5.31.09

My apologies for not keeping up with daily entries. If you will allow me to catch up for the week, I’ll do my best to try and stay current.

Tuesday 5.26.09 was my night to teach at Mending Hearts. Another OCC member and I attended where we had the chance to spend a few hours with a group of women struggling, succeeding and failing at trying to live a new life. In fact, the topic for the night was a discussion on what it would take to break the cycle that they (and the rest of us) are on - one that always seems to derail our best intentions. We used Rom. 7:14-25 in The Message as the starting point for our discussion – if you haven’t read it recently in that translation let me strongly encourage you to stop and do so right now. Don’t know about you but what’s said in those verses just about sums up much of my life. From there we talked about 3 concrete steps they might consider to come up with a new plan for their life. #1 – service; #2 finding a new community; #3 – make some room in your life for God. We not only talked about it, we actually took some steps – specifically we planned how to use a calendar and reserve time each week to take at least one step forward in each of those areas. I have no idea what they learned from our time together but I know that I came away more convicted of how the Holy Spirit moves in our lives to direct us along our individual paths taking us closer each day to looking more like Jesus.

Thursday 5.28.09 I attended a sub-committee meeting (I think that’s what it was) of the homeless commission to specifically talk about the proposed closing of Tent City. Good news is that the June1 date has been delayed for a few more months. Everyone realizes that the closing of Tent City does nothing to address the issue of homelessness. The talk all through the meeting (and I tend to keep my mouth shut during those meetings) was about the need to develop a plan. The consensus was that that the issue was a lack of resources. I listened as long as I could and finally said that I firmly believed that resources would not be a problem if we could put together a concrete plan. I am totally convinced that the churches and their members will respond to and fund a plan. The problem is that we are using a lack of resources as the excuse for not getting specific (but reasonable) in developing a plan. And I believe we are short sighted in thinking that the government will be the source of resources. My feeling is that other agencies and groups along with the government are doing what churches ought to be doing to address issues like homelessness. Simply put, as the hands and feet of Jesus I think we, as the church, have abdicated our roles and responsibilities in being one with the marginalized. Most of that is due to our vision of church as something we do (primarily on Sunday morning) as opposed to what we are. One interesting point about the meeting – of the 25 or so people and groups represented Otter Creek was the only church who was there. Go figure that..

Friday 5.29.09 was my weekly Odyssey class at the Campus. Until Thursday night I assumed my co-teacher would be leading the class. However, I got a call that evening that he was sick and that I needed to plan to teach it. We were in the second and final week of Step 3 – Made a decision to turn my life and will over to the care of God as I understand Him (if you’re not familiar with the 12 Steps let me highly recommend that you invest some time in reading and pondering them – it will change your life). The discussion centered on how we make a decision. If you’ve never thought of that, let me also highly recommend that you ponder on that as well. We’ll talk more about that at some future blog.

Saturday 5.30.09 was a really full day. One of my homeless friends and I spend the day picking up furniture from OCC members who had called to offer it to our furniture ministry. It seems ironic that in a congregation the size of Otter Creek that on many occasions I’m assisted by homeless men rather than an OCC member (I’m happy to have the help, but would love to give some member the chance to see service from a different perspective – IF YOU'VE EVER RIDDEN WITH ME AND HELPED IN FURNITURE PICK UP AND DELIVERY, PLEASE CONSIDER SUBMITTING A BLOG REPLY TO LET OTHERS KNOW ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AND TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO EMAIL ME TO ENLIST). We helped unload furniture from a former OCC member who had driven up from Alabama to bring a load of furniture to give to our ministry. They were consolidating several sets of furniture and thought about the work we do and called to ask if we could use it!! What a testimony that they would drive several hours to bring furniture to us.

The highlight of the day had to be when we loaded up a sofa, a rocking chair, a bed and a TV to deliver to a young lady I first met at Mending Hearts. Kay (not her real name) had come to Mending Hearts directly from prison. She had been arrested as a juvenile at age 16 and served 2 years. Soon after her release she got in trouble again. This time she was tried as an adult and because of her prior record was sentenced to 9 years. In a strange fluke of “justice” she ended up serving the entire term so she came to Mending Hearts as a 27 year old that had only known jail for her entire adult life. This will be hard to imagine but Kay did not know what size clothes she wore (she had never had to buy clothes). The first time we went to the grocery store, she was totally lost – she’d never shopped for food and had no idea what anything cost. She was on court ordered probation and lived in fear of making one wrong step that would send her back to prison. She put up a hard front, but inside she was totally afraid. Over the months we developed a friendship. We helped get her her first job. We helped her with clothes. Eventually she graduated from Mending Hearts and I got the call that she needed furniture. Several of the items brought up from Alabama along with a few other items (she had no forks and knives) were loaded up and delivered to her new apartment. And while most of us might not consider living where Kay was able to afford, to her it’s home. As we sat up her bed and handed her a set of sheets and a pillow she told me that she couldn’t wait to have her own bed!! It’s through the generosity of OCC members and friends that we’re able to walk the talk with women like Kay. Keep her in your prayers and remember to call or email when you have something to donate. It really does make a difference…