Amazing Grace
As the youngest of 8 in a blended family Christmas isn’t a date, it’s an event that is deliberately chosen for the beginning of December each year. My mom and step-dad have somehow managed to create this ‘modern 21st century family’ for the past 34 years and this past weekend we celebrated together. This year we met at our house in Maple Grove. Let’s just say our house wasn’t built for parties of 25—and that was with 3 siblings and their immediate families missing!
We have traditions—everyone brings more food than they could eat in a week, the kids play games, my step-dad reads the Christmas story, everyone including the kids share something they are thankful for this year to the group, the kids exchange one present with a cousin and one from their grandparents, the adults have a white elephant gift exchange including one denim bikini that is passed from year to year and the recipient must put it on (over their other clothes), and finally we end the evening with a dice game called 6,5,4 with all the cheering and loudness of a professional sports event. Great time on Saturday night!
Kids really do help you see Christmas in a new way—Brooke my 2 year old grand niece has a way of showing us the innocence of youth as she danced around at everything. She is my niece Kerri’s daughter and Kerri is pregnant with her second baby. There have been some challenges with this pregnancy including an abnormal ultra sound a few weeks back. As recently as Friday they had received word that the baby might be doing better, so there was a cautious sigh of relief.
Sunday morning I woke up to my step-sister at my house to pick me up instead of putting together the pancake breakfast for everyone along with my parents who had stayed overnight. Kerri began having complications after going to bed and was rushed to the hospital by her husband where the baby was delivered stillborn at five months. Being the family ‘religious’ person, I was asked to come to the hospital and provide a small service of remembrance. At the time of need no one really cares whether or not I’m officially ordained (I’m not) they want to hear a bigger Word from God that everything is going to be okay in the midst of heartbreak. I consider it an honor to be asked and the person they think of when religious matters hit close to home.
From what I could find, John Newton wrote the most commonly recognized hymn of all time in 1748 after surviving a horrific storm in which he was the captain and a slave trader. He instantly gave up his livelihood, became a Christian and wrote the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ out of thanksgiving for his life being spared. I’m sure whenever you hear the words of this hymn, you think of the different places you have been where it has been sung.
Gathered around in the hospital room, we all experienced God’s grace in a new way. Grace Elizabeth did not survive outside the womb to the heartbreak of her family and friends but in the short period of time while she was in the womb she got to hear the sounds and love of her parents, her big sister, and a huge family that loved and cared for her.
The great part about baby Grace is that at only 9 ounces and 8 inches long, she was the exact reason Jesus why came to this earth. To save her just as he saves us from sin and death not with silver or God, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death, in order that I (we) may be his own. That grace which we don’t deserve but God freely gives to us is the reason we can continue to move forward in our lives in spite of the challenges and difficulties that come our way.
Read MoreVillager
The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child is attributed to an old African proverb although its origin seems to be lost in time. In 1994 children’s author Jane Cowen-Fletcher released a book, published by Scholastic Press, titled It Takes A Village in which a young African girl searches for her younger brother, only to find the rest of the village has been watching over him as well. While it has always been a nice phrase and made sense, I have a deeper understanding in recent months. I know why it takes a village to raise a child. I know why parents drop their kids of at church for confirmation and keep on driving. I know why I not only rely on the village, I need the village.
One of my girls really struggles with school work (which could be the topic of several blogs and perhaps a movement I may start called ‘blog-therapy’). It can start with losing the assignment, not completing another, not writing down the assignment during the class in her planner, a total disconnect when it comes to algebra. Math in its many forms was the class I did best in when I was in high school, but when my teenager comes to me asking for math help I get dizzy just looking at the page. So I must rely upon the knowledge of someone else to help. A parental outsourcing of sorts. Enter Pastors-Wife-Who-Is-A-Middle-School-Teacher-taking-time-off-to-be-home-with-her-two-young-children. God send. Each week Heidi meets my daughter at her school and they spend the next hour and a half learning, finding assignments, and meeting with teachers as they need to. Could I do it? Maybe, however I get to help out every other night of the week and frankly I don’t think I’m heard as well (and not as much help) as Heidi is to my 8th grader.
I’ve mentioned before that each Sunday night I am a mentor for two high school girls who lead a group of 7th grade boys for confirmation. It’s somewhere between learning nuggets and chaos at all times. The group is comprised of two very ADHD boys, two very smart boys, and another three that can go either direction depending upon the weekend. I picture their parents supportive and loving as they must be, just needing a break as they enter the Lord of Life ‘drive thru’ to drop off their boys. I’m willing to help out with this group of confirmation because I’m counting on the village to help me help my 8th grader with her math.
Let’s take a moment to thank our village today…bus drivers, school teachers, tutors, volunteers, coaches, music directors, children and youth directors, pastors, and countless others who contribute to the external DNA of my child and yours. Pray that the village is strong—willing to step out of its own needs for the needs of children and youth everywhere.
Read MoreFall …
Fall! My favorite season. The trees are all decked out in color transitioning from their summer green. It’s this time of year that holds promise of newness. I know that after this awesome display of color comes the time of leaf-less trees, but I don’t care the joy is in the moment. It’s enough just to enjoy the moment of viewing the trees, the crunch of the ground, the crisp morning and night air. I volunteer at my home church with confirmation. I have two daughters currently in confirmation and I’m intentionally working with a group of boys. Actually, I’m a mentor for the high school girls that lead the boys class. It is amazing to watch these girls skillfully but gently put the 7th grade boys in a good space for learning. They are in transition too. Trying to figure out in a developmentally appropriate way how to talk about God in a way that makes sense. Sometimes you see glimpses of fruit, much like the trees of fall; and sometimes you feel you’d be more productive banging your head repeatedly against a wall. BUT–although the trees of winter look lifeless, life is still being sustained and nutured even though it doesn’t look like it on the outside. Just like the youth we work with. We don’t know what is happening on the inside even when the outside looks uninterested. So give thanks when you see the trees for what they are now and for the youth we serve for now and what they will become.
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