe. Just be there.

By the way, we are showing Veggie Tales - Pirates who don't do anything - THIS friday night, October 24! Rated ARRRRGGGGHHHH!

My First Year .. .

I am so humbled .. . by how God works in people's lives and wants to change them into the person he created them to be.

I'm particularly thinking of the other night at Celebrate Recovery when Tess walked up to me and said, "Now this is my first year as a Christian and I'm not sure exactly how to celebrate Halloween." I didn't say anything and she said, "I just don't get the feeling that it would be something Jesus would do. But I don't know what to do with my kids. But we want to do it right."

My first reaction was in response to her statement "This is my first year as a Christian. . . " God must have known that I needed some confirmation that we were doing okay in our mission . . .sometimes we work so hard and we feel like we are spinning our wheels. It made everything worth it just to hear her say that.

But her question kept coming back to me and it was the next part that has impacted me the most . . .She wants to do what is right in God's eyes, not her own eyes.

Now - my background - raised as a Christian, I went trick or treating every year. I turned out okay. It never occurred to my family that we shouldn't be participating in Halloween. It was actually my favorite holiday - after Christmas.
It wasn't until a few years ago, when I started studying worship and what that entails and what that means to God (and what it should mean to me) - that I realized we probably would be better served by avoiding any and all festive activites on this day. We have gone to movies, gone bowling, made homemade pumpkin pies, but not trick or treating. No more haunted houses (I used to love those), no horror movies, no Halloween-Town nick flicks, etc. And guess what - my kids are turning out okay, too. I'm also re-evaluating my self-assessment that I turned out okay.

I LOVE that God himself moves people to stay away from activities that are not God-honoring. I HATE that, as Christians, we try to justify doing things we want to do - or continue doing. Are we submissive - or are we not? Do we want to claim freedom so that we can sin all the more? I seem to remember this same argument being applied by another person name Paul. .. .hmmm, he must have known that it would still be circulating 2000 years later.

I want everything I do to be pleasing to God - and I want it to be right in HIS eyes - not my own eyes. My own eyes are deceitful - and I certainly do not have good vision. In fact, the older I get, the more lenses I need. I have tri-focals now and I still have to wear two sets of glasses at a time to read.

I want to live my life as a Christian in my first year . . .always looking to please Jesus. Like Tess.

Breaking Down . . .the Walls . . .

Grace and Nancy found out that the chance to share Jesus comes at unexpected times. A lady walked into the corps and said that a couple was broke down over at Burger King. So they hopped in a van and went to go find them. After a few missed attempts, they finally saw someone walking on the road and found them.

The couple had broken down over a week ago and were stuck here in Pendleton - maybe by choice, maybe because they had no place to go really, maybe no money - who knows . . .the story changed a little each time it was told . . .but the reality was that they were living under a bridge and hadn't eaten in a couple days (she was pregnant and hadn't felt like walking to the Army for lunch).

So, a short while later, they all (Nancy, Grace, the couple) find themselves sitting together over a dinner table at Denny's - finding out that they aren't so different from each other, thinking that if the tables were turned they might be in similar situations . ..

Bread of man, bread of God . . . Denny's, Jesus . . .showing love, sharing love. They broke down in Pendleton . . .but God broke down the walls.

Mentoring means putting your heart where your mouth is!

susan and krystal - an unlikely couple. One is 18 and just finishing high school, struggling with a family that doesn't know how to be a family yet, living outside the home. Susan is older, wiser, and been around the mountain quite a few times. She is also sports her ever-present oxygen tank - fondly referred to her as her "jet pack." She is a soldier at the corps and a champion for children and animals!

Krystal calls Susan, sometimes in the middle of the night - when she feels like hurting herself, when she doesn't feel God's love, when she just needs to hear a friendly voice. Krystal told me the other day the first time Susan told her that she loved her, she started crying.

Do we realize how much of an impact that we can have on one person? Just be showing some interest?

We want to pray for both of these women - they are both facing big changes in their life. They are both right where God wants them - in his arms of love.

League of Mercy - the way you (don't) remember it (if you still have your memory, that is)