I grew up attending Vacation Bible School (VBS) every summer as a child, then as a teenager I would help with games or crafts, and now this year I took on my most involved role yet, small group leader. I led one of three groups of 7-year-olds the first week of VBS, and it was amazing. I learned...
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 You don’t need to read indy-mag.com, to be reminded of the 2007 Britney Spears very public tantrum as she exited rehab, filed for divorce and...
Last week our planet encountered the loss of two well-known celebrities to apparent suicide. Concurrently, rates of depression and anxiety are climbing in increasing numbers in our world today (https://www.aafp.org/news/health-of-the-public/20180612cdcsuicide.html). These horrible...
(This post is a follow up to Bonni Mace's thoughts before she left on her first international mission trip. If you didn't read it yet, catch up here!) Well, I’m back in Maryland after a wonderful warm nine days in the Caribbean! Before I left I shared a post about the things that made me...
Quiet? What’s that? The kids are fighting, the TV is blaring, the cell phone is pinging and the washer is running. Down the block a fire truck’s siren is blasting and cars are tearing down the street. And now? The cat is tipping over the dog’s water dish! Sound familiar?...
Most of us use social media to keep in touch with friends, family members, and passing acquaintances; some of us might even have hundreds of ‘friends’ we don’t even really know. Thinking about your friends’ list on something like Facebook, how many of those people do you...
I’m getting ready to leave for the Dominican Republic on my first international mission trip. And actually my first mission trip in a really long time! I’m lucky, because I was asked to go and my trip is paid for generously by the staff budget, but I think if it was up...
Seems as though there would be more to worship than singing on Sunday, saying an occasional prayer, or owning and reading a Bible. What do you think worship is? Dig deep. Think hard. Be open-minded. Open the Bible. An understanding of why we worship God isn’t found in the news or in our...
You might think that worship time on Sunday is all that God requires for our worship of Him. And most of us can’t imagine ourselves playing music or singing songs to God in our homes or at our job, so we just save worship for for church on Sundays because that’s where we know how to...
When we lived in Colorado we would hike often. I thought it was important to teach my then five year-old son about nature, hiking, and being outdoors in general. While I was teaching him about nature, he taught me about worship. Almost every time we started out on a trail, he would open his...
I grew up attending Vacation Bible School (VBS) every summer as a child, then as a teenager I would help with games or crafts, and now this year I took on my most involved role yet, small group leader. I led one of three groups of 7-year-olds the first week of VBS, and it was amazing. I learned so much from my group of kids, they knew so much more about God and the Bible than I expected.
Allison Fournier, who helped organize the event this year, shared how amazing it was to see God’s hand in the details during VBS. Before the start of week 2, they were lacking enough volunteers to handle the all the kids that would be attending. When Monday morning rolled around and there were plenty of volunteers to handle the children that would be there.
Severn Run breaks VBS up into two weeks, 5-7 year olds week one and 8-11 year olds week two. More than just my class of kids were great at VBS; all the kids were fantastic. Between the two weeks almost 300 kids attended and raised $1100 for the Love Wins House. That is a lot of money when you consider each day the kids are asked to bring different coins. These kids also donated 438 can of pasta sauce for the transformation center.
Most days during small group time I would have a small lesson planned and then a game for the kids, but we never got to the game because my kids were curious and asked so many questions about the stories and Jesus. I was blown away everyday by how much my kids knew and how much more they wanted to learn. It made me so proud to get to be a small part of growing these kids’ faith. The kids at VBS have a love for Jesus and a desire to learn more and that was so amazing to see.
We host VBS every summer in July, so mark your calendars now and plan to get involved next year. Your life will be enriched and uplifted as you serve and share the love of Jesus with the children of our community.
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17
You don’t need to read indy-mag.com, to be reminded of the 2007 Britney Spears very public tantrum as she exited rehab, filed for divorce and shaved her hair off. Ms. Spears was having an identity crisis.
Some famous people handle these kind of identity-crisis situations much more gracefully, such as first lady Michelle Obama. According to huffingtonpost.com, she admitted her controversial bangs were a midlife crisis move. Shortly after her 49th birthday Mrs. Obama said, “I couldn’t get a sports car. They won’t let me bungee jump. So instead, I cut my bangs.”
Famous or not, it seems we all struggle at times to find our identity. There was, however, one very famous man who never wavered in knowing his identity. It was declared before, at, and after his birth. It followed him to his death, becoming crystal clear after he exited the tomb.
This of course was Jesus Christ. He may have never had to “find himself,” but he did regularly find it necessary to defend his God-given place in the universe - he was and is the Son of God. And in that identity he made it clear that this made him a servant. He told this to his disciples in Matthew 20:28a, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others…”
What does that mean for us? With Jesus as a servant how does that affect or change our perspective and/or our behavior?
If you understand your identity as a child of God it will have a profound effect on everything…every day and in every way.
In Ephesians 1:5a Paul writes, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.” In accepting Jesus Christ, we can then stake our identity in Christ. We become sons and daughters of God. We then take our rightful place in the family of God as we inherit all the glory and responsibilities given to Christ, including servanthood here on earth.
We are just like Jesus in the following ways:
This is us.
This is you.
Read it again.
Say it out loud.
Post it on the refrigerator, your computer screen, above the kitchen sink, on your bicycle, your gaming device; any place you regularly hang out.
Read it.
Memorize it.
Live your identity.
And the next time you are asked, “Tell me about yourself,” instead of saying “I am a student, a manager, a mom, or _________(you fill in the blank)” you will be prepared to clearly and confidently state your true God-given identity!!
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Last week our planet encountered the loss of two well-known celebrities to apparent suicide. Concurrently, rates of depression and anxiety are climbing in increasing numbers in our world today (https://www.aafp.org/news/health-of-the-public/20180612cdcsuicide.html). These horrible diseases are a part of our broken planet, and though we may not hold all the clues on this side of heaven on how to cure these illnesses, we as Christ-followers can do our part to help our friends and neighbors who are suffering with these silent killers.
How?
Well many of you are probably seeing really heartfelt posts offering assistance and suicide prevention hotline numbers to those who may or may not have depression in its various forms. While these gestures are great, and we would encourage you to do this, as people who are commanded to love others as Jesus loves them, we can take it a few steps further. These kind words are often followed by, “I’m here for you, reach out to me wherever you are.” Here’s an important thing to remember, depression often suppresses a person’s ability to think they are worthy enough for your message. Their ability to reach out goes away and then we hear about the awful result of one of depression’s side effects.
Depression is a heavy load and as a society we put nearly all the weight and pressure of carrying that burden on those afflicted with depression. This crushing weight can often be defeating, so as Christ-followers, instead of taking a passive approach where we wait for someone to tell us they have a heavy burden, let’s be vigilant and on the look out for those who might be carrying the weight of depression.
You can start doing this in your family, friend, and school/work circles; whether you have dealt with depression before or not. But before we get into some really practical steps, here are a few disclaimers for those of you who have never experienced mental illness.
None of the tips in this article will be helpful if you start applying them to people you “know of” but don’t really know. Just like any act of service, you should begin in relationship first. This means that you need to be loving, honest, vulnerable, and authentic with the people around you, if you’re expecting it from anyone else. Always start with love, and love can often be best doled out by being with someone.
If you have not had depression or anxiety, the realities of these illnesses will be difficult for you to understand. Start your journey by doing some research and learning about these invisible diseases. Keep an open mind and remember that depression is a liar, and not a logical one. It can be way too easy to oversimplify depression by trivializing the feelings and thoughts we are plagued with, or by trying to convince us to think otherwise with logic. Here’s something really logical, if we could will ourselves out of depression, we would. Instead of arguing with our disease (we do it all the time already), just be with us.
People are often surprised to hear about a life lost to suicide because of how happy a person always seemed. Remember that anyone can put on a happy face, even those of us who are struggling through depression. We often look happy in passing, but if you take the time to really be with us, we will probably open up about our struggles. This is where starting in relationship matters most! If you love someone, be with them. True vulnerability will come as we spend time together in person, as you show us that we really matter to you.
Depression and anxiety live and wreak havoc in the mind. When they are running rampant, it can be hard for us to see past our own thoughts and fears. This isn’t because we are selfish or short-sighted people. It doesn’t mean we don’t care about you. It doesn’t mean that we are incapable of seeing a silver lining. It just means that our brains are consumed with a disease. Remember that we are doing our best to fight it, and sometimes that means using every waking breath we have to fight the lies flying around in our brains. We can only think about our own problems because depression is telling us that we aren’t even worth that much thought. Even when we are consumed, you’re presence makes a difference.
Depression and anxiety do an impressive job of paralyzing people and making simple, and even some enjoyable tasks nearly impossible to complete. And then to make matters worse, the disease lies to us and tells us that we don’t deserve help in completing these tasks, because nothing is “really wrong” with our bodies, we should be able to just get things done. So when you ask to help, you can expect the answer to most often be “No.” Sometimes it helps to just show up ready to help, judgment-free (but make sure we have that relationship thing first).
We aren’t expecting you to make us feel better all of the time. When you’re around and simply spending time with us, it fights the lie that depression puts in our minds all the time. Your simple presence reminds us that we are worthy.
The Church has been the source of some of the most demoralizing and trivializing statements towards mental illness. Remember that depression and anxiety are not Spiritual Warfare or punishment for what we have done wrong in our lives; it’s a physical reality of our broken planet. Many of us will not see full healing until we enter Heaven, and it’s not because we’re far from God. Like any Christ-Follower, we need accountability and encouragement in our faith from those in our closest circles. But you should never assume that more prayer, more Bible, or more serving will heal us. Many times, Spiritual lies are the biggest lies depression uses against us. So instead of piling on, pull us up and remind us how much our God loves us, how He is good, patient, and kind. How He’s not the type to hold a grudge or get bummed out by our presence. Remind me that God is consistently there even when I can’t see Him. When you are there next to us saying that, it will feel a little easier to believe.
So whether you’ve experienced mental illness in your lifetime or not, you can take action now to help carry the load of depression and anxiety in the lives of those around you. Start by simply asking and then offering the people you are in relationship with now, “Hey, have you ever experienced depression? I want to be more diligent about being with the people I love who have or may experience it in the future.”
You may get some resistance, but you’re more likely to get some very honest answers. As you learn of those in your life who have experienced these illnesses, make it a priority to be in consistent, intentional relationship with them. Accept the responsibility of reaching out and order the chaos of your life and schedule around loving them well. Pray for them daily, and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit to reach out even when it’s unplanned. Remember that you’re not called to be the healer, savior, or anything else; you’re simply called to love. Your consistent love from the heart of Jesus in you will remind us that we matter, to you and to God. So be with us, love us, and let that be enough.
“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” - John 13:34-35 (MSG)
(This post is a follow up to Bonni Mace's thoughts before she left on her first international mission trip. If you didn't read it yet, catch up here!)
Well, I’m back in Maryland after a wonderful warm nine days in the Caribbean! Before I left I shared a post about the things that made me nervous to go and meet our friends in another nation. This is the follow up.
Let’s jump right in.
So this one was pretty challenging but right off the bat I felt like I would be okay. At our first Sunday service in Consuelo, we were given in-ear translation devices and our guide, Tom, translated every word of the service for us. Soon after the service we met our next translator, Dioleica, who would hang out with us all week. A few days later we met Yissel who also translated. Between all these brilliant minds and broken Spanish I did alright communicating, but that’s not the best part. Many of you who know me know that I am terrible with names! I forget them almost immediately. While we were in the DR God graced me with something my mind never does which was remembering the names of each person I met and worked with. Even though I couldn’t say much I learned how to say “Great job!” in Spanish. I could tack on the name to the end of my one phrase and say enough. God transcends language friends!
This one I can straight up thank each of you who read my post and prayed for me while I was gone. Not once did I encounter indigestion and I didn’t accidentally drink the water (even though I had to throw away a toothbrush). God graced me with a clear mind and settled stomach for the entire trip. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was because of prayer! Thank you!
Fun fact: I was right about everyone on our trip, they were all awesome. In Consuelo I got to room with the one-and-only Patrice Lyle. She sang me to sleep every night. Ok, just kidding, she didn’t do that but she was still an amazing roommate and in her many bags she had everything I didn’t have. Even better, she shared with me.
Once we got to Santo Domingo, my roommates doubled and Patrice and I were joined by Vicki DeLair and Adrienne Castle. Though I had to scale the ladder of the world’s tallest bunkbed that swayed like a rocking horse, my roommates and I never tripped over one another in the bathroom nor fought over anything so that was cool. Our cozy nest of night owls was a harmonious place full of fun connections, laughter and crazy morning hair.
My husband and I are so lucky to have parents who want to be involved in our son’s life. So while I was gone my mother-in-law came up from Texas to spend time with Marc and Caleb. While she was there I don’t think they even realized I was gone. Thanks to FaceTime and busy days, the time went quickly. While we all did miss one another, but I know it's an experience I was meant to have. Before I left my goofy toddler was holding out on saying “Momma” because he thought it was a funny joke when I begged him to say it. Well now he's saying “mom" all the time, so I will take that whole “absence makes the heart grow fonder” thing this time.
This can only be described as God’s timing, but it’s kind of a long story so bear with me.
Our first partner church, IBCC, already had plans to repaint classrooms so I was pretty comfortable with that project. Once we got started I learned that they also wanted murals which was intimidating, but it was for little kids so I thought my sketchy painting skills could handle that well enough. Once the mural day got started, we immediately hatched a plan to have lettering extraordinaire, Bekah Twardowski, start the school’s theme verse. I was going to try to figure out what my limited drawing skills could handle when Kim Roane piped up, “Oh I love painting, I have an Art degree from MICA!” AWESOME! Thanks to Bekah's and Kim’s structure work and vision and our other team members’ ability to paint by numbers, we had two beautiful classrooms as the project wrapped.
While I wasn’t too intimidated by IBCC’s projects, I knew ICC’s project would really be a challenge. You see, they were getting ready to demo this huge building where they plan to expand their Montessori school. They were selling a generator to finalize the funding to get started on the demo portion of the project We were showing up right on time to support them in this work. Until God said, “Not yet.”
We arrived and ICC had just learned that their buyer was trying to scam them and by God’s grace they were able to end the transaction before losing everything. But the ICC staff was discouraged, we were there to help them with this exciting new adventure and now we couldn’t. So the ICC staff purchased some paint and lumber. They then asked us to help them to build beds and refresh paint. When they learned we had three artists on our team, the ICC teachers almost lost their minds when we told them we could paint a focal wall in their school’s outdoor play space. They immediately pulled up Pinterest to show Kim their dream. Kim, Bekah, and the team were able to pull off a gorgeous tree mural for the kids to enjoy outside each day.
School leaders, Ruth and Claudinet, came out as we were finishing up and pulled out their phones to take pictures through their happy tears. When it was all said and done we had painted their outdoor area, 6 wooden locker-style shelves and a new bedroom for their homeless ministry. The carpentry team had also built 4 beds. Our team was also able to help serve lunch to nearly 60 homeless friends of ICC each day.
I knew God was going to be up to cool things on this trip. I could sense it, which helped me overcome all of my fears about going. The most amazing part of the trip wasn’t the work we got to do, instead it was getting to hear stories of lives forever changed by Christ.
We heard stories from our Dominican brothers and sisters and we heard the stories from our Severn Run brothers and sisters. And let me tell you, our God is the same grace-filled, redemption-maker God in every country. It was amazing to see each Christ-follower embrace God’s role in changing their own lives and then God’s role through them to be the change agent in another’s life. One thing I learned from all of this story sharing is how to say “That’s how I helped bring a little Kingdom here to Earth now.” That’s how I was the hands and feet of God!
Severn Run, you are all living a beautiful God-story! God is using you to bring a bit of His Kingdom to Earth now as you follow him. Even if you feel like you’re just receiving, you are revealing. Let me explain…
At ICC, they have a medical ministry where they bring in teams of doctors from Chicago to perform minor surgeries for the homeless population that they would otherwise never get. Pastor Rafael introduced us to a man who’s leg used to be crooked and now, thanks to the team of doctors, it’s straight again. Our friend with the healed leg stood up, showed off his straight-as-an-arrow leg and gave God the glory! When he did that, he revealed Kingdom to me.
We don’t have to be some dramatic savior to reveal Jesus, friends. We just need to walk in step with Jesus daily and notice when He uses us. Sometimes He will use us by allowing us to serve, sometimes He will use us in allowing us to receive. What matters most is that we notice what He’s up to in our lives and that we tell the story of God’s amazing glory in and through our lives any chance we get!
Want to start telling your God Story? Submit it here and we will help you put it on paper!
Finally, be sure to save the date for Sunday, May 20. We are going to be practicing this idea of celebrating our God stories during each service. It’s an event we are calling “Story Sunday” and we want you to be there!
Quiet? What’s that? The kids are fighting, the TV is blaring, the cell phone is pinging and the washer is running. Down the block a fire truck’s siren is blasting and cars are tearing down the street. And now? The cat is tipping over the dog’s water dish!
Sound familiar? Can your relate? Quiet Time 101, really?
Any college student will tell you that a 101 class means it’s the easiest, the beginning and the first class you must take to move deeper into a topic. Some days a quiet time doesn’t seem quite so simple. It may challenge us or inspire us or leave us with questions. However it is necessary to move deeper into our relationship with God.
If you do a search of the words “quiet time” on an electronic Bible, you will come up empty. There are no Cliff notes on the topic. There will be no quizzes and you will not get graded. There isn’t even a syllabus outlining the task. This is the good news and the bad. This is not a class or a normal course of study, it’s a journey. A journey that can only be travelled with God, his son Jesus Christ, and our helper the Holy Spirit.
“I am so busy, my life is chaos, how can I have a quiet time?” is often heard from those who have yet to embark on this journey. Others wonder what they would do during a quiet time. Others find that any soul searching is awkward or even painful. Once it becomes a habit, it will change your life.
As a person who’s energy spikes around 8 or 9 pm, I discovered after the daily tasks were done and the kids where in bed this time was my “sweet spot”. Finding a comfortable chair and setting aside time was perfect for me and Jesus. Often I would settle in with a cup of tea and my Bible for 30-45 minutes of worship. Years later life has changed and so has my quiet time. My Jesus time is spread throughout the day: Bible reading early, prayer in the morning and Bible study at my lunch break. One evening a week includes a Bible discussion and lecture.
Beginning the journey can be unsettling. What does a quiet time look like? Things to consider include Time, Action and Place or TAP.
Find a specific time or times of day and put it on your daily to do list. Plan for what is important and be intentional in accomplishing this high priority task. Like Jesus this may be early in the morning when he was able to be alone. Maybe you too are a night person and the evening works for you. Anytime is good with God. He just wants you and your time.
There is no exact method as each person is drawn closer to God differently.
The place isn’t as important as the focus. It’s essential to find a spot that has minimal distractions, allowing you to openly communicate with God. This may be a coffee shop, or a park bench or room in your home. You may change location each day or change it as time goes on. It doesn’t matter where as much as it matters that you can focus your mind on God.
As you are constantly bombarded with messages throughout the day, remind yourself that it was necessary for Jesus to take time to pray and be with Father. (See Mark 1:35) In your busyness of the day, set aside time and let the words of Bill Hybels book title remind you that you are “Too Busy Not to Pray.”
The Church at Severn Run
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